# Laughing Dove wants to nest



## madeleinferreira (Apr 14, 2020)

Hi. I am a new member and the handsome "guy" in the attached picture is called Mossie. Mossie is a Laughing Dove and is +/- 6 months old. He was removed from his nest by the neighbours cat when he was about 2 or 3 days old. They didn't want to put him back in the nest as they were scared the cat would go back there so I offered to try and rescue it without much experience. I did a lot of reading on the Internet and by the grace of God, Mossie survived. Mossie lives with us (me, hubby, our 2 dogs and 3 cats) in the house, but has free access to the garden during the day as I work from home and can keep an eye on him. When I call his name, he immediately comes inside. He is very attached to us and we love him to bits. 

*Question:*

About a month or so ago Mossie started "mating" with my feet (3 or 4 times a day) and is constantly bowing and cooing at me for hours .  Today he flew into the house with a little twig in his beak and dropped it on the shower panel where he sleeps at night. I feel so sorry for him, because "mommy" doesn't understand what he is trying to tell me. Do you think he sees me / my feet as his "partner" or do you think he has a female partner outside and wants to build a nest for her inside the house? He does socialize with the other birds (lots of doves) in the garden, but he prefers the company of humans. Is there anything I can / must do for him?


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## Marina B (May 5, 2011)

He is just adorable. I'm also from South Africa btw. When raised from such a young age, they sometimes become human imprinted. Meaning they will rather socialize with humans instead of their own kind. 

I've raised rock pigeons from a young age, and 2 of them remained imprinted on me for years. They also mated with my hands. Then I started getting more pigeons (adult handicapped pigeons that were unreleasable). Those ones formed couples and mating took place. Eventually my 2 also bonded with females. That was quite a relief.

You can either provide him with a nest where he sleeps at night, or put one up outside in a safe spot in a tree. Those small reed baskets will work perfectly. He will probably spend time in his nest calling for a female. If this is outside, other females will be interested in him and he might lose interest in you.

How do you keep him safe from your cats?


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