The Who Diary

Day 2 of my Captivity.

I had a restful night and feel stronger than when I was captured by the human. I am in solitary confinement in an area the human captors call the "dining room." As I look out of my cell I see many plants. Most have flowers and are green and healthy.

Pity. The human dwelling has no sky. No rain can penetrate to offer much needed moisture to the parched ground within their enclosure. The soft off-white growth on the ground here appears dry from lack of them watering it. I fear the same fate for the potted plants.

The smaller human captor appeared happy that I was still their prisoner this morning. They did not provide me with even a branch on which to perch. They know that I would have used it to break free from my cell.

My mouth was again cleaned and a clear liquid was applied to my throat. I was then given some warm food directly down my throat just as if I were a chick. The larger human fed me most of the day.

He appears to be injured as he walks with supports under his wings. I am certain the smaller human captured him too but he is now free to roam the dwelling. Perhaps it is because he is housebroken.

I hear other captives in another area of the human dwelling. They chirp, whistle and sing in their cells. The larger human enters their enclosure. These poor souls sound happy to see him. They whistle at him. I believe his name to be something like Mmmmmmiiiiiikeeee.

He brings them their rations and water. He offers them something called cookies. What is this? Cookies?

The captives sound happy to get this cookies. They are happy in their captivity. They have been brainwashed. Indoctrinated into liking this condition.

I must resist. The humans will NOT brainwash me! Good Lord! My brain is smaller than the size of a pea. It will be easily washed! NO!! I must resist.

The larger human offers me this cookies. What is this? Small broken pieces of an unknown food type? Good. He has gone. The cookies food is slightly sweet. I am able to swallow the smaller pieces. My throat is much better this afternoon. I finish the smaller seeds that were my ration this morning.

So I sit here in my cell. I can hear the other captives and I call out to them. Who! Who!! Who!!! They call back in many languages.

The small human approaches and again swabs my throat with that liquid. Why don't they leave me alone? Oh. She left some more small seeds.

Why do they hide the best seeds on the bottom? I need to throw the seeds aside to get to the best ones on the bottom.
The large human comes with a machine of some sort to remove the scattered seeds from the parched growth on the ground. It appears to be a suction device.

I hope my Comrades will see this message. I will write again when I can.

Who

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Day 3 of my Captivity.

I had some difficulties last night. I had a bit of a cough and felt cold. This morning the human that captured me did not look happy to see me. Again my throat was swabbed and cleaned with the clear liquid. I was fed the warm cereal as well. The tube passed with ease down into my crop. As I was being fed, the smaller human had water coming from the eyes.

Now I understand.

Of course their ground cover would be parched with such an inefficient irrigation system! No amount of water from the eyes would be enough to sustain the expanse of growth they attempt within the dwelling.

I am taken into a smaller holding cell with clear solid walls. A tube attached to a canister is attached. Some sort of heat source is placed beneath this holding cell. I am surprised. Soon I am able to breathe well enough through my nose I no longer need to gasp and I feel warm again.

I feel these human captors are concerned about me until I hear them say: Hope Who makes it.

I see. Their concern is for my ability to work. They will transfer me to some sort of sweat shop and put me into forced labor. I will have to make "it." I do not know what this "it" is.

I have gathered more information on these humans. The large one on supports is the mate of the smaller human. Laugh if you will but I still believe he is housebroken. The other inmates have given me information.

Name: Oooooooo Mmmmmmiiiiiiikeeeeee
Rank: unknown at this time
Cereal: Apple Jacks

The information on the sprinkler human is yet undetermined. I was given something called scone today. I ignored it when it was given to me. Must not look to anxious about the rations. When I was not being monitored I tried this scone food. Very sweet. Very soft. Very good. I finished it quickly.

These are humans. They will not remember they have given me scone. Again this Ooooooo Mmmmmmiiiiiikeeeee gives rations and cookies to the prison population. I am fed on a regular basis with the warm cereal.

This afternoon the larger human took me from the small cell and held me for an extended time following a feeding. How does he know how to manipulate the new feathers on my head to reduce the itchiness? Comrades, I would be lying if I said this was an unpleasant experience. I fell asleep shortly after this treatment was begun.

No. I must resist! This is part of the brain washing. I am pleased that my messages are able to get out. Contact Central Command and the Ministry of Misinformation and Maple Syrup Production. They know the coordinates near this institution.

I have learned it is Camp Nappy #13. I spoke briefly to a Canadian Goosi that was part of the mission that bombarded the human dwelling near by. A nice chap, from Labrador I believe. Our conversation was short as he was on a mission. I am now glad I may have made a contact prior to my capture. There may be too much collateral damage if bombings begin. I must establish communications with the other prisoners and warn them of the escape plan.

I am warm and was given my last feeding for the night. Oh. More seeds. They are much easier to swallow now. Breathing is better too. I have paced and paced for a long time this evening. I wanted more cookies food. Mmmmmm. Scone! Must not let the captors know I like this food. Must resist the brain washing.

Thank you all for your concern and ideas. Very good. I will be sure to save this diary. Following my escape I will one day read my adventures to my great grand egg.

I will write again when I can.

Who
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Day 4 of Captivity.

The day began with the sprinkler human trying to do both irrigate the ground cover and force feed me with warm cereal. The swelling of my throat got worse over night.

The captives offer no scone today. Critical error on my part yesterday. They must have noticed I enjoyed this food. They say it is because they have no more scone. I know better. I decided to go on a hunger strike in protest.

Another critical error. The hunger strike has caused an increase in their monitoring of my activities. They have increased the cereal rations and now swab my throat with three solutions.

My breathing was difficult this morning. Some congestion. Wish I knew how to hack up a phlegm ball and deposit it out of my cell door. I forget to poop on my captors as they fuss over me while I am human handled. I must be drugged.

This afternoon I was set free and placed in a chair. Mug shots were taken of me. As I do not have thumbs, I was not forced to hold up a sign with my information on it. No doubt they will make an ID card out of this when I am sent to the labour camps.

Following the taking of mug shots I saw my chance for an escape attempt. I flew toward the opening in the human enclosure. It is clear yet I was unable to fly through. Some sort of clear solid substance blocks my escape although it teases me with a view of sky and trees and freedom.

The sprinkler human tried to recapture me but I was able to evade the capture hand for several minutes. Alas I was cornered when the humans blocked my escape in a corner.

#@%&!!! Back into solitary.

I have no thumbs. I will not succumb to the brain washing and indoctrination into the human ways.

I will NOT be housebroken.

I have not spoken today to my captors or the other prisoners.
They got cookies, rations and water. No scone for them either. The human captors no doubt fear I may be slipped some scone food by another inmate.

All they know about me is:

Name: Who
Rank: Prisoner
Serial Number: 13

I must rest now. I will attempt another escape tomorrow if given the chance.

I will write when I can.

Who
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Day 5 of my Captivity.

It started with the same routine. The inmates in the other holding cell chattering and banging their ration bowls about calling for "free drink" and "cookie?" and for the larger human "Oooooooo Mmmmmmiiiiiiikeee!" The sun is not up and they begin their protests.

They are not as brainwashed as their captors would like to think.

The sprinkler human again begins by grabbing me from my warm bed and swabbing my throat. The warm cereal tube passes down with such ease. Mmmmm. My crop is full! I need to keep my neck extended today otherwise I am short of breath.

As long as I hold this position I need not gasp. Must not appear to be weakened to my captors. I have information on this "dining room" cell area of the human dwelling.

This is where they eat. They eat no seeds. They are fruit and MEAT eaters. They fill me with sweet scone and cookies and will in turn eat me when they feel the time is right.

I must escape quickly! Early this afternoon I fell asleep. When I awoke I felt so much stronger. I was able to breathe without effort and somehow escaped my cell. Not long afterwards the human sprinkler came to the cell. I am fortunate that I was not seen.

The irrigation system was turned on full force. She had found a fallen captive in my cell and irrigated the body. There were attempts to inflate the fallen dove but the lungs did not hold the human breath.

The remains of this dove were removed from my cell and taken outside. The humans there sprinkled the ground with their eyes and laid the dove in the ground with a sprig of flowering plant. This sprinkling appears to be some ritual. Perhaps it will make the outdoor ground cover grow better?

I do not understand. I do not remember having a cell mate. I am also confused as to how I was able to escape without effort, not only from the solitary confinement cell but from the human dwelling. It was as though I could go through solid structures.

Very curious!

I see someone up ahead. It is my brother! All this time I thought he had been caught by a cat and eaten. But there he is happy to see me. Wait....My Mum is there too. She was badly hurt when she struck one of those clear solid structures that are part of the human dwelling.

No bombing raids to free me are needed. The human captors maybe were not so bad. ((I must resist the brain washings and indoctrination they began!))

I have escaped my captivity and feel healthier and happier than I have ever been. I must leave you now and see my family. They wait for me at the Bridge.

Ohhh. Little seeds and scone and cookies. Yes, my friends I will be happy here.

Thank you for caring about me.

~~Who~~
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The culture came back on Who the mourning dove.

It was indeed Mycoplasma that killed him. There was moderate to heavy growth of the organism on the culture. It is highly contagious to other doves and pigeons so we are on the look out for new Who's in distress.

We used a steam cleaner to try to disinfect the stone patio we have and moved the feeding area elsewhere. And I suppose keeping our fingers crossed wouldn't hurt either.

I phoned Cornell University, where they did the culture, and asked if I could get the infection since I gave him mouth to beak resuscitation before Ooooooo Mmmmmiiiiiikke handed me a catheter to use as a breathing tube. The pathologist said this type of Mycoplasma was fairly species specific so I likely am not at risk.

Poor little Who. Since that incident we have seen NO OTHER birds showing signs of Mycoplasma. :-)

C3D

Oh Chickadeedeedee that is so sad. We have so many doves here. My mothers favorite dove is a big silver whitish looking one and he has a black band on the back of the neck. Im not sure what kind he is but he is bigger than the mourning doves. My mom has leukemia and is living with me and my husband now. And she says the doves are birds of love and God's special creatures. Baby Chicky can catch that cant he. Was he exposed? Sorry for your loss:(----bonnie

Hi Bonnie.

I think the dove you described is the Ringed Turtle Dove. They are beautiful! Your Mother is right; they are God's special creatures! I *sincerely* pray that your dear mother does well with her leukemia and stays in remission ... FOREVER! :-)

The doves and others can carry Mycoplasma and a parasite known as Trichamonis. These can be transmitted through contamination of food or feeders. Hawks and other Raptors are at risk to contract these when the catch an infected bird.

The adults and their chicks are at risk to get infected when the eat the sick dove. Baby Chicky was not hatched when Who was with us. Who was obviously very ill so we took extreme precautions to not expose him or anything that was near him to our resident birds.

Thanks for reading my story.

C3D

Hi Chickadeedeedee, Im really not sure if that is the dove but im going to look at the wing tips to see if they are white or gray. They may be the Eurasian collard dove. But they really seem white instead of gray so i need to really check :) The DR.'s said there is not much they can do for mom, they said they have given her to much Chemo. already and they found a bone marrow donor but then they said my mom is to old. She is only 66 and her dad my grandfather is 98. She still has a sound mind so it seems like such a waste of a beautiful person. They were not going to help her at all when she was first diagnosed but i had a HUGE fit and it will be two yrs this October since her diagnosis. That is time we would not have had! I told her that they are not God and they are people just like us and they dont know everything, right? So only time will tell and when that time comes we will see what can be done then. To change the subject, how are your chimney swifts? Has any more graced your presence :) I have a toxic neighbor too. I call the police anytime they do something i dont like. It really embarrasses them because they think they are so grand, and then the police shows up!!!! They poked my dog in the eyes and now she has places in both eyes. They have sprayed my flowers and sent the grand kids to stomp my azaleas. They repeatedly shoot birds and the newest thing is a mouse trap in the middle of birdseed. A poor little song sparrow now has a broken leg because of it! Toxic neighbors are bad!!!! I truly feel your pain. Did you call the police when she cut your fence or any of the other stuff she has done? I will call mine everyday if need be and now the woman of the house is trying to be nice to us after 3 yrs. of nastiness. AMAZING!!! She said her God spoke to her :) Imagine that. I really am sorry about the beautiful WHO, I thought it was cancer but it is a parasite. How awful. Hope to hear more amazing stories, you really should write books about your tales. They are quite fascinating. Many blessings to you and yours, Bonnie

Oh dear Bonnie!

You *MUST* find another doctor for your precious Mom! Someone who cares!!! She is only 66 years old and that is young! I am registered with the Bone Marrow Registry for 10 years now and have never been contacted as being a match. I would ***LOVE*** to be able to be the person who is a match and helps your Mom to recover! My blood type is type B+.

Because one or two or five doctors say one thing does not mean it is so. Please find someone who honestly cares about your Mom's best interests rather than the next ~chart~ presented to them! Your Mom can do it too! :-)

Sincerely, I will pray that your Mom is embraced in God's loving arms and receives His blessings and healing, if that be His will. I pray that you and your family also are blessed with His strength and courage to follow the path He has for all.

No more Swifts as of this writing. If you look through the Ponds there are many a story or adventure posted about our craziness or birdies.

I am sooooooooo sorry you have a Toxic Neighbour! They are the worst and they themselves don't care at all. All must be their way and too bad about everything else!

The police have been contacted a number of times and all is documented. The trouble is most times we have no direct evidence she was the one to do the property damage. They are aware of her trouble making and we continue to watch and photograph. She has not been seen since she was contacted by the police after the tossing of nails incident. ~~SIGH~~.

Thank you for your kind words.

Kindest regards to you and yours,

C3D