I'm not distracted by shiny things....

[saphire2815]

But I do get distracted by our fuzzy and feathered friends. I got home from my friends wedding today. There was a bird out by our pond, and he looked funny so I got fairly close to him to see what was wrong and one of his wings was BADLY injured like bone prodruding out injury. So I get upstairs and my Grandma calls, so I talk to her, then I get off the phone with her and proceed to spend the next 2 1/2 hours trying to find a rehabber that would either answer their phone or be able to help. Finally found one, she would take him, but I had to capture the poor thing and bring it in. So I cage the fuzzy's, get a big sheet and a box, take a deep breath and go out to find him in the dark. I found him, but I'm nervous 'cause he's a big bird and he hunts and eats fish, so I know if I don't do this right, I can get hurt. Well I get about two feet from him sit down and start trying to talk to him soothingly, he almost looks like he is going to jump into my arms, like he knows I'm there to help, so I get the bright idea, maybe he'll just climb into the box for me Ok so afraid of getting hurt made me think a wild animal would do a domestic animal thing and put the box on the ground next to him. LOL! Silly girl, well he jumped into the pond and swam away. So I guess I'm calling fish and wildlife in the morning and having them come get him if he's still out there. I just wonder how long he was out there, this is a big apartment complex, it makes me wonder how unobservant or uncaring some of the people I live around are. But who knows maybe they are holed up in their apartment right now writing a post about how they tried to capture him!

[Heather]

Good luck, someone has to look out for the wild things that come across our paths.
ciao

[sherrylynne]

I'm glad you're at least calling someone. It isn't always wise trying to catch an animal, even if it is badly injured.
Far too many would simply walk away. Thank you

[saphire2815]

I finally got in contact with a rehabber I had visited a few months ago. I described the injury and she says its an old injury and the bird is probably fine. She said if I found someone to come get him, he would be immediatly put down. The best thing to do is watch for lethargy and if he shows distress to contact her, but in this situation it might be best to let him be. There are a lot of fish in our pond, so I'm betting he picked it for the easy pickings. I also asked if I could throw some food out to see if he is eating and she said a liver or heart might work, but it is mainly a fish eater so not to much, and not often don't get him dependent. If I do, it will be more of a check to see if he is hungry and determine if there is a need to step in.

We did determine what type of bird, a cormorant, not what I originally thought it was and less dangerous, still dangerous, but significatly less than the original one that I thought it was.