When Whittier, California resident Ed Gernon adopted his dog Rex a little over a year ago, he anticipated that he’d have to work to transition the German shepherd mix. Prior to being adopted, Rex had been a feral dog living on the mean streets, having to rely on his hunting abilities to survive. What Gernon was not expecting was for the rescue to become the rescuer, but that’s exactly what happened one day while out on a walk, when Rex encountered a small, seemingly dead hummingbird on the sidewalk.
“And he suddenly stopped and he would not move. I mean it’s tiny and it’s dead as far as I’m concerned. It’s covered in ants. It’s got no feathers,” Gernon recently recalled to CBS 2 Los Angeles. But the little bird was not dead, and after a long recovery process that involved feedings every 15 minutes and using a hairdryer to help her fly again, a year later the hummingbird — now known as “Hummer” — is still living with man and dog who rescued her.
Gernon leaves the doors and windows open for Hummer, expecting that she’ll want to leave for mating season, but for now she seems pretty content living the high life indoors, sharing a water dish with her buddy Rex. “I rescue this dog. He rescues the bird. The bird rescues all of us in a weird sense and it’s just a miracle,” Gernon says of the bond between man, beast, and bird.
Here are a few of the adorable videos of Gernon’s adventures with Rex and Hummer, which he documents on his YouTube channel:
(via CBS Los Angeles)
