Dove Overboard!

Thank you, accipiter, for the penguin-keychain-flashlight. It came in extremely useful tonight, when I returned to Fort Worth from Houston to discover my birdcage door standing two inches open, and my diamond dove MIA. (The canaries were still inside the cage, thinking quite loudly at me: "Fuck, NO, lady! Did you think we would go out THERE? There are CATS out there!")

My first thought: "Shit!"

My first COHERENT thought: "Okay. Don't panic. Don't panic. Not enough feathers on the floor for him to be dead. No blood at all. No cat yak, also - my cats can't keep down semi-moist cat food, let alone *gasp* natural prey."

So I retrieve my flashlight and go peering under fridges, beds, dressers, and everywhere else I can think of, looking for either a larger pile of feathers, a very large, meaty pile of cat yak, or a very frightened, hungry little bird. (Aside: His name is Frodo - prior to the movies, I feel compelled to add - because he is missing a number of toes on one foot. Not just a frightened bird, but a CRIPPLED bird!)

After about an hour of this, I am near to tears, and about to give up and assume my cats have, miraculously, killed the bird, completely consumed him, and licked the kitchen floor clean - or else killed him somewhere I cannot find, which is also possible.

Before I totally give up, I move one last box, and am greeted with a flurry of startled feathers. Cue the arrival of one tired diamond dove - alive, shellshocked, and totally uninjured.

*snicker* My mighty hunters. They never managed to get a claw on him.

Bird: 1
Cats: 0
Me: Relieved, very happy.

...and thanks again for the flashlight!