Main experience we've had, apart from cats .... has been ducks and birds. Can't remember if I wrote elsewhere... we had a duckling called 'Dingle' who we found trapped in a shed in a park. T.he park keeper couldn't be bothered with it and told me to take it home. We were RSPB (Royal Society for the Protection of Birds) members so I rang them for advice. I figured the duckling was only a day or two old. I got him to feed by standing him in a dish of water with bird seed in it. He bonded with me as his main carer and followed me everywhere, although he did have a tendency to change direction and follow someone else who crossed his path. He would 'roost' in the crook of my arm, or nestled up under my long hair. Once he got larger, and messier he went into a large enclosure outside. Unfortunatley we had a vixen and cubs in the neraby military cemetary and she burrowed under the enclosure and took him one night. Sad tale.... As kids we were always 'rescuing' animals, particularly birds. I had quite a good success rate with broken legs, binding them with matchsticks and hand feeding. We had a starling's nest on the conservatory roof and everyyear we would have fallers - young ones who slid down the roof on to the ground. Those who we successfully rehabilitated would become quite tame and visit often. My brother had a starling which fell down the chimney into the closed fireplace in his room. We unboarded the fireplae and rescued it. It had a broken wing which I set. We hand fed it in a box for s few weeks, and then released it. As it was becoming better it became very tame and definitely 'bonded' with my brother. Like the others it would visit frequently and alight on us to be fed. Now with both these stories I think one key element of the bonding was feeding. It's difficult to tell whether it really was bonding (as we liked to think) or just a learned response to the provision of food and shelter. Starlings in partocular seem to 'think' and do appear to work things out. I find them most captivating to watch and observe. They are 'flock' birds and appear uneasy on their own, and think that may well also have contributed to the bonding. Just a few thoughts.....

thanks for them, maggie!