(Header image created with microsoft co-pilot)
This blog reflects my personal experiences and opinions and does not represent or reflect those of DierenAmbulance Nederrijn.
‘Today’s’ animal adventures have taken me a while to write up because I’ve been busy looking at moving towards ethical banking for my church. (Which I’ll write about it in my next blog post.)
Animal Rescue Day
I received a newsletter this morning from House of Animals.
I cannot praise enough the work the amazing Karen Soeters carries out with her team at the House of Animals! Yet here in her newsletter she credits others she admires for their work!
It makes me question my role as a so called “animal rescuer”. I’m proud of the title, but in comparison with Karen and many other animal heroes, I pale in comparison. That said, I hope that at least in a small way I’m helping local animals in need, even though I know I can be doing more.
Escaped cat
It was mysteriously quiet when I arrived on site. This is good because it meant the morning team was still out on rescues; hopefully some remained for us to do!
“Never judge a book by its cover.”
and “Never judge peace and quiet from the carpark.
Inside, it can be quite different – in this case, thanks to a wild cat!
She had been caught in a cat trap and brought to the “12 hours” – a small room where we keep animals until external drivers are able to pick them up and bring them to far flung rescue centres (which frees up the ambulance staff to rescue more animals).
When the trap door was opened to let her out of the cage and into a bigger more comfortable one, she bolted! Afraid and stressed – and definitely not “social” (i.e. used to humans) – I heard how she’d been more than a handful! Attempts to calm her and safely place her into a larger cage were met with resistance, as the bite-marks on the broom handle show!
CHECK-UP on Chicken (and other creatures)
Today there was a second team to back us up, and as luck would have it, one of them was the follow-on team from last week. I asked if they were able to check up on the trapped chicken.
Yes! But it turned out the chicken had either managed to free itself, or had help from somewhere else to free him.
Other creatures
Meanwhile, I checked our list of rescues. We had 4:
- A toad with a bloody leg,
- A duck who’d been attacked by a cat,
- 2 young blackbirds – also cat attack victims
- A large, wounded jackdaw
We needed to hurry! I took a look at the urgency and locations of the rescues, and determined we should head first to the blackbirds.
2 Juvenile Blackbirds
By the time we were in the ambulance and the address was entered into the navigation system, the other 3 rescues had disappeared! No-matter; we’d call the centralist after we had the blackbirds safe and sound.
The pair were cat attack victims. Both were wounded and there was blood on the floor. The finder had placed both into a single box so we figured it would be fine to keep them together in a single rescue box too.
It was difficult getting hold of them because by reaching for one bird, the other was free to escape. In fact, as I ‘aimed’ for one, I ended up holding the other! He wasn’t happy about it; for the first time, I saw a wounded bird fly out of a rescue box!
Loose in the finder’s lounge, this little bird skitted over the floor behind settees, lamp-stands, tables…it was tough getting to him, even though I noticed he had problems with one of his legs. Sally went back to the ambulance to get hold of a net whilst I continued chasing the little blackbird. And success! I had him in my hand just as Sally returned. We were quicker this time to close the lid of the rescue box!
Sally had had a brainwave. She also brought back a second rescue box for the second blackbird. This was good thinking because we weren’t going to risk another bird-escape by re-opening the first box when putting the second one in!
Grabbing the second bird was much easier. As it turned out, he was in a very bad way and barely moving. Naturally he stayed in his rescue box without any fuss, unlike his brother(?). I noted in the admin there were 2 birds in 2 separate rescue boxes and which bird needed the most urgent care. We labelled the boxes accordingly.
What can we do now?
There were no rescues on our list which seemed strange, so Sally showed me how to check the list for the second team. They had a full list of rescues, including one in the town we were currently in. We called the centralist and asked whether we could take that rescue on.
Nope, but for a good reason. Whilst I can’t remember now the exact story, the bird no longer needed rescuing because he’d flown away. And the other rescues that were on our list at the beginning of the shift? The centralist had looked through them carefully because there were certain levels of ‘confusion’ associated with them, and after following them up they were taken off our list.
That left us free to go directly to the wildlife rescue centre with the blackbirds.
Turtle doves, blackbirds and hedgehogs
It seemed like other birds wanted to hitch a ride with us to the rescue centre. First up, three turtle doves on the road in front of the ambulance who refused to get out of the way. Sounding the horn and flashing lights got them to move. Then a blackbird swooped closely in front of us. Luckily I saw him fly into some bushes in someone’s garden so he was untouched.
And a sad story from Sally about one of her rescues last week. A hedgehog with a part of his face missing. He’d heard a robot lawn mower in the garden, so in fear rolled up into a ball – a usual defence for a hedgehog. Unfortunately this didn’t give him the protection he needed and he ended up with part of his face sliced off. 😢
When we reached the wildlife centre we debated whether we should put the 2 boxes of blackbirds into the same cupboard, or into one cupboard each. We opted for the latter, taking no chances that the second box would be missed.
Turtle Tubs
Back at the base there was time for a pause whilst we waited for more rescues to come in. I’d just got my tea made when the centrlaist asked for help to clean and move a large container we use for keeping turtles until they can be brought to a rescue centre. Its current location was due to get too much sunlight so a shady spot was more preferable.
I saw this as a rescue so went outside immediately – only to be told I should take it easy and finish my drink! I added cold water, finished my drink quickly, and set to helping Sally who’d already started.
Collect empty cat cage
Next up was collecting a cat trap. A cat owner’s cat had escaped from her apartment so the trap had been set in the grounds outside. It worked perfectly and the cat and happy owner were reunited, leaving an empty cat-trap outside, ready for us to collect.
A man greeted us at the building complex when we arrived. He knew about the cat story and seemed to be expecting us. He held a small box which I assumed held an injured creature he was going to opportunistically pass us – but it turned out he’d been shopping and bought himself a cake!
He directed us to the cat owner’s apartment. A very friendly lady, also with a very happy background story about her cat which she shared with us. It’s moments like this which remind me I’m helping people as well as animals! 🙂
Small bird attacked by crow
Sadly, it was actually two small birds, but one had died. The finder placed an over-turned bucket over him, and the survivor inside a shoe box. He was clearly in a bad way.
We placed the deceased bird into the shoe box and returned him to nature later in the shift.
We couldn’t bring this bird directly to the wildlife centre because we had one more rescue to make. Thankfully it was close by. It was at this moment when I doubted whether I’d remembered to email the wildlife centre the details from the juvenile blackbirds 🫨. I re-opened the admin and (re)sent the email.
Young Great Tit
The admin told us this great tit had also been attacked by a crow, but the finder informed us he was simply found in the front garden. He couldn’t fly, but he certainly gave his wings a good flutter when I picked him up and put him into the rescue box!
A very happy – and well-behaved – dog wagged his tail and kept a eye on us as we worked!
Wildlife Rescue Centre
I had a nice chat with someone at the centre and took the opportunity to raise my concerns and “hear from the horses mouth” how rescues are handled as they come in. And it was very positive! 🙂
- Emails coming in to the centre give a signal on a phone which is always carried – and therefore checked.
- Cupboards are emptied at fixed times, not immediately after a report is received that a creature will be brought in.
- We can always give them a call to let them know if we think more immediate attention is needed.
- (I was also happy to note this worker was still working (and checking the cupboards) well after 17:00! 🙂 )
I’m going to suggest to our co-ordinator that a fail-safe be added to our admin, so that we can’t submit a report unless the email has been sent. (Similar to the requirement for a photo of a pet).
Cat cages and external driver
We cleaned the returned cat-trap back at the base. During this, an external driver turned up on-site. I couldn’t follow what he’d just been up to, but the result was he dumped us with another cat-trap to clean!
Final thoughts about the shift
This shift showed me again the fragility of nature. Some people are happy to write-off injured or sick animals as being “part of nature”, but my heart goes out to these animals, even deceased animals too, who I think deserve some level of dignity. I felt this very strongly today with the many young birds I held in my hand, seeing and feeling their weakness, their vulnerability, their fear, and ultimately, their dependence on me as a human with compassion.
Not helping them makes me less of a human.
