Baby Crow Rescue

- By Aishwarya Pramod

It was seven p.m., and we were at my grandmom's house for dinner. My cousin Ramya was there already. We saw a baby crow, fallen out of its nest. It was flapping its wings, trying to get off the ground. If it didn't manage to fly, it was going to be eaten by a cat the minute I went inside for dinner. It was kind of helpless, so I bugged my mom about it, and she finally decided to take it to the Bombay SPCA in Parel.

When we got there, we were directed to the surgical ward. It smelled so medical. Scary. A dog with a frantically wagging tail was on an operating table, being held down by two vets. A vet checked the baby crow. He was fine, just in shock. They placed him in a large cage, and left him to sleep the rest of the night.

In another cage, were 5 beautiful owls, cuddled up together for comfort. They had been rescued from a poacher recently in Powai. They were Indian Barn Owls (tyto alba).

The barn owl rests during the day in dark lofts, shaded corners of buildings, and industrial sheds. It emerges at dark, to feed on mice. It has a long-drawn kheeeeeee screech, which I have heard often in Chennai.

Coming back from the bird cage, I nearly stepped on a slug (ew). Mom filled some boring forms, and then we walked around the place. It was leafy and serene. We saw a stable, where a really thin horse was eating some hay, and a couple of buffaloes were taking a nap. All the animals seemed to be recovering. I'm pretty glad I went to see this place.