Well, we had a big spring blizzard this week. Monday we closed the clinic at noon so we could all get home before it really hit. I, like so many others, had to make a stop at the grocery store. I thought this would be a perfect opportunity to cook a nice evening meal and not feel rushed. The store was busy with people making last minute selections, trying to beat the worst of the storm. I left the store, made it home, did my evening chores early and then got busy with the cooking. I was at the kitchen sink and happened to look out the window into the backyard. I noticed a pigeon waddling down the alley dragging a wing. He disappeared behind my big flight cage. I waited for him to reappear but he never did. I thought, "Okay, I have to go check on this guy. I won't be able to sleep unless I do." So I got all bundled up again and went out to look for the pigeon.
I found his tracks in the alley and followed them up into the little area by the garage where I park my jeep. They went around the garbage can, along the wood pile, up into the wood pile and then just disappeared. I looked up into the tree, knowing he most likely wasn't up there; his tracks had not only included foot prints, but also the track of the wing dragging in the snow. He couldn't have flown up into the tree with a broken wing. I happened to look to my left and there he was, sitting in the wood pile all fluffed up and cold and tired looking. I picked him up and took him into the house. I wrapped his broken wing, placed him in a carrier and waited to see if he would eat. At first he just seemed very tired and wasn't really too interested in eating. But by later that night he was eating. So, after 10 to 14 days I will unwrap his wing and put him in a larger carrier to exercise a little bit. Then he will go into the flight cage and will eventually be released.
What I find so interesting is the series of events that took place that led to the discovery of the injured pigeon. What if I had left the grocery store later? What if I hadn't stopped at the store at all? What if I hadn't been at the kitchen sink preparing dinner at that exact moment? And what made the pigeon stop at my house? Why didn't he continue on down the alley? How far had he walked? Is all of this just chance?
So, I named him Chance.
