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**tedly** · June 17, 2022, 06:23 AM

A group of otters is called a raft.

**tedly** · June 19, 2022, 09:20 AM

Women were admitted to Harvard for the first time in 1967.

**Loren** · June 19, 2022, 12:46 PM

Originally posted by tedly View Post

We had a hummingbird trapped in the garage today.

I found this guy in the grass a couple weeks ago, unable to stand or fly off...it kept falling over sideways. Odd. I picked it up and got on my inspection goggles, it looked at first like some-sort of foot deformation, but it turned out it was all bound up with old spider-web material probably from the nest. It seems that with the toes unable to separate, it also couldn't extend its' leg, probably due to some normal interconnection of tendons. Just to see if I could do it, I was awhile with a pair of surgical scissors getting it fixed up and we did OK. It took a couple minutes for it to learn how to stand then, at which point I let it fly to a bush and left it. What I assume was a parent was nearby. I've had a few wild birds over time, not-legal (rightfully) but if it was going to die anyhow, I don't see the issue. Young birds adjust and bind to their situations including unusual ones pretty quickly, if you wait too long then you have to stick with it. I had a one-legged mockingbird for years in the early-00's that would fly to me and eat mealworms, and mimic the daughter's video game noises. When I tried to put him out he was miserable, he wanted to stay in the situation he had gotten accustomed to.

Having a wild bird sit on you does feel like some kind of privileged moment. A hummingbird would be extremely rare I'm sure.