The Baby Bird Saga

For the past several months, I have been hearing a strange sound, almost like the metal lids in my cupboards were shifting at random times. I didn't pay much attention until Michenna complained about hearing the noise as well.

My first thought was that we had a shrew (a rodent similar to a rat) in the cupboard. So one day, while Michenna was at school, I gathered my courage and took everything out of the cupboard. No shrew, and no indication of what could be making the noise.

Finally, the noise lasted long enough that I was able to trace its origin to my stove-top vent. Anyone who has seen a dryer vent on the side of a house can picture the vent. The fan above the stove draws the smoke away and the smoke goes out the vent. I thought maybe the birds were just rattling the outside of the vent.

Then, a few weeks ago, I started hearing chirping from inside the vent. I thought a bird had been trapped inside somehow, and I called maintenance.

The maintenance guy pulled open the flap that covers the hole and we saw a bunch of sticks. I asked, "Do you think it's a bird's nest?" He said, "Nah, probably just some trash that got blown in and was never cleaned out." He also pointed out that it was a fire hazard, and he started to clean out the vent.

The mystery was explained when he pulled a baby bird out with a handful of sticks. Because the maintenance man was startled, he dropped the sticks and the bird. We then found 2 other baby birds inside the vent. We put them in a shoebox. I wasn't sure what to do with them next.

I called the local animal shelter, but they didn't take birds. They said I should call the USDA. The USDA guy was out of town. Next I called the vet on base. She referred me to Security Forces, who directed me to Civil Engineering, who passed me off to the Game Warden (we have a Game Warden, who knew?). The Game Warden told me that I had broken the law by destroying the nest and handling the birds. After much discussion, she finally told me to call the vet and have the birds "taken care of". I called the vet again and she assured me that they did not take care of birds in any sense of the phrase. She made a few phone calls, then called me back and said that I should just let the birds go. So we did.

One bird died (the one that was dropped). We covered him with pieces of the nest and left him by the garden. The other 2 birds hopped away, and I hope they made it to safety.

That is my crazy baby bird saga from Spring Break.