Sunday 2 October 2016

STAT!

There I was in the kitchen, mindin' my own business and thinkin' about what I might like for a snack, when I heard a loud thud in the family room.  Thinkin' it was Andy jumpin' down from somewhere or somethin', I figured if I was gonna get my snack, I had better get it quick, before Andy appeared and tried to steal it away from me.  I was just about to chow down on a tempting treat when...

"Crash cart.  STAT.   Fluids.  STAT.  Nip. STAT!"

Hearin' my sister Mason's voice, I ignored my tempting treat and ran into the family room.  I jumped up onto the kitty condo and leaned forward so that I could see out the window.  There she was, down on the ground, outside.  "Mason, are you in need of some nip?"

"Get the peep!" Mason answered back. "And do it, STAT!"

Well this kitty has seen enough medical dramas on television to know that stat stands for...   Stands for...  Okay, so I don't know what it actually stands for but I know it means, stat.  I mean, quick.  Or somethin' like that.  MOUSES!

"PEEEE-PERRRS!  MASON HAS A MEDICAL EMERGENCY OUTSIDE.  STAT!"

Then the peep and I raced outside to see what was the matter.

"Paper towels, STAT.  Shoe box.  STAT.  Nip.  STAT!"  Mason cried.

I looked up at the peep.  "And she's in dire need of some nip.  STAT!"

Blatantly ignorin' Mason's request of the nip, the peep ran over to her side and there, by Mason's paws, was a little birdie.  A goldfinch, I do believe.

"The bird is need of some nip?" I asked Mason.

"Don't be silly Sivvers," and Mason rolled her eyes, just as I might roll my eyes in response to one of Anderson's remarks.  "The nip is for me.  Birds don't use nip."

"Oh yeah," and I pawed at the ground by my feet.

The peep raced back indoors and moments later, she reappeared with paper towels.  Very gently, she lifted up the little birdie.  Cradling him in her hands, she took him indoors, in search of a mobile recovery unit.  In other words, a shoe box.  MOUSES!

"Mason," I hissed.  "You're not supposed to chase the birdies.  You are so gonna be in trouble now."

"OUCH!" and I rubbed my cheek where Mason smacky-pawed me with a paw.  "What did you do that for?"

"I didn't chase that birdie," Mason scowled.  "I SAVED him.  He hit the family room window and knocked himself out.  Must have been texting while flying or something foolish and stupid like that."

"So THAT'S the thump I heard.  And there I was, thinkin' it was Andy.  You know, Andy jumpin' down from somewhere or somethin'.  You know, with a thud."

"A reasonable deduction," Mason nodded.

"But Mason, how did you know it was a birdie?" I asked.

"Because I was having a little wash behind my ears when I heard a thud, and then the next thing I knew, there was a bird lying unconscious by my paws.  I put two and two together and got..."

"Five?" Anderson asked as he sauntered down the path toward us.

"I thought Andy was going back to school," Mason hissed to me under her breath.

"They don't teach math in Kitty Lit. 101," I answered back.  "No Andy, two plus two equals four," I explained.

"Four?  Still?  Oh.  Anyway, I heard there was a bird..." and Anderson looked about.

"Yup, Mason here saved a bird's life, and the peep took him inside where he could recuperate."

"Speaking of which," and Mason headed toward the back door, "I'm going to see if Peep #1 requires my assistance.  And to find out why my request for nip has not yet been fulfilled.  I did say STAT, did I not?"

"Yup, that you did."  I turned back to Andy and found him studying his paws.  "Whatcha doin'?"

"Tryin' to figure out how two plus two equals four.  I have two front paws and two back paws but when I count 'em all up, I get...  One, two, three, four, five.  FIVE!  How come I keep counting five?"

"Because..." and I took a deep, calming breath.  "Because when you're countin', you're including your tail.  MOUSES!"

"Oh yeah.  Hahahaha...  Go figure."  And with that, Anderson turned and followed Mason back into the house.

I sat back on my haunches and had a little think.  My sister, Mason, had saved a bird's life. Because of Mason's quick thinking, Peep #1 was able to come to the bird's aid and take him to safety, allowing him to recuperate.

Of course, had the birdie not hit the window in the first place...

Had the birdie not hit the window in the first place, the birdie's life would never have been at risk.

MOUSES!

                                                 ******************************

Did you know that millions of birdies die from window collisions every year? Accordin' to the Washington Post, as many as 988 MILLION birds die from hittin' windows, annually.*  And that's in the United States, alone.  MOUSES!

And did you also know that there are ways to help prevent birdies from hittin' your windows?  It's true!  The Humane Society of the United States has some great tips on how to make your windows bird-safe,* by usin' decals or tape or even hangin' some wind chimes and the like.  And, if a birdie does happen to hit a window - 'cause no matter how careful we are, accidents do happen - they tell you what to do to save that birdie's life.

REMEMBER, my sister Mason may have saved this birdie's life, but she can't be everywhere, savin' every birdie's life.  Peeps need to do their part, too.  STAT!


*    Stop Blaming Cats:  As many as 988 million birds die annually in window collisions.
      by Susan Milius and Science News, Washington Post
**   Make Your Windows Bird-Safe, The Humane Society of the United States



44 comments:

  1. That's right! PEOPLE, not cats, are birds' worst enemies! And Mason? A true HERO! <3

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    1. They sure are. Peeps don't like to admit THEY'RE the problem because then they'd have to actually do something about it. MOUSES!

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  2. Good for the Humane Society, cause the Audobon people are blaming CATS - not windows, not habitat loss, not aerial spraying - for ALL the bird deaths. Go figure.

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    1. Not to mention starvin' the birdies to death by killin' off the bees that pollinate plants with berries and seeds; and other insects that birdies eat directly. Peeps can be so evil, ESPECIALLY those Audobon and Smithsonian ones. MOUSES!

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  3. That was a lucky birdie.
    We had one fly into our porch door. Sadly, it did not survive.
    Purrs Georgia and Julie,
    Treasure and JJ

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    1. Oh, I'm so sorry. Yes, often they don't make it. purrs

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  4. That is an amazing statistic. Who knew? A couple times a year a birdy will hit our kitchen window. We haven't found any of them injured in the yard. Kudos to Mason for saving this birdy and not having it for lunch. XOCK, Lily Olivia, Mauricio, Misty May, Giulietta, Fiona, Astrid, Lisbeth and Calista Jo

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    1. It makes sense. If even only one birdie is killed at each house, when you multiply all the houses... Well... As there are A LOT of houses, there will be a lot of birdies dyin', too. And then there are the tall buildings! MOUSES!

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  5. "I put two and two together and got..."
    "Five?" Anderson asked as he sauntered down the path toward us."
    "Must have been texting while flying"
    Rolling on the floor laughing!!!!
    Excellent information on window/bird incidents ... I had no idea it was such a big problem. I have heard many people complaining that cats decimate the bird population though (shaking my head).

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    1. Peeps are ALWAYS blaming us cats. They do that 'cause they don't really care 'bout the birds. At least not enough to change their ways and stop killin', themselves. MOUSES!

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  6. We've had a couple of birds meet their untimely demise when they ran into our windows. It's kinda sad. Where the mom worked, which is a very tall building, they would leave the lights on all day and night to prevent birds from running into the windows.

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  7. This is a great reminder about birdies and windows! Birds just aren't that bright. A hawk flew into our enclosed patio once, and the dumb thing couldn't find her way out. My human had to help.

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  8. Oh my! That many? Heck, Mason would need to fly herself to save all those. Just as well the mice don't fly as things could get really out of paw. I really like the idea of wind chimes to help them steer a safe course, maybe bunting would help too? purrs ERin

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    1. Yup, there was somethin' about netting on that Humane Society site. purrs

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  9. Way to go Mason! Birds smash into windows all the time - Mom has some "stick-ons" for our big windows to try and prevent them from thinking they can fly through ours! BRAVO MASON!

    Hugs, Sammy

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  10. That was very commendable of Mason, but I have to admit I wouldn't be able to resist a tasty snack landing at my feet like that.

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    1. Had it been a Treat Temptation that had landed by her paws, she would have been on it, stat. MOUSES!

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  11. That birdie is lucky to have met Mason instead of us ! You made us laugh with the birdie texting while flying, and with Andy counting his tail as a paw ! Purrs

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    1. Yeah, Andy's not all that great with the math. MOUSES!

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  12. Yes, please humans, quit blaming the cats!

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    1. When I hear a peep blamin' cats for killin' all the birds, it makes me wanna smacky paw 'em right upside their head. MOUSES!

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  13. Wow! That must have been scary for the bird. It's a good think you guys understand what STAT means.

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    1. It sure is! I knew I had to get the peep's attention, for sure. purrs

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  14. We hope the birdie will make a full recovery.

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  15. Poor birdie. Every year one or two would fly into our picture window in the house. it was so sad. Sometimes tho, they would recover and fly away unscathed! I wish humans would stop blaming us cats too for all the birdie deaths. I am a cat and I have never caught a birdie in my life, nor would M let me.

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    1. In all my ears here, we've only every caught one or two birds in an entire season. that's one or two, combined! Works out to way less than a whole bird, each. And this year and last, none. Not one. Not one single bird death at all. MOUSES!

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  16. Wow, that's a lot of birds hitting windows! I never would've guessed such a high figure! I hope that birdie is okay. Did you ever find out what STAT means?

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    1. Well... If one or two birds hit each house and you multiply it by all the houses... The numbers get super big, SUPER FAST. purrs

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  17. I think it was sweet of Mason to call for help. We had one window on the side of the house were the bird feeders are that the birds used to hit so we have a decal of a hawk on there now.

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  18. Way to go, Mason! It's true, peeps totally need to stop blaming cats for hurting birds.

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    1. They sure do. Maybe if they stop blaming us and recognise all the damage THEY are doin', they'll actually be able to start savin' some birds. MOUSES!

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  19. Wait a minute, wait a minute...
    Mason SAVED a birdie?

    Something not quite right here (mol)

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    1. She did. She really, really did! Mason was a true hero, for sure. purrs

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  20. Yep Seville, lots of birdies hit our door and windows. And those thuds are really loud. And yet, kitties get da blame fur clumsy birds. It sure ain't right. Glad ya'll were able to save da birdie. Have a pawsum day.

    Luv ya'

    Dezi and Raena

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    1. Mason did a super good thing by savin' that birdie, for sure. purrs

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  21. Mason is a hero!! Yous knows wes has birds smacking into windows LOTS on our apartment building!!! And not only the windows, the glass walls that are where the deck railing is! Wes has put decals on our living room windo and on the glass wall but the silly seagulls still bumps into them!
    Kisses
    Nellie

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  22. Thank you Mason for saving the birdie. We have a 0 tolerance to getting the birds here too at The ARC Sanctuary. Thank you to all who mentioned windows, spray, losing habitat, and of course Humans. We have song birds and the likes out here and everyone seems to get along fine. Along with the bears and skunks and racoons, this is the forest and we all live in harmony. You haven't seen anything til you see 5 cats playing with a baby bear while mommy bear is sitting there watching.

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  23. Mason is a hero fur sure, and just fur the record we aren't mass murdering burd killers either. I think the peeps that think cats are genocidal burd killing maniacs are wrong - if purrchance a flying snak-pak is caught it's probably more luck than skill and besides the P.A. has strict rules about such things - just sayin'!!!

    Purrs

    Basil & Co xox

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  24. We have saved many a bird, even hummers after they hit a window. We need to make our windows safer.

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I love hearin' from my pals. I really, REALLY do. PURRS.