Arkansas Blog

That bird will certainly have some stories to tell the others at the zoo, about life on the other side of the fence. I'm sure Barnabus is happy that he doesn't have to hunt for food anymore.

If you ever see me in the act of grabbing an owl from a balcony, PLEASE call 9-1-1.

Obviously Barnabus escaped in order to mate with one of those plastic owls they sell at Wal-Mart. He may have been at St. Vincent's to have plastic shards removed from his feathery nether regions.

I had to retire my blow up love doll for similar reasons several years ago.....

A friend told me this blog was out here and I went in to check it out. I'm the one who found the owl last night, and I found that most of the article was not correct and I was going to set the record straight.

However, I find comments from people who obviously do not care about animals and who have nothing better to do I guess than post comments on a blog site, and my own personal opinion is that they should be ashamed of the comments they've made.

I will comment no further, this blog does not require further time and trouble.

ftbird:

Let me first speak to my own previous comment. What I was really saying was that I (me--an untrained person with no experience handling any live birds except purple martins) would be CRAZY to grab an owl from a balcony, and that I hope someone would summon emergency help if they saw me trying to do so. I was not making the implication that YOU were crazy for doing so.

My hat is off to you for getting Barnabus back in good condition. You are indeed a brave and consciencious person for doing so.

As for the comment by deathbyinches:

It is a well-known fact to everyone who frequents this blog that he is a certifiable lunatic. His elevator doesn't quite reach the top floor, if you know what I mean. Don't let his *crazy* commentary keep you from setting the record straight.

Although most of the commentary on this blog is of a political nature, I know for a fact that there are many animal lovers who read it and would like the real story.

In fact, ol' crazy deathbyinches is an animal lover himself. When one of our people on this blog lost her old beloved dog, dbi was one of the first to offer condolences.

Please excuse any sarcasm and do set us straight on what really happened.

Thank you.

ftbird:
I second Hugh Mann's entreaty. Please do tell us the true story.
I suspect most of us are animal lovers, considering that many of us landed on a blog contributor with spiked heels, golf shoes and and Army boots when he complained about the missive from the lady who lost her beloved dog.
We were even introduced to Max's sweet French(?) Bulldog on that occasion and others.
And I have to say, I'm with Hugh in re catching Barnabas. I'm thrilled you were able to do so. But me? When faced with beaks and talons, I back away quietly.
Yeah, most of us are certifiable. As far as I can tell though, we're also harmless.
If you have the time, read some of DBI's stuff in the archives. He kinda grows on you. Well . . . he does unless you're of a certain political persuasion.
I'll admit that a lot of times I want to give his smart wife a heads up . . . but ya know, I bet she knows him well.

My friend told me there had been good answers to my comments so here I am again.

Thank you for your comments - and I owe an explanation also. My mom is in hospice at St. Vincent Doctors Hospital - she has been very ill with Alzheimer's for about 6 months. I've been going almost every night when I get off work, am pretty exhausted and have gotten to the point that crap and nonsense just does me in. I'm in my bitch mode for a while now and not dealing with it so well. The incident with Barnabus was very heartwarming for me and came at a good time.

What really happened - drove into the parking lot and parked next to the building. Walked toward the building, the owl flew up, very strangely as if something was wrong with him - that kind of bird would never have come so close to civilization, certainly with good reason, unless something was very wrong. We humans are mostly not good to animals. As I got closer I could see that he had something hanging from him and assumed that he had been caught in something and was injured.

I talked quietly to him, and he quietly listened and watched. He landed on the railing by the door to the hospice unit and I continued to walk slowly and talk to him. To my utter amazement, and his good fortune, he did not fly off.

I saw the tether and knew then that he had escaped from somewhere. He would never have survived had he not been caught soon - he was very obviously both tired and hungry and unable to fly well, and as it turns out, never learned how to catch food for himself since he was raised in captivity - see article from the zoo. He turned his head toward the sack with my fish sandwich and I knew that if I didn't take a chance while I had it, I'd regret it later. I had mom's clean dress so I wrapped that around my arm and hand in the hopes that if he was a captive bird, he might just let me get him. Since I don't get to watch TV anymore I didn't know there was an owl missing from the zoo until we had hold of him.

I continued to talk to him very softly and he never made an effort to lunge at me, for which I was eternally grateful. Since he didn't, I figured I could try. I am by no means a brave person and knew that he could take off my fingers or my nose or my ear and that he was hungry. At that point I was worried about his survival, and I soooooooo prayed he wouldn't attack me. Had he really attacked me, I don't know if I'd have had guts enough to stick it out and save him - I'm a full-fledged yellow-bellied coward. But I've had birds for almost 25 years and I felt very much that I should try. I stuck out my arm and he stepped right on it with very little hesitation. I got hold of the tether and went inside the building where at least he would be fairly confined and we'd have a chance of catching him if he got loose. He never tried to bite at all so we knew that he was a fairly tame owl.

None of us work at St. Vincents, and Sandra is not my supervisor, although she certainly is nice and might make a very good one. The 2 ladies standing at the door watching were at hospice with their brother - when I got inside the building one of them called 911 and the other called Game and Fish. I'm not sure which one finally reached someone, but they were both very helpful and in a few minutes we heard from the zoo director, Mr. Blakely who came to get the owl. We were with the owl for about 45 minutes - he tried to fly a few times but turned and got back on my arm when he could take off - so he'd apparently been working with someone on a fairly regular basis.

Few miracles ever happen in this world, but this WAS one. This bird is meant for some reason to be on this earth, for he was brought right down to a bird person rather than to a place where he would have been harmed or killed or onto the freeway to be run over; or to a place where everyone was afraid and would have ignored him, ultimately for him to starve to death. Since I'm a bird person, for me this was HUGE. Something I will always remember and be thankful for, and it came when I needed it. A true blessing from God. He has a sense of humor, you know.

So that's what happened - no bravery, he just flew down and stepped on my arm, and with the help of the other people around us, he was saved and sent home. Dr. Baeyens, the zoo vet, also my personal avian vet, checked him out and said that Barnabus is fine - he had no injuries and was none the worse for wear. If anyone needs a great vet, she's the one to go to - she's in the North Hills Animal Clinic just past Sherwood. Hope I don't get into trouble for this.

As for politics, that is a subject to steer clear of.....I think we've gone too far - don't think we can revive this without some major overhaul and a lot of angry people and disastrous consequences. I will vote on Tuesday and every time I can because I don't have the right to bitch about things if I don't. I will vote first for women because they are more nurturing and less apt to fight - if we're not going to blow up the middle east, we have no reason to be there just slowly dragging out getting our soldiers killed - just my opinion. I am a Christian, but don't necessarily always have a Christian attitude.

Secondly, I will vote for as many candidates as I can that I've never heard of because most of the politicians now have been there too long. Once their price has been met and they've become complacent and comfortable, they no longer care about us. A 2-party system doesn't work, they're all just fighting each other and no one works for our good.

Well, that's the blog for this lifetime. Hope everyone has a good weekend and a good holiday season.

Wow - didn't mean for that to be so long. I'm pretty long-winded - sorry.

Amazing story. That's one very lucky bird to have "surrendered" to just the right person.

Regarding ftbird's comment about the story not getting the facts right, I must agree that I've never, ever, seen or read a news story, on a subject I know well, where the story got all the facts right. Every news story I've ever read gets the overall story right, but is filled with mistakes.

"I am by no means a brave
person and knew that he
could take off my fingers or
my nose or my ear and that
he was hungry. At that point I
was worried about his
survival, and I soooooooo
prayed he wouldn't attack me.
Had he really attacked me, I
don't know if I'd have had
guts enough to stick it out and
save him - I'm a full-fledged
yellow-bellied coward."

We have a Wally Cox-like friend here named Deathbyinches who sounds just like you. I feel sure DBI would never have had the nerve to do what ftbird did. (I, like hugh mann, wouldn't have, either.)

"no bravery, he just flew
down and stepped on my
arm"

Yeah, right. I know bravery and heroics when I hear it. ftbird, you're brave, and a hero. Accept it.

"As for politics.....I think we've gone too far - don't think we can revive this without some major overhaul and a lot of angry people and disastrous consequences. I will vote on Tuesday and every time I can because I don't have the right to bitch about things if I don't."

DBI, is that you? Are you now calling yourself ftbird? If not, you have a fraternal twin out there!

Hooray for ftbird!

If your comments had been any more brief you'd have left out something important.

I don't care what you say, you ARE brave. I'd like to think I'd have acted the way you did but the most I would have done is probably surrender my fish sandwich and have someone call 9-1-1.

Your post here is a happy ending to what could have been a sad story all around.

There is a sad note and that is your mother's illness. I'm sure sorry that anyone has to go through something like that. I wish you the best. You have the right to be testy.

Oh ... you have a pretty good attitude about voting.

I hope you'll reconsider the end to your blogging career. This is a pretty nice little community we have here, but it does get a little nasty at times.

Thank you for posting that truly amazing story. wonder what the odds are that Barnabus would find a bird person right when he needed one? I'd say you're right and it's a miracle.

I have had birds (and lizards and fish and guinea pigs and more) but I'm a dog person. Everyone here except that one cretinous poster, whoever it was, sympathized when Z's dog died.

DBI's harmless, really. He's sort of like your owl -- he has a tether that keeps him from getting too far out there. actually he's one of my favorite posters.

you have my sympathies with your mother's situation. been there, done that, if there's anything more exhausting than working full-time and taking care of your kids plus caring for an ailing parent (or anyone else) then I dont know what that is. I hope things are going as well as possible for you. was your mother able to enjoy any of this owl saga?

thanks again for sharing the story with us. maybe you'll decide to join us now.

What a nice bunch of people (seriously--no irony intended. I'm weeping with joy as I type this).

To me, this is what blogging is all about. People with obviously very different beliefs and attitudes, with different life stories and circumstances can come together and share viewpoints - whether it be about politics, the Razorbacks, or the heroic rescue of a barn owl.

I think this story is a metaphor for our lives, too. We must be willing to reach out to those who obviously need us and help them out. Most of the people who post on the ATblog are just such humans. It warms my heart to see the outpouring of the power of the positive in our world, especially when every time I hear NPR or read newspaper headlines I can get easily discouraged. Some things are really messed up, but I believe we can make a difference and change things.

I'm glat you have taken the time to join us, ftbird. I hope you will continue to check out the blog and encourage others to do so. Amazing conversations happen here, and I learn something new every day by reading it.

Cheers.

I don't think it was an accident that Sharron was the person who captured Barnabus. God used a bird when Noah was on the Ark to give a promise, and I think He used this bird to give Sharron HIS promise that HE is in control of her situation, and that HE will take care of her and her mom during this time of their life. How fantastic that Barnabus literally came out of the clouds to land on Sharron's arm, and to give her the encouragement she needed to know that God is right there beside her at this time.