I cringe whenever a caller says that, because it means the bird has been fed a crap diet. Last week, I received just such a call, and I want to detail the circumstances for you here so that you fully understand why, legal issues aside, rehabbers DO NOT want you feeding wildlife unless they instruct you to do so as an emergency measure until you can get the wildlife to them.
A woman calls and leaves a message she has a blue jay and it needs help. I call back. She says, "I'm afraid I'm gonna be one of those people you hate; we've had him for 2 weeks."
Cue smoke from ears. I know the hostility is radiating through the phone and although I'm sure she didn't understand it, my shortness with her was extreme self-restraint to keep from cussing her out up one side and down the other. Why? Because I already knew the bird was in bad shape, sight unseen.
They'd been feeding the bird boiled eggs and dog food. That's it. Another damn Internet diet. They KNEW when they found him he had one injured leg, but it wasn't until he broke the other one that day because of MBD, a severe calcium deficiency, that they decided to get help.
Two weeks with an untreated injury AND a crap diet. OH. MY. GOD. I just wanted to scream, "REALLY??? Would you allow your child or your dog or cat to go TWO WEEKS without treatment for an injury that impaired his/her ability to stand and walk?”
So we meet. I pick up the jay and immediately see the right leg is broken below the ankle.
"Yes, it was like that when we found him."
A woman calls and leaves a message she has a blue jay and it needs help. I call back. She says, "I'm afraid I'm gonna be one of those people you hate; we've had him for 2 weeks."
Cue smoke from ears. I know the hostility is radiating through the phone and although I'm sure she didn't understand it, my shortness with her was extreme self-restraint to keep from cussing her out up one side and down the other. Why? Because I already knew the bird was in bad shape, sight unseen.
They'd been feeding the bird boiled eggs and dog food. That's it. Another damn Internet diet. They KNEW when they found him he had one injured leg, but it wasn't until he broke the other one that day because of MBD, a severe calcium deficiency, that they decided to get help.
Two weeks with an untreated injury AND a crap diet. OH. MY. GOD. I just wanted to scream, "REALLY??? Would you allow your child or your dog or cat to go TWO WEEKS without treatment for an injury that impaired his/her ability to stand and walk?”
So we meet. I pick up the jay and immediately see the right leg is broken below the ankle.
"Yes, it was like that when we found him."
I explain that TWO WEEKS ago that was a fixable fracture. Not now.
I look at the left leg. Swollen fracture above the ankle.
"Yes, that happened today; that's when we started looking for help."
I look at the left leg. Swollen fracture above the ankle.
"Yes, that happened today; that's when we started looking for help."
His chest and belly are filthy where he's been sitting in his own waste.
"Yes, he couldn't stand up. I cleaned his paper daily."
"Yes, he couldn't stand up. I cleaned his paper daily."
DAILY??? Would you allow your child to go ALL DAY in the same dirty diaper? No? Well, then WHY the HELL would you allow a baby bird to sit in his own waste all damn day? HUH???
His feather growth is stunted; the feathers are full of stress bars from malnutrition. I point this out.
His feather growth is stunted; the feathers are full of stress bars from malnutrition. I point this out.
"I'm severely (yeah, she really used 'severely') sorry. We didn’t know it was illegal to keep him until today. I hope you can help him."
I explain that there's nothing I can do at this point and she bursts into tears. I feel NO remorse at causing her outburst, because now I'M the one who has to take this poor, malnourished blue jay, with both legs now beyond repair, and EUTHANIZE him.
I find the statement about not knowing possession of wildlife without a permit is illegal questionable, as a quick Internet search of my own on “how to feed a baby bird" turned up, in the first FOUR results, one crap result, a vet clinic warning it was illegal and to seek help, and two rehab centers begging people to bring the wildlife to them BEFORE feeding.
Further, I ask again: If they KNEW the bird was injured when they found it, WHY wasn’t a vet consulted AT THAT POINT? I know for a fact most of the vets in that area refer either to LWR or to a wildlife center not licensed for birds that then refers to LWR.
I debated euthanizing that night but opted to wait till the morning, so I could get x-rays, just to give you graphic proof of what a crap diet does, and so you understand the seriousness of MBD. It causes the bones to be so brittle that even the normal wing flapping in the nest that a bird does to strengthen his wings for eventual fledging causes fractures. Merely attempting to stand will break the legs. The bird is in severe pain, but you’ll never know this, as birds hide their pain well as a matter of survival in the wild. Eventually, the bird will die an excruciatingly painful death, if not euthanized first.
Below are the x-rays, courtesy of Smalley’s Animal Hospital. I circled or pointed to the fractures in both legs and wings. Vet Peggy Hobby was appalled at the condition of the poor jay and observed that on the elbow of the left wing, the joint had basically disintegrated—and we didn’t even x-ray the body to see how may ribs might have been fractured.
I explain that there's nothing I can do at this point and she bursts into tears. I feel NO remorse at causing her outburst, because now I'M the one who has to take this poor, malnourished blue jay, with both legs now beyond repair, and EUTHANIZE him.
I find the statement about not knowing possession of wildlife without a permit is illegal questionable, as a quick Internet search of my own on “how to feed a baby bird" turned up, in the first FOUR results, one crap result, a vet clinic warning it was illegal and to seek help, and two rehab centers begging people to bring the wildlife to them BEFORE feeding.
Further, I ask again: If they KNEW the bird was injured when they found it, WHY wasn’t a vet consulted AT THAT POINT? I know for a fact most of the vets in that area refer either to LWR or to a wildlife center not licensed for birds that then refers to LWR.
I debated euthanizing that night but opted to wait till the morning, so I could get x-rays, just to give you graphic proof of what a crap diet does, and so you understand the seriousness of MBD. It causes the bones to be so brittle that even the normal wing flapping in the nest that a bird does to strengthen his wings for eventual fledging causes fractures. Merely attempting to stand will break the legs. The bird is in severe pain, but you’ll never know this, as birds hide their pain well as a matter of survival in the wild. Eventually, the bird will die an excruciatingly painful death, if not euthanized first.
Below are the x-rays, courtesy of Smalley’s Animal Hospital. I circled or pointed to the fractures in both legs and wings. Vet Peggy Hobby was appalled at the condition of the poor jay and observed that on the elbow of the left wing, the joint had basically disintegrated—and we didn’t even x-ray the body to see how may ribs might have been fractured.
THIS, people, THIS is why rehabbers get all bent out of shape when you allow arrogance, ego and willful ignorance to supersede the welfare of the wildlife and then “miraculously” discover our contact information when you’ve sealed the wildlife’s fate. WE get to clean up your mess and make the wildlife’s last few minutes or hours as comfortable as possible, KNOWING that if you’d gotten it to us in a timely manner, it would probably be a healthy, soon-to-be releasable young one. Now, the only release we can offer is death. And it’s NOT OUR FAULT but we bear the weight of pain and anguish for having to put down a bird that COULD have been helped.
Perhaps my colleague Catherine Longi in New Jersey stated it best: “Rehabbing should come with a warning to anyone considering this as a life choice. If you don't want to hate people and feel murderous rages daily, this isn't the field for you."
And a non-driving teen emailed just this morning with a very valid question: What do you do when you can’t drive yet but find wildlife in need of help?
Answer: You ask your parents or another trusted adult if they’ll transport the wildlife to a rehabber.
It’s impossible for rehabbers to be out picking up wildlife all day, from a financial standpoint—because we don’t get paid for what we do—and because if we’re on the road all day, who’s taking care of the wildlife we currently have under our care? For instance, in order for me to drive to Macon, 65 miles away, I’d either have to load a dozen birds into the car, stressing them out, or leave them at home with no one to feed them, also stressing them out AND starving them. Neither is an acceptable option because neither serves the best interest of the wildlife. I will, when possible, drive a short distance to meet someone—the distance I can manage between feedings, which is about 15 miles.
Off the soapbox now and on to updates on last week’s activity…
The cardinals have grown like little feathered weeds and are now ready for the flight pen. Just look at these darlings!
And a non-driving teen emailed just this morning with a very valid question: What do you do when you can’t drive yet but find wildlife in need of help?
Answer: You ask your parents or another trusted adult if they’ll transport the wildlife to a rehabber.
It’s impossible for rehabbers to be out picking up wildlife all day, from a financial standpoint—because we don’t get paid for what we do—and because if we’re on the road all day, who’s taking care of the wildlife we currently have under our care? For instance, in order for me to drive to Macon, 65 miles away, I’d either have to load a dozen birds into the car, stressing them out, or leave them at home with no one to feed them, also stressing them out AND starving them. Neither is an acceptable option because neither serves the best interest of the wildlife. I will, when possible, drive a short distance to meet someone—the distance I can manage between feedings, which is about 15 miles.
Off the soapbox now and on to updates on last week’s activity…
The cardinals have grown like little feathered weeds and are now ready for the flight pen. Just look at these darlings!
The blue-gray gnatcatcher is also fully feathered now but is still a bit babyish in attitude, so she’ll stay inside a bit longer.
Sadly, one of the ground doves died early last week; I picked him up for the first feeding of the day and he just crashed in my hand. The remaining ground dove has done some prodigious growing but isn’t quite ready for the flight yet.
The mockers fed inappropriately before being brought to LWR crashed one by one last week, doing well at lights-out and dying or dead the next morning. This could have been lingering effects of the diet, or it could have just been the unexplainable “sudden death syndrome” that hits birds. Given that all three were fed the same diet before intake, though, I’m leaning toward lingering dietary issues.
A fourth mocker, fed a slightly better emergency diet for longer than the recommended 12-24 hours, is doing well and in the flight pen now.
A fourth mocker, fed a slightly better emergency diet for longer than the recommended 12-24 hours, is doing well and in the flight pen now.
The brown thrasher found with his dying sib is in the flight pen now and doing well, flying short distances and perching beautifully…and asking politely for food. Contrast his gentle “feed me, please” with the mocker’s “FEED ME NOW” above!
The red-bellied woodpecker is good for release; we just had to wait for several days of predicted good weather after a week of near-daily rain.
The mourning dove with the puncture wound, despite managing to rip the scab off during preening, continues to do well and has been joined by a female house finch with a wing fracture and another juvenile mourning dove who was a probable cat-attack victim. His finders said they saw him in their yard and know that there is a feral cat roaming their neighborhood. He came in after weekend hours for Smalley’s and will be headed for x-rays ASAP assuming he survives. He’s pretty messed up: nearly scalped, puncture wound to the wing that penetrates through both sides, wing fracture…He’s on meds, so we’ll see how he does.
Again, folks, cats belong INDOORS. They KILL wildlife. Just last week, colleagues at Chattahoochee Nature Center in the metro-Atlanta area got in a juvenile red-tailed hawk that had been mauled by several cats; it died shortly after intake. We don’t preach “cats indoors” to hear ourselves talk, people. Keep the moggies INSIDE for their safety and that of our native wildlife!
Again, folks, cats belong INDOORS. They KILL wildlife. Just last week, colleagues at Chattahoochee Nature Center in the metro-Atlanta area got in a juvenile red-tailed hawk that had been mauled by several cats; it died shortly after intake. We don’t preach “cats indoors” to hear ourselves talk, people. Keep the moggies INSIDE for their safety and that of our native wildlife!
This adult screech owl flew into the side of a vehicle, sustaining only a concussion and an eye injury. The eye is still a bit swollen but his appetite is good, so there’s every hope he’ll be releasable. The first two photos are from night of intake; the last two were taken yesterday.
The formerly downy screech is almost unrecognizable as the same ball of fluff that came in a few weeks ago. While he won’t pick up his food himself yet, he IS eating with gusto.
And the Three Stooges—I mean GHOs—in the raptor flight continue to be big goofballs who haven’t figured out the live prey thing yet. Of course, the youngest shouldn’t be expected to just yet, but those older two…No matter, I’d prefer to release them all together, not because they’ll stay together in the wild but because as long as they have each other in the flight, they won’t imprint/habituate on humans. And they definitely haven’t, as the video below of the youngest fellow shows!
And I leave you with this series of photos of the possum and a probably too-long but funny video of him eating. Gotta love a possum!
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