I am not a fan of the humble pigeon but they often visit my garden and greedily devour peanuts and seeds left out for the little birds.I tolerate this and for some obscure reason they often decide,when poorly,to land and spend their last few hours on this planet in our humble garden when generally i try to put them in an elevated or secluded place away from predators so they can drift off peacefully.
Today was such a day and for several hours i watched a poorly pigeon,sadly picking at bits of peanuts and sipping water from an old container,the bird could barely stand up let alone walk or fly .I prepared to follow my normal course of action but serious hernia pain prevented me from assisting.In desperation i thought let nature take its course but then suddenly an idea entered my rather thick skull,i have a cat,what do cats do by nature?Scruffy had obviously had the same idea and was already clawing at the patio door so i thought ok little cat,go and deliver the coup de grace and put this poor creature out of its misery.
Scruffy leapt out of the house and approached the pigeon with all the stealth and cunning one would expect from one of natures supreme predators,Pigeon half stood and waved one wing feebly and scruffy with all the ferocity of a wet flanell gave it a tiny pat with one paw and fled back into the house and hid under my bed.A failed Assassin to say the least.
Plan B thought i and downing several seriously strong pain killers i paced the kitchen for several hours until drugs took effect and armed myself with a seriously powerful but legal air pistol and beseeching the creator to forgive me for my imminent humanitarian action i ventured forth,
With hand trembling i approached poor pigeon who looked at me sideways with pathetically blinking eye. flies were hovering over its matted and crumpled feathers.I was already having second thoughts when sad pigeon cooed twice,stood up flapped wings and to my amazement flew away.
Thankfully i am not employed as a junior doctor in A&E as medical diagnosis and judgement are obviously not my strongest attributes .Love to all.....skis and a sad cat
