Crash Posted October 19, 2007 Share Posted October 19, 2007 I was walking to work today and saw a bird (not feral, not diseased) lying on the pavement and thought it was dead. When I walked by I saw it was breathing. I didn't see any wounds and thought it might be just stunned, so I picked it up to put him/her someplace safer for recovery. A little side of its beak was split lengthwise (but no blood). When I picked him/her up, it's head lolled a little bit but I wasn't sure if it was broken or not. His/her heart was beating very quickly, he/she was breathing heavily and it's eyes opened up but it seemed too much effort and he closed them again. His feet moved a little, but he didn't move after a few seconds. I still didn't see any other injuries, but didn't think this was good and wasn't sure what to do. After a couple of blocks, I noticed blood on my hand - I think it was coming from his ear because its eye didn't have blood on it. His/her breathing was still heavy, but his/her heartbeat was thudding intermittently. I think s/he was dying and not long for this world - but I still wasn't sure what to do. I couldn't wring his/her neck - if his neck was broken what good would that do ? I settled on putting him in a secluded area under a bush with a tree overhead - he didn't even move or open his eyes. Did I do the right thing ? Is there something else I should do ? Am I the jerk that I feel I am for leaving him/her ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pamela Posted October 19, 2007 Share Posted October 19, 2007 If there is a wildlife rescue near you then call them. There's probably not much you as an individual can do to save him/her. If you still can, you could put the bird in a dark box and keep the box near you. He/she could be in danger of predators right now... the bird may die anyway, but I think a peaceful death would be better than being eaten alive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted October 19, 2007 Share Posted October 19, 2007 If there was more life coming from the bird maybe you could have taken him to a vet. Most of the time they'll volunteer to help in a situation like this but in this case there wasn't much you could do. I've been in similar situations before and riding my bike I see animals hit on the ground everwhere I go. A few times some of these animals were still alive but only one time I was lucky enough to see an animal that may have a chance and luckily for the bird I was only 3-4 miles away from a hospital so I put him in my back pocket and rode over there. I'm not sure if he got hit by a car or not...if he did he was probably flying because it broke one of his wings and he couldn't walk very well either. For a few of the other occations I have had to take care of the animals myself. One was a squirel that was obviously paralized, a bird that was moving very minimally but I could only see the whites of its eyes and there are a few other instances. I hate doing it but when your out there miles away from anything there isn't much you can do and leaving them to suffer can be way worse but I still hate myself for days after each of these instances. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Posted October 19, 2007 Share Posted October 19, 2007 I never know what to do in these situations. I have killed things from time to time, but I really find that hard, other times I move them to safety or something, but it really is difficult I think. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dontxhide Posted October 19, 2007 Share Posted October 19, 2007 I had an experience like this a little bit ago, but with a cat that was bit by a vehicle. I knew it wasnt long for this world, but I didnt know what to do. So I just held him in my blanket and let him die knowing someone cared for him. It was hard. My brother told me I should of broke its neck to put it out of its misery. I honestly dont know if I could of done that. You put him in a place where you believed he would be comfortable. Animals have a sense that people care for them when they are in situations like that, so maybe it helped him pass easier. You did a good thing! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
finbarrio Posted October 19, 2007 Share Posted October 19, 2007 Hmmm, that sucks Crash. Your compassion is attracting ill animals to you! Not exactly an enviable position. I don't know what else you could have done. I've been in that situation and struggled to figure out what to do. I opt for the "let it take its course" approach, mainly because I couldn't break an animal's neck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VeganEssentials Posted October 19, 2007 Share Posted October 19, 2007 I had one of those days last Friday - first, on the way out to the car from home we found a squirrel with a broken leg that was desperately trying to climb our fence but couldn't move very well, so my sis came with her gear (she's pretty much a pro at wildlife rescues for injured animals) and took him to a wiledlife rescue near us. Unfortunately, the litte guy didn't make it because when they x-rayed him he had damaged his spinal colum and was not going to be able to recover, so they ended up euthanizing him Later that day, we went out for dinner and found a mouse in the parking lot who was barely moving. There was nowhere near that he could have come from as far as a hole and he looked really bad, so we put him in a box we had and figured we'd move him to a better place to get him to recover. After a few minutes he went from barely moving to looking like he was dead, except you could see he was still breathing slightly. We put him in the grass to see if he'd perk up when we got back to our office (there's a big open overgrown field next to our building so it seemed like a good place), and he just layed there, looking like his time was coming soon. We put him back in the box again, took him inside the front hall, put some vegan cat food in for him to eat if he would come around, but no luck - three hours later he was still in the same state, probably in a coma or something like that. It was too late for the wildlife rescue, so we took him to the emergency vet and all they could do was euthanize him as well - it was that, or let him sit in a box and die by morning, at least from what they said after a quick look. They assumed that he may have crawled through something toxic like antifreeze and that was going to kill him, so we opted for the euthanasia route for the mouse as well. A terrible day, but it was either let both creatures suffer and die slowly or help them to go out on a better note with less pain, but it's still a tough choice. I feel bad for your situation - it's difficult to feel powerless and know you can't help something, but at the very least, getting the animal out of harm's way is still better than nothing, and even if it does die, it's better than having it be because someone stepped on it from not looking down, or that kids tortured it to death or something of that sort. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hsorlando Posted October 20, 2007 Share Posted October 20, 2007 It is so hard to know what to do in these kind of situations, when you want to help a creature that's hurt, and sometimes you just can't. Recently my brother found an exotic bird near our house in a bush. We thought it was a parakeet, it ended up being a lovebird, and was probably a pet that got away. Thankfully a Wildlife Sanctuary came to our house and picked it up. I think it's wing was hurt, but we had to get it to safety because we have two cats. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
China Cat Posted October 21, 2007 Share Posted October 21, 2007 I'm so glad to belong to a forum where people care this much about their fellow creatures. I don't really have anything to add to what the others have posted. Last fall I had a similar situation with finding a seriously injured bird. I also didn't know what to do, so I started with the police. The police directed me to animal control, who directed me to a nearby wildlife conservancy. It was a process, but at least now I have better idea of what to do in an emergency. And now that you've had this experience, you'll know better what to do next time, too. Try not to be too hard on yourself. I know it's easier said than done. You tried. You put the bird out of harm's way so he could pass in peace. So many others wouldn't have even bothered. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crash Posted October 22, 2007 Author Share Posted October 22, 2007 Thank you all for your wonderful advice and kind words (and sorry I didn't get back to you sooner, but wasn't on the computer all weekend). Hugs to you Vegan Essentials for helping the squirrel and mouse pass on humanely and everyone else who has helped an injured being in need. I had decided to take pamela's advice and went out looking for him/her, but the bird was not where I left him -- he was right side up and 3 bushes down, hiding under a bush. As they were predicting a storm, I picked him up and put him in a box. He was quiet most of the day, but at the end of the day was a little livelier. By Saturday, he was flapping his wings, but didn't fly out of the box. I wanted to let him free, but he wouldn't fly out of the box and a rehab'er advised that that means there's something wrong. A wildlife rehab volunteer came and picked him up. I hope I did the right thing, because he wasn't flying and living in a box is no way to live. I couldn't just leave him if he couldn't fly. I hope he's doing alright at the rehab. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dontxhide Posted October 22, 2007 Share Posted October 22, 2007 It honestly sounds like you did the perfect thing. Maybe call the rehab office soon and get some updates if your worried. Our bird zoo/rehad center has allowed us to check up on some of the birds we have turned in before. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
China Cat Posted October 22, 2007 Share Posted October 22, 2007 Thank you all for your wonderful advice and kind words (and sorry I didn't get back to you sooner, but wasn't on the computer all weekend). Hugs to you Vegan Essentials for helping the squirrel and mouse pass on humanely and everyone else who has helped an injured being in need. I had decided to take pamela's advice and went out looking for him/her, but the bird was not where I left him -- he was right side up and 3 bushes down, hiding under a bush. As they were predicting a storm, I picked him up and put him in a box. He was quiet most of the day, but at the end of the day was a little livelier. By Saturday, he was flapping his wings, but didn't fly out of the box. I wanted to let him free, but he wouldn't fly out of the box and a rehab'er advised that that means there's something wrong. A wildlife rehab volunteer came and picked him up. I hope I did the right thing, because he wasn't flying and living in a box is no way to live. I couldn't just leave him if he couldn't fly. I hope he's doing alright at the rehab. Oh hooray! It sounds like this story might have a happy ending! Please let us know what the wildlife rehab tells you when you check in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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