Today I was working out in my garden adding plants I bought yesterday for 'My' Hummingbirds. Suddenly I heard my husband shouting to me that one of 'My' birds was hurt. He had found a Hummingbird flopping around in the driveway. He carefully picked it up with a clean rag and it calmed down immediately, but it was apparent he had a broken wing - part of it was missing. I don't know if it flew into a window, if another bird attacked it, or if another Hummingbird was defending it's territory. We set it in a clean container and made it comfortable and tried to feed it some nectar but it wouldn't drink. A little while later, it died I am heart broken. It was a female and I really hope it didn't have a nest of babies somewhere. My resident male has been sitting on the clothes line outside the back door for a long time. Ever since we have lived here, I have been blessed with a healthy Hummingbird population that seems to have increased each year. I feel like I have lost a member of my family. Am I the only one who gets so upset about the creatures in their yard?
Netty. Trust me. You are not alone. I bet you 99% percent of us here refer to our little garden visitors as "mine". So sad that the hummer didn't make it. But I betcha it felt your compassion and concern. And I applaud you for your efforts.
No, you are not alone in feeling for your garden residents. We all try to make a welcoming habitat for birds and other garden visitors. I'm so sorry your hummer didn't survive, but I bet you have a lot of birds visiting and enjoying your garden. We do what we can, and leave the rest up to Mother Nature.
It is sad to come across an injured wild creature and be unable to save it. It is comforting to know that it's last moments were not alone. Jerry
I take care of the cardinals in my yard. I also stop on the road to let squirrels and snakes cross. Most people just run over them. Small animals and birds have a hard enough time surviving in this world to let them be killed or run over. I'm sorry your hummingbird died. I love to watch hummingbirds around our feeders and when the feeders go empty they buzz the kitchen window until I fill them. Aren't they wonderful? dooley
Netty, you are definitely not alone. I still think about the little Sparrow I sat with as it died last year.
I'm sorry that it happened to you. It's hard to see something innocent die. My husband works for Wyoming Fish and Game. Last year he had to track a mountain lion that had been struck and injured by a car. Unfortunately when he found it, it was too seriously injured and he had to euthanize it. It's a lot bigger than a hummingbird, but it still bothered him for a while after, even if it was his job.
Oh no, Netty, so sad!! As you can see from all the other reactions, you are most certainly NOT the only one getting upset over the little creatures. Me too, I get very tearful whenever I see a distressed animal, especially if it is in my own garden. Not to mention if it's already died, then I burry it, saying a little prayer as I do so. Only the other day I found a tiny baby rabbit with it's little head missing, must have been a cat or so. (I'm not cross with the cat, I love cats too much to ever really get cross with them). The little bunny now rests under one of the shrubs in my boyfriend's garden, where I found it. :'( The fact that we get emotional when we see other creatures suffer isn't strange at all, it shows we care. A very good thing!!
Netty I'm not ashamed to admit that I have shed tears over the death of one of 'my' birds. I hate to find them injured in the garden and do everything I can to help them recover and go back to the wild. There are times that nothing can be done though and it really makes me sad that I couldn't help them in any way. I hope your hummingbird didn't have a nest of chicks and that her partner will find a new mate to set up home with. At least you made her last few minutes on earth more comfortable than dying alone on the driveway.
Thank You everyone for your kind words. I don't remember ever getting THIS upset about a bird dying. I guess it just that the Hummers are so small and they have so many challenges ... I always feel like I have to protect and help them. This morning when I walked the dog, the resident male was busy defending his turf and chasing others away. It made me smile.
Hi Netty, I too can relate to being upset over the death of such a small beautiful creature. I am glad the male seems to be rallying.
Hello sweet woman-- I am so sorry for your experience there with the little hummer. Perhaps the emotions are potentiated because of its size and the helplessness of it's situation. Really tragic. It would be a very odd person that did not feel some twinge of sorrow at the situation. I personally have something with birds. I work for their conservation and of course encourage them to inhabit my volkstuin. I have birdhouses and see several types of birds near or in the the lottie. Naturally there are predators and it is not uncommon to discover "parts" from time to time. It is always sad. I especially dislike it when I have observed and watched the development of birds in one of my bird houses...only to be picked-off in the most brutal way when they fledge. The greatest terrors are the magpies, the blue herons and the jackdaws. Yes, that makes me very sad and angry as well. Intellectually, I realize that it is the way of nature, but I still do not like it. The other day when I was out walking the fields with fellow conservationists, we were talking about the predatorizing of nests, eggs and young as well as those destroyed by farmers, and one member of our team remarked, "Ach--Nature is cruel, and people are sentimental". It is true, but I am the way that I am.
