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Wild Bird Memorial

Aluminum can design

The spirit of this design is to take man-made debris that is already in the environment and turn it into smart garbage or garbage with a message. In other words, ideally use cans and old wire that one finds along the roadside near where the dead bird was found. Avoid introducing new man-made material to a wild, garbage-free, location. This design has the benefit for communications purposes that it will last a relatively long time in the environment, perhaps decades. 

Use scissors to cut the bottoms off two soda cans and punch two holes in each can bottom. A Phillips-head screwdriver works well for this, but any sharp-point tool would work. Then cut off the top portion of one of the cans to free up its aluminum siding. Cut off a thin slice (< 1/4 inch) off the length of the aluminum siding and roll the large piece of siding into a cylinder. Tie the thin slice of siding around the cylinder to prevent it from unrolling. Use a length of wire, twine, or a vine to connect the pieces. Lace it through the two holes in one can bottom, through the cylinder, and through the two holes in the other can bottom. An inscription may be etched on the aluminum can’s siding and/or bottoms.

Construction demo for a wild bird memorial made out of roadside aluminum cans and wire: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R-s4o69miZs