An unusual surprise

My neighbours have now moved out of their house next to mine and this afternoon Benjamin came back one last time check that he and Aurelie had not forgotten anything and to read the electricity and water meters. After he’d done so, he came across to say goodbye and I offered him a couple of beers before he left. While I was getting them, he drew my attention to this little chap who was standing on my front lawn.

Neither of us knew where he’d come from and we both stood quietly and watched him for a bit. After a while I went over to him. He tried to make a brief run for it and went head-first straight into a small tree, but fortunately not at very high speed, and it was soon obvious that he wasn’t up to very much. He just continued standing there with his legs akimbo and his head down struggling just to keep standing and it was plain that he was either sick, exhausted or both.

The signs are that he’s also possibly blind as he offers no reaction when you move your hand near his eyes, but if so, it’s surprising that he should have survived in the wild to the age that he is. I tried to offer him some water but he wasn’t really interested and eventually his legs gave out and he collapsed next to a rosemary bush on the edge of my lawn.

After I’d moved his front leg into what I thought would be a more comfortable position for him, he seemed to fall into a fitful sleep. After an hour or so I went over to him quite expecting to find that he’d stopped breathing, but not so. He was covered in flies though and although I shooed them off a few times, they kept coming back, the way that they do on horses and other livestock, so I decided that there wasn’t much that I could do about them really, much as I’d like to have done.

I went back again a bit later and was pleasantly surprised to find that he seemed to have perked up quite a bit, with his eyes open and his head held up where before it had been drooping and he’d hardly been able to lift it.

At the time of writing, the signs are looking much better and he seems to be becoming a lot more alert. I cut up half a carrot and took it out to him and this time, as I approached, he let out a loud bellow of fear that rather took me aback actually, sprang to his feet and tried to do a runner. But it was not to be as he’s still not up to it and after falling into the rosemary bush, he ended up in a gap between two small trees. He was still on his feet, though and after he’d calmed down a bit, I pressed a piece of the carrot into his mouth, which he then munched on.

While he was eating, I noticed that he had several large ticks on him, but I can’t really do much about that. He took several more pieces of carrot and after he’d finished what I’d taken out with me, I went back for some more. When I got back, he’d collapsed onto his stomach again and showed no more interest in it. So I’m now keeping my fingers crossed and hoping that he’ll stay where he is for tonight, which will be a safe spot for him as he’s totally camouflaged and almost invisible, and that tomorrow morning I’ll find that he’s found his own way back to the woods at the bottom of the field opposite.

Update 7 September

I went out earlier to find out what had happened with my little uninvited guest and was delighted to see that the space where he’d been lying between the two small trees was now unoccupied. However, my delight was short-lived. I walked up to the road and after looking in both directions I saw his little body lying in the ditch a few yards down outside Benjamin and Aurelie’s old house. When I went closer I could see that his head was twisted unnaturally beneath his body and probably his neck had been broken, so at least his end was probably quick. I can only conclude that as he’d been tottering away from where he’d spent the night, he’d been hit by a vehicle as it had come round the bend.

I went back and removed the bowl of water that I’d tried to tempt him with last night and as the water was still clean and fresh, poured it out into the birdbath, which was then empty. When I looked back out of my window a few moments after there was already a little bird in it splashing away and sending water flying up in the air. So life goes on.