Our World Tuesday: Hungry Birds, Cruel People

Rest in peace, gentle bird.


Be well, little guys.


From May 20, 2012
From May 20, 2012
Today I made my weekly pilgrimage to Quartermoon Books on Topsail Beach for a smoothie and a look at what the current good books are.  Quartermoon Books is a wonderful and friendly place to stay current on what's worth reading as well as on the best kind of smoothies south of the Mason-Dixon line.  I go there to drink, and my daughter approves.

The ride home snapped me out of my bookish reverie when I came across a mom with her child in a jogger stoller and a stranded bird at her feet.  The bird looked remarkably like the tired one I came across on the beach earlier in the week.  So I made my way out to see this woman and the bird right after I got home.  

It turns out the bird is a loon.  Loons are starving around here right now--and right now is mating season.

The young mom who found this bird and called for help was able to do so because she does not have a primitive cell phone, as I do.  As a result, she knew to capture the bird and put it in a  dark, safe place until a wonderful woman who is a volunteer for Possumwood Acres from Sneads Ferry came along to get the hungry bird.  

The volunteer animal rescue worker told me that not so many years ago, pelicans were being harassed and decapitated right here on Topsail, and the abuse is starting up again. 

Some days around here are downright depressing.  Those are the days human passers-through at the beach tear it up for their own pleasure.  

Our World Tuesday

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26 Comments

  1. a bright spot is the caring human reaching out to the birds...

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  2. Anonymous10:55 AM

    That's so sad. No wonder I care for animals more than humans. Humans are cruel, with the exception of those who stop and do something about animals in need.

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  3. I'm so glad the bird was saved. It is terrible what thoughtless people do to wildlife.

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  4. It is so sad and I'm so glad at least that there are still some people who try to make a difference by helping birds and animals. I hate to think of our world as a cruel one, but in so many cases it is just that.

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  5. It is the people like you who care and that woman without a cell phone that mellow out the cruelty in our world and make it more endurable.

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  6. Something about public places brings out the best in many and the worst in some people. The best things are not really evident though because trash is picked up, injured birds are taken care of, the worst is left for all to see.

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  7. Anonymous12:17 PM

    Oh, how very very sad. Thank goodness for the compassion of people who do help.

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  8. It's always so hard to understand cruelty for its own sake. Thank goodness for people like you and the women you met. Perhaps, there is some kind of mad balance in the universe after all.

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  9. Now that is definitely sick!! Gross!! Ewwwww!!!
    And unbelievable!!!
    Sorry to hear this paradise has such evil dwelling in and around it.
    HUgs
    SueAnn

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  10. I would be very very afraid of the person who harmed that animal.

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  11. Oh so sad. We don't seem to have loons out here.
    But why are they hungry?
    I'd give them some mashed worms. Poor little guys.

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  12. It is sad that so many people don't care for and protect our world and the animals that inhabit it. Luckily, there are those out there that do care--we need to develop that attitude and spirit in many more. Mickie :)

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  13. So sorry about these birds. You are doing a lot building awareness.

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  14. The cruelty of some people -- whether intentional or not -- is mind-boggling. I'm glad the mother was able to help save the loon.

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  15. Oh god, who would do such a thing? It is a mad world.

    I am glad that at least one loon is safe.

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  16. Why do some humans have to take out their frustrations on animals. Some louts broke into the zoo here at night and attacked and badly wounded a blind, over ninety year old flamingo.Just unfathomable cruelty to attach a totally defenceless creature.

    Sometimes I feel I have lived too long and seen too much of man's inhumanity.

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  17. I get so angry hearing how people are so heartless hurting animals and bird. How can they be so cruel. I hope the loon is Ok, thanks to the woman rescuing the poor baby.

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  18. Some days it really does not do to think to hard about what people do - it only makes you sad.

    But other days it pays to get angry!

    Cheers - Stewart M - Australia

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  19. I'm appalled at these accounts of cruelty to animals and birds. They must be arrested.

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  20. There are still some kind people in the world. I hope the little guy makes it.

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  21. Such a sad story...but I'm unclear as to why they're starving? Sad to hear of any abuse of any wild animal/bird...

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  22. What? That's just horrible about the pelicans. People just sometimes I can't believe.

    Why are the loons starving?

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  23. But it was a good thing about that young mother taking time to do what she did...her child will grow up to be one of the good ones too! So there's hope.

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  24. note the tearing-up without letting it tear YOU up! sometimes, all we can do is witness, carry on, and celebrate the heroes!

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  25. That is just so sad... I sometimes feel like a different species when I hear of atrocities like that, I have nothing in common with that human kind.:(
    Lovely shots nevertheless, one can feel the atmosphere...
    xoxo

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  26. Really a sad story. The cruelty to animals is terrible and intolerable.

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