(08-13-2012, 04:18 AM)writer811 Wrote: My rottweiler once picked up a baby bird that fell out of a tree. She carried it around for a few minutes before losing interest and setting it down. We checked the bird after, it was alive and there were no punctures at all on it. It did die overnight, though. I guess the mother smelled dog and avoided the baby like the plague.
Actually, the idea that parent birds abandon their babies because of another animal's smell on them is a myth. Most songbirds can't smell well, if at all. Did you put the bird back into the nest? If not, it probably died of cold. If you did, the baby probably died either from internal injuries from falling out of the nest, or it picked up a bacteria from the dog's mouth (dogs and cats carry pasteurella bacteria in their mouths, which is deadly to birds).
(For the record, I'm not trying to make you feel bad. Just pointing things out for future reference).
