Big Bird
Imagine being a fledgling, soaring through the sky, the wind fluttering through your feathers. Complete freedom. Then suddenly, the cool autumn breeze turns into a slicing gust of winter air. You become sick and cold. You realize you are alone in the world and have nowhere to go. This is how I found my soon to be budgie. It was the beginning of winter, just before a harsh cold front hit, when I found and rescued a sickly budgie from the forces of Mother Nature, just a year ago. After taking this bird under my wing, at 13 years old, I knew I wanted to become a wildlife rehabilitator.
This all began on an ordinary Thursday. I woke up, got dressed, attended my piano lesson, and came back home to start school. As my mom pulled into the driveway after piano, she pointed out a fluorescent yellow bird perched on our roof. As we stepped out of our Subaru, the bird clumsily flew down to the swing in the front yard. With some convincing from my mom, I selected a stick from the neighbor’s yard. Using this twig, I nudged the bird's feet to encourage her onto it. After a few tries, the bird complied and hopped on. I gingerly began to walk towards the house before by mom called me to freeze. Before I continued on, she had to let our dogs outside, so we wouldn’t scare the bird more than she already …show more content…
It was at this point, I knew that I had to do this for the rest of my life. With a few quick searches on the internet, I discovered the magical world of wildlife animal rehabilitation. Soon after this revelation, I began volunteering at our local vet and shelter, ELPO. In the end, I could not care for my little Big Bird anymore. Even though my bird and I had a rough start, she revealed many things to me. The most important of these being my newfound interest in animal rehabilitation. Thanks to my bird, I now know what I want my future to
Imagine being a fledgling, soaring through the sky, the wind fluttering through your feathers. Complete freedom. Then suddenly, the cool autumn breeze turns into a slicing gust of winter air. You become sick and cold. You realize you are alone in the world and have nowhere to go. This is how I found my soon to be budgie. It was the beginning of winter, just before a harsh cold front hit, when I found and rescued a sickly budgie from the forces of Mother Nature, just a year ago. After taking this bird under my wing, at 13 years old, I knew I wanted to become a wildlife rehabilitator.
This all began on an ordinary Thursday. I woke up, got dressed, attended my piano lesson, and came back home to start school. As my mom pulled into the driveway after piano, she pointed out a fluorescent yellow bird perched on our roof. As we stepped out of our Subaru, the bird clumsily flew down to the swing in the front yard. With some convincing from my mom, I selected a stick from the neighbor’s yard. Using this twig, I nudged the bird's feet to encourage her onto it. After a few tries, the bird complied and hopped on. I gingerly began to walk towards the house before by mom called me to freeze. Before I continued on, she had to let our dogs outside, so we wouldn’t scare the bird more than she already …show more content…
It was at this point, I knew that I had to do this for the rest of my life. With a few quick searches on the internet, I discovered the magical world of wildlife animal rehabilitation. Soon after this revelation, I began volunteering at our local vet and shelter, ELPO. In the end, I could not care for my little Big Bird anymore. Even though my bird and I had a rough start, she revealed many things to me. The most important of these being my newfound interest in animal rehabilitation. Thanks to my bird, I now know what I want my future to