…For at least a few more months. We’ll take it a month at a time. A huge ‘thank you’ to those who’ve donated already; your generosity will allow LWR to continue to “give Nature’s children a second chance.”
Meanwhile, the fundraiser is still active for another two weeks, and we’re at $2590, 47% of the $5500 goal, with no new donations in two days. Part of the problem, I think, is that there’s not that sense of ownership with wildlife; you can’t pet a hawk or cuddle with a blue jay, or physically adopt them. So while people will donate out the wazoo to domestic animal groups, they’re less likely to see funding wildlife rehab as “their” problem—until they need a rehabber and discover there are none available because they all shut down from lack of funding. Then there’s a huge hue and cry about how “somebody oughta do something.” Well, folks, YOU are that “somebody” and it’s better to act now than bemoan the lack of rehabbers when it’s too late.
We should all view wildlife as a trust, to be maintained for future generations. We don’t “own” wildlife like we do cats or dogs, but it’s our duty to protect our wildlife so that our children and their children can see these creatures in their natural habitat, not read about extinct species in books or see them only in museums or zoos.
Meanwhile, the fundraiser is still active for another two weeks, and we’re at $2590, 47% of the $5500 goal, with no new donations in two days. Part of the problem, I think, is that there’s not that sense of ownership with wildlife; you can’t pet a hawk or cuddle with a blue jay, or physically adopt them. So while people will donate out the wazoo to domestic animal groups, they’re less likely to see funding wildlife rehab as “their” problem—until they need a rehabber and discover there are none available because they all shut down from lack of funding. Then there’s a huge hue and cry about how “somebody oughta do something.” Well, folks, YOU are that “somebody” and it’s better to act now than bemoan the lack of rehabbers when it’s too late.
We should all view wildlife as a trust, to be maintained for future generations. We don’t “own” wildlife like we do cats or dogs, but it’s our duty to protect our wildlife so that our children and their children can see these creatures in their natural habitat, not read about extinct species in books or see them only in museums or zoos.
Despite the grim funding situation, LWR did have seven new intakes this week, all on Monday, nearly balanced by six releases throughout the week.
An adult chimney swift was DOA; a post-mortem exam showed that the left wing was broken but the bird was also rail-thin and had probably starved to death en route.
Hot on the swift’s heels was an adult Mississippi kite with an open wing fracture, also left wing. Despite his alertness and overall health otherwise, the wing fracture was a death sentence.
An adult chimney swift was DOA; a post-mortem exam showed that the left wing was broken but the bird was also rail-thin and had probably starved to death en route.
Hot on the swift’s heels was an adult Mississippi kite with an open wing fracture, also left wing. Despite his alertness and overall health otherwise, the wing fracture was a death sentence.
Photo taken after euthanasia
Then a fledgling mocker was found wandering alone around a body shop. He had a bit of a bloody beak on intake but is fine now. Sorry for the low-quality photo; I was working on this update when I realized I’d not taken any other pix of the little loudmouth this week.
That oversight was more than likely due to my utter fascination with the next three intakes, nestling Northern flickers. While LWR has seen several adult flickers through the years, these were the first babies we’d seen, and I admit to being a bit mesmerized by the cute rascals.
On intake I worried that they might have aspiration pneumonia or issues stemming from a crap diet, as their finder had kept them over the weekend, giving them water and feeding them some godawful grits-Purina cat chow mixture and managing to kill the fourth one—which is when she miraculously discovered LWR’s number.
They’re doing great, though, and should be ready for the flight pen by late in the week, I’d guess.
The final intake for the day—and, as it turned out, the week—was a juvenile hummingbird, a female ruby-throat. Her finder kept her for a solid week, giving her sugar water laced with vitamins—sorta like giving your child a steady diet of Sprite and multivitamins and then wondering why the young’un has health problems, huh?
They’re doing great, though, and should be ready for the flight pen by late in the week, I’d guess.
The final intake for the day—and, as it turned out, the week—was a juvenile hummingbird, a female ruby-throat. Her finder kept her for a solid week, giving her sugar water laced with vitamins—sorta like giving your child a steady diet of Sprite and multivitamins and then wondering why the young’un has health problems, huh?
She does have some missing flight feathers but nothing seems broken. Both wings are level and move as they should, but the missing feathers prevent flight. The good news is, she’s pretty much self-feeding, so there’s no running to feed her every 15-20 minutes.
The last four killdeer were released…
The last four killdeer were released…
…as were the last two of the nest of four mockers. They’re still hanging around demanding handouts, though.
The barn swallow, despite her best efforts, was never able to fly—she never managed to even lift herself off whatever perch she had hopped up on. The plan had been to “merge” her with swallows of about the same age who were beginning to fledge under my parents’ carport, as attempting to place her in the nest when she came in could have caused them to fledge prematurely. I figured once they’d fledged, given swallows’ social nature, nobody’d notice one more mouth to feed. Sadly, the stress of attempting to fly and not being able to apparently took its toll on the little sweetheart and she died overnight Wednesday.
The mourning dove, after doing so well for so long, also began to struggle early in the week and started losing weight drastically despite eating normal amounts of food. When nothing seemed to improve his situation and he began to obviously physically deteriorate, I opted to end his suffering.
The robin is doing beautifully in the songbird flight and should be releasable as soon as we have several days of low/no rain chances.
The robin is doing beautifully in the songbird flight and should be releasable as soon as we have several days of low/no rain chances.
The broadwing, bless his little heart, is slowly beginning to figure things out—he even flew to the “big boy” perch this week, for the first time!
The wood ducks are getting huge but still not big enough to be outside. Their tail feathers are gorgeous but their wings are still stubby little bits of fluff.
The screech, red tail, pileated and geese are still with us, just no photos this week. See above—I was a bit fixated on the flickers!
And in closing, I’ll leave you with this photo taken with my phone camera mid-week; it was all I had handy when this gorgeous scene appeared. Of the several shots I took, this one is my favorite because of the bird. It serves as a reminder to me that things will work out somehow, so I’m trusting in the universe and generous donors to aid and abet that “working out” so LWR can continue its mission.
And in closing, I’ll leave you with this photo taken with my phone camera mid-week; it was all I had handy when this gorgeous scene appeared. Of the several shots I took, this one is my favorite because of the bird. It serves as a reminder to me that things will work out somehow, so I’m trusting in the universe and generous donors to aid and abet that “working out” so LWR can continue its mission.
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