The Hummingbird and the Spider Web

In East Texas. back in the 1980's, my small family of three lived in an old run down, ironstone mansion on the edge of town. It was pure wilderness right up to the house. The house was also over-run with windows which made air conditioning impossible. The windows were always open. It was a wonderful place to live if you love the feeling of always being outdoors even when you were in the house. I do, so we stayed there until the place was deemed uninhabitable by the owners.

In the kitchen, next to the table area, there was a long, walk-through window and screen that opened like a door and we could step right over the sill and outside. I didn't want to encourage my 6 year old son to go through it, so I hung a hummingbird feeder just outside the window. Our meals were much enjoyed because we could watch the birds dine with us. We could also stand just inches away and watch them as they sipped from the feeder without disturbing them.

One morning in late September, after getting my son off to school, I was alone in the house sweeping the kitchen floor when I heard a thrashing sound outside the step-through window. At first, I thought a snake had probably caught a small mouse for its' meal and was causing the thrashing sound. I stepped over and looked out, but couldn't see anything. Whatever it was, it was too close to the house for me to see. I noticed the irregularity of the thrashing and after about 15 minutes decided that it was not something that was happy with its' meal and I decided to check it out.

I went outside and around the house and crept cautiously, stick in hand, just in case it was a rattlesnake or copperhead which are so abundant in this area. I could see the leaves covering something that was desperately struggling and causing the ruckus. Carefully, I moved the leaves aside with my stick, and there on the ground was a tiny hummingbird completely wrapped up in a spiders' web! It looked as if a spider had tried to wrap it up and take it home for dinner!

Remembering my fathers warning that it would feel like being stuck with a needle if the hummingbird decided to peck at me, I was a little hesitant about picking it up with my bare hands. I quickly ran inside and grabbed a soft, left over diaper and threw it over the tiny little critter to pick it up. How horrible to see it so wrapped in spider webs, and yet, how thrilled I felt at holding it in my hands!

Carefully, I began to gently peel the web from its' tiny body, trying not to harm the feathers. As I worked, I wondered how it got so wrapped up. There were spider webs built up on the rock wall near the eves of the house, but why would the bird be near them? Had it gotten snagged in a Garden Spider web as it flew through it? (I didn't know until a few days later, and a research trip to the library, that hummingbirds eat spiders!)

As I gently cleaned the hummingbird, it became calmer, sitting quietly, watching me as I pulled the last strands of sticky web off its' little feet and beak. I picked it gently out of my palm and stood it on my finger to see if I had missed any web, or if it had any damage to its' feathers. I was concerned that it had possibly gone into shock and would die, like so many wild things will, if handled by people. I had done the best I could and waited there with the hummingbird perched on my finger to see if it would be alright.

The colors were so amazing and the little bird seemed so calm as it perched there on my finger, resting after its' ordeal. It was so awesome to finally be holding a real, live, wild, hummingbird in my hand that I just stood there looking at it. Finally, after about ten minutes, it shook itself, ruffled and fluffed out its tiny feathers, and stretched its' tiny little wings a few times as if to test them. Then it shot off into the forest without a backward glance.

The thrill of accomplishing my childhood dream of catching a bird with my own hands brought a great personal joy. But, I could not help wondering how many other hummingbirds might die because no one was around to rescue them from the spider webs.