There was once a community of birds that lived in a beautiful little redbud tree on a farm in Oklahoma. This was the only tree in sight, as this tree was on a farm in the middle of the plains. The community of birds in this tree was once vibrant, but seasons change and birds migrate. Now, in the heart of fall, only a small family of birds remained in the tree. The mother bird wanted to migrate to a better tree with more foliage, but she knew that this would be an arduous journey for her babies.
“There is no way my babies can fly five miles to the forest of thick pecan and oak trees,” said the mother bird.
On this farm also lived an old bird dog. He had been trained to pick up the scent of birds, capture them, and return their bodies to his owner back at the farm. All he ever knew was capturing birds. The older birds were well aware of this. They knew not to trust the old bird dog; they knew to keep their distance.
One day, the mother bird left to hunt for worms and food for her babies. The pickings were scarce and she was gone much longer than expected. This is when the bird dog had an idea.
“Hey baby birds, this tree looks like it has seen better days. I know there are better trees not far from the farm. Why don’t you go to them?" the bird dog asked.
“We can’t fly that far. We are too young,” said the birds.
“Well,” said the dog, “I hate to see you struggle. What if I could carry you to the trees with thick foliage? The other birds are having so much fun over there.”
“We may be young, but we know better than to trust a bird dog,” chirped the baby birds in unison.
“I promise you can trust me,” said the dog. “I can even take one of you to the forest and bring you back unharmed to prove my trust.”
One brave baby bird volunteered. The dog gently took the bird in his mouth, carried him the five miles to the thick pecan trees, and returned the bird to his siblings unharmed.
“It is so much better over there,” said the bird. “We must go!”
The baby birds gave the dog their trust. The dog then took a bird, one at time, in the general direction of the forest. When he was out of sight, he changed directions and headed to the farm. He then squeezed the bird to death and carried its dead body to the farm, as he had been trained to do when hunting. He repeated this for each and every bird until all the birds were dead and the nest was empty.
When the mother returned, she knew what must have occurred. The dog’s paw prints were nearby. The baby birds were missing. As a result, she went to find the dog who was sitting near the barn. When she found out the baby birds were taken to a forest, she wanted to go as well.
"Will you take me to the shaded forest as well?" asked the mother bird.
"Of course," the dog replied, as he was secretly planning to capture her too.
Off they went to the edge of the trees.
Along the way, a bald eagle spotted the bird flying very closely to a bird dog. Never before had he seen a more unusual sight. He followed closely to observe what the bird dog was trying to do. At the edge of the trees, the eagle saw that the mother bird was caught in a trap that she could not escape. The dog was trying to capture the mother bird. The eagle was wiser than the bird dog, and much faster. When the eagle saw the mother bird in danger, he swooped down and attacked the dog with his mighty talons. The bird dog was no match for the eagle that was much larger than the birds he was used to. The eagle easily killed the bird dog. As the eagle flew the mother bird back to safety, he said aloud to himself, “Those who deceive others always pay for it in the end.”
Author's Notes: This story is based on the Crane and the Crab story. This story involved a Crane that trick a group of fish in a desiccating pond to be carried to another pond. Once they believed the crane had good intentions, he ate the fish one by one. After all the fish were gone, he tried to trick a crab, but the crab insisted to be carried by holding onto the crane's neck. Once the crab saw that the crane was, in fact, not taking him to safety, he pinched off the crane's head.
In my story, I changed the characters to a bird dog, baby birds, and an eagle. I used the same moral for this story, but tweaked the characters and the plot a bit. The moral of both stories is to not trick those in a position of weakness. In the end, the deceiver will eventually become the deceived. I wanted to use characters that, although animals, are familiar to my home in Northeast Oklahoma. I got the idea because I have spent many summers watching birds play in the trees while my Labrador retriever chases them around from tree to tree.
Bibliography: The Cunning Crane and the Crab by WHD Rouse
A Bird Dog and a bird of prey. Source: Pixabay