the dead bird hunt

Last week the boys discovered an injured bird on our front walk. My sister-in-law was over and used a cardboard box to transport it to the back yard. She then helped the boys collect worms and bugs for the bird to eat.
By the next morning the bird had died and I had to tell the boys. They weren't overly concerned. Jem talked about the bird going to heaven and being happy there with God. I told them that they could look at it but then they needed to leave it alone and they definitely weren't allowed to touch it.
Later in the day, they both ran into the house and told me that they had fed some worms to the bird. I reminded them that the bird was dead and couldn't eat. And they said, "That's okay Mommy. We just put them in its mouth and moved it's beak up and down." Yuck!!! I made them come inside right away and disinfected their hands while trying not to be grossed out.
I took the time to hide the bird while they were sleeping. Obviously telling them to stay away from it wasn't going to work so I moved it to a different spot in the yard. When they woke up they immediately ran outside to look for it and Jem quickly came back in to tell me that he was really mad at me for taking the bird away. He started looking through our trashcan for it. I told him that I didn't put it in the trash and Tru said that I put it in a different bush so they both ran back outside to search for it. When Sam came home from work he found both boys outside with their heads in different bushes hunting for a dead bird. I'm happy to report that their hunt was unsuccessful.