A week gone another day gone. This morning I found an incapacitated raven out back. It couldn't fly, but wasn't trailing a wing. It was weight bearing on both feet and could hop and flap quite a distance before flopping over.
I spent some minutes trying to get it with my t shirt. I gave up and went back for a towel and cat carrier and leather gloves because that beak looked sharp. The compassionate route was no good, I could not convince that bird I meant no harm and was trying to help. The bird was grounded and what little life remained depended on avoiding capture by anything, and ravens are smart birds.
It ducked when I tossed the towel.
Lucky for me I have plenty of rooster chasing history (tip, don't try that at home).and goose herding experience. Back and forth in the clearing we went-if it made it to the undergrowth things would be much more difficult.
FInally the compassionate route officially failed, and I decided to give chase until I caught it, which winded me but ended up with the bird in the crate and shortly on a trip to a wildlife rehab specializing in birds.
I quickly informed them of the recent fish kill-I hd been expecting further fall out and a week later here was a raven in distress in my back yard. I informed IFW and DEP. I just found an email in reply from DEP basically saying that ravens eat crap and it was nothing to do with the fish kill. Turns out the fish kill was probably the result of an upstream concrete pour in an attempt to dam me out.
Oh, you would think the DEP might take something like this quite seriously. But the poor fellow didn't know concrete was bad, and the fish will come back (IFW) and the raven died from anything but the idiots job with the concrete.
He'llget away with it. My only consolation is that my intervention most likely stopped a complete damming of the watercourse, and a smaller fish kill than if they had poured all the concrete they intended. ANd when the road washes out from flooding I can say, "I told you so" everytime I drive 20 miles out of my way to get anywhere and am paying for the repair on my tax bill.
IN the meantime, I am persona non gratis with the upstream owners, how DARE I intervene in their little plot? SLamming doors, honking horns, overloud voices-hmmm the only positive I can see is that I told you so down the road. But they will probably pretend ignorance and blame it on climate change- even though that's a democratic hoax.
I spent some minutes trying to get it with my t shirt. I gave up and went back for a towel and cat carrier and leather gloves because that beak looked sharp. The compassionate route was no good, I could not convince that bird I meant no harm and was trying to help. The bird was grounded and what little life remained depended on avoiding capture by anything, and ravens are smart birds.
It ducked when I tossed the towel.
Lucky for me I have plenty of rooster chasing history (tip, don't try that at home).and goose herding experience. Back and forth in the clearing we went-if it made it to the undergrowth things would be much more difficult.
FInally the compassionate route officially failed, and I decided to give chase until I caught it, which winded me but ended up with the bird in the crate and shortly on a trip to a wildlife rehab specializing in birds.
I quickly informed them of the recent fish kill-I hd been expecting further fall out and a week later here was a raven in distress in my back yard. I informed IFW and DEP. I just found an email in reply from DEP basically saying that ravens eat crap and it was nothing to do with the fish kill. Turns out the fish kill was probably the result of an upstream concrete pour in an attempt to dam me out.
Oh, you would think the DEP might take something like this quite seriously. But the poor fellow didn't know concrete was bad, and the fish will come back (IFW) and the raven died from anything but the idiots job with the concrete.
He'llget away with it. My only consolation is that my intervention most likely stopped a complete damming of the watercourse, and a smaller fish kill than if they had poured all the concrete they intended. ANd when the road washes out from flooding I can say, "I told you so" everytime I drive 20 miles out of my way to get anywhere and am paying for the repair on my tax bill.
IN the meantime, I am persona non gratis with the upstream owners, how DARE I intervene in their little plot? SLamming doors, honking horns, overloud voices-hmmm the only positive I can see is that I told you so down the road. But they will probably pretend ignorance and blame it on climate change- even though that's a democratic hoax.
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