Rescues.

[den]

This week has been a bloody nightmare.

I've rescued 4 blackbird chicks, 3 starling chicks and 5 sparrow chicks. Since they're all feral they ALL had to be euthanised. It got to a point where a wman rang to have another sparrow rescued, and I told her what I'd have to do. She was very disappointed. Then I said "Would you like to try to raise it?" So I told her how to raise a sparrow. It's illegal to release ferals back into the wild but I didn't care. Anything to avoid killing something else.

Today I rescued a blue-tongued lizard that had been attacked by a dog. The lizard's back was broken and it's vent was prolapsed. I had to put it down, too. Since reptile metabolism is so slow, you can't kill them quickly on drugs or chloroform. The only way to kill them humanely is to destroy the brain. So I put the lizard in an old pillow case, found the head, then smashed it with a hammer. Then I cut the head off with a shovel. Fuck I hate doing this.

I also picked up two rosellas that were so badly diseased they had to go. I don't know the proper names, but one had "beak and feather" disease and the other had "sticky pooh." Both birds were emaciated beyond belief.

The dove with a compound fracture full of maggots didn't require much thought beyond "How fast can I put this one down?"

The only successes this week were a pair of noisy minah chicks, a grass parrot chick, and a nankeen kestrel chick: the cutest ball of brown fuzz with sharp pointy bits I've ever seen. It bit my finger with hardly enough pressure to leave a mark. Then it grabbed my finger with its talons. It didn't draw blood but I experienced first hand the ratchet-effect raptor feet have. I had to wait until it wanted to let go.

So many young birds! The parents can't feed them in this drought.

Comments

[tropism.livejournal.com]

Augh, you've got my sympathies, man. That sucks.

I really hate the fact that, with many animals, people get reduced to "collect 'em to kill 'em," if they're licensed rehabilitators, even if they're healthy, like with the starlings and such.

How're those baby bats doing that you had up on your page a while ago?

[mactavish.livejournal.com]

Around here, starlings and English sparrows wreak havoc on native species. They're the only songbirds that it's legal to shoot, subject to other shooting regulations.

[dewhitton.livejournal.com]

That's exactly the reason why they have to be put down instead of being released. they out-compete the natives. Ironically, in England where starlings and sparrows are natives, they have just been put on the endangered species lists!

[dewhitton.livejournal.com]

The group I work for has a reputation of "Catch and Kill." People don't understand that our policy is Rehab And Release, and if the animal can't be released then it can't be kept. Caging a wild animal is cruel even if it is injured. Releasing an animal that can't fend for itself is worse.The only time we don't kill an animal is if it's on the endangered species schedual, and then it goes to the zoo.

[tsjafo.livejournal.com]

Thank you for trying, for being there for them.

[dewhitton.livejournal.com]

Thanks. I can't bear the thought of the alternative.

[kyburg.livejournal.com]

Rescue means making it better - not that everything survives the experience.

Gah. Thanks for being there. Most people would run screaming the other way.

You know my friend Tobie? trcabbage? Ask her about Leno. Poor dear as well - things aren't nice where she is either, these days.

[dewhitton.livejournal.com]

I don't know your friend, I'm afraid. It's hard to help an animal and fail. I always wonder why I do it. THen the next animal arrives. And the next. Oh well... someone has to do it.

[elynne.livejournal.com]

Are the minahs, parrot, and kestrel okay?

I know how hard it is to care. Fucking drought. You're doing your best for them. I'm sorry. *hug*

[dewhitton.livejournal.com]

The noisy miners are doing well! ("noisy miner" is a native species not to be confused with "indian mynah") They'll be fully fledged and redy to fly by christmas. They look like this: http://www.ozbird.wild.net.au/noisyminer.html

The kestrel took a couple of days to work out that its mum wasn't coming back, and now accepts food from the carer. They eat mice and insects in the wild, so right now it's being fed pre-killed mice and rat-babies (it's illegal to feed live prey) and whatever large 'hoppers can be caught in the garden. Rehab is difficult with raptors but the nankeen kestrels are easier. The carer will put a dead mouse inder a pile of hay in the cage then use a stick to make "mouse movement" noises so the bird has to hunt. And for added excitment she'll throw a handful of live grasshoppers in there for the bird to catch. http://www.camacdonald.com/birding/NankeenKestrel(KR).jpg

[elynne.livejournal.com]

Are the noisy miners indeed noisy? ;) The chick is adorable! And the kestrel... ooooo, pretty. But I'm remembering your experiences with birds of prey last year, and guessing that you'd rather give them a miss. ;)

Meerp?

[ionotter.livejournal.com]

Is the carer using a kestrel hand-puppet? Rehabilitators seem to have had remarkable success in the prevention of human parental "imprinting".

Re: Meerp?

[dewhitton.livejournal.com]

She covers herself with a bed sheet and wears bright yellow gardening gloves. The trick is to keep the bird from associating humans with food. It's already old enough to know what it's supposed to be.

[tatterdemalion.livejournal.com]

*hugs*

Poor batty, poor animals..

[ldy.livejournal.com]

*hugs*

You do what you can. Even euthanasia is a welcome kindness to animals in such pain.

I don't envy your position, but I do admire you. God bless you, Batty :)

[moominmuppet.livejournal.com]

I'm sorry it's been such a painful week; your willingness to face that pain has prevented a great deal of additional suffering, and I know you know that intellectually. Still, knowing it and feeling it can be very different things... *hugs* if you'd like 'em.

[tygermoonfoxx.livejournal.com]

You have my intense respect for the job that you do; it isn't easy to do wildlife rehabilitation when it means having to lose so many patients or kill them because they're beyond your ability to help. I am, however, happy that you got a few successes.

Shall I start calling you Jeff Corwin or Steve Irwin? *ducks and runs, laughing*

Yes, I know them's fighting words but hopefully I made you smile.