My faith in mankind is restored. There were times when I wasn't sure it would ever come back.

Yep, the Great Blue Heron, legs decapitated, came back to roost in front of the Olympia restaurant in downtown Coeur d'Alene after a couple weeks off its perch.

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Whoever did the dirty deed of pilfering the bird finally came down with a case of the guilts, or couldn't take the heat anymore.

With The Press' records section chock full of thefts, it's great to see that someone has a heart, realized that the heron means more to the city than anything they could get for it in scrap, and did the right thing and returned to the scene of the crime to do what they could to right a wrong.

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I know the economy is tough, and things are tight. Many are out of work and desperate to sustain themselves in any way possible, or the drug habit has taken hold and the law be damned. It's almost as if it's not nailed down, eventually someone will try to make off with it.

Trust is a tricky subject these days. To many it only occurs when their item of value resides behind a locked gate, door or room.

But in the midst of all this thievery, a bird brain or two conjured up enough sense to bring the heron home to roost.

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We had a blue heron that would spend summers fishing in a little swamp area behind our home in central Montana. I would often grab the binoculars and keep track of his daily catch. To me he was majestic, a loner doing what he needed to keep his belly full.

Maybe the mention in our articles of police reviewing surveillance video from nearby businesses spooked the thieves.

Maybe they couldn't find a buyer for the statue or its metallic contents, hopefully due to media coverage.

Maybe a little divine intervention ruled the day.

Or maybe it was all an anomaly.

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At the end of the day, Big Blue is back, and I can rest easy thinking that a couple of thieves in North Idaho have hearts.

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Wait - did I remember to lock the back gate before I came to work today?

When Jerry Hitchcock is not checking padlocks on his outbuildings, he is a copy editor for The Press. He can be reached at 664-8176, Ext. 2017, or via email at [email protected].