PIDGE
On May 15th, 2008, I found an injured rock dove fumbling about in the yard outside my kitchen window. The enclosed and recessed nature of the area implied that the pigeon must have fallen at least three meters to have wound up in the predicament she was in and was without the means for escape or shelter. She obviously wasn't doing well, but was certainly quite alive and willing to live a bit longer.
I brought the pigeon into my apartment and made her a little nest in a cardboard box with towels, a water dish, and some food. She eagerly drank the water and I sat with her a while and gently petted her head: an act she seemed to quite like and one which calmed her down immensely. It was about this time I began referring to the bird as 'Pidge'.
I called the Seattle Animal Shelter for advice on what to do with the bird, and the person who answered the phone was surprisingly kind: expressing nothing but concern for the pigeon and telling me that he would send someone over to gather the bird as soon as possible.
A few hours later, a woman from the Animal Shelter came by and I brought the pigeon out to her. Unsolicited, she let me know that they would do everything to help the pigeon, and that if Pidge were able to live that there was a safe place for a dove to while away her days.
Ref. Refuse.
Pidge: where I found her
Pidge: drinking from the water dish
Pidge: a ruffled dove