Animals Mourn Too

Before Emily died I had never thought much about morning and grief in people and definitely not in animals. Then about a month ago I saw this article on another blog. It is about a gorilla who's baby died and how she displayed her grief. It is a touching and emotional story, so read with caution.

There is a bird nest, barn swallows I think, on our patio. It has been there for three years. Each year the birds come back. We had intended to take the nest down before they returned this year because they just make such a mess, but we did not get to it in time and before we knew it they were back. And once they had started nesting I could not take it down. Not knowing if the eggs were there yet. So we are dealing with the mess. The eggs hatched about two weeks ago or so, and from time to time we can see one or two of the babies popping up out of the nest.

We had thought there were only three baby birds but today I discovered that there were four in the nest. I was going to take Maddie outside to play in the backyard and to clean up the bird poop when I saw one of the baby birds on the ground just below the nest. My thought is that there were just too many birds in the nest and one got pushed out. So I got Maddie distracted inside the house and went outside with a paper towel and picked up the dead baby bird. It was really sad. I know it is only a bird and that is life, but we have been watching the nest for months, so I feel a bit attached.

Since this afternoon I have been watching the nest and the mommy bird. I started wondering if she even knew she had "lost" a baby. It is one of those strange questions that I am sure most people do not even contemplate, but today I did. I am sure the in the animal world death is just a part of everyday life, but does that really make it any easier.