Chapter 4 (Animals I’ve Known and Loved, cont.)

Every Injured Animal

My mother had love for all animals… for all living things, for that matter. We had a garden with rich black soil in which both my parents grew just about every vegetable possible. My mother had no fear of snakes, and knew they were good for the garden and once nursed a wounded garter snake back to good health. She had rescued it from the cat which had left a gash on its head. Through the course of healing, it having acquired a taste for milk, so she left a saucer of milk in the garden for the snake. She said she later recognized this snake for its white scar from milk getting in its wound.

My mom helped every injured animal which was found or brought to her. Some boys from an adjoining neighborhood brought her two young robins they had taken from their nest and stuffed with worms. The boys efforts seemed to have done the nestlings no harm, but Mom called the Museum of Science, in Boston, to find out the proper diet. She was told to mix up mashed potatoes, egg yolks, and milk into a thick enough paste so it would stick to the end of a wooden matchstick on which to gather a glob and drop it down their open gullets. This seemed to work. We wondered how to get them to open their mouths. But when they were hungry, they opened them so wide, there was no problem getting them to eat.

They must have imprinted on my mother, as they would hop about the back yard following her as she’d hang the wash. One seemed to always say, “See-Chuck!” and the other said, “Saw-Chuck”, so that became their names.

Long after the birds had grown and had been released, my mom would think they were the ones that came back to visit year after year, as friendly robins would visit and seem to know her when she called their names.