May reading this help all of us to "lighten up" when we are so busy with 142 little mouths to feed, 38 wings to re-wrap, and 25 birds to tube feed... all in the next 30 minutes! (Oh, and don't forget those phone calls!!)
The following items were written by wildlife rehabilitators and those involved in the field, and relate to the exciting and very demanding profession of wildlife rehabilitation.
For those non-rehabbers reading the this, hopefully it will give you a little insight into the sometimes amusing things we run into in our work with injured wildlife and the people that bring them to us for care.
An "Unusual" Species of Snake
This March I received a call from an elderly lady about a green snake
hanging in a tree in her front yard. This snake had been there for a few
days and she was concerned that the neighborhood kids would bother it. I
asked her if it was still alive since it is very unusual for a snake to be
in a tree for several days. She said it was...in fact she maintained that
it moved some and actually "hissed" at her when she inspected it by poking
it with her broom. And she insisted on someone coming out to check on
this snake.
At this point, this lady had spent a lot of time on the phone to track me
down, so I felt obligated to send someone out. I sent one of my
assistants out to check on the snake and move it to a safer spot or bring
it in if indicated.
My assistant did successfully rescue the snake and identified it as the
"rubber" variety. The lady was very embarassed, however she still wanted
it "off the property." Maybe she thought it might hiss at her again???
It never occurred to me that the neighborhood kids might have actually
left this in this lady's tree. Oh well...the snake is now resting
comfortably in my assistants home...we decided that we needed to keep this
snake. This is just too good of a story.
Hope you all had a good chuckle! This is a reminder that the general
public many times cannot accurately evaluate a situation. In fact, they
can drastically distort the facts. I have thought about this a lot.
I am now much more careful not to believe everything I hear on the phone,
but to have the situation evaluated by a trained individual if there is
any question.
Animal "Sounds" In Ducts
This reminds me of the elderly widow who called us about an animal stuck
in her heating and air conditioning ducts. When Ron got there she was
standing over the floor vent. When she heard this kind of 'chirping'
sound, she would stomp her foot on the vent and the noise would stop.
This 'animal' had been there for days. Ron looked above his head where
there was a smoke detector and removed the batteries. This took care of
the 'animal'. The lady was very embarrased but happy to have someone put
a new battery in her smoke detector!
Feeding a Falcon
We get our share of funny stories also. We had one last week, that
really had us upset, then laughing. The local pet store called to say
someone was in and said that they had a falcon, but they didn't know what
kind it was, they had it for several weeks, and they knew that it had to
have mouse hair, but they didn't want to feed it a live mouse, and could
they just comb off some mouse hair and give it to the bird! Well, they of
course would not leave their name, but assured them that they would be
back and the pet store employee encouraged them to call us. A few days
later the woman showed up with her "falcon", it was a chicken! And she,
I hope, has learned a lesson of why not to keep an animal without calling.
by Alan Richrod
Wildlife Rehabilitation Song (to the tune of "An Occasional Man")
I have a permit, that says I'm able.
I'm gonna transport.
I've got a husband, house, three kids, and
Along the highways.
Then the work gets heavy, I get tired and
So I keep going hour by hour, till I've used up
My house is dirty; dishes piled up in the sink!
It left no time for a man!
Description vs. Reality
In the interest of rehabbing the rehabbers, as we wind down for the season,
how about some stories about the description vs. the reality of what is
brought in to us?
For example, four calls today were for "regular brown birds." Those
translated to 1 grackle, 1 starling, 1 dove, and 1 cowbird. Our usual
rule of thumb for a "baby owl" is to take a carrier for a screech owl.
Of course, that puts you up the creek without a paddle when it really
is a great-horned owl!
A "big duck" is a often a goose, and a "goose" is a swan. "Huge bird"
usually means it's larger than a sparrow. A "bat" in the chimney is a
swift, and a "golden eagle hit by a car" is a red-tail hawk on a rat on
the freeway shoulder. And one of my all time favorites... the "pregnant
pigeon". The caller was emphatic that we couldn't just leave the poor
thing to have her baby on the sidewalk! (It was a pouter pigeon, banded).
A little girl and her mother brought in a "baby vulture" which turned out
to be a baby pigeon. I explained what they had and even showed them our
educational vulture so they could see the difference. The little girl,
about 6, just kept nodding. When I was finished with my little speech,
she said, "Maybe he's a pigeon now... but when he grows up, he's going to
be a vulture!"
The "Humorous" Life of a Rehabber
My friend Linda had an escaped 4 inch opossum downstairs and coultn't
locate it. Her son suggested turning off the lights, getting out his
remote control car with headlights, and said "Mom, if I run the carback
and forth in the den, he's bound to run out in front of it, and then
you can catch him!"
Or how about the maid next door who was impressed with all the baby
animals we had. Her only comment was, "It's great what you do, but I
just don't understand how you get them babies away from their mommas!"
Or.... how to get welders gloves for free:
Jaws
A boy about ten years old found a nest with an egg in it that had been
blown out of a tree during a storm. He was on his way to school and
during the day the egg hatched. His mother called one of our volunteers,
but it was pretty late at night and they were quite a distance away. So,
the volunteer gave her instructions about keeping it warm and how doves
put their head in the parent's mouth to eat. The boy was supposed to call
the volunteer the next day but did not. There was no answer at the boy's
house when the volunteer tried to call. She figured the little bird
probably died. Later that evening, the boy called and wanted to bring the
bird over. He had kept the bird going by taking oatmeal his mom made and
stuffing it in a little toy "Jaws" shark he had. One of those soft
rubbery hollow ones that they sell at Disneyland. He put the oatmeal in
the shark and then the baby dove instinctively put his head into Jaws, and
viola... everything apparently seemed natural to him. Cool, huh?! This
was a teeny tiny newly hatched Inca dove about the size of a Jelly Belly
jelly bean. We have volunteers that quake in their boots at the thought
of trying to feed something so tiny. But this little kid had thought this
up all by himself after hearing how baby doves eat. There is hope out
there! This happened two weeks ago and the little dove is starting to
feather out and is doing fine. Of course, we might wind up with an Inca
dove that wants to terrorize small towns along the Eastern seaboard!
Mis-Id's
We see many people who bring in animals that are not what they think they
are! How about the "really rare parrot" (really a hatchling pigeon)... or
the chipmunk (neonate rabbit)... or the Gila monster in the damp scrap
wood bin (damp scrap wood).
And then there's my all time favorite:
Oh, yes, and then there was the early Sunday morning when I was doing
California Condor observation at the L.A. zoo prior to the test releases
back into the wild. Security put through a call to me at the "Condor
Hilton" from a guy who claimed there was a condor flying around his house
(actually, a turkey vulture).
What Is It?
This year, my favorite mis-ID was a "blue grouse that followed my children
home" which turned out to be a friendly young gray chicken... "Lady, it
looks like a chicken to me!"
A few years ago, a woman called me up to tell me she had raised a peregrine
falcon chick, and she knew she would be in big trouble if the Game
Department found out. She asked me to please come over and take the bird
so she wouldn't be arrested. I asked her for a description. First it was
downy and pale, then gray, etc. When I got there, I stepped in the room
and said, "Where is it?" She replied "You're looking right at it!" It
was a nice hefty young pigeon! She kept insisting the bird was a falcon.
Her "raptor" survived because she had included oatmeal with the raw meat!
One of the many "raptor pigeons" we have around here.
I advise those folks with "baby gulls" to check the toes for webs. And
our local rehab joke is about "Seagles" and "Eagulls"... somethimes these
misidentifications lead to real trouble as the public try to deal with
feeding something: infant swallows fed bread, etc. My favorite diet for
swallows (which they survived on for a week!) was the "Spam and
egg" diet. Just watch out for those swallows when you're dining alfresco!
"Is it bigger than a breadbox?"
And that is totally another story!
More Mis-ID's!
We've had a turkey vulture "as big as a medium sized dog" that turned out
to be a pigeon; two swans that turned out to be peking ducks, and a large
hamster that was actually a pocket gopher.
Too many calls come in about "city birds", "regular birds", or "those
birds that fly around outside". Grackles are either "cackles" or crows.
Baby pigeons are often mistaken for ducklings although one woman was
certain they were orphaned herons. Sparrows are "little wrens". One lady
left a message that she had a baby Saguaro that she was keeping warm and
trying to feed soaked dog food. We listed to the message about ten times
trying to catch what she was saying since a Saguaro is a cactus. When we
called her, she said "You know... a Saguaro... it's our state bird!" She
meant a Cactus Wren. For awhile there we were all getting excited about
the possibility of becoming cactus rehabbers.... low maintenance, no
stress... just make sure you don't sit on your patient!
We also had a very new volunteer (no longer with us) that brought me a
"grackle" that turned out to be a tiny Gamble's quail. I still haven't
figured that one out. Oh, and another woman called about this big "thing"
that swam up into her yard from the lake and she made it sound like the
Loch Ness monster. Some sort of mutated goose that was huffing and
puffing. Of course, it was a big male muscovy duck, but it really freaked
her out. She thought it might eat her little poodle!
We get an assortment of calls about "pregnant" birds and also have people
who insist that a duck has laid a clutch of 12-14 eggs in their yard
overnight. Way too many people still believe that if you touch a baby
bird, the human scent will make the mother reject it; or that birds carry
rabies. Sometimes it can drive you crazy, but then there are the really
good people you come across and that offset the "ignorant" people that are
out there.
Rules For Interpreting Animal ID's by Laypeople
On the subject of animal ID by lay folks having their first encounter of
the wild kind, we have several rules of thumb at my center:
Humorous Animal "Histories" by the public
As part of the intake procedure in our organization, we ask for a routine
basic history of the animal or bird turned over to us. We ask where
they found it, how long they have had it, did they feed it, etc. Some
of the histories given are quite amusing:
History of Animal:
You Might be a Wildlife Rehabilitator if...
You Might be a Wildlife Rehabilitator if...
Are you a rehabilitator or a jetsetter?
In making a fashion statement, how do you accessorize your wardrobe
most often?
You're lunching at your favorite restaurant. The topics of conversation
lean heavily toward:
Your refrigerator contains:
Your freezer contains:
Your favorite catalog shows up in the mail. You can't wait to curlup with
the latest issue of:
You fantasize about:
Your dream vacation would have you checking out:
Story by Bobbie, bobbief@turquoise.net
The furious husband strode over to where his wife was
toweling down the cold little bird. "I can't take it any
more! We've got to get rid of all of these #(@ birds!"
The wife held up her hand and cut him off in mid-sentence.
"Please, Dear, no cuss words in front of the chilled wren."
by Robyn Graboski
by Ron Doyle
by Becky Barron
by Christy Whitaker
Wildlife Rehabilitation
Widlife Rehabilitator is my label.
And I'll do cottontails, grey squirrels,
Still have time for my man.
I'm gonna rescue.
I'll work the hotline cause they say
I'm gonna save 'em; cure 'em; cause I
I got a rehabbin' plan.
Down in the ditches.
To see if anything at all needs stitches.
I got my sutures, black bag,
A great rehabbin' plan!!!
But there's cages to clean, and 12 more squirrels
Then my husband walks in, winks and then grins.
My husband's horney, and i haven't slept a wink!
Then Spring's upon us, there's birds all over, and
So I got hatchlings, nestlings, fledglings, STARLINGS!!
by Ann Bradshaw, Texas
by Pat Isaccs
A business woman taking her son to school saw a dead opossum on the road.
They parked and pulled mom off the road. A construction truck stopped
behind her. Two men jumped out to help... giving her 14 yr. old son
their welding ploves to pull the babies off the mom. The lady thought
nothing of this until they started walking away and she heard: "Doesn't
that beat all... some kid performing a CC on a dead animal to save the
babies. Oh, mam... you can keep the gloves... we don't want them back
after they've been inside an animal's stomach." When the lady brought the
opossums in to us, she left the gloves too!
by Nancy Eilertsen, Arizona
by Melissa Kaplan, California
kind of turtle is it? Is it a box or an
by Hilary Richrod
"Yes... and it has a pointy beak!"
"Yes, they pretty much all have pointy beaks, unless they're ducks..." :)
by Nancy Eilertsen, Arizona
by Julie Burkhart, California
by Project Wildlife, California
Misc. Authors:
by Nancy Eilertsen
A married man had only one complaint: his wife was always
nursing sick birds. One February evening, he came home to
find a raven with a splint on its wing sitting in his
favorite chair. On the dining room table, instead of
dinner, there was a feverish eagle pecking at an aspirin.
In the kitchen, his wife was comforting a shivering little
wren she found out in the snow.
Go Back To Main
Menu
devo0028@tc.umn.edu
Ronda DeVold
Last updated Saturday, September 06, 2003 - 5:53:25 PM