damn deer fence

“Megan! Megan! I need you!” I hear her open the her door quickly and she appears at the top of the stairs. “There’s another bird stuck!” “Where are the gloves and the scissors?” she’s quickly down the stairs and we are heading out to the garden.

As we approach the garden, we can both see the poor bird, desperate to free itself from the deer fence. We both stand there for a moment. “What should we do?” I turn to her. Unfortunately, she is experienced in freeing a bird from the damn deer fence that protects our garden but clearly NOT the birds! Slowly, Megan reaches for the bird and cradles it in her hands. The bird’s eyes look right into ours. Those eyes and her chirps are calling for help. “It’s OK birdie!” I repeat over and over, hoping she understands at least my gentle tone if not my words. Clip by clip. Snip by snip. We untangle her feet and head. She remains calm, chirping only when Megan adjusts her grip. I pause my snipping. We both examine the situation, trying to find the shiny black lines that are the deer fence. Megan and I switch roles. The bird is now in my hands and Megan snips and snips, purposefully, carefully. I watch her admiring her patience and determination. Soon, we can see that her neck has been freed along with her feet. I adjust my grip and Megan snips a few more times around her body which is just enough for her to break free and hop, fly away. Our arms and hands drop to the side and we watch as she makes her way to the neighbors yard.

“I’m done with that deer fence!” Megan announces as we head back to the house praying for our little friend.