If you are fortunate enough to live in an area where hummingbirds visit on a regular basis, you probably are well aware of their beauty. Even though they are tiny, the bright colors are easy to see and you could spend hours watching them if they happen to be in the area. Some people tend to be like hummingbirds it that way but Michael Cardenaz did not fit into that category. In fact, you might even consider him to be the opposite.
Cardenaz would probably make you nervous if you bumped into him in the wrong area. He is a large man, muscular with a shaved head and a lot of tattoos on his arms. He was a police officer with the Sheriff’s Department for 14 years and even spent some time as a member of the SWAT team. Eventually, he left the police force and now he has a job at Homeland Security as one of their agents.
Michael loves Harley Davidson motorcycles and German shepherds. It’s easy to see when you look at the picture above. One day, he was sitting on his porch in Georgia when a little hummingbird stopped by and landed on his head.
The hummingbird did fly away but it ended up going down to the palm of his hand. Before long, this gentle giant realized that he had an old friend coming for a visit.
“I was kind of shocked by it,” he said. “Finally, I’m thinking, ‘Random hummingbirds don’t just land in my hand. This must be one of my rescues. I mean they all look alike.”
It turns out that Cardenaz loves animals and he rescues them on a regular basis. Any animal that is in need of help is going to receive it from him. This extends beyond dogs and cats and also includes this hummingbird. Those hummingbirds would often be around his house during the summer but one of them got hurt.
“He had an injured wing,” Cardenaz said. “I don’t know if he flew into a window or what. But he was outside my home, by the wall, just sort of spinning in a circle. Their wings are almost like plastic, they’re transparent. Several of those had broken. So he couldn’t gain flight.”
He nursed the hummingbird back to health, giving it sugar water and plenty of time to heal. It took quite a while but his little friend was eventually able to fly again. Winter came and the hummingbird migrated south. Michael thought that he would never see the bird again.
What is amazing about this story is that he did see the hummingbird again. He named it Buzz and every year, the little hummingbird comes back to visit. “I’m probably not the guy you would think nurses hummingbirds, but you see them helpless and you want to get them back on their feet.”
He may be a giant but he is gentle and he loves all living creatures, including humans and hummingbirds. He has these tender feelings more than most people and this bird was a beneficiary of his kindness.
H/T: Happiest