Humans weren't the only ones taking shelter from Fabian's fury last Friday. Bermuda's animal and bird populations were also hunkering down, some in pampered luxury, while the wild varieties followed their natural instincts and sheltered where they could. Indeed, one of the most popular questions to emerge from the meteorological crisis was: "Where did the birds go during the storm?" Nowhere to be seen on Friday, they were everywhere in Saturday's bright sunshine, dipping into domestic bird baths, scavenging for food, and soaring above the ravaged countryside. Lifestyle's Nancy Acton did a check-around of the animal and bird scene, and this is what she learned.

Domestic pets had little to worry about, it seems. Most owners kept them safely inside and did what they could to reassure the jittery creatures that all would be well.

Some, like Mary Belle (MB) MacDonald, went to extraordinary lengths to cater to her menagerie, including installing an inflatable kiddie pool in her living room to accommodate her terrapins.

The Hinson's Island resident's animal house count includes six dogs, two cats, one rabbit and one gerbil, 14 terrapins between six and 12 inches long, and some guppies, most of whom normally live outdoors.

With the impending hurricane, however, Ms MacDonald relocated the rabbit to the guest bathroom, the terrapins and dogs to her living room, the guppies to a temporary tank, while the gerbil remained in the kitchen and the cats sat by a window. All survived well, although, including the dubious relationship between the dogs and terrapins, and most are now safely back outside.

Elsewhere, a chicken was also accommodated in a living room, and in Somerset 12 outdoor cats put aside their long-standing differences to cuddle together atop a special bed made from their doting owner's best bath towels.

Several domestic pet owners reported that their animals, traditionally terrified of thunder, lightening and fireworks, remained totally indifferent to the roaring havoc being wreaked outside, and some were even given special dispensation to share normally off-limits areas of their homes, such as beds and sofas.

In Pembroke, one normally placid dog escaped outside and refused to return, despite the best efforts of its owner and hospitable neighbours. Instead, it discovered flying.

"I was looking out the window and was amazed to see the dog, wide-eyed and plainly confused, literally flying by a few inches off the ground," a neighbour said. "The poor thing was trying to walk but its paws couldn't connect with the ground due to the force of the wind and it just floated along."

When contacted, its owner, who was wrestling with roof damage, said the dog was so frightened that not even he could coax it to come near him or anyone else it knew. Happily, however, it was out and about the next morning, making its rounds for treats. Meanwhile, down in St. George's at Corporation of St. George's Town Manager Lance Furbert's home, pet Muscovy duck, Splashes, was the subject of great anxiety by his teenaged children.

"She's a pet, and with the storm approaching we just had to let her go," Mr. Furbert said. "My children were so afraid something would happen to her, but true to most animals she found a place somewhere to hunker down, and came back the following morning at her usual time, pecking on the door for something to eat.

"She was soaked but otherwise fine, and of course the children were thrilled to see her back. She's been around for a long time, so obviously she could take care of herself."

At least one tropical fish hobbyist is still struggling to keep his collection alive. With no electricity, he has had to borrow a generator to aerate the water in their tank. Another fish enthusiast was not so lucky. With no electricity to operate the aeration pump, all of the koi in his outdoor pond died.

Large animals, like cows and horses, could not, of course, hunker down in households, and it seems that some of them had a lucky escape - like the two horses who were fortuitously moved just before the storm, and escaped injury or death when their erstwhile stable bit the dust.

Elsewhere, horses housed in a ramshackle stable emerged into Saturday's sunshine to find their favourite edible plants gone, but a tasty substitute gathered and delivered by a thoughtful animal lover who lived nearby.

Veterinarians Dr. Andrew Madeiros of Ettrick Animal Hospital, and Dr. Stefan Walther of Endsmeet Animal Hospital reported no great rush of casualties resulting from the storm.

"A baby heron was brought in; we had a couple of dogs admitted with broken legs, and a kitten whose paw had been trapped in a door," Dr. Stefan (as he is popularly known) said, while Dr. Madeiros reported "a dislocated hip and a broken leg", although he didn't know if those injuries were storm-related.

At 7 a.m. on Saturday morning Dr. Stefan honoured a house call to give a horse suffering from laminitis its daily painkiller injection.

With the necessary equipment in a rucksack and a crash helmet on his head, he set off from Bailey's Bay to Middle Road, Smith's on his mountain bike, picking his way very carefully over, around and through the debris-strewn route.

"Going by bike to do a house call was like the old days," he recalled. "It was the only way to get through, and yes, the horse is getting better."

After the storm both veterinary practices were left without electricity and operated a very limited emergency service. While Ettrick had some power restored to its main building on Tuesday evening, Endsmeet was still without it yesterday.

In fact, Dr. Stefan made a desperate plea for Belco to restore electricity urgently because he cannot properly treat the dogs with broken legs in the interim.

For some days, Mr. Madeiros said a generator had helped with the water situation at Ettrick, but its office had operated in the car park with cell phones. Endsmeet is still using cell phones.

"We cancelled all elective surgery and regular appointments. With power now restored to the main building and the phones working we are now operational, but it will be next week before we are back to normal. We we are asking people to call us first, or pop by, regarding things like elective surgery," Dr. Madeiros said.

Both veterinarians confirmed the animals had been safely housed during the storm, and had come through it with no problems. There was water and "plenty of food" throughout the crisis.

They were also feeling the effects of boarders overstaying their allotted time due to owners being marooned abroad, while other pets could not be admitted because their owners were unable to get off the Island, but they were coping.

Like the veterinary practices, all of the animals at the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animal (SPCA) weathered the storm well, and Dr. Madeiros, who is chairman of the animal charity, said the staff and a large team of enthusiastic volunteers had done well in keeping the animals happy.

The Society was still trying to organise a generator so it could have extra water for cleaning up, and he noted that the on-site Inspector's cottage had sustained some damage.

In the absence of relevant phone services, SPCA chief inspector Heidi Mello advised anyone who has lost or found a dog to ring Police headquarters and ask to be put through to the Dog Wardens.

Those missing or finding other animals, including cats, should page the SPCA at 292-8181.

One of the big questions being posed by citizens post-Fabian was: "Where did all the birds go during the storm?" Everyone seemed to notice their absence before the storm, and their chirpy return the very next morning.

According to former Government conservationist David Wingate, Nature seems to have endowed our feathered friends with an innate ability to find appropriate shelter during terrible weather.

"Land birds hunker down like we do," he said. "They go deeper and deeper into the vegetation. Their instinct is amazing."

Their post-storm survival, however, is not without difficulty because of serious disruptions in their traditional food chain. This is particularly applicable to insect eaters, not only because the worms and grubs will take some days to reemerge, but also the ground is covered in broken vegetation and debris.

Seed eaters, on the other hand "do quite well" according to Mr. Wingate because of the berries, etc. which have blown onto the ground. Ironically, the biggest danger they face is from cats.

"Cats have a heyday after a hurricane. It is a very vulnerable time for birds," he said.

Of even greater concern at this time are the damaged and destroyed nesting places of the longtails and cahows. Longtails return each year to the same nests in the cliff faces, many of which were destroyed by Fabian.

While the adults traditionally remain at sea during a storm, many of the chicks drown when seas pound the cliff face nests. However, the former Government conversationist has been pleased to observe a few longtails flying back to cliff faces in the Castle Harbour area, and miraculously also observed a chick.

"On the north side of Castle Harbour I could see a surviving chick in a hole because the parent came to feed it," he said.

During the storm Mr. Wingate received a telephone call from someone in Southampton who had found a long tail chick on the beach. The duo agreed that if the finder could bring it to the Aquarium, Mr. Wingate would met him there, but he heard no more.

A bigger crisis looms for the cahows because these winter breeders are due back here in six weeks time, and their manmade burrows on Nonsuch Island and other islands have been completely destroyed, so Mr. Wingate plans to assist Government Conservationist Jeremy Madeiros and others in rebuilding them as quickly as possible.

"We faced the challenge twice before: during hurricane Dean in 1995 and Gert in 1999, when 40 percent of the nests were trashed," he said. "This time the figure may be a lot higher.

"It is clear that we probably have to do repair work on at least 80 square feet of the nest sites, so it's going to be a huge job. It took six weeks after hurricane Felix.

"There is no way the Conservation Officer can do it alone, but we have a rota of people who are closely involved, so I have no doubt the necessary help will materialise, and hopefully the cahows will find their homes better than ever before. I like to say that the Government housing programme for the cahows is way ahead of the Bermuda Housing Corporation.

The cahow programme started 40 years ago with 18 and is now up to 70 pairs in Government housing because there are no natural burrows, so providing the burrows is a very important part of the programme."