My DH answers on-line natural history questions.  At this time of year they're mostly about snakes in garages and "motherless" baby birds (the vast majority really weren't and should have been left where they were).  If the writer ends up with the baby bird anyway, my DH helps that person do the best s/he can to keep it alive, though it's mighty difficult to replace a parent bird.  For one thing, it's *really* hard for a lot of people to understand that baby birds don't need milk!

One writer asked, "Shouldn't I be giving it baths?  I know that adult birds take baths."  Well, of course it's impossible for a parent bird to give a baby bird a bath, so of course baby birds don't need or want them.  But it made me think of a lot of our attitudes about baby humans.  *We* feel a need to bathe, so *they* must need baths.  *We* eat 3 meals a day, so *they* ought to be eating big meals at long intervals also.  *We* need more than just milk, so obviously *they* do too.  *We* need water in hot weather so surely *they* do.  *We* don't need to be held all the time; why should *they*?  *We* self-soothe, why can't *they*?  I guess it shouldn't surprise me that Ezzo makes so much sense to so many.

Diane Wiessinger, MS, IBCLC  Ithaca, NY  USA
www.wiessinger.baka.com

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