I went into the back room, checked on the other tanks & fed our hungriest temporary addition.
Last Thursday, some lady found a baby bird she thought it had fallen outta a nearby nest & brought into the Big Al's while we were there. I told her she should have left it where it was, that it's parents were probably close by, but now that she had taken it away, it was far too late for her to take it back now. there were a number of birds squawking (House sparrows, Grackles & a pair of Cardinals), but she said none of them got close enough for her to think they were the parents.
She said it was right at the edge of her driveway & she almost killed it when she pulled in. When she got outta her car she said she could hear it, but not see it at first. It had taken shelter in an empty McDonalds cup that was at the edge of her lawn.
My daughter thought that was hilarious and immediately named the bird "Milkshake"! She very seriously laid her hand on the woman's arm & told her, "Don't worry, my Daddy's here now. He'll know how to help. He's the greatest!! You'll save it, won't you Daddy." :blush:
What are ya supposed to say to that... other than, "I'll do my best honey!"
Of course, the store couldn't care for a young wild bird...
and contacting the local SPCA would simply result in the bird's death. (They put down any wild baby birds they get, unless it's an endangered species.)
It turns out this is a baby Cardinal. (Can't mistake that head crown!
) I know young Cardinals leave the nest about 2 weeks after hatching, but this one couldn't be more than a few days old. It's eyes are open, but it's still missing it's down covering over parts of it's body & all it's flight feathers are still sheathed.
Milkshake's doing great & eating like a flying horse instead of a cardinal. It's starting to loose it's feather sheaths & is just learning to grip with it's feet when it's standing rather than leaning on it's "heels".
Anyway...
after feedin the "zoo" we now have, I came back into the rec room & sat down to read some of the web sites I frequent (like here).
At about 10PM or so, I looked over into the big tank to see a tragedy.
It is with great sadness I report the death of my daughter's Tiger Oscar, Blondie.
I don't know what caused it. I immediately checked the water parameters, but everything is perfect.
pH=7.2
NH3=0
NO2=0
NO3=20
The 2 Ornate Bichir & the Pleco that are in that tank are fine.
There may have been a fight between the two O's or between the Oscars & our Common pleco. There's been a fair amount of aggression poppin up between Blondie & Hoover in the last few weeks. The thing is, I was right there & I didn't see any violent behavior. I look over everything is fine. 10 minutes later one of the fish is floating upside-down, dead.
Blondie's body doesn't have a mark on it, but my Oscar, Rajah, on the other hand is really beat up! He's got scratches & gouges all over!! (His marks are probably from him trying to get behind the stump deco we have in that tank though.)
Of course, it had to be the friendlier of the two Oscars that died!
My daughter was so upset when she got up this morning!!
:cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry:
The shoulder of my shirt is still damp where she was crying on me.
We're gonna bury Blondie in our flower garden when she gets home from school today.
