This blog reflects my personal experiences and opinions and does not represent or reflect those of DierenAmbulance Nederrijn.
It’s been ages since my last shift, and I’ve certainly been looking forward to it and feeling much more fully motivated than for my last shift at the wildlife rescue centre. At the same time I had some trepidation – would I remember things? Have things changed? Well I managed fine last time, so I’m sure I’d be OK now!
It’s a white Epiphany (and day after); everything’s covered in 6 inches of snow. Will there be a lot of sick animals reported in the icy-cold? Or will it be a quiet shift because the animals in need are buried in snow and can’t be seen? I wasn’t sure whether to bring a snow shovel or a book to read…
Moorhen
The first call-out came pretty quickly – a moorhen that was found on the street and brought inside a garage.
Knight in (Yellow) Snowy Armour
I must admit I felt like a real animal rescuer as we trudged though deep snow wearing bright yellow hi-vis jackets and towards the ambulance kitted out with all kinds of equipment! 😉
The Drive Experience
Driving there through the snow was scary – or as the driver described it, an adventure.
At one large snow-covered cross-road we forgot we were turning into a dual carriageway. We needed to swerve at the last minute to avoid driving into the wrong lane during our left turn. We approached a roundabout a little later where we thought the approaching snowplough (this is Holland. England take note: it’s organised here!) was turning off. At (another) last minute I saw the plough heading straight towards us and I shrieked out to wait – but it was too late. We pulled out in front of it; thankfully the plough was able to slow down or stop before it cleared us off the road broadside along with the snow…)
I suppose the positive side to this is that we were near a hospital so if anything untoward had happened we were in the right area…
The rattled driver parked up a few hundred meters away from the finder’s address to avoid driving on the compacted-snow-covered residential road. I took the chance to wipe snow away from the vehicle’s proximity sensors because inside alarm bells were ringing!
A Bird in the Hand
The finder cautiously opened the door to her garage, and I got a signal from the driver telling me to get ready to catch the bird. This was good news because I expected it was already in a box and just kept temporarily in the garage. Physically catching the bird meant some actual hands-on activity and animal contact that I was moaning about during my last shift at the rescue centre.
It turned out catching the moorhen was easy. I moved a bike out of the way (this is Holland) and picked the bird up easily, remembering to grab the wings firmly to prevent it from flying away. He was very calm so I took time to examine him and see what was going on with him (or as the Dutch say – in the hand! 😉 )
The first thing I noticed was his feet! They were huge and beautiful and somehow reminded me of seaweed. (I can’t describe it much more because I can’t picture it again accurately.) I saw he had a bald spot on his head which could be an injury, so I made a mental note to note this down in the admin.
By now he wasn’t comfortable and he pecked my hand. I placed him quickly into the rescue box.
Hands-free, I asked the finder to sign the rescue centre form, and handed over a magazine – which incidentally has my article about working with Avolare and where I took a photo of the driver there. Actually, I was with this co-worker on my very first shift – as a 3rd wheel and as a fully fledged co-driver! (and now after my longest ‘break’!)
I just about managed to avoid falling over when I slipped on the pavement on the way back to the ambulance, but I’d like to think that I held the rescue box steady and the moorhen didn’t suffer any further aggravation to whatever he already had.
He moved inside his box a lot by the time I placed him into the cupboard at the rescue centre. This was a surprise because most animals I’ve brought there have remained fairly calm. Perhaps it was because he was slightly larger than these other animals so either carried more momentum, or found the box too small. I was also surprised to find a box already inside the cupboard when I opened the door. Silly me – I’d forgotten this was the empty replacement box!
I placed our patient as far back as I could which I figured would be the warmest part, and hoped he’d be collected soon. Indeed, I’d told the rescue centre our expected time of arrival; this is standard practice which I hope is to ensure the animals brought in are brought inside quickly for examination and treatment.
At the Base
The co-ordinator asked for help loading old magazines into an ambulance to make space to store the Christmas decorations. Maybe they were new and bought this year.
We’d only just started when a phone call came from the centralist who was working from home. Another rescue! 🙂
Seagull
A seagull was reported sitting in the snow – alive, but not moving away from dogwalkers.
A small crowd waved us down and pointed out its location as we pulled up. The group included sledging children so I pulled out some youth copies of the magazines to hand out. Apparently several calls had come in for this bird because these guys had called in only a few minutes ago! They didn’t want to hang around and watch and they soon disappeared before I had a chance to give them the mags. Seemingly we can’t even give them away! Were they destined for the paper recycler too?
I was glad not to be watched actually. The seagull sat in the snow in a wide area next to the road. I was conscious that my yellow hi-vis jacket might scare him away so I was prepared for some running around. I’d hardly taken a step towards him when I saw the driver pull out a large net from the ambulance. An obvious good idea, yet I hadn’t thought of it 🙁
Being the gentleman I offered to carry it which is when the driver asked me if I wanted to catch the seagull. Of course I did!!!!
I remembered my instructions from my 3rd shift during a rescue for a goose on a high roof; place the net over the bird, then scoop him up from underneath (whilst holding the wings!) and placing him into a rescue box (in this case, a large rescue box!). I also remembered what the kitchen guy at the rescue centre said about catching a bird – approach it nonchalantly!
So catching the seagull turned out to be very easy and the driver helped me get him into the rescue box. He wasn’t happy being handled so I didn’t get a chance to get a good look at him and see what was wrong. But…I picked up a seagull! 🙂
We brought him to the rescue centre where they asked me to repeat our estimated time of arrival which made me feel secure that the moorhen had been picked up soon after we’d delivered it. Indeed, after I placed the seagull into the cupboard I checked to see whether the moorhen was there or not. It wasn’t – phew! 🙂
Back at the Base
The magazines had been loaded and taken to the paper recycler, so there wasn’t much to do except wait for another call. The gardeners (now snow shovelers) didn’t want any help when I asked. The (young) driver was happy enough on her phone, but I still felt it would be rude if I pulled out my book that I’d brought with me for such an eventuality.
Centralists change shifts at different times than the other volunteers, and the next one arrived on site. I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry; she makes a definite point about not wanting Christmas decorations. Unluckily for her, they’re set to remain in place until after the delayed New Years’ borel (drinks) this weekend.
And some good news – a local church had a collection specifically for the animal ambulance, and from what I heard it was a sizeable amount!
The guys from the next shift turned up on time. One had brought a game of chess to pass the time in case of an eventless shift – a brilliant idea to do something with a co-worker!
