Killed in a Tragic Trap

I was a little more than shocked as I looked up into the face of the dead Robin. There he was hanging from a twisted branch of the Clematis in our backyard.

Each year we trim the branches back to allow the new growth its freedom to take over the trellis. I was doing the trimming of the thick over growth and had looked up to see where the branch should be cut.

There he was hanging upside down by one leg. The leg was broken just above his foot – likely when he struggled to free himself from the mass that entangled his foot.

But birds never get their feet caught in branches! Especially Robins – they are able to flee the slightest threat. They are agile and able to get away from almost anything. Why in the world did it die hanging from one foot?

As I looked closer the evidence was so sad. There wrapped around its tiny leg was beige coloured fiber from a Tarp. The fiber was wrapped or tied around the Robin’s leg and trailing behind it as it flew. When the Robin entered the bushy Clematis and sat for a bit – likely escaping the storm… the wind wound the fiber around the branch and he was done for!

That is my “CSI” analysis of the dead Robin at least.

How could he do such a silly thing? After all he had traveled all winter in warmer southern areas of North America and had likely escaped countless Cat Attacks, Human Threats, and who knows what. And there he hung by one broken leg…

Across our back fence in the neighbor’s yard is a powerful “He Man” boat and motor. Over this outfit is a tarp that is beige in colour. The Tarp is frayed around the edge from the wind and weather… and there are thousands of fibers dangling down.

Mr. Robin had been there and had picked up a loosened fiber in his small claw. But as he flew or as the wind blew it wrapped around his leg… and the rest happened in the tragic way that it did.

As I reflected on this sight and the poor bird hanging there, before cutting him down, my granddaughter Emma stood with me. She said, “That is so sad Grandpa.” I agreed.

Mr. Robin was working so hard to build a nest for Mrs. Robin so that they could raise their next brood… and now he was gone…dieing alone without her knowing what was happening to him. All because of a frayed Tarp that is basically useless in its covering of the “He Man” boat and motor.

Is this an environmental posting? Perhaps it should be. But there is more that came to my mind. It is more about our human condition and the way that we live in our tiny world.

Things come in our lives that wrap around our being to hold us back – tie us down and maybe even cause a loss of purpose and maybe even our life…

I have watched a young mom decide that what she had been blessed with in her home with a great husband and wonderful kids…lose it all for a stupid affair. The new guy she met had tangled her purpose and life with an offer that looked so good. He had already been through a failed marriage commitment, had two kids of his own and couldn’t get along with his “horrible wife that couldn’t understand his needs”.

I have watched a young man in his early forties connect up with a new lady on the internet chat room… and the following meetings that came about caused his break up to take place. Confused with lust, staggered by his imagination, he fell into a trap. His new “fling” had children as well…but they lived with their dad. His new fling was looking for more meaning in life – and this new man was looking for the same.

The stories are too many to share here. Over and over again I have watched “Daddy Robins” in human terms, getting caught by something that seems so easy, so tempting and so silly… then their life is torn to shreds with the thing that has caught a strong hold.

It could be alcohol addiction, it could be drug addiction, it could be pornography… it could be lust… whatever it was it was not good… and the family died, the lives were lost from each other – IT WAS OVER.

I want to scream at times – “Wake up you idiots – the thing that you are doing is NOT GOOD FOR YOU!!!! FLY AWAY before you are caught and DIE!”

But who is listening? Who gives a Ding Dong? Maybe one person will…maybe?
Depressing? Nope – just reflective on my part. As I carved in my shop yesterday I thought about the Daddy Robin and me.

I need to tell my neighbor about the old Tarp and how dangerous it is to little birds. Not sure he gives a Ding Dong – but I must try.

I need to say something to my readers today – to smarten up and take new steps to avoid these dumb traps that are laid to ruin everything for family and life.

Yes the starting photo is gross and ugly… but now I have your attention – click the small “envelop” beside the pencil below… and send it to someone that needs to read it…

~ Murray Lincoln ~
http://www.murraylincoln.com/