Attempted murder at plant nursery, 1994
Someone was in distress! Someone? No. It wasn’t a human voice that broke the stillness on that serene summer day as I watered my plants at the garden centre.
There it was again. It sounded distinctly like, “Help! Help! Help!” It came from the vicinity of the pond.
I looked up. A red wing blackbird was flying over the water holding something in his claws. That call again, “Help! Help! Help!”
In that moment he let go of the thing he was carrying. It fluttered down landing on the water’s surface. There it floated. It was a baby bird!
Again the call, more desperate now, “Help! Help! Help!” Another bird – plain brown and rather drab – came flying over the water. Swooping low, it plucked the baby bird up and carried it toward shore. It was Mom!
She lost her grip and it fell to the water once more, this time closer to the shore. From the grassy edge Mom called to her youngster. The baby bird fluttered toward the land and hauled itself out of the water, finally safe.
This incredible drama played itself out in less than a minute. It occurred to me that I had just been witness to an attempted murder in the bird world.
Kathy Meeser,
Creemore.
Kathy Meeser owned and operated a business called Rural Roots Plant Nursery from 1990 to 2001.
