Last Sunday night I was looking through ads on Craig's List and felt drawn to look at animals up for adoption. God knows I love animals of all kinds, but am not ready to invite another little dog into my home as I am still currently residing in an apartment and the dream home I plan to acquire is not til a wee bit later this year! =)
But I came across an ad for a beautiful baby Ringneck Dove hatched about 5 weeks ago and the breeder wanted a small "rehoming fee" I had always wanted to share my life with a dove as they are such sweet, gentle, and well, stereotypically speaking...peaceful little beings! Then my "rational" mind said "sleep on it" so I did and thought the little baby bird would surely still be available tomorrow if he/she was meant to share my home with me.
On Monday morning which happened to be Memorial Day, at about 11:30AM I logged back onto the internet and again studied the ad for the precious dove. I decided to send a text message to the breeder as they stated to do so in their ad. About 15 minutes later, I received a return text message stating the bird was still available! My heart danced in my chest! I then proceeded to text back to the breeder that I wanted the bird and would it be alright to come over and pick him up about 3PM that day? (of course, this was fine with them!) I then realized I had about 2 1/2 hours to find a nice sturdy cage home, "Dove" food, and accessories for this little being! I looked on Craig's List again and saw an ad (without a photo) for a birdcage for $30 complete with toys, perches and a stand. It was even LOCAL to my home which was a plus with gas at $4 a gallon! I texted the folks with the cage and also another person with a cage for sale in the area. Little did I know, that I had actually confused my text messages with both of the 2 cage sellers and had actually driven out to see what I thought was the seller with the cage with a stand~and it was the wrong seller! I looked at my watch and saw that it was now 1:30PM! I now had about an hour and a half tops to acquire a cage home, dove food, and then drive over to pick up my new feathered friend! I just continued to trust that all was well and that it would work out... I texted the seller with the cage with the stand and apologized for the mix-up as it was now 1:30PM and I had previously arranged to meet this person at 1PM. (Of course, it was fine to still come and see the cage!).
So I headed over to see the lovely birdhome with a stand and all and of course it was just perfect! I thanked the lady and made my purchase. At 2PM I still had to get some dove food before picking up my feathered baby. I went to my local pet supply store in hopes of finding food specific to doves (as doves do not hull their seeds but rather swallow them whole~which makes for a tidier bird than the average sloppy parakeet! )Yes, they had "Dove food!" The pet supply store had a small cage (on SALE even!) that I also bought to safely transport my little bird home in. It was getting closer and closer to 3PM as I then drove in the direction of the town with my little dove. I had time to stop in the local Meijer store and pick up some sweet potatoes (I learned doves enjoy cooled mashed sweet potatoes as a treat and of course I wanted to spoil my little darling!)then I was on my way... I turned in to the neighborhood and quickly realized I was lost in the subdivision! Just as I was texting the breeder, she called me and I looked up to the left and knew it was her! I was actually "lost" in front of her house! I parked my car, greeted Carrie and asked her how she got into doves. She said "My Mom has always been into birds." That's interesting, I thought to myself... so did MY Mom!...I then "met the parents"... the parents of my little dove! They were doting and beautiful! I had also come to learn that both dove parents share equally in child-rearing including feeding and perching atop the unborn eggs and they mate for life! "More to love about doves!"
I slowly approached the cage and allowed the baby to step onto my finger. I was amazed at how very innately tame and gentle these birds truly are! I held him to my chest and spoke softly to him "you're going to come home with me." I chatted a bit with Carrie and placed my little guy into his traveling cage and drove home. Yes, it was all "meant to be" and orchestrated so perfectly! I also realized in an "a-ha" moment that it was in fact, "Memorial Day"... that my Mom who had transitioned in 1993 always loved birds and AGAIN this was yet another gift from her!
I love this story Chris, so how is the lil guy doing?
ReplyDeleteI love doves too, we used to have them all over in our old neighborhood in swartz creek, had a ground feeder out bk under a pine tree for them, on occasion i could have between 7/8--12/13 doves out there feeding at one time...i loved to watch them feeding "in my yard" out of the feeder i bought for them!
Once we had a pair make a nest in one of the flower window boxes, right outside our bedroom window...that was a real joy each morning waking up to the cooing of the birds....and to watch that miracle of life process over a months time was a great joy for myself & my kitty-who was ever so nosy-like me at checking progress of the eggs and hatching and everything else that was involved w/the rearing of those baby doves. my hubbs used to yell at us, ur gonna scare the mom/dad away & then the eggs won't hatch, me a kitty would be stretching our necks trying to peek out the window w/out scaring whoever was nesting on the eggs at the time, but they are very protective of the nest & really never seemed to mind us too much-if they did happen to see us peeking...
What U said is accurate,, both the male/female parent birds split the rearing, i came to learn the difference between the two-the males are prettier as they have more color in there wings, and daddy always seemed to not mind nesting on the eggs...but momma was the one who seemed to coo more-so i think mostly when we hear lots of cooing coming from doves-the females are doing the most of it...it is such a relaxing/soothing sound to me-i sure did love waking up to that beautfiul sound every morning while they were in that nest!
I learned about about doves in that month, it was a blessing to have witnessed that & experience that miracle of life of those baby doves for a month of my life....LOVED it!!!
Thanks for reading and commenting Cindy! Yes, Doves are such beautiful and peaceful birds! The little guy, Uriel is doing great! He has his "big bird" feathers now LOL and has turned into a gorgeous adult! Yeah, the cooing is so soothing to hear them do! Thanks again for reading!
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