ANNE OF THE HOUSE TO THE RESCUE!

TRUST THIS BLOG TO BRING YOU THE ONLY AUTHENTIC PICTURES OF HARRY THE FINCH…ALL OTHER PHOTOS ARE STUNT DOUBLES

There was a great deal of discussion about whether or not we would have children together. I mean A LOT of discussion. The final decision was for the Big V which does not stand for Victory. But that was only the beginning…

The lovely wife, aka Anne of the House, may have agreed fully with the decision but that did not mean her mothering instinct was gone. It happened everywhere! Grocery stores, church, on the street, in malls. Whenever she saw a fresh baby she went all goo-goo. Our younger friends loved it because they could come over to our house with their new baby and not have to worry about the infant for hours on end. I have so many pictures with her holding someone’s baby. And then would come the question, “Now wouldn’t you like to have one of these?” I would smile…

And say nothing! I’m not as stupid as I look!

Well, the problem has been temporarily solved. It all has to do with my flock of finches.

As you know, Anne of the House gave me a dozen finches for my birthday in September. They have been introduced to you in previous postings. The little flitters have really been at it. Two pair have produced two young each. They are approximately the same age. I have been watching them closely for the last couple of weeks to see if they are actually eating on their own. Just yesterday I decided it was time for them to be transferred to their own cage. (If you leave them in with the adults too long they apparently get on their nerves and the adults will attack them. You know, just like human kids!) So I transferred the four teenagers and they are doing just great.

Back to our story. Apartment #6 hatched a large clutch a couple of weeks ago. I finally figured out there were four hatchlings in there. Several days ago I found one of the little fellas lying on the bottom of the cage. He was what they call a nestling, the stage after hatchling. I called Anne of the House and she very maternally picked the guy up and put him back into the nest. Then two days ago I found another guy out of the nest. I wasn’t sure if he was so sick that his parents were kicking him out or if the apartment was so small that he kept falling out. But this time I put him back myself.

Yesterday, after transferring the teenagers (fledglings/juveniles) I found yet another nestling on the bottom of the cage. Whatever the reason for his exit from the nest, I figured he wasn’t going to make it at home. He needed foster parents. I asked Anne of the House what she thought and we were off to the pet store. We bought bird baby formula, syringes, a thermometer, a heating pad, and everything we thought we would need to raise this bird. It was taking too long! We had been gone over two hours! The kid had to eat! We hurried around like ER docs trying to save a life!

When we got home the whole family kicked into overdrive. Bring me a bowl! Microwave this formula! Where is the syringe? The little guy looked like he was almost gone! I was getting the defib paddles ready. Boy, are they small! Clear! Wait a minute…back to reality…Anne of the House filled the syringe, picked up the tiny bird and held it to its beak. The thing opened his beak and took off on the formula like crazy. He ate a bunch of the gunk and looked as good as new. No, better than new! He was standing up and looking around like he owned the place.

The emergency was over. The lovely wife had her baby. She sat there all night waiting for the next feeding time. She was up at 3:30 to feed him again. He’s doing just great and I don’t see why he won’t be able to join the other teenagers in a week or two.

What did I just say? He’s been named! Harry the Finch. Anne of the House is imprinting herself on Harry and Harry thinks she’s his mom! This bird will never join the flock again! He’ll have a favored place in her pocket and at her table. As for me? At least she has a baby to take care of!

Please find the only authorized photo of Harry the Finch below!