Category Archives: birds
If You Find a Baby Animal
In our part of the country we are still getting snow, but we are warming up slowly to Spring. Personally, it can’t come soon enough for me. I’m tired of being cold and I’m tired of being locked inside. In many parts of the country though, Spring is in the air and warm days are already arriving. The winter environment is coming alive with the wonders of Spring.
Spring means baby animals and it seems every year we either hear about a baby bird that has somehow fallen from the nest or we actually find one ourselves. We also seem to hear every spring about lost baby mammals. Then the question becomes, ‘what can I do to rescue this baby?’
Following is some very good advice thanks to a pet forum that I belong to;
What to do First:
The first priority if you have found a baby wild animal is to locate the nearest wildlife rehabilitator. Wildlife rehabbers are skilled in caring for wild babies (and injured adults) and returning them to the wild. They have veterinarians on-call, proper facilities for the babies to develop normally, and they don’t mind the lack of sleep. (Baby mammals, depending on size and age, will need to be fed every 2-4 hours around the clock. Baby birds usually need every-half-hour feedings from sunup until 10:00 pm, sometimes later.) Everyone should have a list of their local wildlife rescue places and vets who take in animals for them; it makes things easy when the need arises. You can usually get a list from your vet and sometimes these kind people are listed in the phone book.
Specifically for Baby Birds:
If you find a baby bird on the ground and can put it back in its nest, you should do so. The mom won’t smell you on the babies and abandon them, she’ll just be relieved that her chick is home. If an entire nest is destroyed, you can even make a nest in a basket and put the babies in that. (We did this when the wind blew a robin’s nest out of a tree. The babies grew up fine.) A baby bird who is fully feathered out and hopping around, almost flying, is a fledgling and should be left alone–just keep an eye out so cats don’t get it, and it’ll be flying very soon.
If you can’t put a baby bird back in the nest, put it in a small dark box (darkness reduces stress), keep it warm, and bring it to a wildlife center or an intake vet as soon as possible. Unless you’ve hand-fed birds before, don’t try to feed it. Birds’ airways are in an odd place (floor of the mouth, right behind the tongue) and it’s easy to miss the throat and accidentally drown/choke them. Don’t try to give a baby bird water, either: they get all their moisture from food, and they aren’t coordinated enough to drink liquids without choking yet.
Any bird that’s been in a cat’s mouth is in danger from bacteria, and must be brought to the rehabber for treatment, even if the nest is in reach.
Here is where you can find an avian vet; http://www.aav.org/vet-lookup / Your local avian vet will almost certainly know how to contact your local rehabilitators, for mammals as well as birds.
Specifically for Baby Mammals:
For baby mammals, the first thing to do is make sure it’s actually an orphan or abandoned. Some animals, like deer and rabbits, leave their babies alone while they go off to eat. If the animal’s in a den or a nest of grass and doesn’t look gaunt, chances are it’s not abandoned. If you *know* the animal is orphaned or in trouble (see a dead mother on the side of the road, your cat brings it in, whatever) carefully put the baby in a towel-lined, secure dark box and bring it to the rehabber or intake vet. If the animal is a baby raccoon, don’t handle it bare-handed! Raccoons can have a skin parasite that is deadly to humans; use gloves and towel it to pick it up. Again, don’t feed the baby critter, as tempting as it may be; many animals need somewhat specialized formulas, and opossums need extra-special formula because they can’t digest lactose. Regular human formula is too high in iron for baby wild mammals, and without a scale and growth charts and all that good stuff it’s hard to know if the baby is getting enough to eat.
Helpful Internet Sites:
Bunnies: http://www.webbedworks.com/messingerwoods/babybunny.htm
Birds: http://www.webbedworks.com/messingerwoods/babybirds.htm
Fawns; http://www.webbedworks.com/messingerwoods/fawn.htm
Owl Seeks Human Attention
Barn Owl photo from Wikimedia Commons. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license
According to old sayings and folk lore, owls are wise birds who usually are pictured wearing eyeglasses.
I don’t know if owls are wise. I do know they definitely do not need or wear eyeglasses. Most of us in the US are probably most familiar with the Barn Owl (Tyto alba).
However, if the Barn Owl, the Burrowing Owl, the Horned Owl or any other owl is the one of which you are most aware makes no difference. If you are familiar with the habits and story of any owl genus,you know these are not birds to be messed with. Both the offensive and defensive weapons for the owl are their beak and talons. Either can give a person who ventures too near them a nasty and deep reminder of their owl encounter.
The reasons stated above are why I was so surprised to see the video I am sharing with you today. This owl seems more than happy to have human companionship as well as welcoming human hands upon him.
How amazing is that? A wild bird who is a top predator seems to not only like the feel of this human hand but seeks and relishes the touch. Also, was it just me or did the Horned Owl and the others in the video seem to be jealous the touches weren’t going to them? I certainly got that feeling.
Is the person attached to the hand an owl whisperer?
What a beautiful and remarkable bird.
Barn Owl in flight photo from Wikimedia Commons - Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported, 2.5 Generic, 2.0 Generic and 1.0 Generic license.
Penguin Sweaters
Eudyptula minor Bruny Little . This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.
Yes, the title of this post is correct.
Little Blue Penguins need sweaters.
I am sure you are asking yourself ‘why in the world would a penguin need a sweater?’
I asked myself the same question when I first read about the penguin sweaters. The answer really is logical. I swear.
Early this month a Liberian cargo ship ran aground in New Zealand. That one ship created an oil spill that devastated the pristine beaches of the area. It has played havoc with the local plant, fish and wildlife population.
The wildlife includes the which is the smallest of the penguin family. Now these birds need penguin sweaters because they get oil in their feathers and try to clean it out which poisons the small birds.
From our friends at Care2;
About 350 tons of oil have washed ashore on the pristine beaches near Tauranga. Over 1300 sea birds have already died. As of this writing, some 1,400 tons of heavy fuel oil are still on the ship. Rough seas continue to hamper the salvage efforts.
Among the victims are New Zealand’s Little . When they come ashore covered with oil, they need sweaters immediately. When they try to clean their feathers, they ingest toxic oil. The knitted coverings keep them from preening until they can be cleaned.
So Skeinz, a yarn store in New Zealand, has put out a call to knit sweaters for the birds Australians call “fairy penguins.” The instructions are online, as well as the address for sending the penguin sweaters (called “jumpers” in the southern hemisphere). You can check out a photo of the winsome creatures in their sweaters here.
Read more: http://www.care2.com/causes/knit-a-sweater-save-a-penguin.html#ixzz1cD2IXdrL
It looks like these ocean birds will have warm and cute sweaters to wear until they are released into their habitat. I wish all animals who are in need could get the same response from kind people all over the world.
But then, when I stop to think about it, animals really do get a lot of help. It just never seems to be enough, does it?
From Grist dot org;
UPDATE: Skeinz, the yarn shop that posted the patterns, said they have achieved critical mass of jumpers. We’re both happy and sad about this. But they do say that they’ll stockpile sweaters if you’ve got one ready to go — or you can stockpile them yourself, in case oily penguins show up in your hometown.
Wow. People really love penguins. I hate to say this but there will be a need for penguin sweaters again because oil spills are going to continue for the foreseeable future. But these little look so very cute in their sweaters, I find myself wishing the little birds could wear penguin sweaters for better reasons. You know, as always, its the Awwwh factor.