The Hummingbird

 Here where we live in Northern California we have ruby throated Hummingbirds. My wife likes to feed them with special feeders you can buy which you fill with 1 cup of sugar to 4 cups of water which simulates the nectar that hummingbirds eat from flowers. Well, she was trying to refill the hummingbird feeders and I guess the male ruby throated hummingbird that this is his area or territory which he defends from all other hummingbirds decided he wanted more nectar so he flew into our house thinking that this is where the nectar was (which is true but maybe not in the way he thought). So, my wife was in the living room hearing his buzzing wings and wondering why she was hearing this. 

It seems the hummingbird went up into the skylight above our kitchen and got caught there. We likely have only a 50-50 chance of rescuing him. What I did was to take a pillow case and put a large gauge copper wire through it and then attached that with Grey or Duct tape by putting the tips of the wire into the end of the 1/2 inch PVC pipe length. However, so far he is a crafty little thing and the best I could do was to dislodge some of his tail feathers trying to get him into the pillow case created into a pillow case net like people use to catch butterflies so far. Also, I have to climb a ladder which isn't safe to do for more than a short period of time because I get tired too and it isn't safe up that high on a ladder with me at 72 years of age. So, this is a work in progress and I hope we can save him before he peters out completely.

But, then again, he is a wild thing and wild things often surprise us with their resilience.

An hour or two later. I have made likely 3 or more tries to save him but he is very elusive and small and I don't want to damage him any more than he is himself by hitting the window of the skylight. We have sconce lights up near there so I hung a humming bird feeder for when we aren't in the kitchen so at least he has hummingbird food up there in the skylight if he is interested. So, we might have a hummingbird pet up in our skylight for awhile I guess. Trying to get him out of there it knocked of several of his tail feathers. So, I'm still not sure if we can save him or not out of the house but at least he has food to eat in the meantime if he calms down enough. Necessity is the mother of invention after all.

I finally at the end to the day realized I could go on the roof undo a lag screw holding the skylight on the roof and let the hummingbird out that way. I didn't tell my wife because she would freak out if she knew I went on the roof to free the hummingbird at age 72. However, I was careful and so I was okay and the hummingbird and I both lived to tell about it.

So, alls well that ends well. However, I won't be sure until tomorrow whether he survives this night after today.