Caged
October 3rd
I spend a couple of hours today in the mid-morning at the Silvarium at Poczopek (link here). It is a didactic forest garden/park showing the beauty and diversity of nature of northeast Poland. A very nice place to explore and learn about local flora and fauna, it is run by the local forestry department and is quite a popular place to visit for local city dwellers — when I was leaving around noon the parking lot was full, and pathways were overrun by families with children.
In this place, there is an aviary with several buildings where native birds of prey are shown. I was fucking appalled when I saw that. Ok, those birds have a lot of space, those are not small birdcages, but they are still in the fucking cages. Those birds cannot fly, they at best can jump from the ground to branches and back. And what is the point of being a bird if it cannot fly?
My first reaction was to check the surroundings — there is no fence around this place and the forest comes right to the side of this park. There are several paths leading to and from the forest, the closest village is like 10 km away. I have wire cutters at home and I figured I can come back at night, park my car away on a local forest road, sneak there — either with moonlight or my flashlight and cut those wires and let those birds free. 5 minutes job in and out. Of course, I might be caught — there is a forestry station on the other side of this park and the area might be patrolled at night. But what is the worst that can happen? I would not be going to jail for this, most likely only some kind of fine or community service would be the punishment, and I can live with that.
I guess I am not the only one who has those thoughts about birds kept there in cages and suffering — there is a big note on the entrance to the aviary that says that those birds are fine in those cages, they are well cared for by local forestry workers and veterinarians. And that those birds were raised in captivity, and they would die if let free since they don’t know how to hunt and survive in nature. That calmed me down a little. But only a little — I will go back there and take some walks around this place (early in the morning or at dusk) just to be familiar with the surroundings and forest pathways around that place.
I still might do something illegal but morally right to let those birds free. I need to seriously think it over.
The place itself, except for the aviary, is really very nice —
