Aubrey Hepburn

I was driving on my way to the college bookstore this evening when I saw a little Mourning Dove get caught in a downdraft and slam into the front of the car right in front of me. I though for sure he was dead, and I saw a bunch of feathers fall onto the roadway. Then, I saw the little bird jump up off of the road and fly across toward a parking lot. I couldn't believe it, I thought he might have a chance! But then, he suddenly dropped right out of the sky onto the sidewalk of a buisness in the lot, and feathers fell all around him. I pulled into the lot really quickly and got out and ran over to him. He didn't move. I picked him up, and blood poured out of his mouth...he was gone. :'( I carried his body over to the grass and placed him right up next to a tree, under a pretty hedge.

I know these things happen all the time, and I have dealt with a lot of fatally injured animals, but it always makes me very sad. This little guy was just a young thing and the car didn't even brake to avoid him when they saw him having a hard time flying. Poor little bird, he was so chubby and pretty too. I kept two of his feathers that fell out, and I put them on my shelf in a little vase.