On Wed, 17 Jul 1996, Irene Wanner wrote:

> I found a wet, flightless crow in the Highline Comm Coll parking lot this
> afternoon--the man in the car behind me nearly ran over the lil guy!--so
> took not-quite-fledgling to HOWL. We were on I-5 a long time, but he
> was good in a navy blue blanket. I wondered if that was a good place to
> take him, but had no other ideas. What do y'all think? - Irene
>
Irene--

puts me in mind of the incident I had in June when I found a
Pine Siskin flopping around in the road. I drove it to the
Olympic Wildlife Rescue group in MacLeary and left it there.
They said it was ill..a trifle emaciated, etc..it probably
didn't make it..but, it made me feel like I'd done something
helpful..Now, that brings up a very interesting point..

How helpful was it to expend the fuel to try and save a bird
that probably was destined not to make it...this somehow taps
into the genetics interchange I had with a colleague when I
lamented to her that 80 - 90% of raptors don't make it through
their first year..(Janet Partlow reminded me that it's the same
for passerines..) as I talked with this Biologist colleague she
pointed out that 80 to 90% OF EVERYTHING doesn't make it..that's
the way it's set up..that's how it works. If that's the case
then what's the point of rehab? Now, I realize this is a
touchy subject, and that most of us are certainly animal lovers
and some of us are even rehabbers..I assume we're all moving
out of the purest of motivation..i.e., contributing to what we
believe to be the common good..that said, and and with the
understanding that we are all of good intent, I have to wonder
if we might not be off the track..

case in point.. money spent on rehab facilities, plane fares
for dingy off course albatrosses, fuel spent on ferrying birds
to rehab, etc etc..might be better spent in educational pgms
to teach kids not to shoot those hawks, passerines etc..to
begin with.. just a thought.

I, BTW, don't really know how I come down on this issue..
try and remember I'm the guy who drove the Pine Sisken to
MacLeary..(and a Steller's Jay last year)..but, I do think
it's an interesting issue to ponder in light of what's good
for the environment..I raised it last week on my radio
show, but not until the end and there wasn't time to field
any calls..I will set up a discussion some time in the
future between those who favor rehab and those who don't
and do call-ins to hear the arguments. I emphasize again
that I really have no solid grasp of this issue..but, I
have to say that the argument for non-interference is
compelling... i.e., the lion got the mother hyena and the
cubs will starve unless the biologists dig them out and
save them..no problem with that one..they didn't and
the cubs were woofed out of the den by an adult male
and thereby saved..it's not the same when you find an injured
bird in the street...or, is it?

I think some injured raptors have made quite an impression in
the classroom with school kids..that's probably a good place
for them. Years ago, my next door neighbor's son arrived
home one night with a screech owl stuck in the grill of his
pickup..he took it to a vet, who euthanized it. Diagnosis
was the wing was to iffy..I was not pleased with that one as
I thought the bird might be a good teaching tool for school
kids..but, in light of the genetics argument and other
considerations, maybe it was the right thing to do..
It certainly is a tough one to even think about...there aren't
many of us who wouldn't go to the aid of an injured bird.

It's an interesting subject to think about and I don't know if
anyone had any rational response that might be helpful..

In any case, it will certainly be a lively radio show when I get it
together..

Tom


I've only been on this list a couple of years, so if this is
a rehash of an old thread, I apologize...the subject simply
surfaced in light of a stimulating and challenging discussion
I had with a colleague.