i was just winding down into my evening, getting ready to go into my hidey-hole when the phone rang.
A pair of women i know had become quite fond of their neighbourhood Ravens, & were enjoying watching the antics of the three youngsters.
But one of them was down in their yard & behaving strangely, & seemed to have a broken wing.
They had called NIWRA about this youngster, & it had been left up to them to decide whether to bring the young Raven in or not.
i could tell the women were conflicted about what to do.
There were no promises from NIWRA, based on what they described the youngster as doing, that they would be able to help the young Raven.
i settled down to work on my puzzle to keep me calm while the woman debated in my ear about what to do.
She asked if i might be able to capture the Raven without causing too much distress to them.
i said i had done this before, i described what i would bring & what we would do, & i also explained that the capture can*t help but be stressful for the Bird.
Almost an hour later, she said she needed to hang up to think, & that she would call me back.
She did, & we were on for the capture.
i gathered a net & two towels & headed over there.
i probably should have brought my capture gloves, but i thought of that too late.
With a Raven, you have to watch the beak.
i spotted the Raven as soon as i walked into the yard.
She was in a fenced in area, hopping around with her beak open, looking very stressed.
The women had been giving her food & water, & wanted to do this before we tried to capture her but i advised against this.
One woman took the net & i went in with a towel.
The Raven definitely had something wrong.
She wasn*t walking well, nor was she managing to get out of the fenced area.
We surrounded her slowly, she went up against the fence, i told the women i was just going to go in there & nab her.
It was easy to throw the towel over her head & pick her up, she weighed nothing.
The women had prepared a kennel with the door open & i popped her in quickly & removed the capture towel.
We talked for a bit, then moved away to give the Raven quiet.
Everyone was a bit teary, the women really cared for this youngster.
Next day the Raven was brought to NIWRA first thing, & though they promised to call & report back to me, i never heard anything back.
So i popped them off an e-mail & heard back right away, almost a week later.
How did it go that day with dropping off the Raven?
Have you heard anything about her since?
i fear the worst, since i haven*t heard back from you.
~barb
Yes, the raven didn't make it. They said she had an old injury, and a newer one on top of that. Thank you so much for helping us with her. We were glad that we could give her a chance, sad that it went the way it did. But such is life with wild birds. The parent ravens called and called for 3 days after, crisscrossing their territory looking for her, but after that, they settled down to teaching their remaining 2 proper manners, caution and foraging. It's a wonder to be able to watch their lives, even though it's sometimes hard.
Your help made all the difference that day, and we're grateful that someone with your skills and knowledge, and the generosity to share them, is on this island.
Awwwwww, darn.
Thank you for filling me in on what happened.
i was very happy to help you that day, for sure.
Did they say what her old & new injury were?
~love barb
The old injury was in her pelvis. The new one was something that increased the pelvic injury, leading to the paralyzed leg. They said it looked like she was attacked by some kind of predator but managed to get away.
Thanks again for your help and support.
