We were so happy to hear “Emitt Lee” coo the other day. Now “Emitt Lee” is a White Wing Dove and is the new addition to our family. About five months ago, we found him under our oak tree one day when weed eating our front yard. There he was on a rock and just minding his own business but the problem was that he was only about a week old. He looked normal but later discovered “Emitt Lee” was not entirely normal. We began to notice episodes of shaking and wobbling when he walked. How little did we know then that our little Emitt had a form of Epilepsy which was a result from his fall. It started showing up not too long after we weaned him from his formula. Constant trips to the vet and medication keep it under control and we love him all the more for it! Like the Vet said, Emitt would never survive in the wild without the specialize care he gets from us. His diet consists of Ozarka water with vitamin supplements in it, special seed with nutrients for doves, gravel with calcium for his bones, and egg shells. We keep his temperature regulated, change his little padded pillow daily topped with his shredded bedding (pink), and clean his bedding daily. In addition to that, we keep a ultra violet light on him during the winter and when we cannot take him outside for his tanning sessions.
At our house, when the cats are out, the doves play. We let them out every night so they can get their exercise which is very important. We have to observe “Emitt” closely but he seems to be adjusting quite well to flying with the exception of his epilepsy spells.
He is totally a Daddy’s boy as Ron is the one who fed him when he was on formula. The picture above is when he was shedding his baby feathers and getting his new ones. I’ll post later on his progress and how beautiful he has become. Yet, we feel so sorry for him when he has his shaking spells. He little head shakes and sometimes he looses his balance. It comes and goes and we thank God for the times he doesn’t have his attacks. He requires constant care but sharing our lives with him has been well worth it.
His brother “Prince Poppie” is insane with jealousy and has had a hard time accepting his new little brother or should I say his big brother. Poppie also has problems with his esophagus and we have to give him meds and supplements on a regular basis so that he can digest his food. Neither one of our babies would survive in the wild….
Below is a poem that touched me greatly! Can you imagine how many doves it would take to make a meal? Doves are thought of as spiritual and biblically speaking, I truly believe that they are special messengers for God. There is just something HOLY about a dove and if you owned one you would know what I mean. Doves have a very hard life indeed – we know as we have studied a lot on their habits and their fears. I will touch more later on how God has brought many an injured dove to us to care for. We have a cemetery in our back yard and this all started soon after “Poppie” came into our lives. More later!
Bird of Peace
The bird of Peace, we say we love,
Get a gun, shoot a mourning dove.
The question now is obviously,
Why kill doves so needlessly?
Hunting doves in Autumn, logically,
Doesn’t fit the species, biologically.
Find orphaned squabs in a starving nest,
While someone dines on their mother’s breast!
What human needs and goals we meet,
When bloodied feathers lie at our feet.
A hunters limit numbers eight,
Shameful throphies to celebrate!
A soaring meteor, swift and mild,
Belongs to ALL, left free and wild.
No one NEEDS to kill a dove,
Ask old Noah, what is love?
Dove hunting is nothing more than the shooting at living targets – target practice. Dove hunters admit to enjoying fast flying targets and their main component of testimony flows around the “fun” aspects of shooting a fast erratic flyer. Dove hunters refer to mourning doves as “a disposable animal, cheap skeet, winged warriors from hell, rats with wings, locusts, darters, little gray rockets, devious birds, kamikaze pilots, fast-balls, jinkers, screwballs, snuffers, elusive targets, tricks, torpedoes, warp burners, zippers, zingers…”
We have a permit for our doves….