posted 01-14-2002 09:42 PM            

After a forest fire in Yellowstone National Park, forest rangers began their trek up a mountain to assess the inferno's damage.

One ranger found a bird literally petrified in ashes, perched like a statue on the ground at the base of a tree. Somewhat sickened by the eerie sight, he knocked over the bird with a stick. When he gently struck it, three tiny chicks scurried from under their dead mother's wings. The loving mother, keenly aware of impending disaster, had carried her offspring to the base of the tree and had gathered them under her wings, instinctively knowing that the toxic smoke would rise.

She could have flown to safety but had refused to abandon her babies.

When the blaze had arrived and the heat had scorched her small body, the mother had remained steadfast. Because she had been willing to die, those under the cover of her wings would live.

"He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuse." [Psalm 91:4]

posted 01-23-2002 03:56 PM            

Claim: National Geographic magazine ran an article about a mother bird who willingly sacrificed herself to protect her chicks from a forest fire.

Status: False.

Example: [Collected on the Internet, 2000]

An article in National Geographic several years ago provided a penetrating picture of God's wings . . .
After a forest fire in Yellowstone National Park [in 1989], forest rangers began their trek up a mountain to assess the inferno's damage. One ranger found a bird literally petrified in ashes, perched statuesquely on the ground at the base of a tree, Somewhat sickened by the eerie sight, he knocked over the bird with a stick.

When he struck it, three tiny chicks scurried from under their dead mother's wings. The loving mother, keenly aware of impending disaster, had carried her offspring to the base of the tree and had gathered them under her wings, instinctively knowing that the toxic smoke would rise. She could have flown to safety, but had refused to abandon her babies.

When the blaze had arrived and the heat had scorched her small body, the mother had remained steadfast. Because she had been willing to die, so those under the cover of her wings would live.

Origins: Right off the bat, we can state definitively that no such article was printed in National Geographic, and that it's unlikely any such incident occurred at Yellowstone National Park (or anywhere else). As National Geographic said in response to a query about this story:

"We've been getting a lot of e-mails about this . It's an inspirational story -- which is why we regret that we have to debunk it . The incident was never reported in NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC. Nor did it happen at Yellowstone, according to the park's ornithologist, who adds that it doesn't ring true of bird behavior anywhere."

This story about a mother bird's self-sacrifice has been part of oral lore since at least the early 1980s.

As usual, the truth behind the story is probably less significant than the reasons why we want to believe it to be true. A few interpretations of this tale's appeal spring to mind:

It reassures us that our existence is no mere accident. If the traits we value as human beings -- love, compassion, a sense of obligation and higher duty to protect the weak and helpless even at the cost of our own lives -- are not exclusive to us but are exhibited by "lower" animals as well, then surely this must be evidence that a purposeful creator endowed all his children with these qualities.

It reaffirms our current beliefs in the sanctity of motherhood and the symbol of the mother as the all-powerful protector of her children. By showing that this higher truth applies even in the animal kingdom, we confirm that we're right to place motherhood on the impossibly high pedestal our society has chosen for it.

If comforts us to think that nature is not so harsh and cruel as we might believe -- that for every wild predator in a dog-eat-dog, "survival of the fittest" world, there's also a caring mother who would willingly and knowingly make the choice to lay down her life to protect her offspring.