Saving Jemima: Life and Love with a Hard-Luck Jay

  I read this quite a while ago but delayed discussion so I could talk about her book right when my novel comes out for preorder. (Next week my novel, DEAD FISH and What the Blue Jays know will be up for reorder.)
Julie Zickefoose is an artist and wildlife writer. She has been a wildlife rehabilitator, wildlife art and photographer, wildlife blogger, and wildlife commentator for NPR. She's been engaged with wildlife in some way for more than three decades. So of course I'm going to read her book on raising a blue jay! 

It started with a blue jay egg discovered at the base of a maple tree. Zickefoose desperately tries to save this gorgeous precursor to life. She uses an incubator, calls bird specialists for advice, gives it constant attention. But it doesn't make it. The egg dies. 

While the egg goes cold, Zickefoose's memory of it remains warm and imprinted in her brain; so the next year, after she successfully weans herself from her wildlife rehabilitator job-- difficult since people don't stop asking for help--, a woman/follower calls for advice about a tiny baby blue jay lost in her yard. Julie Zickefoose looks at the picture of the dehydrated baby bird and has an overwhelming desire to actually save this bird, not simply drive it to a wildlife rehabilitation center. And that begins the journey of raising a blue jay she names Jemima. 

Challenge is not a strong enough word to describe Ms. Zickefoose's blue jay rescue experience. The baby has to be fed continuously, once an hour. The baby gets sick and has to be treated. The baby grows and takes over the house. Then there is the emotional challenge of keeping that distance to prevent the bird from imprinting. That emotional distance is Zickefoose's biggest challenge, because she falls in love. And this conflict of the heart endears the reader to the writer.

You can't help but love this woman who falls in love not only with this one blue jay but with all blue jays. I particularly understand her emotions because I have fallen in love with the gang of blue jays that visit me, so I get her. But all readers will appreciate how special these witty and fun-loving birds are. They have charm. They have attitude. They have intelligence. She captures this perfectly. 

She not only captures the wonder of blue jays but also educates us about them. Their mating habits, their molting, nesting, migration, interrelationships. She takes us deep into the bond between her, her family and this bird. No, she does not distance herself from the bird like we all expect wild life rehabilitators to do. She decides to engage. Good for her. And I think, perhaps because she is so experienced and understands proper balance, her strategy is effective. While some may argue against this type of rescue, she proves their their fears about imprinting wrong. The bird survives and eventually lives free. She has given it a gift of love and human bonding, all while maintaining  respect for its freedom and wildlife dignity. 

Jemima does indeed eventually join the free world. It's sad but hopeful and in the end something happens that fills us with wonder. I will let you the reader discover that for yourself. 

Wonderful book by a wonderful writer and wildlife lover. Read it!