THE FOUNDLING
I was adopted long before I was born. Oh, I didn't know, of course, that my parents were interested only in sex and could not have cared less about the offspring such copulating might produce; but I managed to be born into a loving home and an adoptive mother who cared for me until I got on my feet.
My parents, cowbirds, were unconcerned about who would raise me. My biological mother sneaked into a handy nest, laid me, and then vanished. She also unceremoniously saddled a robin with a sibling. I spent my incubating time in a nest deep in Pooch's dwarf Alberta spruce tree.
My caring momma was a chipping sparrow and she feed me and protected me long after I hatched. Once I learned to fly, though, my favorite spot was on Pooch's privacy fence. I would sit there silently until Mommy came to feed me.
Mom finally tired of providing for me - avian 'tough love' - and I then discovered the delights of a 24/7 seed buffet at the close-by feeder. After not too many days, I had grown to three or four times my adoptive mom's size!
I had it made! I'd sit by Pooch's fountain and implore her to turn it on so that I could have a drink and take a bath. She always obliged and I loved cavorting in the water. Heck, I didn't even let Pooch's dog, Penny, disturb me when she got within a foot of me! We were pals.
My rural cousins spend their days around cattle (hence our name) waiting for insects to be stirred up into the open air by big shuffling feet. If you have a cow, bison, or deer let me know!
Frankly, I'm not too welcome at my present human home. However, I've found my own welfare system and I'll probably hang around. Pooch has to keep the feeder full and her fountain bubbling for her favorites and I have no pride at all when it comes to helping myself to her largesse.
Watch out for my biological mother, though. She's a loose female.
|