I'm troubled...
I rescued a baby crow today. At least, I tried to help.
I came out to take my foster kittens to the shelter for their shots & de-wormings, and found an injured crow by my driveway. No idea where it came from, but it looked pretty messed up. It would squawk at me, but it let me get right next to it. There were 2 healthy crows swooping on me every time I got near the injured one. I felt like I was in "The Birds." I wasn't too worried, though, cause I was trying to help & figured (prolly unwisely) that they'd eventually realize that. I didn't know what to do, so I left on my way....and then turned around & came back. It was a good thing I did, cause then I found the injured birdie in the middle of the street at the end of my driveway, just missing getting hit by cars speeding by. I tried to come up behind it to encourage it to get out of the street, & the other crows started to swoop on me more. So I took the kittens back inside, let them out in their room, & then went back to the top of my driveway. Adorably, the little injured birdie walks up the whole driveway to me, and plops down under the front of my car, about 6 feet away from me. He didn't appear to be terribly scared of me.
I was afraid he'd go back to the street, so I plopped down by my car in the driveway to watch him, while I was waiting for animal control to come pick him up. I fed the other two some bread, which seemed to calm them down a bit, but they stayed 20 feet from me in my front yard tree, squawking at me & tearing my tree up cause they were obviously upset. The injured bird wouldn't eat. He kept curling up and laying his head down, causing me to think he was dying, but I watched his breathing stay steady, so I knew he was still alive. It looked so sad, though.
About 1.5 hours after I called animal control, an officer shows up. He sees the crow, & explains that it's a baby, he doesn't have his flying wings yet, & probably fell out of the nest. That was likely mom & dad that were protecting him & swooping on me, staying in my front yard with us. Heck, these birds are HUGE, & the baby wasn't "baby" sized. I knew he was a bit smaller, & looked a bit different, but I wouldn't have pegged him as a baby. He had lost a lot of feathers, so it's possible he fell out of the nest & was hit by a car or attacked by a dog or something. Animal control took him away, to a vet, & it looked heartbreaking to me. He just grabbed the baby by one leg with a gripper pole, and carried him like upside down to the cage in the truck. The poor baby was so scared, squawked all the way, & so did his parents. The officer said he'd take him to the vet right then, & hopefully they could save him.
I feel like I betrayed him. The little guy wasn't scared of me, prolly had no experience with humans yet, & seemed to kinda liked me. I feel like in that 1.5 hours, I had earned his trust, & proved that I wouldn't hurt him. Then the officer comes & picks him up in what looks like a harsh method, and they little guy gets taken away from his mom & dad....and mom & dad lose their baby. I felt like I did something wrong....but mom & dad couldn't help him, & he was likely to die without human intervention....from his injuries or from attack by another animal (there are coyotes in my hood, & he couldn't walk very fast) or by being hit by a car. So MAYBE I saved his life...but he'll likely never see his mom & dad again, & they're childless suddenly, & maybe the vet will euthanize him....I don't know....
I'm just not sure I did the right thing...but it was all I knew to do...
I came out to take my foster kittens to the shelter for their shots & de-wormings, and found an injured crow by my driveway. No idea where it came from, but it looked pretty messed up. It would squawk at me, but it let me get right next to it. There were 2 healthy crows swooping on me every time I got near the injured one. I felt like I was in "The Birds." I wasn't too worried, though, cause I was trying to help & figured (prolly unwisely) that they'd eventually realize that. I didn't know what to do, so I left on my way....and then turned around & came back. It was a good thing I did, cause then I found the injured birdie in the middle of the street at the end of my driveway, just missing getting hit by cars speeding by. I tried to come up behind it to encourage it to get out of the street, & the other crows started to swoop on me more. So I took the kittens back inside, let them out in their room, & then went back to the top of my driveway. Adorably, the little injured birdie walks up the whole driveway to me, and plops down under the front of my car, about 6 feet away from me. He didn't appear to be terribly scared of me.
I was afraid he'd go back to the street, so I plopped down by my car in the driveway to watch him, while I was waiting for animal control to come pick him up. I fed the other two some bread, which seemed to calm them down a bit, but they stayed 20 feet from me in my front yard tree, squawking at me & tearing my tree up cause they were obviously upset. The injured bird wouldn't eat. He kept curling up and laying his head down, causing me to think he was dying, but I watched his breathing stay steady, so I knew he was still alive. It looked so sad, though.
About 1.5 hours after I called animal control, an officer shows up. He sees the crow, & explains that it's a baby, he doesn't have his flying wings yet, & probably fell out of the nest. That was likely mom & dad that were protecting him & swooping on me, staying in my front yard with us. Heck, these birds are HUGE, & the baby wasn't "baby" sized. I knew he was a bit smaller, & looked a bit different, but I wouldn't have pegged him as a baby. He had lost a lot of feathers, so it's possible he fell out of the nest & was hit by a car or attacked by a dog or something. Animal control took him away, to a vet, & it looked heartbreaking to me. He just grabbed the baby by one leg with a gripper pole, and carried him like upside down to the cage in the truck. The poor baby was so scared, squawked all the way, & so did his parents. The officer said he'd take him to the vet right then, & hopefully they could save him.
I feel like I betrayed him. The little guy wasn't scared of me, prolly had no experience with humans yet, & seemed to kinda liked me. I feel like in that 1.5 hours, I had earned his trust, & proved that I wouldn't hurt him. Then the officer comes & picks him up in what looks like a harsh method, and they little guy gets taken away from his mom & dad....and mom & dad lose their baby. I felt like I did something wrong....but mom & dad couldn't help him, & he was likely to die without human intervention....from his injuries or from attack by another animal (there are coyotes in my hood, & he couldn't walk very fast) or by being hit by a car. So MAYBE I saved his life...but he'll likely never see his mom & dad again, & they're childless suddenly, & maybe the vet will euthanize him....I don't know....
I'm just not sure I did the right thing...but it was all I knew to do...