Best of 2001: Best Baby Bird Rescue

Wildlife Rehab, Project Wildlife
887 Sherman, Mission Bay area (near Morena/Linda Vista trolley stop)
619-225-9202; 619-692-9453

You're taking your cat for a walk. He sees a tree. Up he goes. Oh Lord. Down he comes with three newborn house finches in his mouth. He lays them proudly at your feet. Two are dead. One, the size of a quarter, jerks about like a mini marionette. You pick him up, feel his amazing warmth, shed tears at his against-all-odds struggle for life, take him home, wrap him in toilet paper, put him on your hot water bottle. You've read mother finches feed their babies aphids and stuff every 20 minutes. You're not an aphid hunter. Call Wildlife Rehab. Part of Project Wildlife, which works out of the yard of the Humane Society in Mission Valley. Ask for Mike or Lorissa. They're interested in what happens to coin-sized birdlets. They'll put you on to Merrill of La Jolla, who tends homeless hatchlings like junior here. If you don't have a car, they'll call a volunteer to chauffeur. These people care. You can see it in their eyes. And they need volunteers: try Wildlife Assist Volunteers, 619-522-9999.