I come from a family that believes you have a moral obligation to help an animal in need. Which has lead to some pretty interesting experiences; my mom nursing an injured wild turkey back to health, a crow using a boyfriend’s sweatshirt as a toilet, and my dad being sprayed by adolescent skunks trapped in various places… more than once… the local vet doesn’t even keep track of the names of the cats my parents bring in anymore, instead filing them all under ‘Stray Cat Hutson.’

This is all just set-up to make my next story seem a little less odd.

One fine Spring day, my brother came home to find a pigeon in his yard. Not so weird really, pigeon are a ubiquitous bird buddy found almost anywhere these days. She appeared to be fine until he noticed that she was just milling around, and didn’t take off when he got a little close for comfort. After some rather unscientific tests, he determined she couldn’t fly. With a possible injury, and without proper shrub cover in his yard, she was certain to be kitty chow by morning. Bound by the Hutson Code of Animal Friendship he went inside and rustled up a cat carrier and an old blanket and some water. Dubbed ‘Midge the Pidge’ she happily slept on his porch that night, protected.

Midge lived a good life for the next few weeks. My brother found some proper pigeon food, cleaned her kitty enclosure often, and even contacted a friend with a flock (yep, a legit pigeon flock) to take her in… but before introducing her, she would need to be quarantined with my brother for a while to determine if she was ill.

I enjoyed the weekly updates from my mom in the Midge the Pidge section of our phone calls. Things were going well for the lucky little pigeon… But that’s where the story ends. Someone took it upon themselves to open the kitty crate and release/take her from my brother’s porch. He just came home to find she was gone.

Now, I will never know what happened to Midge. Hopefully she was well enough to get to safety. I like to think that she was healthy enough to fly again and is off having the greatest of adventures… laughing at the guy who was honor bound to be a pigeon dad for a few weeks. Enjoy the doodle in her honor.

PS. Here’s a snappy link to care for an injured or exhausted pigeon in need.