it grabbed my eye as we were walking on the path towards the beach
this tiny little feathered thing
gasping for breath
wing torn off
covered in ants
we stood there sadly for a moment
I picked it up
it was gasping silently
no noise at all
tiny beak opening and shutting
little tongue stretching out
little lungs inflating (equally)
brushing away ants I looked at dutchboy
vet?
where?
it’s 5pm on saturday afternoon
god
but its breathing so hard
silently
that tree is really high
shit
we hurried back to our car
the tattooed boys outside the skate shop tell us there is a 24hr vet nearby
not nearby enough as I’d like
we both know its probably not a happy ending
but its breathing really strongly
and you can’t leave a tiny feathered thing alone
tiny silently gasping feathered things die on the side of a footpaths
all the time
but yesterday this one died en route to the emergency vet
about five minutes before we got there
its grey fuzzy head resting on my palm
we kept driving
partially because we didn’t know what to do with a tiny dead bird
partially because I knew the vet would have antiseptic wash
I scrubbed
(twice) thinking;
something only seems ‘disgusting’ or ‘unsanitary’ after its no longer necessary
if its perceived to be necessary you just do it
(DREs, disimpaction, pressure wound care)
and try not to think about it later
there is a scenario often tossed around
in CPR talk
would you do mouth to mouth without a mouth cover?
the consensus is no
you don’t need to
its not necessary
just do compressions
But I think I would
not because of some morally upright stance
but accidently
because of naive adrenalin fuelled instinct that fails to take into account vomit
blood
infectious diseases
or
ant covered dying birds