The Drowning Pool .... ALMOST!

17 years ago

This afternoon I was sitting by the little koi pond and saw three young starlings checking out a pile of mulch near the veggie garden. One had a piece in his beak and the other two were trying to take it from him. Then decided to investigate a wading pool we have for the dogs to splash around in and were perched on the edge of the pool.

A grackle flew near and then too went to the edge of the wading pool with a piece of bread. The three youngsters were excited that there was food of a non-mulch type and started to beg the grackle for the bread. The grackle would have none of their foolishness and flew off.

As he did, it startled the starlings and one fell into the pool! The starling is not a good swimmer and although he tried he was not able to get out. I got up and came to the rescue. The poor thing! He was as soaked as soaked could be.

I held him as I tipped the pool over to drain out most of the water. No one is going to drown in that pool! So I brought home the little one, warmed him up and dried him off with the hair dryer. As I did so I lectured him on water safety and that he needs to be more careful in future and to warn his friends of his experiences.

(Now I see the Readership has dropped off because they now are certain that I am a loony! ((She's talking to a Starling!)))

(Yep...That is about as exciting as it can get here. LOL!!!) We have had a wading pool every summer forever and have NEVER had a bird fall in and drown! Yesterday one of the dogs, Daisy, brought home a drowned young grackle. I assumed it had fallen into the wildlife pond, although there are many branches and pieces of driftwood and stones to act as escape routes should someone fall into the water. Now I am thinking that perhaps the grackle drowned in the dog pool? So please, if you have a wading pool, be aware that there may be an accidental drowning if unattended or if the water level is too high. C3D

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Comments (8)

fairy_toadmother
17 years ago
lol- starlings begging a grackle! glad you were on lifeguard duty, chicka. i once looked out the window one winter and saw a starling hanging strangely by its wing, upside down, from our metal pole. it had gotten its feathers wet then got stuck on the metal. how it stuck further down the pole i have no idea. was it spiderman?

reading on... :( thanks for the warning, however unfortunate. is it possible it is happening now b/c there are MORE nestlings than in the past due to your exceptional care for the creatures of air, land and water?
ademink
17 years ago
I was up here in my office posting on GW 2 days ago and heard "screaming" in the pond. I looked out the window and saw that a young starling had slipped down the waterfall and was clinging to some pennywort under a deluge of water. I FLEW down the stairs and out the back door at a pace I didn't know I could go...LOL (I deserve to lose 10 pounds for that effort). Anyway, I got him in the nick of time and he was doing the little scared screeching sound. I held him really close and stood in the sun and he got all happy and mellow. LOL Then I put him down and he hippity hopped over to hide in the bushes. I'm assuming mom will find him b/c they were eyeballin' me from a tree.
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What is really going on is pulmonary edema. It is not that he is drowning from the water that was in his lungs from the pool. Any type of insult to the lung can cause this. Basically if you aspirate fresh water, ocean salt water, or become exposed to chemical fumes, etc....the lung tissue reacts and becomes inflamed. Basically at the capillary-alveolar interface (the final little air sacs that kinda shares a wall with the smallest blood vessel) a leak occurs and the fluid from our blood stream fills our lungs. This is called pulmonary edema, our lungs fill with edema fluid and we essentially die a drowning type death. This pulmonary edema can be seen in a variety of situations....heart failure, really bad pneumonia, after major bodily trauma, etc.
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grandmapoo
17 years ago
Ahhhhhhhh, you guys. I love reading your stories.

I have a small 24" deep pool for my grandkids. Never thought of a bird getting stuck in there. I do rescue several bugs every morning tho. I'll float a piece of styrofoam on the surface.
Thanks for the heads up. :)
youreit
17 years ago
I'm glad I don't have grackles or a kiddy pool, but I'm going to keep an eye on my pond this year, anyway. I haven't had an incident since it was put in about 5 years ago, but this sounds like a strange year.

Oh, what I wouldn't give to kiss a grackle on the head!

Brenda
chickadeedeedee
Original Author
17 years ago
Hmmmmmmm. It has indeed been a strange birdy year so far. We have cared for more birds that we ourselves have found than have been brought in by other people. Usually it is the other way around but the season is still young. Then we'll get opossum, bunnies and chipmunks to nurture among others.

LOL!!! I know about that unexpected ability to run fast when needed! Well done to save the "showering" starling. :-) My personal theory is I simply do NOT run or move fast because I am saving all that energy to an emergency situation.
(That's my story and I'm sticking to it.)

Brenda, I gave Bub a kiss on her head from you today. I gave Kramer a smooch too.

C3D
youreit
17 years ago
Ohhh, the running thing! For some reason, my family always seems to look worried when I veer off in a semi-scrambling run-trot. I have no idea why! LOL

Ahhh, I think I felt my lips tingle last night. Thanks, C3D!!! :D

Brenda
grandmapoo
17 years ago
"Ahhh, I think I felt my lips tingle last night."
lol...I was going to say something like...
Nevermind!
:)
chickadeedeedee
Original Author
17 years ago
LOL!! You're welcome.

BTW... I gave my Mike a smooch too so he wouldn't feel too jealous!

C3D :-)

The Drowning Pool .... ALMOST!

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The Drowning Pool .... ALMOST!

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fairy_toadmother

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