How do others handle this type of situation?

[NNN0LHI]

Injured animals you find. What do you do when you find one? Take it to the vet for medical care? Something else?

Personally I am unable to hunt animals. Tried it a once but every time I shot something I felt bad. Really bad. I remember picking up a pheasant I had shot and just marveled at the beauty of the bird. Remember wishing there was a way I could bring it back to life, but I knew I couldn't. But I still wished I could have. Still do.

Accidentally ran over a squirrel a few years ago. Watched the sucker run off the road and then just as I got up to it he darted out and under my tire. I remember the sound. Made me physically ill. Emotionally too. Now every time I see a squirrel or any animal near the road I go about 1 MPH. Haven't hit another one.

But what do other people do when you just find an injured bird or some other critter and you know it isn't going to make it in the shape it is in? Take it to the vet? Try to treat it yourself? Leave it be and cross your fingers knowing full well it is suffering?

What do you do?

Don

[TheMastersNemesis]

1. Find An Animal Rescue Organization In Your Area

About the only thing that you can do is try to find an animal rescue organization in your area and take the animal there if you can.

My dog caught a baby rabbit a couple of years ago and broke its leg. We had to travel a ways but took it to a rescue outfit. They seemed to be able to care for it.

We need a lot of organizations like that.

I am like you I hate even killing black widows or yellowjackets. Sometimes there are no options. But I usually even move bugs and non threatening spiders when I can.

[Politicalboi]

28. LOL!

I have a pet spider under our bathroom counter. I fed it a pesky fly once. I once was making a fire in our fireplace, and saw a group of ants panicking on a small log. I couldn't take the small log out for fear of starting a fire. But it looked like they were trying to asses their chances. It was a wood burning stove, and I just ended up closing the door for oxygen. I felt bad for them, but there was nothing I could do. I later tried to get logs without ants in them LOL!

[TheMastersNemesis]

30. Obviously You Have No kindness In Your Soul

It is not about having a pet spider. I relocate them to the garden where they eat insects. I don't particularly like spiders actually.

[southernyankeebelle]

2. I remember once there was this baby bird that fell out of its nest. The momma kept

flying down on people and picking at a person walking by. I finally picked the baby bird up and took him to the vet on the military base. He said he didn't think he would make it but he would try. I left him and went back to work. The next day the vet said the baby didn't make it. I was sad but I tried.

[NNN0LHI]

5. You did your best

I admire that.

Don

[southernyankeebelle]

13. I did. The little thing was lying there to long I guess. I hate to see an animal hurt.

Oh I forgot to tell you one night coming home from work I hit a 10 pointer deer. He came so fast off the hill I just didn't see him. He went flying over my car. Thank goodness a woman drove by in the other direction and stopped. She had a cell phone and I called the police I was so scared and nervous. These 2 guys stopped and asked me if I wanted the deer because it was dead. I told them hell no they could have it. They took it home. I had to put out $3,000 to get my car fixed. I did see the guy again once. He asked if I remember him and I said no. He told me they took that deer home and dressed it down. He said it was delicious. I am not into deer meat. At least it didn't go to waste.

[FSogol]

3. In college I raised several foundling baby birds myself.

If the animal survived 3 days, they'd usually make it, but it takes a lot of tlc. Nowadays, I always call the local wildlife rescue people. We sent 2 baby squirrels to them this spring. So many baby birds fall out of the nests in the spring that the wildlife people won't take them. For them, it is best to put them back in the nest or make a nice hidden (from crows and cats) nest for them. The mother will find and keep feeding them. A severely injured animal? I'd put them out of their misery either myself or via a vet. Some vets are connected with wild animal rescue and will help out without charging. Looks around for those kind of vets.

[NNN0LHI]

9. Yea, I was mostly thinking about severely injured animals

I admire your courage to be able to euthanize them and putting them out of their misery. Because I really hate to see an animal suffering.

I think that probably is the best thing for the animal in some cases but I would have a tough time with it myself.

Thanks for for being frank about this and posting to this thread.

Don

[aquart]

4. We have a little list.

Certified Audabon bird rescuers. People experienced in dogs, cats, other kind of rescues.

Vets who treat accident rescues.

If we don't know who to call, someone else will.

All around you are people who don't walk by on the other side. Talk to one, two....you'll find so many more.

And this I swear from experience, rescuing animals rescues people.

[teddy51]

6. Seems we all have something in common! You might try calling a vet and asking them who to

contact. A Petsmart is maybe another place to call.

[jberryhill]

7. It depends on the animal

Interfering with a roster of wild animals, even injured ones, on your own can run afoul of federal or state laws on the subject. We always take injured birds to a qualified bird rehabilitation outfit in our area.

For something like a squirrel, though, I wouldn't bother it. We have a pretty decent population of carrion birds around here, and "helping" the squirrel is depriving them of a meal. There are few sites more joyous than the raucous gathering of beautiful turkey buzzards we get in the fields nearby when some small mammal has met misfortune.

And if the birds don't get them, the foxes will.

[Liberal_in_LA]

8. Pigeon was limping about the parking lot stunned, wings open and dragging, I took it home

I happened to have a big bird cage. gave it food and water. I didn't know if I could safe it but I knew it would surely be dead if I didn't try. Within a few days, thankfully, it was trying to take off like a 747, hitting against the cage. I let it go.

[jberryhill]

10. Check for an ID on pigeons

I found a downed pigeon after a hellacious storm one time, and we took it in and gave it a cage, food and water. We noticed that it had a ring on one of its legs with a serial number and some letters on it. After finding out how to track down the owner, some 500 or so miles away, we asked him "How do we get the pigeon back to you?"

Dumbfounded by the question, he said "stop feeding it, take it outside, and let it go."

Because I am probably the world's largest idiot, those instructions made no sense to me, so he had to explain, "He'll come home if he's hungry. This is where we feed him, and he's a homing pigeon."

[Liberal_in_LA]

14. "stop feeding it, take it outside, and let it go." - lol, that doesn't work for cats

thanks for the tip. This particular pigeon didn't have a leg tag.

[NNN0LHI]

12. Found a pigeon like that in the middle of a busy highway once and picked it up about 20 years ago

Brought it home and put it in the bathroom. Opened up some of my anti-biotic pills and put some of the powder in the water and kept it few weeks.

It healed up too. One day I opened the window and he flew out of sight. Hope he made it.

Don

[Liberal_in_LA]

16. They sure recover fast.

[sinkingfeeling]

11. About a month ago, I tried to rescue a snapping turtle. Saw it in the street,

turned into a parking lot, and climbed back up a hill to the turtle. There was a lot of traffic (middle of the university's campus) and I'm yelling and waving at cars to 'go around' the poor thing. Just then a young lady, more in need of being on a phone, ran over it. I started to cry and managed to get a big truck stopped about 8 inches from it. That's when I realized it was a true snapping turtle, but I finally got it picked up and moved to a grassy area near the parking lot. It had a cracked shell and there was some blood on my hands where I'd moved it. Three hours later after I got off work, I went back with a cardboard box and picked it up again. Drove it to the nearest vet, but he didn't do reptiles and told me to take it 40 miles away to a specialist. Well, I goggled and it said a turtle could survive with a cracked shell, so I took it home and put it out in my woods. Gave it food and water. It lived for 2 days. I guess I should have let the truck finish him off.

But, I just always try to save them. It breaks my heart to see something suffering and I'm appalled by how some people can just hit something and go on.

[Liberal_in_LA]

25. .. I know how you feel

[tularetom]

15. Around here the coyotes will get it before we even see it

Every once in awhile the cat will drag in some half dead bird or varmit. You can usually tell whether they're going to make it or not. If it's too far gone I'll just bop it with a shovel. If it seems fairly lively and I can catch it I'll take it far away from the house and release it.

[NNN0LHI]

23. Have a family of red foxes living in our back yard right now

Both parents and 4 pups. Not only don't have any injured animals around here any more we don't have any live little animals any more.

We were just about up to our ears in ground squirrels but now we haven't seen any in months. Used to have a lot of toads and tree frogs too. Haven't seen one. Just an occasional grease spot on the patio where a fox had eaten one.

Don

[a la izquierda]

17. My husband has climbed more trees in an attempt to put baby birds...

back into their nests. Once, he climbed a 20 foot tree to put a still-living blue jay baby back home. The parents went ballistic, nearly causing my husband to fall out of the tree. I sat at the ready with a hose, but couldn't really do anything about it.
In each case, we never saw the baby again, so our hearts felt good.

I remember once running over a raccoon. I bawled my eyes out on the side of the road. I hate seeing poor dead animals (and there's one every 10 feet in Ohio).

Finally, one time, my friend had to come dispatch a bird with a shovel. There was no way it was going to survive, and we couldn't stand to see it suffering. I was a wreck (I'm a vegetarian, so I hate suffering and killing of any kind).

[Xyzse]

18. Only thing I pick up are turtles

Sometimes they get huge!
I picked one up that was at least 9 inches in length, just the shell.
I only do so when I find them on the road and about to get run over, or when they are far-far from water.

I've dealt with 3 thus far and the biggest one I have picked up was over 12 inches.
I just drive them to the closest creek and drop them there.

Everything else I think is too risky. A rodent could bite me, a snake could bite me, a bird would most likely die if it has a broken wing, a kitty (I've never dealt with) would just run away from me, a dog I haven't dealt with but I'd generally figure out if they have an owner(thank goodness for volunteering at a German Shepherd rescue, I have an idea how to handle dogs), anything else is too exotic.

[yardwork]

20. If it's a box turtle they don't need to be in water and they don't need to be moved.

I learned this after "rescuing" a turtle I found on the road near my house. I let it go near the creek in back and found the shell a few years later - obviously didn't live. I googled and learned that land turtles have very specific territories and if you move them they will probably die. So now I just move them out of the road and leave them by the side.

[Xyzse]

24. Really?

I don't know enough to tell.
All I know is, they are in a high traffic area. I don't want them run over.

[XemaSab]

19. Last weekend I hit a horned lark

It was really messed up, so I broke its neck.

[Liberal_in_LA]

26. ..

[lapislzi]

21. Depends on the circumstances.

And what type of animal. Cats and dogs: no question; they get picked up and taken for medical treatment. Deer: I call the police. It's more humane to have them killed quickly. Mice and critters that my cats mortally wound: I dispatch them as humanely as I am able. It's hard to judge whether a cat strike is a mortal injury. Sometimes I let them go and hope for the best.

The few times I have struck and killed squirrels and chipmunks, I have cried like a baby. Heck, I don't even kill most bugs except for mosquitoes and hornets. My daughter gets annoyed by my Spider Collection Devices (TM) that I keep around the house.

[soccer1]

22. I've cared for injured rabbits, chipmunks, birds....

I called the PA game people to find out what to do for an injured baby rabbit. They suggested that I put it back in the woods on a pile of leaves and check in on it the next day to see if it was still there. I did that and the rabbit was gone....either the mother came for it or it revived and went on its way. Ditto for the injured chipmunk. I put the baby bird in a cloth lined shoebox to see if it would revive. It did and we then put in our yard on leaves to see if the mother would come for it or it would go to it's mother. THe two found each other so it was a happy ending. A vet could be contacted to find out what to do.....I would think they would know what to do or who you could contact. By the way, our cat had caught the baby rabbit......never knew a rabbit could scream and cry until that day. Pathetic. It took me a long time to get our cat to release the bunny...then I called the game commission.

[Liberal_in_LA]

27. nearby college has a big pond with turtles and ducks. a setup for the public with a quarter machine

nearby to purchase feed to throw to the animals. This pond is teeming with large turtles. When I walk over, I often see 'escaped turtles' that have walked off and gotten kinda lost from the pond. Yesterday, it was 90 degrees and one poor turtle had wandered far from the pond and was trying to save itself by digging a hole into the dirt. I always carry them back to the pond. I've seen others do the same.

I wish the college would put a fence or some type of barrier to keep them near to the pond.

[kentuck]

29. It is a good sign..

It shows that our humanity is expanding. Soon you will step over the ant you see on your sidewalk...