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This blog reflects my personal experiences and opinions and does not represent or reflect those of DierenAmbulance Nederrijn.
On-Site with Tortoises and Turtles
There were a million people at the base when I arrived.
The parallel team of 2 and their Paddy, a couple of gardeners, an external driver, 2 centralists (plus one in training), a tortoise expert and Sally my driver. And another couple of people outside cleaning a couple of ambulances.
The (sole) morning shift wasn’t back yet; they were using “Ambulance 1” which was going to be used by Team 1. Sally and I were “Team 2” and waiting for one of the other ambulances to become available. It seemed like a stale mate whilst the rescue calls were coming in.
It turned out the ambulances needed a deep clean. All of the equipment from each was to be removed, cleaned, dried and replaced. I couldn’t make out why. Meanwhile I went to look at either or both tortoises and turtles (same Dutch word so not sure) that were on site.
Wounded Pigeon (duif)
A pigeon was found lying on a pedestrianised area (and bikes – this is Holland). The finder moved him to a nearby flowerbed to reduce stress (and finding a box for him too from a helpful pet store nearby).
The finder had been waiting like an angel by the time we reached the location. Indeed, she was shocked that so many people had walked past this bird in trouble and had done nothing to help. She’d noted and let us know the pigeon had thrown up in the cardboard box, and that there was something wrong with one one his wings which wasn’t hanging straight.
I couldn’t see any visible wounds when I moved the pigeon into the rescue box. The finder was extremely compassionate, and made this a very memorable rescue for me. She not only took action to help this poor pigeon, but waited a long time for us to get on scene and make sure he’d be brought to a place where he’d get the help he needed. She didn’t want our magazine (I think she already had one) so I passed it to a passer-by instead.
Update: A few days later I happened to be in the area and popped into the nearby pet shop to make some enquiries regarding care for my guinea pig. The lady there was knowledgeable and happy to help! 🙂
Jackdaw (kauw) with a wounded wing
This jackdaw was found on an industrial estate. We didn’t know what had happened to him, but even from inside the box he was placed in, we could see the left wing hung lame.
It was a simple rescue; I passed the finder a magazine, and we were off to the next.
The Next: a crow (kraai) with a broken wing
Also a location in an industrial terrain, and in this case, found by a company who keep “pest animals under control”. Naturally they had plenty of equipment at hand, and had placed the injured crow in a spacious cage.
Pictures hidden to uphold privacy.
The crow was a magnificent beast! Even with his wounded left wing he was determined to get out of the cage, squeezing his head through the cage grills as far as the top of his wings. The cage was around a meter long, 70 cm wide and 50 cm high. There was a small opening at the top which I needed help with to open, but it was difficult to get to – let alone reach inside with both hands.
Providence prevailed, and I soon had the crow in both hands. Now he was very still; a huge behavioural difference in comparison to the bird from just a few short moments ago. I feared he was more stressed than relaxed, and moved him as quickly as I could into the rescue box where it would be dark and more relaxing for him.
He opened his mouth wide as I placed him inside. I don’t think he was young enough to be a nestling hoping for food; I have a vague memory of reading something about birds opening their mouths as stress signals. I need to check.
I had a nice chat with one of the staff members there, and who wanted to check up on the crow later to see how he’s doing. I passed her the reference number – and of course the magazine!
Wildlife Rescue Centre
With 3 injured birds it was time to bring them to the rescue centre. There were other rescues, but the general advice is to bring a maximum 3 creatures at a time to limit the time the first one collected spends in a transport box.
The base is close by (and en route to the next rescue location) so we stopped in for natural relief – and to hand in a donation from one of the finders. And look at a turtle.
Wounded Crow (kraai)
A small, young bird was spotted in a shop on the high street but couldn’t be caught. The finder was advised to wait a while to see if she managed to escape naturally. Some time later she was on the street and her mother was nearby. The (second) finder thought the crow (now identified) was in trouble and might be wounded but wasn’t sure.
This finder was also advised to wait because the parent was nearby, but unfortunately the situation remained static. We were to come along and see how things were with the young crow and determine from on-site the best course of action.
We parked up at one end of the pedestrianised street and were quickly approached by the finder who pointed out where exactly the crow was. There were lots of other children around taking an interest, as well as a few other passers by.
The crow was out of the shoe box, and fluttering in a corner. Worms and water lay nearby on the ground; someone had evidently thought well about caring for this bird. High up on a ledge of one the buildings were the parents keeping a close watch on their baby.
A passer by came over and told us she’d seen this baby’s brother here a week ago. She seemed upset about it, and also upset we were on site though I didn’t understand why, and what she expected us to do about a past event.
Sally suggested going back to the ambulance to get a net to catch the bird so we could have a close look at it. I opted for trying with my hands first because the bird was in a corner and didn’t have anywhere to go, and to be brutally honest, I’ve not had much success with nets so far to date. And indeed, thankfully it was easy to pick up the bird.
She seemed too big to be a nestling and I couldn’t make out any clear wounds or injuries. Yet she appeared to be in trouble. This made things difficult. It would be unwise to separate a healthy young creature from their parents. At the same time, this tricky situation had been running for several hours and the parents weren’t able to do anything to help their child who appeared to need help in some way. It was a tough call.
As I turned her slightly to have another look, she flayed her tail feathers, which is when I saw some of the quills were missing ‘fluff’. This looked like damage, but I wasn’t sure.
We weren’t doing any good in the short term by holding her, so I put her into the rescue box and we walked with it back to the ambulance to have a quiet think. Sally understandably didn’t feel comfortable about splitting up parent and child, though saw that some sort of help or intervention was needed. So we called the wildlife rescue center for their advice.
The long and short of it is that there was nowhere nearby that was green and safe to release her and where her parents could find her, so we were advised to bring her in. It was nice to get a definitive knowledge-based decision, but both of us were sad about splitting up parent(s) and child. To make matters worse, when we asked whether they’d release her here back in the area when she’s healthy again, we heard in the negative; birds are released together and not individually. This was a(n unpleasant) surprise for both of us.
A police car pulled up as we loaded up the ambulance and prepared to leave. The officer wound down his window.
I’d been pulled over and fined 8 months ago by the police in a different jurisdiction whilst working with a wildlife rescue centre. A colleague there agreed with me that it seemed unfair, so my heart was racing now in anticipation of what was going to come.
It turned out he was a friendly chap and had a genuine interest in what we were doing! 🙂 We told them about the bird, and gave them a magazine each.
I had mixed feelings as we finally pulled away and headed to the next rescue. This crow was on her way into better hands, though deprived of her parents (and her parents of her). And I also saw the value in distributing magazines. I’d given a lot away to the children who were looking after the crow, and the police said they’d leave the magazines on their common room table. I hope this means that more people will become aware of the animal ambulance, and think about calling us when they see an animal in need of help, just as these children did.
Wounded Jay (vlaamse gaai)
There seem to be a lot more of these beautifully coloured jays in the Netherlands than in England! I suppose it was only a matter of time before one got into trouble. That said, I must admit to reading the name incorrectly and mistaking it for a parrot (“pappagai“). I wasn’t sure if a parrot counts as a pet, and if it did I needed to take a photo otherwise the admin wouldn’t go through.
We parked up outside the primary school gates where this jay was found. She’d been lying on the floor for several hours and couldn’t fly. Apparently a box couldn’t be found to put her into. A security guard came along and pointed out where she was. Armed with our rescue box – and the tablet to take a photo for the admin – we approached the patient slowly.
She lay spreadeagled on the floor near a wooden picnic table, upon which her parent kept a close watch. She flew upward to the top of the school building as I picked her baby up and examined her.
Her right wing hung at a very strange angle; there was clearly something wrong with it, so the decision to bring her to the rescue centre was easy to make – albeit difficult, again, separating a parent and child.
Small crow on the ground
Our first rescue from a private dwelling today! The town we were in had an “avondsvierdagen” (4 evenings when primary school kids go out on an ‘organised’ walk.) Roads are clogged(!) and still full of blockages from roadworks that have been running for months. By the time we turned up at the address, the finder was leaving and understandably in a rush to get going.
We knew the bird was a young one, so we felt she needed a hot water bottle in the carrier with her. I felt guilty for asking the finder to delay leaving for a few minutes to bring us some warm water, but she obliged happily enough and went their way, leaving us with the crow.
She was under the top half of a pet carrier which was really handy because I could open the door flap and reach inside without worry of the bird flying away. She was very calm and I struggled to see any wounds, other than possibly something on the back of her neck. I noted this in the admin and we too joined the traffic.
Wounded young crow
The finder spotted this young crow hobbling around in the morning with some feathers missing at the back. No other birds were in the area.
On arrival we were directed enthusiastically to the box in the front garden where the crow lay. Then a parent got hauled out for backup!
I noticed quickly that this crow’s back tail feathers were semi-bald like the one we saw in the high street. Is this normal for crows? Had we taken a healthy bird away from his mother?
End of Shift and some Reflections
We brought our collection of 4 birds to the rescue centre and headed back to the base 30 minutes over time. It was a long day, but it was OK to deal with as we were busy through it all.
Looking back, I’m not convinced I know the difference between a young crow and a jackdaw. And this brings me to another point. The new system we have of emailing our admin to the rescue centre instead of filling out a paper form in a bumpy ambulance has attracted some feedback from the rescue centre. Of note, that we need to make detailed notes on our observations of the creatures we rescue. This seems odd because surely the experts there can see and recognise injuries, sicknesses and behaviour changes – let alone the correct species of bird – much better than we can?
On a related note, I learned that IT reasons prevent the compulsory sending of an email before admin submission. (But I was told it was a good idea!)
However, my chief point to consider from this shift is the judgement call that needs to be made whether to take a (injured) bird (or other creature) away from her parents, or bring her to the rescue centre where she’ll be looked after but not returned to her family.
The simple answer is call the rescue centre for advice – as we did, but in some ways that seems like a cop out.
