Permanently Horizontal

Buster and I went out this morning for our daily walk. Well, lately it has been more bi-weekly than daily, but since Buster is a dog and lacks any kind of formal education, I doubt he is keeping score. Its not as if he is one of those dog breeds that can run an obstacle course in 18.3 seconds or even one that can bring you a good stiff drink if you happen to be caught on a mountain in a snow storm. I don’t think he has mental problems, but he is content to chase dream rabbits for most of the day. I guess the human equivalent is reading someone else’s blogs. Just sayin…

The last few times Buster and I have gone on our walks, we have walked by a fenced in sport field. At this time of year there isn’t much happening on the ball diamonds or the soccer fields. Every now and then a lone set of footprints will appear in the snow, some kid on the way to school and taking a shortcut more than likely. A few days ago I noticed a magpie that was hopping around at the base of a pine tree. I thought that he was one lucky bird because Buster would make short work of him if he could get through the fence.

The next day I saw the same bird in more or less the same spot and thought it a little weird. I looked a little closer and the magpie was hopping on just one foot. I guess it may have broken or sprained the leg. I think it is safe to assume that birds don’t have universal medical and besides, all of the good doctor birds have probably gone south for the winter. This guy has a problem!

Buster and I saw the bird again today and it was in the same place hopping around the same tree as the other times we saw him. I can’t imagine there is a lot to eat left. I don’t know why he doesn’t fly to some other location where there might be a little more food to eat. Take off shouldn’t be much of a problem, but I bet landing would be a God awful mess. For sure it would do a face plant and depending on how fast his approach was, he could slam into a wall or a tree trunk.

Hell, he could break the other leg and instead of looking for food, he would become food. Maybe that magpie has given his location some serious thought and decided that he is better off hungry with one leg than dead with none.

This could be one of those smart birds that can fly an obstacle course in 18.3 seconds or even one that can bring you a good stiff drink if you happen to be caught on a mountain in a snow storm. He doesn’t look smarter than Buster, but who knows?

I’ll walk by tomorrow and see if it is still vertical or if it is permanently horizontal.