Do you finish off the wounded animal?

[dakotah_jackson]

Ran into another one this morning. This one was a Great Horned Owl caught on a

barbed wire fence. One wing was impaled on the wire and even holding the owls

head and feet with a blanket I could not get the wing free. I finished him off

and then had to cut the wing off the fence with a pair of dikes (wire cutting

pliers) before it would come free.

 

Have had this happen a number of times in differing circumstances. At Rozel

bay in Great Salt Lake we often find California White Pelicans that have been

injured. The prevailing winds push them to the shore in this area from the

island in the lake where approx 18,000 nest and raise young each summer. When

they are pushed to this shore they are in for a miserable slow, lingering

death. No fresh water. No fish. No food sources at all. Few coytes in the area

so the possibility of a quick death is nil. When I find them this way I finish

them off. Same with the pelicans, seagulls and other birds stuck in the

tar/oil seeps.

 

Have run into a number of deer in barbed wire country that didn't quite make

it leaping over the fenceline. They caught a rear foot between the two top

strands and when clearing the fence the foot caught the next to the top strand

and levered against the top strand to twist them and bind the animal. Some

have had the joint separated as well as lacerated.

 

When I find these conditions I finish the animals quickly. Most are so far

gone that they have little life or fight left in them. The animals are so far

from a shelter that takes them in and 'repairs' the damage that this is not

possible. In a few cases nearer a recovery center I have called in and gotten

a few birds captured and they still live. Minus a wing or with permanent

damage, but still alive.

 

Barbed wire fencing takes a toll on wildlife. When you see injured animals,

wire or collision with a car or whatever, what do you do?<div></div>

[awahlster]

Only had the occasion to find a calf trapped straddling a fence once in the high desert of Eastern oregon we managed with some difficulty to free it. While it did look like it had been through and ordeal it also was able to rejoin it's herd so i assume it did OK.

 

We did find a Golden Eagle that had obviously a damaged wing from what I don't know. I took some photo's but was not able to get close enough to actually see it up close. Due to it's standing in the law I would have hesitated to dispatch it. I could have since I almost always travel with a firearm.

 

It can be a tough call either way.

[michaelging]

I would put the animal down if there was no other options. There are many wildlife organizations that are very good at fixing birds and animal up even though they are very badly injured. A bird with a missing wing can be used as a education bird to teach children and adults about the natural world. I have 2 friend who have a pair of Barn owls that were brought in with broken wings and were fixed up by my friends. Every year the 2 birds feed and raise dozens of baby barn owls every year , which are then released.Here is a link to their web page.

 

 

http://mirror-pole.com/wild_at_heart/intro/wah_intro_fs.html

[trevytrev]

I always error on the side of compassion. If I feel the animal is suffering and there is no hope I put it down. I feel you did the right thing.

[Two23]

For something like the owl, I would have called someone from the Fishygame Dept. The bird looked like it was in basically good health and might have had a chance if the proper people got to it. I have never come across any wounded eagles, but if I did I'd run the other way. I know trouble when I see it! I have rescued a few deer from fences, and last year rescued one in deep snow that was caught in a fence. It was pretty squirmy. I will finish off an animal IF it looks pretty certain it has a terminal wound and is almost dead as is. I have shot several deer in the head alongside a highway that had been badly injured by cars etc. Unless they have a serous injury like that I have almost always been able to free animals from entanglements, although I sometimes have to cover them with a heavy tarp to keep from getting bit. An exception is skunks. I stay out of range! I have shot a few that were obviously rabid, and buried them deep to avoid another animal getting infected.

 

 

Kent in SD

[steve_levine]

I never go into the woods without charcoal and BBQ sauce. Those owls are quite delicious too, (taste likes chicken).

[Ed_Ingold]

I hope you are never a witness to a serious auto accident ;-)

 

From another perspective, most animals are protected by state and federal laws, even those for which hunting seasons exist. In being a "good sameritan" you may be committing a midemeanor. In the case of an endangered species, it is a felony. I have no qualms about hunting or personal defense, but I don't look for excuses to shoot something. Get out the cell phone and call the Fish and Game commission or local police.

[nancy s.]

I have found and rescued a number of injured animals. Some with success and some without success and I have the vet bills to prove it. Each situation is different.

 

I see your owl and the answer would have been to cut a piece out of the fence and to take owl, fence and all to the vet. Of course, not many of us are equipped with fence tools and repair wire or a way to transport the owl to a vet etc..

 

I have a Raptor center close by here that I can take hawks and owls to and I have connections with a very good 24 hour vet hospital. I have not had to use the Raptor center (yet).

 

I also have access to wild life rehabilitators in the area.

 

I have "finished off" some suffering animals where my experience has shown me there is no hope. However, I will try the rescue thing whenever I can. It can be an extremely interesting experience.

 

Barbed wire is tough stuff. I have personally set the posts and strung miles of the stuff when I had a dairy farm. I checked my cattle a couple of times a day and have had few barbed wire accidents as a result.

 

Wildlife is a specialty rescue due to the stress and how it affects them. Dehydration and stress usually are the things that kill wildlife, not the seemingly life threatening injury. I have seen many 3 legged deer and a couple of 3 legged raccoons.. thriving and doing fine.

[imgnepc]

I call my friend, who's a wildlife rehabber. She comes out and helps. Rehabs the animals. And releases it again if it can be released.

[ryan_taylor1]

As some other folks have mentioned it's probably a judgement call. If the animal looks to be in fairly good shape except for a wing, the department of fish and game may be able to save the animal and use it for education programs. Our local state parks here in Maryland have a variety of birds that are missing a wing but are otherwise healthy and provide a lot of benefit for public education programs. Aside from Fish and Wildlife departments, you might check out wildlife rehab centers in your area that can attempt to rehabilitate the animal for release or at least save the animal so that it can be used in educational programs. If the animal does appear to be in overall bad shape, then it might be most humane in those cases to put the animal down.

[savagesax]

I really like Nancy's answer. Death is a hard decision, best left for the Vets to decide; since most of us are not Vets or MD's. Living and being cared for beats outcome.

[joseph_smith3]

I have found deer with one leg trapped in barbed wire fences. I keep wire cutters in my SUV and have used them to free the leg. The ranchers have always thanked me for doing this even though it meant a fence repair for them! Fortunately the deer have been able to run away without apparent permanent injury. I am sure each state has strict rules on what is or is not permissible about putting down an animal in distress. I would not assume that common sense would apply. I would urge caution before doing anything that involved killing an animal. Joe Smith

[dbcooper]

I think given the situation, you did the right thing. I've done the rescue thing (in vain, unfortunately), and upon occasion have issued the coup de grace (mostly with deer hit by vehicles).

 

The decision to put an animal down ought to be as dispassionate as possible, and solely based on the circumstances present. I think it's a sin to let an animal suffer needlessly. In my experience, doing the right thing is seldom doing the easy thing.

 

With certain wild animals, one must consider one's own safety as paramount. I might attempt to free an owl if I had wire cutters and a small blanket with me, but would not attempt it for, say, a wolverine.

[Edwin Barkdoll]

I have had my share of unpleasant euthanasia experiences - usually on the road. I didn't have the tools (tire iron and Buck folding hunter ended up serving in 2 cases), the experience or knowldege to make the decision or do the job right and I think most people are similarly ill equipped. In hindsight I think I generally made the right decision although I would choose a different "tool".

 

If you are going to do a mercy killing make sure you know how to do it properly - e.g. some animals have extensive air-filled sinuses in the head and an imprperly placed head shot may stun but not kill. I have seen more than one botched mercy killing. Not pleasant.

 

If you can contact someone with more knowledge than yourself do so before you pull the trigger. Not all injured animals need to be killed.

 

Be aware of wildlife laws that may apply. Killing an injured owl may in your eyes be in the animals best interest but not necessarily in the wardens/feds eyes.

 

Assess whether you can safely handle (your safety as well - great blue herons will attack your eyes with startling speed and accuracy) and transport the animal.

 

Specifically regarding oiled birds, there are protocols for dealing with these animals. For example one bird rescue group reported nearly a 50% release rate of birds treated in the Exxon Valdez spill.

 

I guess I would just say don't be hasty to kill. Seek advice if you can. Cell phones are ubiquitous and, if you can get reception and find someone to talk to you might get a different perspective in that moment.

[magnetite]

If you had wire cutting pliers with you, why not cut the wire, free the bird and then fix the fence?

[Mary Doo]

<p>Wind Over Wings ( <a href="http://www.windoverwings.com">link</a> ) is an

organization in the East Coast that rehabilitates injured birds.</p>

<p>Here are some common sense tips on how to help an injured bird:</p>

<p><a href="http://www.windoverwings.com/helpanimals.htm">http://www.windoverwings.com/helpanimals.htm</a></p>

<p>Mary</p>

[dakotah_jackson]

There is a wildlife rehabilitation center only a five hour drive from where I live. A Vet service is available 30 miles away but getting to the phone and back to where this owl was and then waiting for a vet to show might be awhile. This is farm and ranch country and cows and horses come first. Game and Fish does have an office an hour and a half away.

 

Cutting barbed wire fencing with a pair of dikes is pretty difficult. I don't normally carry bolt cutters with me so that was not an option either. In a lot of rural areas we just don't have the animal rescue options available in the populated areas. On the other hand we do have the animals. Have a family of beaver .3 mile to the West on a nice 100 acre pond. They are joined by a nice looking family of mink and a lot of muskrats. A few coyotes and a ton of geese and ducks. Nice Black Crowned Night Heron family nesting there right now. Then in my yard, 33 feet from the living room window is a nesting duck with eight eggs. She is keeping me from cleaning a broken tree from the area. Was going for it Saturday when I saw the nest so it waits until she and the ducklings are hatched and away before I move it. We haven't even gotten to the pond 1.4 mile to the East (60 acres) or the one .8 mile to the South (160 acres) or the dozen others within two miles.

 

When I see the birds and animals like this I am usually too far from vet/rescue services to have much done. If I were back in a populated area it would be different. Then we have to deal with the guvmintfellas... and too many of them just don't have much sense. For the most part we leave them be.

 

The rural areas are nice and quiet, if you call constant geese/ducks/terns/coyotes and others calling and seranading us quiet. A nice kind of noise to have. Nothing quite like walking .3 mile and watching beaver play, turtles scurry off floting logs and the local Willet family setting up house.

 

It isn't often that I have to kill an animal but given the damage some I have found have suffered and the difficulties involved in getting them to a rehabilitation prison facility, disptaching them is often the only real alternative.<div></div>

[matthew_newton]

I would have to agree with most people that if the animal looks like there is no chance of a recovery and is obviously suffering then I will put it out of its missery. In one case it was a racoon that was obviously rabid that I put down by using an axe (I do not own a fire arm). In another case I witnessed a deer being hit by an SUV. The driver of that SUV never stopped, but I stopped to check on the deer. It was not able to get up and was obviously mortally wounded. I actually did not think to use my tire iron, but instead snapped its neck. It is not an experience I ever wish to repeat, but if it is a choice between knowing that the animal is suffering or putting it down I will do what I have to do.

 

One other time I saw a hawk that was lamed with a broken wing on the ground and bleeding (no clue what happened to it). In that case I called the local state park rangers office (it was just outside of a park) and they forwarded it on to a fish and wildlife officer who came by to rescue the hawk (the officer thought the hawk had a resonable chance of survival).

[chelsea]

I'll join the chorus of "use your common sense" in the case of putting down certain species, certainly don't let anyone catch you, and don't broadcast it, just do what's necessary and be done with. We're fortunate in our area to have a rehab center for birds/animals, and I know many people I can call upon to ask about a situation right from the start. I'll rescue it if I can, but sometimes there's so much we don't know. For example, one cold rainy spring night my dog found a baby chipmunk lying in the middle of the road while I took him for a walk. I scooped it up, brought it inside, dried it off, and warmed it up. After an hour it livened up, by morning it was looking healthy, but too young to be released. I thought I'd keep it for a couple weeks, feed it, and release it. But when I phoned the rehab lady, she told me there were certain nutritional requirements that had to be met, and don't fee it sunflower seeds, because in juvenile chipmunks the sunflower seeds actually rob the calcium from their system. So I brought it to her and gave her a $30.00 donation to cover its care by someone knowledgeable, and enable a happy ending. In the case of mortally injured animals, such as the garter snake that was thrashing around on my doorstep a couple days ago, I dispatched it. Poor thing had claw/bite marks down its back, and the lower jaw was smashed wide open. I'm still trying to figure that one out. It was obvious this creature was injured beyond repair, and in agony, so I grabbed a piece of firewood and whacked it on the head a few times. This is really distasteful, still trying to get the imagery out of my head, but I can't stand to see something suffering. I've rescued quite a few critters around here, a hummingbird that was hopelessly wrapped up in spider webs, a frog with its leg wrapped up in weeds, even a dragonfly that had just emerged from its larval skin, but the skin on the face didn't peel off, and it was stuck to the twig it had crawled out on. That one required a magnifying glass and fine tweezers, but I got it clear and sent it forth with instructions to eat as many mosquitoes as it could catch. I've had several birds over the years that hit a window or were attacked by a predator, kept them for a few days under instructions from birders, and then released them. For larger animals and birds, I'll phone, and in every case, have received help.

[derek_thornton]

Hey man, lot of responses here, sorry if I repeat what someone else has said. I would not have put him/her down. I would have cut it loose with the side cutters. I saved a Red Shouldered Hawk that was in real bad shape. It got hit by a logging truck! 6 months later it was flying free in Francis Marion NF. Even though they are extreamly light and fragile feeling, they are very tough. To capture the hawk I just took the socks off my feet and the shirt off my back. I put both socks on left hand and grabbed it by the feet, I used my right hand to throw the shirt over its head. It all took less than a minute and the only wounds I recieved were from the thousands of mosquitos that swarmed me. I know the talons are a little intimidating.

 

One way or the other you get an addaboy for trying. The world could use more peeps like us!

[kin_lau]

Dakotah, you were there and you did what you felt was right. Forget about the "you could have" answers. None of us were there. A GHO can cause serious damage if it got it's talons around any part of you.

[scot]

Regarding Edward's advice to "get the cell out and cal..." If your cell phone even WORKS when you're out in the woods (mine never does), neither Fish & Game nor the cops are likely to drive an hour just to put an animal down. I've done it myself, taking care to avoid legal trouble (this means don't let anyone see you do it. I once had a big run-in while euthanizing a deer. Had to wait until the sympathetic but ignorant bystanders cleared out.) Of course it's true that it's hard to tell if an injury is lethal, and if you can get the creature to one of the many wildlife rehab groups, they'll know a lot more than most of us.

 

 

Scot

[d_harding]

Please be careful for your own safety, too. A wounded animal of any size can cause injury.

 

A guy on the Cheasapeake tried to free a Blue Heron from a fishing net not too long ago. The Heron poked the guy's eye out. He lost that eye.

[chelsea]

D. Harding brings up an important point: personal safety. Wounded critters can be quite dangerous. Deer can kick, raccoons and other mammals can claw and bite, birds with talons can rip into you. When I took a wounded red-tailed hawk to a bird rehabber, she gave me a lesson on handling birds of prey, like Kin Lau says, watch out for the feet. Get a good grip on the legs. This bird rehabber had a hawk grab into her hand when no one else was around, she said it was an extremely painful experience trying to pry it off without hurting the bird. Sometimes when birds are seriously injured, there's no hope. I was working on a marsh monitoring survey with one of the gals from the local conservation area, and some women came running up saying that "the baby eagle was on the ground, injured". It was an adult male osprey who had smashed his wing badly on a electric wire when he dove into the pond after a fish. I grabbed a big towel out of my truck, got hold of the bird, and took it immediately to the bird rehabber. (Great fun, by the way, trying to drive with one hand on a steering wheel and the other holding a big covered bird by the feet.) The bird rehabber took one look, and said the bird is doomed, osprey just don't recover when the tendons in the wings are badly damaged. She immediately put him down. So...as always, it's common sense and personal judgement in every individual situation.

[dave_thielen]

Before you do anything call the local fish and wildlife office, in lieu of that the local police department. They may tell you to put it down, they may send somebody out to do it. They may send somebody to recover it, but one thing is for sure, outside of very few creatures, killing it yourself without the requiste permission could have you ending up in court.