(no subject)

[zandperl]

Driving home from the Cape today, I saw two gorgeous male goldfinches fly across the road. In case you don't know what they look like the bodies are a couple inches long, the body is bright yellow, the wings black, and they have a darting flight, wings closing to bullet short distances. They crossed right in front of my windshield from left to right and just as I swerved left just in case it was too late and I heard a tiny little -thud- as one of them hit my windshield on the lower right! I was so stunned I kept driving as my brain flashed through thoughts of stopping, where there were vets nearby, that I had a wildlife rehabber number in my phone, and then I realized I'd gone far enough that if I stopped I wouldn't be able to find the poor little thing. Even if he were still alive. He probably had babies and a mate. He was probably dead. (The poor thing -bounced-! Maybe because he was small and bounced, that means he'll sustain less injury?) If he was alive, he probably wouldn't make it. Normal vets don't usually treat wildlife. Rehabbers don't usually care about small common animals, and even if they did or the vet did and he somehow made it, his babies will still all die. I'm a horrible person.

In the future: if I hit (but not run over) something small I will stop and find it, see if it's still alive, and then decide what to do. (Calling a rehabber and describing the location of a duck might work, but not a goldfinch.)

Anyone else who drives or passengers, what do you do when you or your driver hit (but not run over) an animal?