(Header image created with microsoft co-pilot)
Today’s shift was working with an ambulance driver I’d already met (and highly valued her insights!) and a co-driver who I’d not yet met. He was friendly from the outset so I knew I’d have a good shift – and educational because he was more than happy for me to enter the admin (under his supervision). As it turned out, he’d started relatively recently too, and the driver supervised him!
Circle of care
Our first rescue was a baby bird who’d been attacked by a cat. On the admin side of things, there’s a drop-don menu of reasons why we pick up a bird; illness, wounded, weak, fell out of nest, etc.. There are also ‘man-made’ reasons such as road traffic accident. Somewhere in between, depending whether a cat is a pet or not, there is “cat victim”.
This bird was victim to a pet cat and the owner was understandably distraught. At the same time, the pet cat was following her own feline nature. We reassured the owner that they did the best they could – we’d been called and we’d bring the bird to the rescue centre, her excited pet dog was restrained and kept away from the bird until we’d got there and as she’d told us, her cat was from a rescue centre so she was providing the cat with a good 2nd life.
1 trip, 3 rescues and 7 animals
Roofers had found some baby birds during their demolition / construction work. Unhoused and with no sign of the parents nearby, we were to bring them to the rescue centre so they could be looked after and eventually released back into the wild when they were strong enough to look after themselves.
“Some baby birds” turned out to be 2 nests’ worth – one with 2 birds and the other with 3. Because the species were different, this counted as 2 separate rescues! Removing them from their nests was difficult; they’re small and their claws caught easily in the nest material. We also needed to check carefully that there weren’t actually any more small babies hiding in the nests that we hadn’t originally seen. I was again very impressed with how the driver had a very sharp eye for details like this!
We were about to leave when the house owner came running towards us. “Would you like some Easter chicks?”
At least, that’s what I understood from the Dutch. But was I right? Was it an offer of a chocolate chick left over from Easter by way of appreciation? But Easter was ages ago! The co-driver – also an expat – was also confused. The driver stepped in and said yes please.
The house owner returned with 2 small chicks. Live ones (so not chocolate!). I couldn’t follow how, but it seemed they’d been dumped in the garden a few days earlier. Another species meant this counted as a third rescue, and – you’ve guessed it – we brought them with the other birds to the rescue centre.
Peck and Call
In a local town is a chimney over 80 meters tall. Although unused by humans, many birds use it for nesting. And many birds fall out, such as the woodpecker we were called to pick up. A local resident found the injured bird on the ground and called us right away.
It turns out he’d called us the previous week about another fallen bird, so was familiar with the work we do and what we’d do now. He was very keen to contact the rescue centre so he could be updated with the progress of both of his rescues; a sentiment I can fully understand! As I learned from the driver. The rescue centre is incredibly busy and generally don’t have the time to provide updates such as these. All the same, we left him with contact details and the “ride number” which he could use to help track down his birds.
He was also happy to receive the quarterly magazine from the animal ambulance. We give one of these out on each rescue as a thank you. The recipient was very happy with this issue because it had a picture of the same species of woodpecker he’d just helped rescue!
Front cover image reproduced here with permission from Beeldbank van de Leefomgeving
What’s up Duck?
The next 2 rescues were for ducks who’d fallen victim to careless fishers recklessly discarding their tackle.
I can’t understand drivers who run over cats and don’t stop – surely they feel the bump? Apparently many drivers don’t notice – or ignore it and selfishly drive on. But leaving fishing tackle is a actively disgraceful *growl*
The first duck had a fishing hook stuck in its beak. The person who reported him was waiting for us and pointed us in the right direction; the duck had been waddling and swimming free and it took ages to find him. Then we spotted him walking towards the river. As we approached with a long net, he flew back to the water.
This was going to be a fruitless rescue and we couldn’t do anything else. Reluctantly we left.
The next 2 ducks were in a different location – a small pond in a housing area where evidently locals fished. Indeed, when we got there, a pair of young boys were fishing. The duck finder wasn’t in when we knocked at the door, but the boys spotted the ducks in question and showed us where they were.
It was sickening to see; these ducks had fishing hooks and lines in their beaks. The lines were around 30 cm in length and trailed behind them as they swam, catching both pond weed and (more) litter. Both ducks were clearly in distress – so much so that the difficult decision was made to leave them; trying to catch them would only stress them out further,
My heart bleeds to think these (and other ducks and geese) are swimming around with spikey bits of metal and nylon cord stuck into and trailing out of their bodies 🙁
I’ve yet to actually get hold of one of these birds and help it. I’ve learned they’re stressed easily so it will be difficult, but I hope I’ll be able to make things less stressful for them by removing some of the fishing tackle. When the rescue centre receives a case like this, they need a certain amount of fishing line left in the bird so they have something to hold on to as they pull it out.
Some humans are despicable with Nature and her wonders, but thank God there are wonderful humans like the ones at the rescue centres who tirelessly help them every day.
We left the kids with the kids version of the magazine. They were very happy and also proud that they helped us, and again, huge respect to the driver who built up a great rapport with them! I hope these children will be inspired – or at least encouraged – to care for animals. And not leave fishing tackle behind!
As we crawled back into the ambulance a local resident approached us. We gave them a magazine and a phone number too – they see many injured ducks and will call us if they see another.
I’m not sure if that makes me feel any better.
A coot and a house sparrow
I’m ashamed to admit I didn’t make many notes about collecting these 2 birds. Maybe I was too tired or there wasn’t time; I can’t remember. Even though they’ve disappeared out of my memory, I’m sure they’ve been well looked after at the rescue centre, and I hope they will live on to have happy lives!
