What I found there that helped me when my cat dragged a baby out of its nest and injured its wing:
- Keep the baby warm and call 472-WILD (9453) immediately. Baby birds do not live long without proper nourishment. DO NOT ATTEMPT TO FEED ANYTHING TO THE BIRD! Many times feeding the wrong diet, or the right diet incorrectly will kill the babies.
- Injured baby bird:
- An injured baby bird must be brought to the Intake Center and placed with a rehabber, especially if it has been in a cat’s mouth. Cat’s saliva contains toxins that are toxic to small animals.
- Sick baby bird:
- A sick baby bird must be brought to the Intake Center and placed with a rehabber.
What Happened At the Cabin:
On Tuesday evening I went for a walk down the hill with the animals. On the way I scooped up Hamilton, who was eyeing the cardinal's nest in the yucca (the cardinals, by the way, have nothing to fear; I'm just afraid that Ham will put an eye out on a yucca spear trying to get at the safe-as-houses nest within). I started down the path with him struggling in my arms and finally let go, as I'd gotten him away from his point of interest. The dogs were way ahead and little Fritto was trotting behind and Hamilton the Giant didn't really follow, but that's not unusual for him; he usually heads cross-country to meet us on the other side of the hill.
Unusually, I came back up the hill the same way I'd gone down it, otherwise I wouldn't have caught Hammy with the baby bird. It didn't even have feathers yet and it was lying sadly by a clump of grass while Ham sniffed at the teeny piece of wing he'd torn off. I grabbed him up and ran into the house with him, then had to do the same with Fritz, before I could tend to the little baby. I was heartbroken, and I thought it was near dead if not dead already. I realized he'd not fallen (nor been snatched) out of a tree, but was from a nest tucked into the center of the clump of grass! There was another little bird within the nest, seemingly unhurt.
I didn't know what to do. I've always heard that you should leave baby animals where you find them, or tuck them back in their nest, and so I went away, hoping the parent birds would come down and do I don't know what. There was a terrible storm in the night and the temperature dropped; in the morning I went back to check on the little guy and lo and behold, he was still breathing. And still not in the nest, though I think the parents did tuck him into the grass next to the nest a little bit. I finally got smart, got online and found Austin Wildlife Rescue. After making a panicked phone call, I got a box (with airholes and a towel in it), got the bird and took him in. Today I called to check on his status and found that he has been sent to live with a rehabber, who will care for him till he is well; then he will be placed with a group of his own kind (or similar, I assume, in case there are no exact others) for a while; and at some point, the group will be released together back into the wild.
The only other time I've ever called the Wildlife Rescue group--20? 25? years ago--they were simply a group of people that cared and knew what they were doing (we hoped), and when you called, a person would show up and take the animal to nurse in their home. I don't think they had a base of operations or anything like that. I was so impressed by the now-existing facility (though it is humble, and they need donations, hint hint) and by the knowledgable and capable woman who checked in my little baby (as well as the animals of the other two people who showed up in the same five minutes that I did--if they're always that busy, then I'm even more impressed). Among other things, it inspired in me the desire to learn what I myself can do in the face of wildlife emergencies. A panicked tizzy is very ineffectual in times of crisis, especially if you live out in the boonies amongst nature and wildlife, as I do.
By the way, while the drama was unfolding, there was much angry and alarmed noise coming from many birds in the tree beside the nest. There was a wren and two of the birds I call the asteroid birds because of their "tew tew tew tew tew" cry that is so reminiscent of the old arcade game. After sitting down with the bird books and photos I took of them the day following the incident, I have identified them as Rufous-crowned Sparrows, ground-nesters and criers of "dear dear dear," according to Peterson's Birds of Texas ("tew," "dear"--close enough, I say; it's hard as hell to write with letters what a bird call sounds like).
We'd already been keeping Hamilton in from dawn till afternoon every day; now both the cats are under house arrest until all the babies in the area are fledged. It's going to be a long and loud few weeks.....
