So, here is a story that I hope you will enjoy. Two weeks ago I (Jason) was driving home from the thriving metropolis of Ely, NV. I was probably the only car within 5 miles in each direction and I was probably going close to 90 mph. As I came over a hill I saw two little birds perched in the middle of the road. I tried to slow down to give the guys a chance to fly away, but alas, only one made it. The other one ended up leaving a little blood and feathers on the grill of my Nissan.
I felt bad. It was my first kill.

Luckily I was able to redeem myself yesterday. We have been keeping a close eye on a nest right outside our backyard. For a while it was just a mom going to and from, but soon there were 4 little heads bobbing up and down. We have been lifting up Gavin periodically to look at the little "birdies". The other day when I was out there I noticed that the mom had done some repairs to the nest. I am not sure where she found it, but she had woven a few long strands of tape from an audio cassette into her nest. The tape dangled all the way to the ground. I thought this was odd, but did not really think too much of it.

Yesterday I was barbecuing in the backyard and Tatum asked me to go get a few pictures of the nest. (Why, I don't know.) I took the camera and went around the fence to get a closer look. To my astonishment I noticed that 2 of the little guys had left the nest, but the other 2 were dangling upside down just outside the nest. It looked like they had tried to leave, but their feet got tangled up in that darn cassette tape! They had obviously been trying to free themselves for a bit, but the more they struggled the more tangled they became. Each bird had one tangled foot and they were gross. There was exposed flesh and they were obviously broken.

Here was redemption staring me right in the face! I decided to take action and perform emergency surgery on the 2 birds. Tatum ran inside and got me a pair of scissors, a step ladder, and some rubber gloves. I spent about 10 minutes disconnecting them from the nest, but they were still connected to each other. After some careful snipping I was finally able to separate the birds. (I think I missed my calling in life. I should have been a surgeon!) It was quite obvious that they each still had to deal with their broken leg. One did not make it and we found it dead by the fence today. However, one survived and was hopping around the playground for most of the day. It was fluttering a little at lunch, so I am hoping that he taught himself how to fly and flew off into the sunset. Either that or a cat ate him! Just kidding...I think he made it.

THE END