PROTECTING OUR NESTS

The Eagle, wiser than the owl, sees America, The Constitution, Freedom, and dog clubs from a higher perspective.

04|22|09 © TheDogPress / Little Bird - I was sitting on the phone wires listening to the words “dog club” and “legislation” buzzing through my feet.  All that squawking is about "animal rights" people who want to stop all breeding with spay-neuter legislation and get rid about 500 dog clubs in South Carolina.  The SC Federation Of Dog Clubs, one of the oldest in the country, can’t even keep up with it all.

The wires in Arkansas are really humming about SB 864.  Humans are notably late sleepers but dog owners opened their eyes to what it’s going to cost them; an extra $250 a year if they own 12 or more dogs and/or c-a-t-s unless they spay and neuter their pets.

I heard a loud screech, looked across the road at a half-dead tree and there, on a limb that provided clear lift off, was my hero, Mr. Eagle.  "If that money-grubbing law passes, the local roosters can invade homes without any warrant. I will never understand why people don’t learn from us birds." said he.

"Haven't they seen how we protect our nests?"

"Haven't they ever been dive-bombed by a mockingbird?  If a 6 ounce bird can make a 200 pound man cower and run, humans should get the message about courage."

Intrigued, I flew over to his tree but I had to find a little twig to alight on.  Mr. Eagle said that most humans have forgotten how.  I wasn’t sure if he meant protecting what's theirs or flying the highest and being closest to the Creator so he's able to see things so clearly. You might have noticed I’m not bashful so I asked what he meant.

Mr. Eagle turned his head, slightly cocked over, you know how they do, and he looked me right in the eye (they do that too) and he said people are no longer taught about the Constitution in their schools so most of their chicks grow up not knowing what it was their ancestors fought to protect. He said “The Constitution” and "The Bill Of Rights" are just a couple of documents they don’t understand.

Actually, he said a lot more than that. Mr. Eagle has been known to screech loudly when it comes to the United States Of America!!!  Maybe that is why he is called the American Eagle. Whatever. He always makes me feel small in my knowledge of humans but then, I’m just a Little Bird in the presence of a national symbol.

Mr. Eagle gazed into the far distance for a long moment, then he said “Humans almost killed us off with DDT and other pesticides. The people passed laws to protect us. We were declared saved in 2007. We are coming back because to humans, we symbolize freedom so why are the people passing laws that will destroy their own freedom?” I fluffed up my feathers to make myself look a little bigger before I dared to question Eagle.

“I'm not sure I understand sir?” He lifted himself higher on the branch and unfurled his wings, almost knocking me off my perch. He replied so softly I had to open my beak to hear him. “I once stood, actually, I soared for Patriotism.  I was a symbol of American greatness, a place where the people fought for Freedom from oppression. There is a reason America chose me but now I wonder...”

He held a wing out a little more so I could see each feather. “These are held together by over 300,000 tiny hooks. It is that union that makes me strong.  Americans must stay united.” Mr. Eagle glanced down at me and then, flexing those frightful talons, he slowly extended his wings.  The wind came to him obediently, caressing his flight feathers and then gently, it lifted him from the limb!

I held tight to my little branch as the downdraft from his eight foot wingspan buffeted the air around me. When I dared look up, Mr. Eagle was soaring to some distant place that little birds like me can never reach.