A Sad Day.

Have you ever woken up with the feeling that something isn't going right,

that maybe the day might be bad?

That is kind of how I felt this morning.

And so far has proven to be true...

This is Russel (or maybe Russelina).

Remember him from this post?

Well, Russel was hit by a car today and left to die.

Andy got wind that he was hurt, went to find him and called me to come get them.

We brought him to the vet to see if he would live,

unfortunately the best option for him was to euthanize him.

He was in a lot of pain and pretty hurt.

We are grieving for Russel now,

he was a really sweet bird.

I am sure every one at the vet thought I was crazy for crying and being so upset,

but Russel was a friend.

He was young, just under 2.

When he was a baby,

he fell out of his nest on the roof of one of the buildings down by the docks where Andy works

and was limping pretty badly and with a hurt wing.

We really didn't think he would survive,

the other seagulls were pretty mean to him and would gang up on him.

But Russel learned that the people around him were defending him

and after a while, like a stray cat, started throwing him bits of food.

He seemed to be able to live on his own for the most part,

other than that he had a limp and couldn't fly that well.

Everyday he would be there waiting,

he would even beg for food.

He even knew what the white paper pastry bags meant.

Andy even got Russel to let him pat him once or twice.

He was very special.

All winter we worried about him,

would we see him the next morning?

But he made it through.

Most people (especially around here) don't like seagulls

They think they are dirty,

messy and a pain, always getting into trash.

But what they don't realize is that they are a very important part of the ecology.

They help to keep the coastlines clean

and keep disease down.

We would be in big trouble without them!

And it isn't their fault that they are naturally scavengers and that humans don't properly take care of their overflowing dumpsters.

So I just want to take a minute to encourage you to think twice about what you might consider a pest.

Ask yourself,

"is there maybe a reason why this creature was created? and what is their purpose on this planet?"

It is also very important to support wildlife rehabilitaion.

Maybe look up a local vet or center that is certified to do wildlife rehab

and consider donating.

It may help an animal that was hurt by a careless human.

As sad as I am,

I am trying to remind myself that at least he was with people he recognized up until they took him at the vet.

For the time that he was alive, he was taken well care of,

fed well,

protected (for the most part)

and in a sense, had a flock.

Trying to fix his badly broken wing and legs might not have even worked,

there was risk of infection and he would have had a lot of severe pain.

He was already in so much pain from the accident,

we didn't want him to suffer.

Not to mention that he would never have flown again and probably been attacked by the other seagulls for being the weaker bird.

I am sorry for this being such a sad post.

And if you have read the whole thing, thank you.

Life is so precious, no matter what kind of creature you are.

I hope that Russel is resting easy now,

maybe his spirit is hanging out with the rest of our animal friends that have passed.

I hope tomorrow will be a better day.

And I hope your day today has gone better than mine.

xo