Tuesday, September 2, 2008

About Birds, About Life

The Mynah

The Story

Rane came home one day and told me she has taken pictures of a beautiful bird. As she uploaded the pictures to the computer, I was surprised to see that the beautiful bird was none other than a Mynah.

Why would a Mynah that is commonly seen off the street be her favourite bird? I pressed further and this was what she said "the most beautiful (and admirable) thing about the bird is it's sheer determination to live against the odds".

I took a closer look at the pictures and realised that the Mynah is injured in it's right wing.

The first time Rane saw the mynah, she was worried about the mynah's condition and was contemplating whether to bring it to the vet. At that point in time, the bird was standing in the middle of the road. Within seconds, a car was approaching it in the opposition direction and Rane feared for the mynah's life, as the two were less than a meter apart (approximately 3.28 feet) .

She fastened her footsteps in hope of saving the mynah, since it had mobility problems. Before she could do so, the mynah hopped away at a fast speed! So fast, that Rane couldn't catch up with it!

That happened less than a week after Winter passed away.

In the end, Rane decided against it as she felt that birds do not survive well in our house. For some unknown reasons, no birds have survived for more than 3 months while living in our house. Even when a few were domesticated birds who are in good health conditions.

Since then, she had been wondering if the decision she had made that day was a wise one. Each time she walks on the road where she last saw the mynah, she will keep a look out for it and when she failed to do so, she will be overwhelmed with a sense of guilt.

A few months later, as Rane was walking on the same road, she spotted the mynah again!!!

This time, the mynah was around it's friend and it seemed to be a happy bird with their company. As Rane happened to bring her camera out that day, she hurriedly snapped pictures of it~

The following are pictures of the mynah.



The Mynah standing at the pavement. Note it's right wing.


A right view of The Mynah.


Close up of the injured and swollen wing.

Rane suspects The Mynah fractured it's wings when the bone regrew, it did so at an awkward angle.


Lesson Learnt

The bird worked hard at making full use of it's legs to compensate for it's loss of wings. It didn't give up by living in despair. The mynah would have died if it did so.

Rane added that the best thing about us, animals is that we rarely mull over our losses. Instead we learn to overcome them. That is how it works in the animal kingdom; everyone strives hard to live. This is survival.

If we have to endorse a product, it must be Nike. As their tagline goes "Never say Die".


Rane's Words

Dear Mynah,

It's been almost two months since I've last seen you. I wonder how have you been.

If you are still alive, please take good care of yourself.

As long as you are still living well, I hope not to see you again because on both occasions when I spotted you, you were in a public area with much human movement and roaming stray cats. That will put you at a great disadvantage.

If you are in physical pain and ever need treatment, I do hope that you'll be able to find me and/or vice versa, so that I can send you to the doctor.

I hope you'll understand why I didn't bring you for medical treatment the very day I found you.

The main reason being, I didn't want to hold you in captivity since you have been a stray/wild from the day you were born. The immense stress of being caged up and away from your flock will do you little good, as it did to Winter. I believe that could be a contributing factor as to why Winter didn't survive for long.

In the end, Winter died a miserable bird. I could sense, see and feel his misery.

So please, keep yourself safe and sound. If you really must die, please die a happy bird.

I'll always remember you as the brave and courageous bird.

Missing you,
Rane


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Cute Little Noisy Peacock

On a happier note, I've uploaded a video of a stray baby peacock clucking away at Sentosa.

Rane was so obsessed with it's cuteness that she 'stalked' the peacock wherever it went!

5 comments:

Furkids in Hong Kong™ said...

Nicely written - enjoyed your post very much.

Like you, I'm wishing the best for the Mynah - and if and when he dies, he dies a happy one.

Please give Sugar a big peck on the head for us!

Sugar the Beagle said...

Thank you for the compliments.

=)

Sweet Licks,
Sugar

River said...

Good lesson for every creature. We wish the Mynah bird the best.

love & wags,
River

Kess And Her Mama said...

What a great lesson about life! Thanks for sharing.

DESERT PUPS said...

Woof, Sugar

We liked your story very much. It said a lot.
Desert Pups here just stopping by and saying woof,

Desert Pups,
Scuba, Keiko, Norman and Toby from Life Inside The Fence