Saving animals thread

[82_28]

Perhaps people would like to share stories about animals they have saved here. I just read this and was too good to pass up not posting -- such a sweet little story.

Tiny owl rescued in Maple Leaf

Sunday night in the spitting rain a neighbor knocked on the door and said he had found a baby owl in the street. I knew immediately it wouldn’t be a baby as breeding season for owls has long since passed but wondered…would it even really be an owl?

It seemed unusual for an owl to be in our neighborhood, although we did have a Barred Owl in the backyard earlier in the year. Out the door I went, wearing an owl shirt (not planned, mind you). There in the headlights of the neighbor’s friend’s car sat a Northern Saw-whet Owl.

Saw-whet Owls are one of our smallest owls (around 100 grams) so it was no surprise my neighbor and his friends thought it was a baby. I had the friends distract the small owl while I snuck up and plucked him out of harm’s way.

He was weak and one eye was closed more than the other, but he had enough left in him to put eight talons in my hand during the transfer into a nice, comfy box with towels. He also snapped his beak at me repeatedly, an owl’s way of telling potential predators to back off.

I volunteer at Sarvey Wildlife in Arlington (www.sarveywildlife.org) and we were soon off for some much needed fluids and pain meds for the owl. He has a bruised ear but other than that should be fine and able to be released.

What, you may ask, is a small, usually secretive owl doing in the middle of the road in Maple Leaf? Most likely this owl was on migration and does not live in the area. He may have become weak during the journey or decided to look for prey too close to the road.

Saw-whet Owls mostly feed on small rodents, especially deer mice. I am not a rodent expert but I would say mice are scarce in a neighborhood like Maple Leaf. (Someone please correct me if I’m wrong; rats are another story all together!)

From Seattle Audubon’s BirdWeb:

Some Northern Saw-whet Owls are residents, while others migrate, either latitudinally or altitudinally. Recent studies suggest that more migrate than had been previously thought. In Washington, birds from Canada and mountainous areas winter in Washington’s lowlands.

If you happen to find an injured bird or animal in the Seattle area, Sarvey is a good option as a rescue center. You can find locations for drop-off points on their website.

http://www.mapleleaflife.com/2010/10/12 ... aple-leaf/

[barracuda]

While watering the garden last week, I discovered this little fella happily stripping the leaves and fruit from my tomato bushes right outside the studio door. My daughter wanted him in a jar, so I obliged, and, naming him "Munchie", we fed him tender shoots on the kitchen table for a few days. Then we carefully placed him back in a tomato bush, and as I type this, he's chomping away on the fall growth and a few of the green cherries that probably wouldn't have ripened anyway. He's so cute!

And that's my touching "saving animals" story for this week, which I guess is more of an "I let it live" story. Same difference.

[82_28]

Man, you still green down in the Cali hood. We're dropping off like crazy. Everyday I step outside I just see the change and it is a bit depressing. We have 8 seven foot tall tomato plants. As of today, as I noticed it today, their growth is indeed over. Found a snail last night though and too, let it live. I ain't no cali balla. But cute caterpillar. I used to love watching those guys as a kid. My parents hated them.

[barracuda]

Seven foot tomato plants? That's nothin'. The cherry tomato plant that guy is eating off of is in the 12 - 15 foot range. I can't reach the highest fruit even standing on a ladder.

It was around 90 degrees here today.

Oh, and earlier today, I stepped about three inches out of my way so I wouldn't crush an ant. It felt good, man. I mean, really good. But now I'm down off the rush of it, and a litttle depressed. Emotional blowback.

[brainpanhandler]

One year, too many years ago, I was on break from school for thanksgiving and visiting my sister who lived in Boston at the time. It was a cold, blustery day and I was walking down to catch the T [subway system] so I could go down to harvard square and bum around. As I was passing the main branch of the Boston public library in Copley square I could just barely hear this pitiful, plaintive call over the din of the traffic and the wind riffling through my ears. I stopped and turned around and around trying to locate the source of the call and decided it was coming from the front facade of the library. The call was familiar to me and I think that is why I initially was able to pick it out from among all the background noise of a major city. I looked and looked and finally spotted the source of the call. There was a cockatiel pacing back and forth on the ledge of one the arched windows you see here in this picture.



Cockatiel:


My mother raised various birds when I was a kid, among them were Cockatiels. That's why it's call grabbed my attention. Cockatiels don't live in the wild in New England, certainly not in November, or at least not for very long. This was clearly a pet that had escaped. It would pace a few feet down the ledge, calling piteously over and over, and then hurry back down to the corner of the ledge where it was more sheltered from the wind and huddle there. I stood there debating what to do. I decided to at least go in the libarary and find that window and see if there was any way to open it. I located the window and assessed the situation. There was no way to open the windows to get at the poor thing. As I was doing this a guy came over and asked me what I was doing. I explained that this escaped pet cockatiel was out on the ledge. You could hear it's muffled cries through the glass as it huddled in a corner trying to stay out of the cold wind. A couple of other people joined us as we discussed our options. Then a librarian noticed the little gathering and came over to see what all the commotion was about. It was decided that we should call animal protective service or some such organization to see what they could do. I volunteered and went downstairs to a pay phone. I looked through the phone book and eventually called The Animal Rescue League as it sounded like they had the charter for dealing with this situation. After answering a number of questions they said they would send someone out as soon as possible. I went upstairs and relayed the news to an ever growing number of people gathered around the window. Several more people had come over as well as a security guard. We all discussed various options and related stories as we waited for animal rescue to show up. I think about a half hour elapsed before I decided to call again and get a status report. The Cockatiel seemed to be going downhill. It no longer paced around the ledge periodically and it had stopped calling. When I called I was told a cherry picker would be there any minute. By the time I got upstairs and looked out the window several vehicles had arrived along with the cherry picker. We all went downstairs and out front to view the proceedings. The sidewalk in front of that branch of the library is heavily traveled by pedestrians as you can catch the T just outside the library. As we stood there looking up at the ledge and the animal rescue league began their preparations for the rescue curious pedestrians seeing a small group of people looking up at the building stopped to see what we were all looking at. Soon a sizeable group of people had stopped to watch what would happen. The crowd then snowballed. There were probably a hundred people watching as the cherry picker made it's way over to the ledge. The rescuer in the bucket of the cherry picker had a net. I had my doubts about whether this was going to work or not, but I didn't really see a better choice. The rescuer slowly approached, but just as I thought he's got him the cockatiel would deftly dodge the net. Stupid cockatiel. I thought this was promising though as the cockatiel did not immediately fly away. There were several more close calls with the net and then suddenly the cockatiel took off and flew off down the street. I stood there watching as it flew down the canyon of buildings. I watched until it was a tiny speck and I could no longer see it. Stupid cockatiel. Gone. The crowd rapidly dispersed as everyone returned to their regularly scheduled programming. Talk about your anticlimax. I headed off to the subway and harvard square. Stupid cockatiel.

[Stephen Morgan]

One day I was getting into the shower and I noticed what I though was black mould on the ceiling but was in fact a moth. While I was washing I noticed it had fallen into the water so I turned the shower off and, at some length, managed to get it to crawl into the cardboard centre of a bog roll, an empty one, which I happened to have dumped on the floor. I put it on the window sill in the sun and it had gone by the middle of the day.

[beeline]

.

I'm feeeding a couple-few feral neighborhood kitties at the moment.

[dqueue]

My dog, we found each other at a no kill shelter in the area. She was there with her whole litter. I've long considered myself lucky for having found her. She's a gem. Anyhow, this post is not about her.

Except that she probably facilitated the introduction to a neighbor down the street. This woman and I do not see eye-to-eye on much. Yet, we stand and chat on occasion, and verbally spar a little. She provides a haven for stray cats. She and her husband share their home with 13 cats, many previously stray and feral in the neighborhood. It's incredible. She has deep passion for these animals; she loves them all.

She also provides for some of the wild animals in the neighborhood. Specifically, there are a number of fox. They currently feed one with a broken leg (or some such ailment). Previously, a young fox was poisoned (intentionally or not, we can't know) and lay dying in their yard. She teared up in telling me about finding that fox. Likewise, she's teared up in talking about cats who have since passed.

And two minutes later (in conversation), she'll berate a neighbor. No kidding, from choked up tears about a dying fox to an angry tirade about an idiot neighbor... It's strange to me. And it probably ought not be. Such compassion for animals, domesticated and wild. Such derision for humanity.

[sunny]

I've run something of an informal dog shelter for years. Anyone who knows me knows I will take in an animal bound for the pound so they bring 'em to me. Or we pick up strays on the highway or in the neighborhood, wherever we find them. As we speak, Dora the half Chow Chow and her five muttley Pit puppies are in my garden shed. The neighbors moved out a few weeks ago and just LEFT her there knowing she was heavily pregnant.

[Penguin]

I have a rabbit from an animal shelter. Had a couple, but she passed on early this summer, of serious illness and probably old age, as she had originally been found abandoned in a box and her age was unknown - she was the kindest, smartest (and pretty timid) rabbit I have known and I was really sad when she died.

The boy is in his prime and a lovely fellow. Sleeps in our bed and wakes you up by licking your nose or pillow - he is also very fond of being rubbed and stroked, he comes to demand attention at regular intervals by nudging your foot with his head, and eventually by nibbling a bit with his teeth if you ignore the pleas for attention. He gets to roam all around the apartment freely. Right now he is munching on some dried hay next to me. I love it how you always have company when you live with animals, even small and cute ones...They remind you of just being about.

I wouldn't take animals unless they were rescues. I don't particularly like the pet industry or how many people end up treating pets bought for kids etc or getting rid of them when the interest passes by abandoning them somewhere.

My avatar isnt my rabbit. Thats just some I found off the nets and thought it was nice, taking a nap while reading a book and all.

[Elvis]

Stupid cockatiel.

Man, I was so psyched up for that bird to be rescued! I actually went and got a cup of coffee and rolled a cigarette to enjoy with the anticipated saving-the-bird part.


Here's a happier story: Two or three years ago I was working at place with a mandated 'green belt' on one side of the property, tall grass giving way to bushes and trees in the back. I was taking a smoke break next to the chain-link fence by the green belt when I heard a piercing "SHRIEK!" coming from the bushes on the other side of the fence. Must be some kind of bird, I thought.

Awhile later by the fence (I take lots of smoke breaks) I heard it again, a couple of times. Then again. This time the shriek had a slightly human quality. I was like, WTF? And the sound seemed to be moving. I climbed onto one of the 8-foot high shipping containers parked by the fence to get a better view.

I went to the edge of the container roof and now the sound was right under me. I looked straight down. A tiny ball of gray fur was huddled on the pavement, insistently shrieking. It was LOUD.

I climbed down and wiggled between the fence and the container backs until I got to the ball of fur. It was a tiny kitten, hollering its little head off.

I reached out with a finger and she (as it turned out) hissed at me. "Oh you're real scary," I assured her, and carefully scooped her up in my hands. Shriek! Shriek! She was quite skinny actually, probably about two or three weeks old. A little ear-rubbing elicited some purring, a good sign, I thought.

I took her into the office area and, luckily, one fellow's mother was a highly experienced animal rescue specialist. He called her for advice.

Plan A was to place the kitten in a box with some cat food, in hopes of attracting the mother (assuming the mother was around). We had some cat food on hand (different story), so I put some in a box along with the kitten and trudged out into the field to the edge of the woods whence the kitten came.

I get out there and---WTF?---about ten feet away there's another "SHRIEK!" I spotted a little black-and-white thing moving the tall grass, going for the fence.

Now I've got two kittens in a box, walking back into the office.

Meanwhile the animal rescue mom had called back with Plan B: it'd be best to keep the kittens since the mother, for one reason or another, was almost certainly not coming back.

And if the kittens didn't start getting milk soon, they'd die. They couldn't yet lap liquids on their own, so they'd have to be bottle fed. The animal rescue mom, who had all the miniature bottle feeders and such, came that afternoonand took both cats home with her.

I grabbed pics of both kittens but on Kitten #1's shot the camera (operator) malfunctioned. So here's Kitten #2, the B&W guy, the day I found him:






Both kittens did very well and went to good homes; the animal rescue mom actually kept the gray one for herself. Later she sent me this photo of Kitten #1 with her new friend and protector:

[82_28]

TV helicopter uses wind from blades to save calf on frozen pond in OK. Poor little guy!

[Nordic]

I had a nice pork tenderloin for dinner .....