This blog reflects my personal experiences and opinions and does not represent or reflect those of DierenAmbulance Nederrijn.
This shift was available so I was quick to grab it! Wednesday afternoons mean kids are out of school early, run around outside afterwards finding animals and tell their parents who call them in. And it happened to be with my astro friend which was another bonus.
As an anti-bonus – but a test of my resolution – this happened to be the day after a full day’s course with Dierenlot Academie – an intense and arguably overly long course – so today’s shift was going to test me!
But first things first!
Magazine Photo Competition
Background
I’m running a photo competition for the magazine. There have been 11 submissions from which we need to choose a winner and 4 runners up. I gave my suggestions from which ensued a 10 minute discussion between 2 of the others and that was that. Case closed. I was annoyed because it was ‘my project’ and as I’ve learned, I like to be in ownership of my projects. Whilst I wasn’t shut or closed out, I wasn’t part of this high speed discussion.
I contacted one of them afterwards, explained the situ and that it’s easier for me to deal with one person than a fast-paced group discussion, asked her to confirm my thoughts about the winners. She agreed, but on the caveat she needed to ask for final confirmation from the co-ordinator.
After several days of radio silence I told the co-ordinator I’d collar her at the beginning of my shift – which she agreed to, although to be fair, the whole point was that she wouldn’t be able to not see me! 😉
Back to today
I collared the co-ordinator and she agreed. Now I had something to do after my shift!
Dead Goose 🙁
A dead goose had been spotted on a field near a river. Somewhere along the line of communication it was put that he may have suffered from bird flu. However, our co-ordinator advised we needn’t don the full bird-flu protective suits, but just a face mask would suffice.
There were 2 fields separated by a footpath. Most geese (most = more than 100!) were on the right hand side but this didn’t necessarily mean that the deceased was with them. We determined to walk around both fields – spade, black box and bin bags in toe – to locate our ‘patient’.
We’d got to the end of the first side when we realised there was no way into the field at this point. We doubled back and headed up the footpath between the fields. It was odd passing (and talking with) passers-by whilst we had our masks on!
The footpath took us closer to the geese and it was probably at this point we realised how difficult it was going to be finding the deceased one. To make things more tricky, a ditch ran through the field, partially obscuring our vision.
And then there he was! Far over on the left on his own. We climbed over a gate – which is when all of the geese but one took off!
We placed him into 2 plastic bags, avoiding (gloved) hand contact as much as possible, and then into the black box.
A gentlemen approached us when we were back at the ambulance and he had a few questions for us. He’d seen the geese fly away; what were we doing in hi-vis jackets with a spade in the field? Had the deceased goose been officially reported? What grade mouth mask were we using? He seemed to me to be suspicious of the whole operation.
The driver explained what we were doing, why and how. I was impressed he noticed the goose was not yet stiff which indicated a recent death – and therefore represented a good hope that any infection he may have had wouldn’t have had time to pass to the other geese.
The gentleman added that the geese had been there a long time already but was content. In the end, he was simply a curious and friendly chap! I gave him a magazine.
Dead Eurasian Coot (“Meerkoet“) 🙁
Someone had cycled out of school and saw a dead coot lying in the middle of the road. It was in bad condition and upsetting for passers by to see, so we were asked to take it away.
It was during this call-out I felt more like a bin man than an animal rescuer. Officially, dead animals are counted as rubbish and the local council needs to clear them away. For some reason they ask the animal ambulance to do this and I guess somehow costs are covered.
At the same time, I don’t consider dead animals as rubbish, so I suppose it’s good that I get to treat them with more respect than a street sweeper would.
In any case, the coot was hard to find, and indeed at one point we mistook some litter for our coot. When we rounded the corner though, he was obvious.
There was nowhere to park the ambulance so there was no choice but to stop on the road, put the flashing lights on (not blue…) and create a bit of traffic congestion. We were parked on the right side of the road, and the coot was on the other lane. Traffic queued behind the ambulance, wanting to overtake it, but needed to wait for a gap in the oncoming traffic from the opposing direction.
(Admittedly they needed to wait longer than perhaps they needed because I had a lot of trouble separating 2 plastic bags from each other and from themselves.)
The idiocy of it all was every car passing the ambulance (in both directions) made huge swerves in the lane to avoid running over the coot. No-one wanted to wait to let me retrieve it!
When there was a safe moment I did so as quickly as possible, placing him into a plastic bag, and then with the goose in the black box. Thankfully it wasn’t as gruesome as I expected. There was blood on the road under his head, although I didn’t have time to look much further than that.
I noticed a couple of kids on their bikes had seen me picking up the dead bird and I heard them exclaim. If nothing else, I hope they’ll be aware of the services the animal ambulance does.
We pulled away, and some idiot pulled out right in front of us. I noticed the lights had accidentally been left on in the ambulance, but this wouldn’t have made a difference. These moronic drivers in this location confirmed my suspicion that this poor coot fell victim to a road traffic accident. I entered it into the admin..
(Reminder: Thoughts and opinions here are my own and do not reflect or represent those of the DierenAmbulance Nederrijn)
Back to Base
We were to bring the birds back to the base. On the way we spotted a van with a badly timed advert.
Back at the base we placed the coot into a plastic bin that was already full of other dead animals. I saw a sign in the common room saying the bin was due to be picked up tomorrow; I dread to think what will happen to its unfortunate contents.
The goose went into a fridge, still in its double bag. As we understood it, a phone call will be made to the authorities and they will determine whether it needs to be tested for bird flu.
Still at the Base
We were only half way through our shift, but no further calls came in. A comment was made about me traipsing mud into the common room which was a fair point, especially as it had been cleaned in the morning. But at the same time, what did they expect?! In any case, I felt guilty enough to sweep it up.
The driver had expected a quiet shift and came prepared with a game of chess which he used to beat me.
End of Shift
The following team were going to work from home. The driver turned up quite early to collect the van, tablet, and crucially the phone which she set up to receive incoming calls from finders. This meant that from now, any incoming calls would go to her so we could leave early.
Blinds closed, lights off and alarm set. We left in the near dark and rain with no sign of life on site…
2 dead birds, and, as we heard, a dead cat from the morning shift. Not a good day for animals, but at least they got some respect instead of being treated as rubbish.
Update (23 February 2026): Incoming email:
