So, we had this nest of sparrows, four babies in all that had taken up residence under my patio. Over the barbecue.
Before they hatched I sure that the heat and the smoke from cooking helped keep them warm. Yesterday I fired up the grill and threw some cedar chips in the smoker, oblivious.
After finishing eating I noticed a distinct silence from the nest. It came to me like a thunderclap. The smoke. The heat.
I pulled down the nest, ( the parents had nested inside my charcoal chimney, used for lighting brisquettes ) and it looked like they had tried to get out as they were scattered about the inside.
I pictured them, scaird and cawing for mommy as they air got heavy and hot, looking to the rim of the chimney and waiting for salvation, any kind of salvation. In the end they seemed to have just made circles around the nest. I wondered if they thought of missed worms and playing in the wind, or if they just laid there, their beaks opening and closing in a futile effort to gulp in fresh air as they slowly roasted and asphyxiated.
I feel terrible.
Before they hatched I sure that the heat and the smoke from cooking helped keep them warm. Yesterday I fired up the grill and threw some cedar chips in the smoker, oblivious.
After finishing eating I noticed a distinct silence from the nest. It came to me like a thunderclap. The smoke. The heat.
I pulled down the nest, ( the parents had nested inside my charcoal chimney, used for lighting brisquettes ) and it looked like they had tried to get out as they were scattered about the inside.
I pictured them, scaird and cawing for mommy as they air got heavy and hot, looking to the rim of the chimney and waiting for salvation, any kind of salvation. In the end they seemed to have just made circles around the nest. I wondered if they thought of missed worms and playing in the wind, or if they just laid there, their beaks opening and closing in a futile effort to gulp in fresh air as they slowly roasted and asphyxiated.
I feel terrible.
