Morning of Animal Drama

This morning was not my best.

First, while drying my hair after my shower, I was startled by a huge spider who appeared to be staring at me from his spot in front of the toilet on the bathroom floor. After a few moments of fright, and huffiness toward peeping tom spider, I assessed the situation and decided to carry out a capture and release effort. I finished drying my hair, tossed on some clothes, and armed myself with a glass and a Bed, Bath & Beyond mailer.

Well, it turns out this spider was a runner. And, it ran right into the dark corner behind Kitty's litter box. I pulled the cat box out from its little nook outside the bathroom door and attempted to reason with the spider as it huddled in the corner ("Listen, dude. I know you're scared but you must come out and leave this instant!" Believe it or not, I've actually had luck with telling spiders to go out the door and them doing it). Then, I worked on coaxing it out with the poop scooper. The spider's behavior was nothing short of erratic. He ran in, he ran out. He ran out a little, then dashed back in. He made a complete circle around the nook and stopped in another corner. Kitty, frankly, was no help. She kept pushing her way in to sniff at the spider. Fortunately/unfortunately, she is not a killa. She just wants to know what's going on and gets in the way.

Finally, spider came out enough for me to capture with the glass, cover with BB&B flier, and deposit in the backyard. Once in the backyard, though, another horror awaited me. A neighbor cat had captured, and was in the process of torturing, a young bird. Kitty, having zero interest in harming spiders or birds, does take extreme offense at other cats infringing on "her" territory. After I tried unsuccessfully to shoo and keep the offending cat away, she noticed and charged out the patio door to give real chase, freeing me to deal with the poor little bird. Kitty is the grumpy little old lady of the neighborhood, one the other cats seem to fear.

The little bird was still alive but messed up. It couldn't fly away. Not sure what to do but wanting to keep it from other attacks, I scooped it up into a Hush Puppies shoe box I found in my storage space. Then, I called and IM'd a couple of people. The popular suggestion was for me to put it out of its misery, but it turns out I'm not a killer either. Generally, I think of myself as a strong person, but I learned I'm not strong enough for that, even if it was probably the most humane thing to do. I looked the bird in the eye, and I felt wrong taking its life. Not to mention too weak to do it properly. I was so freaked out that, had I attempted it, I'm afraid I would have botched the job terribly, traumatizing everyone involved even more. Of course, the flip side is the guilt of most likely cruelly prolonging its suffering. Oh, what I'd give to know with all certainty what's right in these situations!

So, I called the local animal shelter and ended up dropping the bird off there. The woman who took the shoe box from me was really nice and upbeat-cheerful, peeking in at the bird to check the damage and talking sweetly to it. Seeing my sad sack state, she told me about a wilderness animal rehab program they work with, like it might be an option for this one, but I kinda think she was just trying to ease my mind a little. I appreciate that, though, and even loved her a little bit in the moment for it.