As soon as Ed Gernon saw a puppy named Rex at his local animal shelter, he knew that he was the dog for him. Though the shelter warned Ed that Rex could be dangerous, as he was found living on the street as a feral dog who had to hunt and fight other animals in order to survive, the man would not be deterred. He had already fallen in love with Rex!

Taking a chance, Ed adopted Rex and brought him home to his house in Whittier, California.

Ed and Rex bonded immediately, and they love doing things like playing frisbee and going for long walks together. It was during one of these walks that Rex suddenly stopped in front of a bush one day and refused to move. When Ed went to see what was going on, he saw a tiny hummingbird lying on the ground.

Since the hummingbird was covered in ants and was laying perfectly still, Ed thought she was dead at first. However, when he saw that she was breathing faintly, he knew that he could save her, so he brought her home. There, Ed slowly nursed her back to health.

Naming the hummingbird Hummer, Ed was shocked at how quickly Rex bonded with her. From the time she got home, Rex refused to leave the hummingbird’s side!

“It was this little creature,” Ed recalled. “This fragile creature that the whole world wanted to kill and [Rex] was trying to protect her so I thought I’d go the distance.”

When Hummer first got to his house, Ed fed her a sugar mixture every fifteen minutes. He also taught her to fly using a hairdryer, and before long, she was flying around his home with ease!

“It’s crazy. You live with Tinkerbell. It’s like that’s what this is like,” Ed said.

Hummer continued to spend most of her time with Rex, and one of her favorite things to do was go for swims in his water bowl.

Knowing that Hummer will need to eventually go back to the wild, Ed has started leaving doors and windows open for her. So far, however, she has refused to leave. For now, Ed is just glad about all the joy Hummer is bringing to his and Rex’s lives.

“I rescue this dog. He rescues the bird. The bird rescues all of us in a weird sense and it’s just a miracle,” Ed said.