dragon@eleazar.dartmouth.edu (Sam Conway) (10/04/90)
FAH!!!! I received a call from the Center at 5:00 PM: a fellow had called in a redtailed hawk in a town that is just over two hours away. It's bad enough that I have to go that far for an emergency -- but is it really an emergency? "It's been walking around here for a few days, and eating things off of the ground." YOU BLITHERING IDIOT!!!!!!!!!!! A few DAYS?????? IF YOUR MOTHER WAS LYING IN A POOL OF BLOOD IN THE BACKYARD, WOULD YOU WAIT A FEW DAYS BEFORE CALLING AN AMBULANCE??????? I CAN'T DO MY JOB IF I ARRIVE TO FIND A BIRD THAT'S ALREADY 95% GONE!!!!!!!!!!!!! Forgive me. I'm terribly frustrated, as you can perhaps tell. I wasn't able to say these things to the gentleman's face, so please let me say them here. And please.....if you have a wounded bird, RUN, don't walk, to the nearest telephone and call for professional help: a local wildlife center, an Audubon chapter, the state Fish and Game department, a local vet *ONLY* as a last resort...any of these will be able to help, or at least steer you to someone who can. I would be INFINITELY happier responding to a call two hours away to find nothing wrong than I would be responding to a call next door in which the bird had been languishing for two weeks on two broken legs and is now beyond care. I won't mind. I promise. My car says "Wildlife Rescue" on the side. I'm beginning to consider changing that to "Wildlife Mop-up". Please, please...if in doubt, CALL ANYWAY! (this holds for people too, incidentally. Minutes are crucial in an emergency, and a false alarm is better than a DOA). -- Sam Conway * What shape do you usually have? dragon@eleazar.dartmouth.edu * Mickey Mouse shape? Smarties Chemistry Dept., Dartmouth College, NH * shape? Amphibious landing craft Vermont Raptor Center (VINS) * shape? Poke in the eye shape?
trish@trantor.harris-atd.com (Trish Stuckey) (10/04/90)
In article <24884@dartvax.Dartmouth.EDU>, dragon@eleazar.dartmouth.edu (Sam Conway) writes: |> FAH!!!! |> |>|> YOU BLITHERING IDIOT!!!!!!!!!!! A few DAYS?????? IF YOUR MOTHER WAS |> LYING IN A POOL OF BLOOD IN THE BACKYARD, WOULD YOU WAIT A FEW DAYS |> BEFORE CALLING AN AMBULANCE??????? I CAN'T DO MY JOB IF I ARRIVE TO FIND |> A BIRD THAT'S ALREADY 95% GONE!!!!!!!!!!!!! |> |> Forgive me. I'm terribly frustrated, as you can perhaps tell. I wasn't |> able to say these things to the gentleman's face, so please let me say |> them here. |> |> And please.....if you have a wounded bird, RUN, don't walk, to the |> nearest telephone and call for professional help: a local wildlife |> center, an Audubon chapter, the state Fish and Game department, a local |> vet *ONLY* as a last resort...any of these will be able to help, or |> at least steer you to someone who can. I would be INFINITELY happier |> responding to a call two hours away to find nothing wrong than I would |> be responding to a call next door in which the bird had been languishing |> for two weeks on two broken legs and is now beyond care. I won't mind. |> I promise. |> |>|> CALL ANYWAY! |> |>|> (this holds for people too, incidentally. Minutes are crucial in an |> emergency, and a false alarm is better than a DOA). |> |>|> -- |> Sam Conway * What shape do you usually have? |> dragon@eleazar.dartmouth.edu * Mickey Mouse shape? Smarties |> Chemistry Dept., Dartmouth College, NH * shape? Amphibious landing craft |> Vermont Raptor Center (VINS) * shape? Poke in the eye shape? As far as I know we don't have anyone like you to call where I live. I can't tell you the number of times I've found an injuryed bird, Pelcans, Great Blue Herons, ect. only to call everyone I thought could help. They all said the same thing, catch it, call the Animal Control, they will come and get it. I don't think that it`s wise to send people who don't know what they're doing to catch these birds. The bird is already traumatized, without having someone not knowing what they're doing chasing it all over creation and could possible make the bird injury itself more. Also, the injury some of these birds can cause to some person not knowing how to deal with it. If you know of someone in my area who I can contact from now on to help me I'd sure appreciate it. I live in Palm Bay Florida Trish Stuckey trish@trantor.harris-atd.com