EGGS IN MY BACKYARD
Some eggs have laid dormant in my backyard for about three days. There has been no sign of the bird that laid them or any inclination of such bird to incubate them.
I keep a neat lawn and have a firm policy of not chasing away any innocuous animal from my premises.... especially if it has not been recognised as a vector of any disease...better still if it is domesticated and not wild.
I am tempted to relocate those eggs to a more shady, cooler and safer location to save them from predators but such relocation may miscue and mislead the said bird who might in fact be incubating them when noone is looking her way!
Of course eating them is out of the question as I would equate such an action with thwarting the efforts of another individual to procreate!
And if there must be ownership by inference, such rights must belong to the owner of the bird.
They look much like fowl eggs but they might as well belong to a guinea fowl or a duck.
You know, these domesticated fowls have a way of laying their eggs in locations far flung from the homes of their owners.
Same goes for dogs and cats which though may deliver their young in locations far away from the homes of their owners...or still try to hide both the birth process and her kids...at least when they are still suckling.
All animals strive to hide their young from the prying eyes of predators including man!
If you were in my shoes what would you do to save these eggs?
Dr Tosin Akindele is a medical practitioner and public affairs analyst.
Post Script
Some kids came to play in my compound who in the usual destructive tendencies of children, gleefully broke those eggs...and were even so unmindful of their action as to report it to me.
I was to discuss this issue with a neighbour some days later. The funny thing was that he not only owns the fowl that laid those eggs, someone informed him as soon as they were laid, and as soon as they were broken!
Imagine what impression he would have had of me if I had gobbled up those eggs!
He would have simply formed an opinion of me!
....and would have kept absolutely quiet about it!