后院落下一只雏鹰 (w English)

上周六晚间，我推开后院的门，一只脚刚刚迈出去，就发现院子里有点异样。院子中间摆放的一张小椅上放着一个生锈的铁铸装饰品，上面站着一只鸟，花白的羽毛，那一双眼睛炯炯有神，这眼睛让我一下子明白了这是一只鹰。我赶紧把脚缩回房内，压低声音，生怕惊动了门外的鹰，急急地对着楼上喊，"你快下来!"

某人听出我声音里的异样，赶紧下来了。我告诉他院子好像有一只鹰，他顺着我的指示，看到了那只鹰，随后拿起桌上的相机，蹲在门口，咔嚓咔嚓地拍了起来。

看着这只耷拉着翅膀、好像耸着肩的鹰，我和他的第一感觉都以为这鹰是来我们家后院喝水，掉进后院的一个大水缸里了(后来发现不是，是只走散的雏鹰)。鹰一直一动不动地站着，直等到他拍完起身，这起身的动作一定惊到它了，它这才开始挪动地方。我们也因此知道这是一只雏鹰，尚不会飞。商量了一下，觉得还是不要惊扰它，就把门关上，吃晚饭去了。

吃完饭已经7:30左右了，见鹰挪到了另一扇窗边的院角，孤零零地站在一根躺倒的树干上。透过窗，我看它缩着脖子，夜风吹起它身上零乱的羽毛。夜幕渐渐降临了，望着它，我心生怜悯，这只走散的鹰宝宝如何过夜啊? 我开始上网查询，查到一些建议。我俩打开了车库门，把鹰赶进了车库，找来一件旧衣服把它裹着，放进一个大大的纸盒子里。我切了一些肉丝，某人依照网上的建议，用筷子夹着让它啄。鹰宝宝很小，尚不知自己吃。很快，一小块肉吃完了，我又拿来桌上晚间吃剩下的三文鱼，取了中间那块干净，我们没有碰过，又不太有咸味的肉拿去给它吃，鹰宝宝从开始的挣扎到一口口吃肉吃鱼，安静了下来。我们把盒子留有空隙地盖好，放到车库的凳子上，关上了门。黑暗中的鹰宝宝一动不动，没有了声响。

安抚好鹰宝宝，已经八点多了。我开始打电话，给animal rehabilitation center留了言，又上网查讯，看到各种意见。十几分钟后，电话打回来，说他们不能收留鹰，要求我打电话到Animal Shelter, 电话会转到警察处等等。我问到，鹰宝宝已经长羽毛了，好像也没有受伤，要不要放了它就好? 她回答的很坚决，不行，鹰宝宝会有危险。我放下电话立刻开始照办。果然电话转到了一位女警察那里，问明情况后，要了我的地址，告诉我会有人上门。当我问及大概需要多久时，女警察很不耐烦地敷衍着。我不敢多问就挂了。很快被assigned的dispatcher打来电话。当我告诉她，鹰有羽毛，好像也没有受伤时，她的反应是，鹰妈妈应该在附近看着，让我们放了它就好。我也不知道她是嫌麻烦还是真的如此，可能一半一半吧。想想这么黑的天哪有鹰妈妈会来，放了它，让它在外面受冻，不如不去折腾它，就让它在车库里暖暖地待一晚吧，等第二天一早就放了它。

心里有事，第二天周日六点醒来，有点不想起床，但想到天亮了，鹰妈妈会不会来找鹰宝宝，就挣扎着起了床。从冰箱里拿出昨晚解冻好的牛肉，想喂它一下再放了它。随后，把车库里的盒子拿到院中，打开盒子那一瞬间，见鹰宝宝惊恐万状，脚都站不稳地往后退，翅膀张开，嘴也张开着，一副要啄人的样子。心软了，顾不上喂它，将盒子一侧倒，就放了。它躲进了附近的草丛中。我看着手中切好的牛肉，想想它一定饿了，就把切细的牛肉放在草边上。不见它吃，只好蹲下身来，拿起筷子，隔着距离，人前倾，吃力地伸着胳膊，远远地递到它嘴边。它总算吃了一些。我关了门，上楼准备接着睡觉。然心里总是记挂着，睡不踏实，时不时从楼上窗户往下看，看不见它，又下楼来寻它。只见它呆呆地站在一个角落里一动不动，眼睛好像睁开着，又好像半闭着，眼珠不时有规则地往上一翻，似一道白光一闪。想必它也在睡回笼觉吧。

直到九点多，不见鹰妈妈踪影，我找来昨晚dispatcher在我手机上的号码，又打电话留了言。不见回复。又去查询当地Animal Shelter开门的时间。好在网上查到的周日开门的，10点开。十点一过，我就拿起电话打去shelter,结果又说不对外，七转八转又转到警察那里。又是一个女警察，不过听口音不是同一个人。她答应说过来看看。

11点左右太阳出来了。阳光洒进了后院。鹰宝宝慢慢挪身走到了斑驳的太阳下，晒着，半张开着翅膀，还梳理起了羽毛，那一刻真希望时光就此长此以往，让它留在院子里，不再去打扰它了。

十一点半，警察终于姗姗来迟，她戴着用小围巾做的口罩，从车里拿下一个大大的铁笼子，另一只手拿着一条大大的浴巾。我们帮着她，一番里外围攻，把鹰宝宝捉住。警察用浴巾裹着，检查了鹰翅膀，摸着它的全身，说，不像有受伤，问了我们几个问题，比如有没有鹰巢在附近等等，后来觉得这雏鹰太瘦弱了，估计几天没有进食，遂决定带它去看兽医。最后一句话是，待它检查完好，要放回这里。我举起大拇指说，That's great.

警察的车趴在前门口有一阵子不见开走，想起她的围巾口罩，想起家中口罩有多，就拿了一盒口罩出去，走到车窗外，车窗关着，她坐在车座上一边在做笔录，一边在讲电话。我等了好几分钟，等她最后揺下车窗，隔着距离告诉她我有spare face masks, 她只说一句，她prefer自己的mask。 我礼貌地再次谢了谢她的到来，谢谢她help save the baby hawk，转身离去。

想起几年前因为自己养鸡，招来警察上门，那个警察非常善意, 两次近距离的接触给我留下了极好的印象。而这次，两位女警察，电话里的，和上门来看鹰宝宝的，自始自终比较冷漠，连最起码的一些greeting也没有，没有一句谢谢之类的客套话。非常时期，或许我敏感了。

周日是父亲节，周六下午收到女儿给某人寄来养moss的玻璃吊篮。傍晚又遇见雏鹰，听见某人对着它又是吹哨(想说鸟语)，又是hello的，最后居然还说，"来，到Daddy这里来"。父亲节快到了，难不成父爱大发，想念离巢的大鸟，想收留无家可归的小鸟不成?

All lives matter:)).

后注: 这个雏鹰有可能就是Merlin, 我四年前在家门口的树上拍到过它捉了兔子的照片。见link. :兔死谁手

 

 

 

 

It was 7ish pm when I opened the door to the backyard. Just as I was about to step out, something came to my sight. In the middle of the small backyard, on a rusty iron décor stood a bird, its feathers disheveled as if being drenched in the water. It saw me but did not budge. “Wait, it was a hawk”, I told myself.  Holding my breath and backing off, in a suppressed voice, I called out my husband to hurry down.  He snatched the camera from the table, squatted down at the doorstep, and zoomed in. I stood behind him, watching it with the fear that it might fly away any time. But it did not. It stood motionless, with little reactions.  At first we both thought that the bird might come for water and accidentally drenched itself in the tank. But the water surface looked peaceful without any ripple or feather. Then we realized that it was a baby hawk which is unable to fly yet. It could only move uneasily to the next object when we raised our bodies, feeling threatened.  Our presence may pose a danger. So we retreated and closed the door, leaving it alone and not to be disturbed.

By the time we finished dinner, it was 7:30 pm. Craning my neck and looking around two windows, I found the baby hawk still there, changed its place, its claw now clinging to a log right next to a small window. Peering through the window blinds,  I scrutinized it carefully. Baby it may look, it has every feature of a hawk, its feather grizzled, its eyes, deeply set, are predominately round and fierce, and its beaks hooked downward.

It’s getting dark, and there was no sight of a mother hawk hovering over or around. “How is it going to spend the night when the temperature could drop low?”  After some online searches, we started to herd it to the garage, put to a box filled with some warm cloth, fed a few sliced meat to it, and then called the local rehabilitation center.  Phone calls were later made between police and the animal dispatcher. The opinions given were controversial. We decided to leave it in the box for the night and release it early next morning.

When the dawn came, I awoke to the twilight, remembering the baby hawk in the garage. Opening the box in the backyard, I saw a pair of terrified eyes, its claws struggling to stand in vain.  Seized with a pang of pitifulness, I slowly turned the side of the box to ground to let it out. My attempt to feed it with a sliced beef only scared it to the bush nearby.  I dropped some meat to the area, in the hope that it could pick it up itself. Ten minutes passed, nothing happened. Tiptoeing to the other side of the bush, through a narrow tiny opening, I saw a petrified body, eyes looking darkly at me in a distance. I bent down myself almost to the ground, stretching the long chopsticks with meat dangling as close to its beaks as my arms could extend. Timidly it snapped the meat from the chopsticks, gulfing it down one after another.

The baby hawk was finally in the possession of a police, who believed the stray baby hawk was suffering from famine for days. We were both relieved at placing it in a better hand.