smashingpunkins

[smashingpunkins]

So... I am on a snake sidequest 😅🐍

A friend of mine had to leave the UK on short notice for 2 months and asked if I could look after his 2 ball pythons and dwarf reticulated python. He had already rescued them from such situations before where someone couldn't look after them, and I thought to myself, god, i literally take pigeons in from the street when they need a home, so now I have 3 snakes in my room. 🤣

Now, I've always been very fond of reptiles and I have experience looking after them a little, but I'm no snake guy! Thankfully, my partner wants to have pet snakes properly in the future so she is excellent with them and has taught me a lot. Aside from the monthly Ratpocalypse, which is not that bad besides the smell, they are so easy to look after and are super tame. These particular snakes have always been around people and they're like curious little puppies!

They're wonderful pets and I'm going to be sad to see them go, but it has to be so we can properly adopt our feral disabled pigeon friend. He is suddenly much more curious about coming inside (right when we have snakes! Damn it🤣) and hops on our arms or hands to eat. He sometimes sits on my partner's shoulder when she plays video games too.

[smashingpunkins]

we released Fork last week. Fork is a feral with 2 missing toes, a previous stringfoot case who came to me several months ago, and after i got some help to destring them i released them and thought id never see them again. they appeared again a few weeks back, presenting lethargic and slow (letting me capture them very easily), and then the next time i saw them they came by at 4pm with no other birds and sat ruffled up in my garden. i knew they were unwell. i captured them easily and took them indoors - poor baby was not happy (like the pic in the carrier). my pigeon support network provided us with the help we needed and got Fork on a 10-day course of antibiotics for what looked like a bacterial infection affecting the liver, and we kept them indoors with us for a few weeks for them to recoup.

they were a very polite presence, picky with seeds and quiet, who enjoyed sitting on their branch and watching pigeonvision on youtube. since release, they've come back to eat out of my hand again a few times (zero survival instinct lol) and i am so glad they're doing better 😊🕊️

(bonus flock gathered on the church pic!! they love the religious architecture because its got lots of decorative texture on the outside, which creates a cliffface-like structure for them to nest amongst 💞)

[smashingpunkins]

i will be so sad to leave this little one behind when i move house,, such a gentle (and greedy) soul 🤣♥️

name ideas? i think Mistralton (like the city in pokemon bw) is cute:)

[smashingpunkins]

i realised i hadnt yet posted my best friend, Roscoe the rock pigeon! he started my fascination with pigeons to begin with. he is visibly disabled and i noticed that he needed my help to eat, meaning i am hopefully going to adopt him when i leave this house in July :)

he has a hooked beak which makes it nearly impossible for him to eat from flat ground. initially we tried a ceramic dish to wear it down but the beak continued to grow..sometimes it snaps off but it always grows back. the only issue is Roscoe recently has been seen smooching this beautiful black pigeon, and i worry i will have to find a way to catch her too so i dont separate them 😅 any advice is greatly appreciated 💖

[smashingpunkins]

feral flock check :)

i love the sweet pigeons of easton, they have it better here than the inner city pigeons (ive seen at least 3 other bird people feed them in my immediate block) but i will keep an eye on them for as long as im here. so far ive only had to intervene in one case of stringfoot (this girl is now free and well, she comes back to eat with the others once a week or so) and the racing pigeon i posted about a few days ago, who is now back with his family in Birmingham. they deserve more but a little guardianship and some seeds is all i have time to give:'')

p.s. who spots the racer?? he's new! i call him Alberto. he has lost a toenail to stringfoot and his tag is too faded to read, so i figure he has been living wild for a fair bit already. I'll keep feeding him but i doubt i will intervene in his case

[smashingpunkins]

beautiful Gigi is back with his loft friends now:")

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gigi has been hanging with the ferals in my back garden for a few months now, and as its started to get colder he started coming indoors of his own accord. one of these times i shut the kitchen door behind him and scooped him up, called the racing association hotline and successfully found his owner in Birmingham! he was ecstatic that this lil dude was alright. turns out gigi is the grandson of a great racing pigeon! i knew he was special by his beauty and athleticism. if he comes back to this area again ill leave him be - he deserves the right to choose freedom over a warm bed and reliable food. but equally he deserves the chance to have those things again after being outside since August!

his owner came to get him on fri night and gigi immediately calmed down at his presence. he was a very polite guest, even chilling comfortably in his crate with the door open on our last day together, but he didn't like me by the end for obvious reasons 😅 nonetheless i miss him dearly and hope hes enjoying the food, warmth, and company ♥️🐦

[smashingpunkins]

returning this angel to his homeland 🙏

[smashingpunkins]

I would still use my turn signals in the Mad Max Wasteland. They'd call me "Signal" because I'd hit my blinker before ramming the enemy hot rods into the side of a desert ravine. I'd use my turn signal every time. They would respect me for this.

[smashingpunkins]

Vena Cava got punched in the face otw back from balter :((

[smashingpunkins]

i think i may have covid again

[smashingpunkins]

new spam tumblr i suppose?