I think I saved a life on the weekend.
It wasn’t a person’s life. It was a bird. A crow to be more specific.
I was out for a walk just after 7 on Saturday morning. I was heading west on Tabor Boulevard and there were a bunch of crows (OK, a murder of crows) making a lot of noise.
I didn’t think anything of it, kept walking, got to 15th Avenue and then kind of doubled back.
As I got close to home, I could still hear the crows kicking up a fuss. I took my normal shortcut through a grassy area just off Tabor.
The crows seemed to be hanging out in this area, still making a lot of noise. Then I saw what I think they were making so much noise about.
There was a crow with its head stuck between two of the upright boards on a fence on the side of the area. It was still flapping pretty strongly, so I knew it was still alive and in good shape.
I paused for a second, wondering what to do, and then I realized I couldn’t just leave the crow hanging there.
I started walking to it and as I got closer, I started to say, very quietly, things like, “I’m going to try and help you” and “Don’t be afraid.”
The crow kept flapping its wings as I got closer and I kept talking to it.
It seemed to calm down for a second, but when I reached out my hands and touched its feathers, it started flapping again.
As I prepared to take hold of the bird, I took a look at the fence and saw it looked like a fairly straight opening all the way to the top. The problem the bird had when it got caught, I figured, was that it was a wooden fence, and there was nowhere for it to get purchase with its talons.
I placed my hand gently on either side of its body, pinning the wings a bit, then started slowly lifting it up. At this point the bird wasn’t flapping its wings at all, partly because I had them pinned and (I think) partly because it could feel itself being moved from its problem.
I got the bird’s head up over the top of the fence, and let it go. It made one quick circle, then took off to join the rest of its friends.
It was then I realized the rest of the crows had been very quiet while I was working with their friend.
Now, they started cawing again. None of them came by to say thank-you, but I didn’t need that.
I finished my walk, feeling pretty good about myself.