A Tale of Strange Friends and Their Adventure

Fin

(Father and son looking out of a window at a bird feeder with one goldfinch sitting on it)

Dad, why is that bird all by himself? I thought they stayed together in flocks.

Batty

I don’t know Billy, but I know a story about a very brave Goldfinch who was also alone. Want to hear it?

Oh yes please!

Once upon a time a flock of goldfinches were getting ready to go north for the summer to nest in Virginia. They were eating flower and weed seeds to build up energy for the long flight. One of the flock, a young male named Fin, had a cold and was feeling very weak and woozy. The flock leader, Grandfather finch, had delayed leaving to give Fin time to get better, but Fin was still very sick.

“We will have to leave the day after tomorrow if we are going to get to the nesting grounds in time” said Grandfather. But he thought to himself “I doubt if Fin will be well enough to leave or strong enough to make the trip”.

The birds all started to talk at once, some wanting to leave now and others wanting to wait for Fin, but Grandad held up his wing and said “We will wait until tomorrow to see how Fin is feeling, but we will leave the day after.”

While the argument was going on, Fin was listening quietly from a nearby bush. He was very sad that the flock was being divided by his sickness and did not want to be the cause of that kind of trouble. He decided that the best thing for him to do would be to disappear and make the flock think he had been eaten by a cat so they would unite and leave in time.

Fin flew to the edge of the woods and pulled a few feathers from his breast and let them float to the ground. He then flew into the woods to a hollow tree he had spotted a few days ago while he was looking for weeds.

As he crept into the hollow, he was frightened by a pair of eyes looking at him from the darkness. He said “I’m sorry. I didn’t know this hollow had someone living in it.” As he started to leave, a small voice squeaked “That’s OK; I live on the celling and don’t use the floor. You can stay and we can share the room.”

Fin said “Thanks, but will you tell me who you are?” The voice squeaked “My name is Batty, and I am a bat. I live in this tree in the winter, where I sleep most of the time, and then go to a wonderful cave in Virginia for the summer. What a wonderful life!!!”

“My name is Fin, and I am a Goldfinch. I am too sick to leave on the spring migration to the nesting grounds, so I am hiding. The flock will think I have been eaten by a cat and will leave on time. It makes me sad to stay behind, but the flock has got to get to the nesting ground in time to lay eggs and raise babies.”

A foraging finch from the flock found Fin’s feathers and cried “EVERYONE!! I have found feathers from Fin’s breast. He must have been attacked. He is GONE!!”

Well, the flock was really upset, but Grandfather decided to leave the next morning. Fin’s mate was really upset, but she had spent the rest of the afternoon looking and calling for Fin, and she was convinced he was dead.

Fin and Batty watched as the flock left. Batty suggested that when Fin was feeling better and stronger, they could travel together, as the nesting ground was not too far from her cave.

So, after a week or so, the two unlikely companions and new friends left for Virginia. They traveled at night and rested by day. They flew through storms and cold and often didn’t eat for days. But eventually they reached the area where Fin’s flock nested for the summer, and Batty flew off alone to the cave. Fin called after him “BATTY!! Come back to visit, and remember, we are going South together this fall!”

After a few days, Fin found the flock and was reunited with his Grandfather and his mate, a beautiful young finch named Gold.

Together they built a nest and raised a fine brood of baby finches. Batty visited often, and once the flock got used to her was always a welcomed friend. In the fall, they all went South together and found peace in the winter feeding grounds.

Strangely, no-one ever asked Fin what had happened, and Fin never told.

In bird circles, the tale of the Strange Friends and Their Adventure is still told, and many baby Goldfinches are named “Fin”.
Image: Bat: http://www.interstatetermite.com/bats/images/littlebrownbat.jpg

Goldfinch: https://soimahomebody.files.wordpress.com/2011/04/goldfinch-google.jpg

Stand your ground and still die.

A canine cop and dog were trailing a suspect in pine woods in southwest Florida. The dog stuck his/her face into a rattle snake and got bitten. Here is the part that pisses me off. The cop shot the snake and then took the dog to a vet for anti-venom. The dog survived and the snake did not. 
Now remember that Florida is a "Stand your Ground" state. If threatened you may use lethal force to defend yourself. You are legally entitled to kill the threatening person. So the snake was in its own territory, minding its own business when threatened by a dog. The dog didn't back off, so the snake stood its ground and used possibly lethal force in defending itself. For this it got killed. And the cop who pulled the trigger? No charges. Murder of an innocent. 
Ok, I realize that the laws of people usually don't apply to animals. Usually but not always. Say a pit bull bites a person in an unprovoked attack. The dog will be captured, quarantined and possibly put down. Not shot on the spot. 
Ok, I realize that snakes aren’t pit bulls. But they are just animals trying to survive in an increasingly diminishing landscape. They are NOT the aggressor. We are. They do not deserve to be killed just because they are snakes, or because they defended themselves. 
So what should the cop have done? Pulled back the dog and gone to the vet for a shot. Not killed an innocent animal that was merely defending itself in an unprovoked attack. Merely Standing its Ground. Maybe if the snake was named George it would have survived. 

Image: http://origin.news10.net/images/300/169/2/assetpool/images/081011041119_rattlesnake-320.jpg