Thursday, May 17, 2007

Dilemmas

This morning I was driving to the stable to ride a horse for someone and talking on the phone with my dear friend and mentor Lois about shepherd dilemmas (more in a coming post) when I spotted two killdeer on the gravel road. One was standing and the other was sitting -- or rather, setting.
I mentioned the ill-chosen nesting site to Lois, and she said what had already crossed my mind; "I'd move the eggs." Chances were, if I did, the birds would abandon their incubating offspring, but the chances of said offspring surviving their parents' choice of birthing suites were slim to none anyway. So I backed up, snapped the above photo, and then carefully moved the three eggs to the edge of the field on the other side of the ditch, using a tissue to avoid leaving my scent on them.

When I passed by the site on my way home, the eggs were untended, abandoned or perhaps never found by the pair of killdeer. I felt sad, second-guessing my actions. It was a true dilemma, a "damned if I do, damned if I don't" situation. Life and death: something God never intended his creatures to know about. When it came to the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, ignorance would have been bliss.

That's it for now at . . .

3 comments:

Kathy said...

because you touched them, Michelle...more likely it was that they were moved. You really did them a favor by moving them and though they've lost these, they will soon make another nest and lay eggs again. The young, if hatched alongside the road, would have probably wandered into traffic had you left them. Same outcome. You did good, Kid...no worries. In fact, by making the parents move elsewhere, you've probably saved their lives as well. And who's to say that God's plan didn't include YOU moving the eggs?

Kathy said...

For some reason, blogger failed to put in my first sentence! It was:

"Birds don't really have a sense of smell so the parents would not have left..."

Nancy K. said...

Aawwwwwww!
I'd say you did good. And what an honor to get to see and hold those beautiful eggs!