A person in my rural area was alarmed to find a baby bird struggling to make its way across a country road as she noticed in while driving. She tried to warn an oncoming driver of an approaching car by waving to slow down, but the driver did not do so. The bird got injured by the front of the car. The advocate took the injured little one to the Sharon Audubon in Sharon CT.
There the assessment was a broken leg which they could put a cast on…or if that didn’t work possibly amputate the broken leg. About two people commended the person for their efforts and some spoke to the concerns of speeding cars even in town, passing or running through stop signs.
“People get away with that until they don’t!” When it’s habitual (and often that’s the case if speeding since there may be pressure and lack of time management. That can be another post) For now I’ll share what I posted and trust more people will give it t thought or two and adjust one’s schedule and habits accordingly…I share from my own experience not as an employee or representative of any organization now or in the past.
This post is stirring hearts and minds and reminders all around. In terms of slowing down for wildlife that’s a good idea when it’s safe to do so, but we also need to be mindful of not causing an accident or worse.
I’ve heard bus drivers cannot try to avoid an animal by turning the bus..and in terms of braking I’m not sure what the guidelines are (can’t be tossing kids about and a bus can flip on it’s side…mainly from a fast turn.)
The idea of warning others and banking on cooperation is not a given, especially when cars are driven fast…The driver is ‘going fast’ and really may not pay attention or understand the ‘message…’
Many birds in general are done in by housecats and such around one’s home, so that’s a more controllable situation (as is making windows and doors obvious with stickers and not putting feeders too close to windows…about 30 feet away–that’s people feet or measure not bird’s.
That helps a bird not fly into a window after feeding or if spooked by other birds.) The Sharon Audubon is a great resource and more info online in general can help people feel they have a way to address situations. The Audubon does not take all wild animals…so no need to bring the menagerie like snapping turtles (as a friend once did when I lived there on the grounds…)
A fellow showed up and handed me a saw whet owl and even though it was before the center opened, I took that one since I thought it may have been one of ours that had gotten out somehow…(it wasn’t) I put that little owl in my thick cotton bathrobe pocket and handed it off when folks arrived.
Meanwhile a goose that had been rehabbed came flying at me with a fierceness when I was in the garden. I told the kids to run back in the house and happened to have a small garden tool about the size of his beak in my hand so yelled and stood my ground as I headed for the house. The staff told me the goose was protecting what s/he perceived as their territory.
That’s just a bit of the bird news I could share,particularly after many Festivals that kept us all hopping for hot weekends in July (and eventually August when we realized the pattern of storms that came in July…)
Okay to make posters to promote safety for wildlife, on the roads and among people too ‘Just Because’ and I’ve been doing that and spelling out many ideas on my blog Livfully.org for over a decade. I am continuing also on Livfully.org/wordpressblog/ and I’ll post this there. I could even use help with those efforts to help grow wisdom and community!
We could form some more ad hoc efforts and make a big splash with good ideas and shared efforts. Caring for people too may even fit in to the game plan, but always nice to keep an eye on our feathered friends or winged ones as Native people call them.