Yeah, I actually had a lady call me last week with house finches she’d had for two weeks, and “now they’re getting ready for release, so I thought you might want them. I called you about some birds last year.”
Okay, so you had my number; you knew what you were doing was illegal—what’s your excuse?
“I thought they were sparrows.”
Hmmm…there are a zillion different species of sparrows, and only the house sparrow isn’t federally protected; how did you know these weren’t one of the numerous protected species?
“Well, they turned out to be house finches.”
Which you knew about a week into your illegal activities, so why didn’t you call me then?
Silence…
Okay, what have you been feeding them?
“[A commercial handfeeding diet for exotic birds], dairy products and [various other foods this bird wouldn’t have in the wild].” (I’m not listing specifics to avoid giving anyone else the bright idea to attempt this.)
None of that is appropriate for those birds. They now have severe nutritional deficiencies.
“They look just fine to me.”
Yeah, and I’ve had people bring me half-starved birds, covered with food and feces, with diarrhea that was pure water, and they told me they’d been taking “good care” of the birds.
I never saw the birds, but the Law Enforcement Division of DNR in this woman’s area is now investigating the situation. Yeah, I reported her; she was breaking the law and totally unrepentant about it. Don’t screw around with the wildlife I bust my butt to save, expect me to clean up your mess, and further expect me not to report your illegal activity. Ain’t gonna happen.
And in another instance of “why the hell are your cats outside, anyway?” LWR received two young but independent (i.e., out of the nest and own their own) Eastern cottontails. The caller originally took one from her cat, then called me back less than an hour later with a second, also taken from her cat. Neither was injured but since cat saliva is toxic to rabbits if they ingest it while grooming themselves or each other—and also because I wasn’t letting her put the poor babies back out for the cat to kill the second go-round—I took the rabbits, wiped them down with a rabbit-safe cleaning cloth (designed for cleaning domestic rabbits), medicated them to be on the safe side, observed overnight and released the stressed little darlings in the deep woods behind my house. Rabbits don’t do well in rehab settings, so the sooner we can get them back out, the better.
Okay, so you had my number; you knew what you were doing was illegal—what’s your excuse?
“I thought they were sparrows.”
Hmmm…there are a zillion different species of sparrows, and only the house sparrow isn’t federally protected; how did you know these weren’t one of the numerous protected species?
“Well, they turned out to be house finches.”
Which you knew about a week into your illegal activities, so why didn’t you call me then?
Silence…
Okay, what have you been feeding them?
“[A commercial handfeeding diet for exotic birds], dairy products and [various other foods this bird wouldn’t have in the wild].” (I’m not listing specifics to avoid giving anyone else the bright idea to attempt this.)
None of that is appropriate for those birds. They now have severe nutritional deficiencies.
“They look just fine to me.”
Yeah, and I’ve had people bring me half-starved birds, covered with food and feces, with diarrhea that was pure water, and they told me they’d been taking “good care” of the birds.
I never saw the birds, but the Law Enforcement Division of DNR in this woman’s area is now investigating the situation. Yeah, I reported her; she was breaking the law and totally unrepentant about it. Don’t screw around with the wildlife I bust my butt to save, expect me to clean up your mess, and further expect me not to report your illegal activity. Ain’t gonna happen.
And in another instance of “why the hell are your cats outside, anyway?” LWR received two young but independent (i.e., out of the nest and own their own) Eastern cottontails. The caller originally took one from her cat, then called me back less than an hour later with a second, also taken from her cat. Neither was injured but since cat saliva is toxic to rabbits if they ingest it while grooming themselves or each other—and also because I wasn’t letting her put the poor babies back out for the cat to kill the second go-round—I took the rabbits, wiped them down with a rabbit-safe cleaning cloth (designed for cleaning domestic rabbits), medicated them to be on the safe side, observed overnight and released the stressed little darlings in the deep woods behind my house. Rabbits don’t do well in rehab settings, so the sooner we can get them back out, the better.
There's not really much to see here; rabbits "freeze" when they feel threatened...and having some crazy woman standing over you with a camcorder HAS to feel like a threat!
The probable mocker hatchling from last week, sadly, didn’t make it. I fought to keep this bird alive for the entire week. He stopped gaping (begging for food). He had random diarrhea. His eyes never fully opened. And finally, Friday, everything resolved: he started gaping; the diarrhea cleared up; one eye was nearly fully open; he was twitching those little wings in true begging fashion…and Saturday morning, he was dead. There is very little more frustrating than struggling to keep a bird alive, seeing him “turn the corner” and seem to be on the right track, and then losing him…
Yet another GHO came in, so now I have The Three Stooges. Honestly, GHOs are such clueless rascals…The good news is that they’re all semi-self-feeding now. I cut up the food and place it in their crate; they eat on their own. Next step is feeding whole rodents.
The first, "older" GHO. Based on her size and weight, we've determined she's female.
Should've placed something next to her foot for scale. Sorry. Trust me; she's got big ol' feet!
Sorry for the crappy vid quality; it was very dark so I allowed YouTube to "fix" the lighting. You can see the GHOs better, but it's grainy.
All the overwintering flyers but one have left the release caging, and I suspect the lone straggler will be gone within the next couple of days. That will leave just the youngest girl, about 7 weeks old now, who’s still taking formula but has discovered the joys of solid foods, as well. Yesterday I decided she was eating all the “good” stuff well enough to have a treat: her first pecan. Pecans are kinda like candy bars for squirrels in general—tasty but not exactly nutritious. She adored her pecan!
And finally, the local paper quite graciously ran a very lengthy article I wrote on baby bird season. It begins on page one of the .pdf below and continues on page 3. If you’re interested in further reading today, have at it!
| courier_herald_4-5-14_bird_article.pdf |
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