There are times when just a tiny bit
of faith is all you have to hold onto.
It is a part of the beauty and
meaning hidden in the tiny details of life.
If you forget to savor every second
of life, and you get bogged down in the turmoil that mysteriously finds you
even when you are just trying to keep busying staying afloat, then the days fly
by and the years slip away. Seems when you need a few more minutes in the day
you cannot find them, or they are stolen by the unexpected mishaps, like your
car breaks down, your clients are especially needy, (and sometimes nasty), or
you find that you have a turkey vulture in your barn that you thought was just
loitering, but turns out has a broken wing and can't leave.
Yesterday was the day of a broken down car. “OK, honey I will pick you up at your co-workers tonight.” (Minus the cost of one new fuel pump from the budget, yippee!).
And, “Why do I have to pay for a
urinalysis? No one told me I had to pay for it!” The client phone conversation
I had yesterday after her diabetic cat came in for lethargy. ‘Really? Did you
think I was going to pay for your cat’s urinalysis?’ Was what I wanted to reply
to her nasty yelling tantrum call (I didn’t, well only to you guys, not to
her).
I informed my husband that we had a
wild bird in need of help two days ago. He initially seemed flattered to be
asked to help me save something, but when he questioned me on exactly
"What kind of wild bird needed help?" and I had to confess that it
was a "turkey vulture." He replied, "Oh, it’s just a buzzard,
leave it alone, they stink."
"Honey, it has a broken wing,
it is starving, and since when do you get to decide which species are worth
saving, and which are not?"
He should know me well enough by now
to know that I am going to help something regardless of whether he assists me
or not. I’m not going to beg or argue with him. I’ll do it myself, get hurt,
remind him it is his fault, and then coerce him into helping me. (So much
faster to just say ‘OK’).
He gave up, and realized I was going
to catch that big, bald, ugly bird with or without his help.
And so the plan was set;
· Get up early.
· Catch big, ugly, bald, bird. Safely.
· Send bird to be dropped off at BF Jane's practice, (with her
consent and permission).
· Feel good about doing the right thing, and hope Jane doesn't
ask me to take him back home for rehab care (because he is really ugly and
stinky).
And so the day started with a slow
wake up. There's no rush outside to capture a turkey vulture in an old
uneven-footing, rusty nailed obstacle course. You need to wait for the sun to
rise, so you can rodeo-capture a big stinky hissing bird.
As with every veterinary venture my
husband and I partake in it is 75% preparation, 25% arguing, and 99% "he
does it his way" regardless. It seems I am not an expert at anything he
assists with. I promise you he has never caught a bird in his life, but ask to
help you and he is Mr. Audubon.
The broken winged bird was corralled
easily once I got my husband to slow his sheet-yielding terrorizing advance to
a slow crawl.
In almost all cases of animal
capture it is important to understand that animals have a 'flight distance'.
This is the radius that as you approach they start to walk away. If you
approach too fast and get too close they will run in the opposite direction.
The objective of animal capture is always to be calm, careful, and not to hurt
yourself or the animal you are after. This can often be dangerous as some
animals will try to kill themselves in an effort to escape.
Often the biggest mistakes people
make in attempting to capture an animal is that they go too fast and move too
erratically.
For the turkey vulture we had to
create a wide low barely detectable screen with sheets and approach slowly
enough to be able to place the sheet over him without scaring him into trying
to fly away, and/or further injuring himself.
We approached very slowly, (after
multiple rapid approaches from self-proclaimed avian expert, who was hissed and
squawked at) and eventually that vulture was at my feet and sitting still
enough for me to drop the sheet on him.
The sheet was slowly and gently draped
over his wings, being careful to hold the wings to their body and then wrapped
around him to bundle him into a safely portable package. Into a laundry bag he
went and it was loosely and firmly tied shut. Animals feel safer and will not
injure themselves if they are in a dark quiet containment area.
A bird will try to fly and beat its
wings against any object to try to free itself. Be gentle, be careful, and keep
the wings safely tucked into their body and shield the talons and beak from any
objects they can reach for, your body included.
For transport we placed the laundry
sack in a cat carrier and secured it closed.
I then sent my husband to my dear
friends’ clinic as she is very experienced in avian care.
I did remind him to "not open that carrier no matter
what noise that bird made."
I got a call last night to update me on my birds condition. It
seems he is a young (6-8 months old) and most likely he broke his wing up by
the shoulder months ago. Apparently those young birds aren’t very proficient
flyers so often they crash and brake bones. Because the brake is so old and has
already healed it will be left alone and he will be sent to a rescue
rehabilitation center. If he can’t be taught to fly and be released he will
stay at the rehab facility to help educate students and the public.
I am very grateful to the highly skilled and dedicated staff
at Fallston Vet in Fallston MD. And I am grateful he will be in a safe place
that can take care of him and my husband for helping trap and transport our
vulture.
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