Is this bird able to fly? If so, why are you keeping it?
My very elderly dog almost ate him one night on a walk. He was curled up against my front door. I didn't know where to put him since my nextdoor neighbors have a cat that wanders, so I took him inside for a few weeks to learn how to fly better so he didn't get eaten.
Unfortunately a string got wrapped around his leg by accident and then I kept him a bit longer while that healed, but the cold weather moved in. I was too scared to let him go since I wasn't seeing other birds he'd be able to go to.
I let him hang out around my house. I'll see if he would be interested in finding a nice spot in the back yard next spring, but I also don't mind if he prefers to stay.
I had two baby squirrels as pets when I was a kid and when we let them go they would always come hang out and eat nuts with us. I'd love to have a bird friends next season like that.
My grandma saves everything from raccoons to turkeys. Just like your story, they always hang around the general area and come back for food, long after she's released them again.
She also leaves an old chicken coop partially open for some critters to sleep in. Most would say she's crazy and attracting nuisance animals. They're not entirely wrong. But it's a lot better than bringing in refugee 'pets' like the modern woke woman.
Lol. There’s nothing wrong with liking animals.
Ever since I was a child I had a connection with them and liked animals more than most humans. One strong memory I have is whispering to a horse and it tucked it's head into me so it could listen and get some pets while I spoke. Everyone freaked out since he had been abused and was very untrusting of humans. He hardly let anyone touch him or come near and I had no idea. It was the only time anyone saw him tuck his head right under a stranger's arm so I could put my mouth near his ear while I talked.
I've never really tried with things like raccoons since those are rather nasty in my area. That would probably be dangerous for my dog.
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