10,000 Birds

MAY 22, 2015

Neighbor B’s cats are constantly on neighbor A’s property, urinating and defecating all over her garden, spreading disease, maiming and killing the birds who flock to her feeders. Neighbor A’s private property and peace of mind are both suffering because of the cats, which are killing government-protected species. What can she do?

Feral Cats 259

Feral Cats Feral Cats Wildlife Rehabilitation 259

10,000 Birds

DECEMBER 4, 2015

My work as a wildlife rehabilitator over the past forty-five years has allowed me a unique perspective on a disturbing trend. Inserts in rodent poisons that assure the public they will not kill anything but the offending rats or mice pedal the same questionable claims as those of the snake oil salesmen of bygone days.

Wildlife Rehabilitation 189

Wildlife Rehabilitation Bald Eagle Rescue Wildlife 189

10,000 Birds

MAY 9, 2014

Reputable companies belong to the International White Dove Society or the National White Dove Release Society, organizations which set rules of conduct and ethics. Wildlife rehabilitators constantly receive lost racing pigeons who are starving, riddled with lice, and suffering from coccidia, trichinosis, or worms.

Wildlife Rehabilitation 257

Wildlife Rehabilitation Ethics Virginia Atlanta 257

10,000 Birds

OCTOBER 18, 2012

Of all the billions of things that keep wildlife rehabilitators from sleeping at night, public releases are one of the big ones. One of the area’s resident hawks had recently been killed by a car (“I know this,” said Lisa, “because I’m the one they called to pick him up”), which left a possible territorial spot open for a young one.

Wildlife Rehabilitation 164

Wildlife Rehabilitation Rescue Killing 2012 164

10,000 Birds

JULY 26, 2013

Even as a veteran wildlife rehabilitator, I could scarcely believe the sight before me. Not only were her organs exposed, the entire area was alive with maggots. But in birds they eat living tissue, and once they are internal will kill the patient. We put her on the clinic’s exam table.

Eagles 241

Eagles Wounded Bald Eagle Wisconsin 241

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 21, 2012

Solid food would have killed him, as he’d have used up the last of his fading energy trying to digest it. Meanwhile, he slowly graduated from liquids to defrosted mice: first just organ meat, then skinned and deboned, then just skinned, then the whole mouse. “Oh, THEN we’ll kick him out. I forgot I had a squirrel in here!”

Mice 214

Mice Squirrels Hunters New York 214

10,000 Birds

JULY 11, 2012

In responding to Suzie’s post defending wildlife rehabilitation I began to think again about the areas in which animal rights and animal welfare overlap with the field of conservation, and the ways in which they don’t. The initial solution in New Zealand was to move species to islands where mammals hadn’t reached.

Animal Rights 265

Animal Rights Rights New Zealand Animal 265