[Blog] Thoughts from the Front Lines: Mistakes
We lost our pet bird this morning. It was my fault. I didn't feed her.
Not purposely. I made a mistake and didn't correct it quickly enough: changing Daisy's seed blend and not making sure she liked it. It's a rookie mistake: when you switch seeds for a budgie, you need to keep a sharp eye on them because sometimes they'll decide they don't like the new seeds or some of the seeds in the blend and they can literally starve to death with food in their cage. That's what happened here. Daisy decided she didn't like all the of the seeds in the blend and didn't eat them, and I lost track of when I'd filled her bowl last.
Red Flag
I noticed yesterday that she was foraging in the bottom of her cage, which was unusual. "Uh oh," my mental red flag said. "She must be hungry. Really hungry, if she's looking for seeds down there. Better fill her food bowl."
Her food bowl wasn't empty, by the way, but her behavior was telling me she was hungry.
And...I got distracted. It was time to make dinner, time to get the kids a bath, time to read them a story and put them to bed, time to nurse the baby again when he woke up after I thought he was in bed for the night...
And this morning Daisy was lying limp and cold in the bottom of her cage. When I looked through her seed bowl I realized it was all husks except for the two types she wouldn't eat. Poor thing.
I felt terrible. Not so much because Daisy died, because the fact of life is that birds are not people and we lose even our most beloved pets. I felt terrible because I had noticed I should do something to take care of her and I had not, and the consequences in this case were deadly.
Living Things Take Great Care
It's a big responsibility to have a living thing in my care who is as helpless as a baby or a bird. The bird is caged. She can't get food if I don't give it to her. The baby is helpless - he can't take care of himself if I don't watch carefully and do everything he needs to survive. It's left me shaken that one of these two beings in my care didn't make it through the night. I'm grateful the consequences of this mistake came at the cost of Daisy's life and not Daniel's.
We make mistakes all the time. Some are little, some are big, some are from sheer carelessness and others are from ignorance. I'm a rookie bird carer and this was a very sad lesson: when you see something that raises your red flag, act immediately because birds can die very quickly. When you change seeds, don't assume your little budgie isn't starving because she still has food in her bowl. She might still be starving. Pay attention!
Act Quickly
My husband and I have discussed before how we aren't really ready to take on the responsibility of something like a flock of chickens. This little incident underscores that assessment. Caring for living things - whether it's a garden or some chickens - takes constant attention and care. You have to act when you first see something not quite right. You can't get distracted.
With children, while they aren't quite as physically fragile, the same goes for their hearts and minds. A parent has to be constantly vigilant. If a red flag goes up, a parent dismisses it at their extreme peril. Permanent damage can happen in the blink of an eye. That doesn't mean we need to be a nervous wreck watching every movement our children make like a hawk. But just as with Daisy's foraging around in her cage, our kids usually give us some warning that something isn't quite right.
Don't dismiss these things. If a Parent Radar goes off, don't ignore it. Something very well might be wrong.
And if you have a bird...make sure her bowl is full. It might save you from some very sad consequences.
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May our little birdy Daisy rest peacefully in her place. @ironshield
Sorry for your loss. That's crazy. I would have never guessed that could happen. #Steemusa
I know, right?! A friend of mine who's raised many more pets (and budgies) than I have pointed out that a budgie can starve to death with just 24 hours without food. That is not a lot of time if you are not paying attention...
Awww, sad to hear, but understandable. It is in a better place now. Good information to know though being an animal person, myself. I'm excited to start my garden :). Thank you for your honest story.
You're welcome! And the same thing goes with a garden - you see one wilted leaf on your zucchini plant and the a few days later the whole plant could be stone dead if you didn't respond to that first sign of a borer. You have to patrol that garden and respond immediately when there's a problem or the whole thing can go kaput real fast. I've even found that I mix up my pest control solution and get all my remedies on hand before planting the seeds because if there's anything in the way of responding plants can die or at least become unfruitful before I can respond.
Wow, didn't realize it was such an emergency response type situation.
So very sad. Sorry for the loss of your pet. It is difficult to lose a pet. We need to be aware of when in our lives we are prepared to take on extra responsibilities. I remember when we moved out to the farm when we had young children. The responsibilities were almost overwhelming. We cut back on livestock until our boys were older. It is so easy to trick ourselves into thinking we are super human and take on all tasks.
Yes, that's why we don't have a cat or a dog...or chickens...or a goat...or anything that would take much of a learning curve because we have too many children to give proper attention to learning much about animal care right now. We've also kept our garden small and are focusing just on learning to make a few plants very productive because we don't have the time for learning on a big scale yet. However, if we learn on a small scale, we'll be positioned to hit the ground running when our kids get big enough to help.
And that won't be too far down the road. Time flies when the little ones are growing.
Oh no! That's never fun to lose a pet. Thankfully it was something small like a bird and not something massive like a cow. :) Yeah, our cow may have not been able to drink water out of a bucket and might have gotten dehydrated. We aren't sure that's why Big Mac died, but it is possible. Glad that Daniel is doing well though! :)
Oh my goodness! Big Mac died?! I'm so sorry. You're right, it's a lot easier to lose our little bird. If we lost a calf because it didn't drink, I would be pretty sad about that too...and it's a lot harder to do something about the dead calf and get a new one.
It's a little strange of me to be equating Daisy and Daniel, but I guess when I saw poor Daisy lying there my first thought was, "I'm so glad my little boy is okay." Part of this is because a childhood friend of mine lost her little 20 month old boy this week and the bottom comes out of my stomach every time I think of it. Losing Daisy just sort of brought that home even closer in spite of her being a bird and not really my baby. Even though I called her Daisy-girl.
No new one. That's for sure. At least not for a LONG time if ever! Cows are a little more work than we were told. They said, "super easy." Not quite! :) But the local vultures were happy to have him in the end... :/ Oh wow. That is so sad for your friend. I can't even imagine.
Yikes, the vultures got Big Mac! That's a really sad end for your little calf. Maybe down the road you'll have more big hands to help and it'll be time for another cow.
I can sort of imagine. That's what made it a difficult funeral. I am so tuned to keep and protect my babies and I know my friend is no different. The loss is tremendous.
Oh no, Big Mac died? So sad! @ironshield
Yes and it's totally okay. He was a lot more work than I thought he would be!!
Awwww...
It's okay, we all make mistakes. Try not to beat yourself up about it.
Hugs
Thanks for the hugs :-). I'm trying not to, but I still feel pretty bad about being careless. I mean, it's one thing if the bird was sick or something, but to starve...yeah, I feel pretty bad about that.
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Pets are responsbilities just like kids. They need care love and attention. Sorry for your loss.
Thank you. I know - although like I said, having attended a funeral for a 21 month old this week and having lost our budgie, it's a lot more disturbing to lose the baby even though I was sad about the bird. The bird is a little like a baby but my instincts are not as strongly tuned to protect the bird.
really lovely post