Tune in for a thrilling tale of rescue and Macgyver-esque can-do, starring three cats, two humans, some tools, tableware, and a tiny bird!
It began last night, when we arrived home to the heartwarming but highly unusual scene of all three cats hanging out together, peaceably...
It began last night, when we arrived home to the heartwarming but highly unusual scene of all three cats hanging out together, peaceably...
They’re not usually this convivial. What’s up? At first, I assume they’re enjoying the natural air-conditioning effect of summer breeze + damp washing. But the washing is dry. And they seem oddly focused. Hmm... 
The scene reminds me of something. When was the last time they put their petty rivalries aside and concentrated their tiny brains on one big task? Ah yes. This:
They’re triangulating their prey, like furry velociraptors At this point all is quiet, so we can’t tell what sort of prey. A mouse? A large skink? We leave the cats to it. All evening long they take shifts guarding whatever it is.
Next morning. Cats still on guard duty, and it becomes clear this is a bird: a sweet little silvereye/ tauhou. It’s trapped between our fence and another, tweeting sadly, and its friends are calling for it from the tree above. I’m determined to rescue it.
We try to lever off one of our fence boards. No luck, despite @REasther’s best efforts. The dilemma: our neighbours are away. It would be rude to climb over and dismantle the fence on their side without asking. Argh. The poor bird flutters up and drops down, again and again.
Inspiration strikes: if the bird can’t make it all the way up between the fences to clear sky, could we work *with* gravity instead? Maybe we could lift up a cobblestone and create a gap for it to escape through at the very bottom of the fence...
Alas, there’s a solid fixed board between the fences at the very bottom, so our clever idea won’t work. Hmm. Another brainwave: could we use bamboo skewers as makeshift perches for the bird to work its way upwards? It’s worth a try...
But the sun is getting higher and the bird is sounding weaker. Still, it keeps fluttering upwards in response to its friends’ calls, which gives me an idea. Could we create a “floor” each time it gains some height? But what with? Cardboard is too thick to fit, and paper too weak.
Inspiration strikes again - we have these IKEA place mats, thin enough to fit, strong enough to stay in place and support a scared bird, and appropriately decorated. Board by board we can do this, little bird! Onwards and upwards!
It’s hard to see between the boards, let alone get a photo, but I can hear the bird working its way up, and can detect when it pauses on a perch. Overhead, its friends are constantly calling support (or possibly its name, which I am oddly convinced by this point is Kevin).
It’s slow progress and the sun is getting hotter. Every now and then I pour a little water onto the topmost placemat in case our trapped little friend needs a drink. (I also have a teaspoon of jam handy, because tauhou are nectar-feeders.)
Slow progress and the sun rises higher. Glad I put my SPF50 on before I began. Patience, patience... and constant alertness, because You Know Who x3 are keeping tabs on the situation and keen to “help”.
Disaster narrowly averted! As the little bird edged upwards and ever closer to freedom, I heard a small “mew” from above - and discovered June, the small huntress, cleverly positioned on the far side of the top of the fence. Like so:
Kudos to @REasther for heeding my call and foiling the ambush. He climbed up and reached over and kindly but firmly removed the would-be assassin by the scruff of her furry little neck, and just in time...
...because all of a sudden, with our ad hoc rescue ladder a foot from the top of the fence – FREEDOM! One minute, our little bird friend is still trapped and cheeping hoarsely to its friends in the tree above; next minute, it’s up and out and swooping away to safety with them.
I wish I had a photo of our brave little tauhou, but please accept this exemplary Wikipedia image, plus this small white splash as proof of life. (You’d have done, too, if you were a tiny bird trapped between two fences and looked up to see a cat face above you).
PS As I was tidying up the tools (& mats & skewers & jam & water & so on), a tauhou came and sat in the tree above, and chirped something that sounded like “thank you” or “that’s our Kevin, always getting into scrapes” or maybe “you should look at getting that gap fixed, eh.”
