We have a pet, mated pair of doves. Well, not really, but it feels that way. Every spring, a pair of doves would try to make a nest on a very small ledge on a post next to our front door. Doves are very good fliers, even in strong winds, devoted to each other and very good parents. They lay only two eggs at a time because it is easier to feed only two chicks at a time. They are lousy nest builders.
Some years, they would manage to put together a decent enough nest that would stay put and not be blown about by the wind. And the spot is very sheltered, that's just how bad they are at building nests. Most years, the nests would fall to pieces and the two little eggs would smash apart on the ground. It was always a sad sight. All that effort and hope of children broken to bits by the vagaries of the weather.
This spring, I'd had enough of that, so I tied a basket onto the small ledge. In no time, they had filled it with twigs and other stuff and laid the first two of a total of ten eggs. They have, to this date, raised five broods. I don't know that the world needs more doves, but it has given me a lot of pleasure to have made their child rearing so much easier.
The question is why do we meddle in the lives of others? Should we meddle? Sometimes I think not. When I see the mess in Iraq and the problem of Russian Georgia, I think that we should know better; that it should be a good lesson for us in our personal lives.
But, alas. The other night, one of the fledgling doves left the nest, banged into the living room window and landed in the rocks. It didn't die as a result of its first flight in the dark. But it may have died as a result of our meddling.
The first four broods did just fine with the fact that our living room lamp lights up the area of the nest. None of them tried to fly in the dark. Why this poor, silly little baby dove thought that it should, we don't know. But we thought that we needed to do something about it; that we should "help," read that meddle. Getting into the basket requires a great deal of flying skill from the parents. We were sure that these juveniles could not manage it.
Its nest mate was still in the basket when we went out front to return the errant dove to the nest. The process of trying to catch the grounded bird, which eventually flew up into the tree in our front yard, so unnerved the one in the nest, that it flapped out and onto the ground. Now they were both out of the nest and neither parent had been spending the night with them for a couple of days. The basket had become too small for three birds.
Bernd tried to grab the second bird and failed. I finally tracked it down near the front of our driveway and caught itjust barely. Bernd then put it back into the basket. The other little dove was just going to have to spend the night in the tree. Later that night, while lying in bed, I heard owls nearby and was a bit worried.
The next morning, both younglings and one parent were on the ground underneath the glider that sits out front. Bernd asked me if I thought we should put some seeds out there for them. My comment was, "Haven't we meddled enough?"
This morning, both juveniles and a parent were once again under the glider. They've survived another night outside of the nest despite our meddling and for this I am grateful. Today as I look at them, they are looking more and more like their parents. The white feathers have left their foreheads, they have fewer speckled markings and their flight feathers and tails are getting longer. It seems that despite our "good" intentions, they will indeed make it to adulthood and independence.
It's been said before, but I will say it again, we should give great care and thought to the possible results of our actions. Even the best of intentions can have disastrous results. As for the answer to the question posed in the title, we meddle because we think we know what's best. But do we?
Dianne Lehmann is a jewelry designer who has been in business since January of 2000. Her interest in designing and manufacturing jewelry goes back beyond that to 1994. It took her many years of trying various creative outlets to finally figure out that making jewelry is where she could really shine. Dianne began with simply stringing beads onto cable and has progressed from there. She is now an accomplished lapidary (cuts and polishes stones) and silversmith. Dianne and her husband, Bernd, live in northern Arizona and both love to hike. Dianne can not help but pick up rocks (they are her first love) and some of these find their way into her jewelry. Dianne makes one-of-a-kind pieces that she hopes give people as much joy to view as she gets from the making of them. If you like, you may view her work at http://www.syzygyjewelry.com
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Fear not, sweet Dianne. When it is a matter of saving a life--any life (they are all God's creatures)--I can't feel that it is wrong to meddle. I think that is why God gave us a brain and a heart for feeling compassion.
Thanks for the vote of confidence. But my fear was that by trying to help we only made things worse. Just blind luck that it worked out okay. You are right though, compassion is never misplaced.
Hi Dianne, well done. Thanks for a thought provoking article. I think about how birds teach their young to fly and that is they kick them out of the nest. Sometimes we need to back off and other times it may be okay to "meddle" But before we do, we better mark darn sure it is because it is necessary.
it' a tough call, isn't it? however, maybe God, knowing you and your husband would take care of the little doves, placed them right where they're supposed to be. i had a toad, sometimes 2, come up on my porch around 8:30.9, every night this summer. i picked them up, talked to them, petted them, and felt the life within. i have a feeling God put them right where they were needed. thanks for sharing,
It was amazing to hold that little bird in both my hands to feel its warmth and softness and its tiny heart beating so fast. But I worried for the stress that holding it caused it. Still, it would have been very hard for us to just do nothing.
The doves are apparently finally finished making babies for this year. They have all flown away. They did leave one lonely little egg on the outside ledge of the post (not in the basket). I look at it as their promise to return next spring.
This one really made me ponder of whether we should meddle or not. I have to agree though with most of the responses. God put's things in our lives for us to be of service to Him and others (people or animals). I think you did exactly what you were called to do for the time.
I have a dog that was abandoned and I took her in. I know God put her in my life so I could nurse her back to health and show her love. She is still with us today and you would never have known that she wasn't always our Twilight.
Hi Dianne, I read your "current status" on the front page and I was curious! $, 692 and counting!! Way to go girl--it is an awesome article! Funny, cute and so right on! If I didn't say that last time, I meant to. :-)
There must be a lot I am missing and need to know about SearchWarp. Didn't know you could read someone's status on the front page.
My sister once told me that I think too much. She meant it in the nicest way. But I just can't seem to help myself. I see lessons for myself in the smallest and most mundane things. I'm always looking at the world around me and trying to find meaning in it. I'm glad that my connection to the doves clicked for you as well.
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