Barefoot Andrew
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Injured birdAn unhappy start to my day.
I was out and about earlier when a bird flew in front of my car and was unfortunately struck. I stopped to have a look, and the poor robin was lying in the gutter blinking at me and breathing quickly. I wasn't sure whether it was just stunned or had sustained injury, but I was suspicious of the latter.
I briefly pondered the idea of an animal rescue centre. But the nearest one is several miles away and at 7 in the morning wouldn't have been open. And completely selfishly the idea of taking the bird home for a while, and then whisking it off the rescue centre later in the day was at odds with the busy schedule today has lined up for me.
I briefly considered the idea of running it over to end its suffering, but couldn't quite bring myself. And then the decision as to what to do was made for me: it fluttered about and hopped rather lamely into the hedgerow out of sight. So I left the poor thing to it, possibly to rest and recover but more likely to die. A most unhappy thought as I type.
What should I have done?
A.
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Treacodactyl
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I tend to think leaving it be to be the best thing.
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bernie-woman
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I am not saying it would be definitely ok but I have seen birds which I have thought are definitely injured and going to die who have just sat and sat for ages and then flown off
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@Calli
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I would have done the same and left it. The trauma of being handled is far worse. And how many times has a bird flown inot patio doors and stunned itself only to fly off later.
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Tradbritfowlco
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it might have just been stunned - if you get one like that nearer to home you could try putting it in a dark place to keep it calm and maybe give it a tiny little bit of 'rescue remedy' which works wonders for birds with shock in ym experience.
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Went
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you did exactly the right thing - most stunned birds will recover in their own time - taking home would have caused more stress.
Came home the other night a stunned house martin had crashed into the terrace - surrounded it with trainers and left it - following morning I went out it was pooing in the trainer and took flight......nice to see (taking flight not the poo!)
Quote: | give it a tiny little bit of 'rescue remedy' |
What is rescue remedy?
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dougal
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Tradbritfowlco wrote: | it might have just been stunned - if you get one like that nearer to home you could try putting it in a dark place to keep it calm and maybe give it a tiny little bit of 'rescue remedy' which works wonders for birds with shock in ym experience. |
Good advice.
Stunned/shocked birds are best placed in a (not hot, not cold) closed (dark) box in a quiet place. A dish of water is a good extra.
With broken bones, its more difficult.
Broken wings never do mend well enough for flying. However legs are somewhat optional.
Action regarding a hopeless case is more of a moral rather than a factual question.
I think the kindest, yet natural thing to do - if it really is hopeless - is to 'finish the job' and then leave the carcass to feed the ecosystem. (But I do know of one veggie that now wants quality roadkill to be brought in for eating... )
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dougal
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Ian and Luis wrote: | What is rescue remedy? |
See http://www.bachflower.com/Pets.htm for example
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Barefoot Andrew
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I used to use Rescue Remedy years ago as a daily moisturising hand cream. It worked well for a while, and then I decided it was exacerbating the dry skin problem rather than fixing it.
A.
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Barefoot Andrew
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This happened again this moring
A corvid of some sort flew in front of me and was struck. I went back to have a look, but another vehicle's tyre struck it and finished him off.
A.
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Nell Merionwen
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This happened again this moring
A corvid of some sort flew in front of me and was struck. I went back to have a look, but another vehicle's tyre struck it and finished him off.
A. |