What are your favorite things about spring time?
:lucky: do you work for the game warden or wildlife center?Originally posted by Lucky
Spring is when blah, blah, blah, new life appears, blah, blah, I hate it! :madmad:
You wouldn't believe how many calls I get in the spring...
"We found a baby bird..."
"My kids picked up a baby bird..."
"A baby bird just showed up in the yard..."
"Some mean mama bird abandoned it's babies..."
...and on, and on, and on :nono:
Most of the time I recommend just leaving it where it was found. But it's usually parents that call and they just can't imagine telling their kids to take the baby bird back to where they found it and leave it to die. They are determined it needs to go to a avian emergency room, ASAP. But they don't exist. There are only a few rehabilitators that might take them in. Seems like the best ones don't have all the legal permits necessary to do such things, so they're "underground" rehabbers and are hard to contact.
If the babe looks a few hours or days old, and you pretty much know what tree it fell out of, here's what you do: Find something to put it in like a small basket or cardboard box. If you use a shoebox, which will probably be too big, use some soft material (not grass) to go inside of it in the shape of a... you guessed it.. a nest. Stick it in the tree it fell out of. Try to secure it with duct tape or a couple nails. Just don't have the babe in there while you're swinging the hammer! Finally, let the bird's parents do the rest.
Clearing up the myths:
It is NOT true that the parents will abandon their babies if they smell human scent.
Most birds do NOT have a strong sense of smell.
If it's a big baby bird, a "teenager" if you will, just leave it on the ground. The parents are probably nearby and are waiting for you to go away before it dives down to feed it. If there are domestic cats licking their chops and staring down the helpless bird, simply shoot the cats dead.
This is just what I tell people about "saving poor helpless birds." If you're a good googler, I'm sure you can find plenty of sites that go into greater detail.
We sell bird feeders, bird seed, binoculars, scopes, nature field guides, indigenous plants, t-shirts, etc., etc. Because of the name, "Wild Bird Center," many folks falsely assume we "save" wild birds or even sell wild birds.Originally posted by Christine
:lucky: do you work for the game warden or wildlife center?