Conference 7.286::pet_birds

    Where are located?  I found a Red Tail Hawk by the side of the road
    stunned by a car.  I brought him to a local vet. who specializes in
    exotic and wild animals and they checked him over and kept him for 
    a day.  They were able to release him the next morning.
    
    How did you and your wife get into it?  
    
    Denise

    Hi,
    
    This conversation is also going on in the Wild_birds notes file in note
    464.
    
    Gary lives in Oklahoma.
    
    To add wild_birds to you notebook type :
    Add entry CLT::WILD_BIRDS
    
    Doug

    ans to .1
    Denise:
     Doug is right, I live in Oklahoma.
    I'm looking for other rehabers to exchange information with. As I
    said, I tried the WILD_BIRDS notes file and found no rehabers. I
    thought possibly the PET_BIRD notes file might include someone who
    is rehabing or has in the past. Also if anyone finds a injured or
    orphaned wild animal that we know about, we would be happy to advise.
    
    To answer your question about how we got into it:
    
    My wife started volunteering time at the local Zoo. It seems they get
    a lot of calls from people who find orphaned or injured animals. They
    don't wan't them and aren't staffed to handle them. However the
    volunteers have a network of people who take them. You need a state
    rehab license from the department of Wildlife (in Oklahoma). This
    covers you for everything that is not federally protected. We started
    out with opossums, squirrels, racoons, armadillo's etc. After doing
    that for a couple of years, we got to be friends with a couple of
    people who took the raptors. After going through hoops and lots of
    paperwork we applied for a Federal Rehab permit. We haven't got in
    any orphaned or young raptors yet, only injured ones. Various people
    call and drop off animals now. The game rangers get calls or find
    animals. They drop the mammals off at the closest rehaber and the
    Federal birds at us. It gets to be expensive feeding them. You can't
    keep anything. EVERYTHING must be released or put down. Sometimes
    it is a tough decision on which is best.
    
    Does that help?
    
    Gary

    In Massachusetts, it is illegal to keep *any* wild animal for *any*
    amount of time, without a license.
    
    I found this out after I rescued and raised a sparrow fallen from a 
    rafter nest in the indoor arena at our barn.  When I called the Audobon
    Society, they screamed at me for picking it up and told me I should
    have left it there, that the parents would have shuffled it off to a
    bush and cared for it.  When I explained that there were no bushes in
    or near the arena, that this was a training barn and if one of the cats
    hadn't picked it up for breakfast, it would have gotten trampled the
    next morning, the Audobon Society person made it clear she didn't
    believe me.  
    
    Then, after questioning me, she found out I had cared for it properly
    and asked if I'd like to become a licensed rehabilitator!  I politely
    declined.  I took the bird to the nearest rehabilitator, whose name
    they gave me.  Big mistake.  I later called them back to file a
    complaint about the rehabilitator (a veterinarian, who did *not* have
    an aviary -- one of the Audobon Society's big deals, practically
    demanded a donation, then released the bird a couple hours after I 
    left!)
    
    So now I simply break the law with occasional birds :-)  It seems that
    3 kinds fall from the nest -- sickly ones, that don't make it; overly
    rambunctious ones, that make it great; and, last summer, a strange pair
    of birds (never figured out what kind they were, but the babes like
    teracterdyls(?) that abandoned their nest (perhaps because of the food
    shortage).
    
    Mary

    
    Gary,
    
    This must be interesting work and I commend you and your wife for
    this valuable service.  I didn't realize all the technicalities that
    go along with becoming a certified "rehaber".  Could you tell us a
    little about the Raptors?  
    
    Denise
    
    

    re .4
    
    I agree, sometimes its better to take charge and care for the little
    wild birds oneself.  Years ago, I found an adult bird that could not
    fly.  I called the vet and Humane society and was told to LEAVE THE
    BIRD ALONE!  Let nature take it's course.  Well, I had already put the
    bird in an empty dog run, inside a dog house with a blanket, food and
    water.  The vet told me to take the bird out and put it back where I
    found it.
    
    Not feeling real good about this, but being somewhat of a dolt about
    it, I followed the vets instructions and put the bird back.  The next
    day I went out to check and the bird was gone.  I could only hope that
    he/she was O.K.
    
    Two days later, I went to get the blanket from the dog house and my
    heart just about broke when I saw the same little bird laying dead on
    the blanket.  It must have known that was a safe spot but unfortunately
    I was not there to care for it.  I will never forgive myself for being
    so stupid and such a follower of careless advise.  
    
    Now, if a bird, or any other animal, falls sick in front of me or needs
    some assistance, I take care of it (legal or not!)  Some I have saved
    and some have died, but at least I now try.  
    
    It must be a wonderful experience taking care of raptors.  Someday,
    when I don't have to work (in about 35 years!) I would like to dedicate
    some time to caring for sick or injured animals.  This is a very
    interesting subject Gary, so please write more.  
    
    Jeanne
    

re .5,  Denise:
    
  Usually the raptors come late in the day or in the evening. Also on the
weekend. They usually come injured. Some come with a story, many without.
They are usually car strikes, found DOWN at the side of the road.
We get a call or a knock on the door. When we get a call we have to drive
to get them. Sometimes they are still where they fell and we have to dodge
traffic, sometimes they come in a cardboard box. Raptors don't usually
bite you like a Macaw, They FOOT you. Their talons will sometimes pierce a
Welders glove or Raptor glove. They also LOCK making it near impossible
to release.
One of the big problems with injured birds is they are usually in
really bad shape by the time we get them. As you know many wild
animals, and especially herding or flocking ones hide or 'Mask' their
weakness. As you know a preditor will always look for a weak or sick
animal to attack to increase its odds and to expend less effort and
prevent injury to itself in a fight. Birds, both wild and domestic,
really have this down pat. By the time someone notices they are sick,
they are near death. Immediate action is necessary to save any of them.
For a winged bird who escapes by flight to allow a human
to pick them up, they have to be really sick or injured. They have
virtually no chance of surviving in the wild at this point. We save
some and some we release to God, where in heaven they can again have
the gift of flight.
 Next comes the first aid. For some reason they seldom come
when a Vet is open. We use the zoo's, or a friendly avian vet who donates
his time. We try to stabilize them and keep them quiet 'till we can get
them to the vet. Often it is a broken wing. Simple fractures can be mended
sometimes. Compound fractures less often. Multiple breaks will cause the
bird to be destroyed. Remember they can't be kept and if they can't ever
fly again, they must be destroyed. As you know birds are very fragile. You can
kill a bird in trying to fix a broken wing. They don't take stress well.
Basically they are kept quiet in a small darkish enclosure to restrict their
movements to enhance the healing.  Mice, rats, pigeons or quail are passed
through a door. No contact with humans allowed. after three or four weeks
(Broken wing) they are placed in a flight cage to see how the wing works.
Then they are given live food to make sure they can kill. After we know for
sure they are flight worthy, they are released.

Does this help???
    
Are there any other rehabers out there??
    
Gary 
    

    Jeanne,
    
    How sad for you and for the bird.  I've made a couple mistakes like
    that in my life (listening to someone else instead of my heart) and 
    kicked myself for years afterward, so I *do* know how you feel.  I just 
    keep trying to trust my inner feelings more....
    
    Info for central Mass residents, if you find an injured bird, Tufts 
    has an aviary in Grafton where they will take care of injured, wild 
    birds.  I'm not sure, though, if they will take care of "common" 
    species.  Sometimes, these places are more interested in helping 
    endangered or more rare species than common birds.
    
    Mary

    I live in Central Mass and I have developed relationsships with a 
    few licensed rehab people.  they take care of common species as well
    as the uncommon.  She also refers any issues regarding exotic birds
    to me.  That is my forte'.  I also have a few contacts that deal
    strictly with raptors.  If the originator of this note wants to 
    contact me, I can give you the name and numbers of these people.
    
    If anyone needs a referral for any situation of this type you can 
    contact me at (508)897-5172.  I am always happy to help anyone.
    
    Regards,
    
    Jim Buccieri