Trying to Help Wild Life

Advertise with us
Shop with us on Ebay
Fins us on Amazon
The Rat Shack Forum

Help Support The Rat Shack Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
C

ChrisK

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jun 18, 2009
Messages
1,376
Location
Ottawa, Canada
Hi all.. I'd like your opinions on what if anything to do about a wild life issue. I was in a large park in the city Sunday and was watching two grown up geese with their babies.. so cute.. when I noticed that one of the adults was holding her foot up while standing, and when she walked, was limping on it. I don't know how serious it is. I didn't get too close, but I didn't see any bones protruding or blood or puss anywhere on the top of her foot.

I called one of the wildlife centers to ask if there's anything I could do, and the person told me to get a group of friends to form a circle around the geese, capture the babies first, put them in a box with a lot of air holes, then capture the adult with the limp. And then bring them to the center for help.

Most times I take advice from these places to heart, but this seems overwhelming to me. And I'm not comfortable with capturing them all nor taking them away from their community (the park is near the river and there must be hundreds of geese there). I'm afraid I'll cause more harm than good.

Of course i have no idea if the foot issue is something serious or not. And no idea if I go back, if I'll be able to find this particular goose again. I'd be willing to try if there was something within reason that I could do to help.

Has anyone run into such a situation before and/or have ideas on what I can do next? Or maybe I should let this go under the category of you can't help them all..

Thanks for any thoughts you wish to share with me on this..
-ck
 
Just an update. I went back to the park tonight and was indeed able to find the same geese! That surprised me. And mama is still limping. I also read up on geese and learned that Canada geese mate for life. So the two adults I see with the four babies are life mates. They're a family.

Also geese are very social creatures, so those hundreds of geese at the park.. they're a community.

I was able to get a better look at the foot today, and I could only see a very small white mark on the underside. When I return tomorrow I will bring a camera with optical zoom and see if I can get a photo, that might help assess the situation better.

The more I'm learning, the less good that idea of capturing them to bring them in seems -- except as a last resort for a very very ill goose.
 
I feel the idea of gathering babies then trying to round up mom and dad is a little extreme. Especially for just a limp. If it was a rat or dog or cat my advice would be keep a close eye and see how it does over the next day or so. Obviously not easy with a wild animal. But I'm betting that community of then frequent that same area daily and would not be hard to observe. We have four mates pairs who raise their chicks in our neighborhood ever year, they don't go far with little ones and aren't hard to track down. It's really wonderful of you to want to help or monitor this goose. Hopefully it is not a serious injury.
 
Geese can be very mean as well. I think they like to peck your eyes out when they are with their wee ones. I have a friend that does wildlife rescue. i would probably try to search out a personal rescue for wildlife and see what they say?
 
Thanks for your feedback :)

I've been reading more about this, and learning that it's not uncommon for Geese to limp and that they often recover (on their own) from limping. I hope that will be the case with this mama goose.

I plan to go back after work today to observe them again.. and hopefully get some photos with a zoom lens. Last night when I went back, they were all in exactly the same place I'd seen them last.
 
In this case, I don't think I'd try to capture mom and babies. I don't know what would be more detrimental, leaving her with a limp that might very well heal or ripping her away from her family.
It's too bad they can't send a volunteer with the rescue, someone very experienced with geese to just check up and see if it's indeed necessary to treat by removing her.
 
jorats said:
In this case, I don't think I'd try to capture mom and babies. I don't know what would be more detrimental, leaving her with a limp that might very well heal or ripping her away from her family.
It's too bad they can't send a volunteer with the rescue, someone very experienced with geese to just check up and see if it's indeed necessary to treat by removing her.
Click to expand...

I'm assuming no such thing exists.. but.. I liked your idea. (Thank you!)

So I just sent an email out to a friend of mine in town who's somewhat of an expert in wildlife matters, to inquire if such a thing/person exists.

I'd be pleased if I can get a good photo tonight and had someone I could show the photo to who could advise. Possibly even bringing the photo back to the wildlife group I called originally.

Here's hoping for the best.
 
I'd have to agree if she's made it this far I'm sure she's going to be fine. And intervention could just cause undo stress. I believe sometimes our best intentions actually interrupt the natural balance and that they would be better off 90% of the time if we just left them to let instinct take over.
We have a duck in our park we call Old Lefty he is missing his left foot entirely. He just showed up like that. He seems to have healed on his own and gets around just fine. He seems to hold some respect with the other ducks as he's pure white and the rest are mallards and he always gets to food first!
 
Yes, it seems most wildlife centers depend on the community bringing them in unfortunately.
I agree with what's been said though. That sounds more stressful than for what it's worth. She's made it this far and even if the limp is permanent , it'll probably become just a simple annoyance at worst.
I know dogs and geese are apples and oranges, but my dog had an injury to his leg when we found him and was limping. Turns out nothing could be done and he was experiencing no pain. Had the limp all his life and was very happy and still able to hop our 7 foot fence. Oh Charlie :laugh2:
By the way, I think it's awesome you all care for wildlife so much!! I'll be volunteering at an intake center soon and hope to become a wildlife vet :D
 
I got some excellent photos last night and brought them in to the wild life place to discuss. The person there today was much more grounded than the one I'd spoken to on the phone a few days ago. What she told me was surprising in some ways. If I were to capture the goose, and bring him/her in, two scenarios: 1- if it's a new injury that could be treated, they'd treat and release. 2- if it's an old injury, there likely isn't anything they can do, and in that case, they are not allowed to release the bird again.

OMG!

At this point, having watched and gotten a few good close up photos, I'm certain it's not a fresh injury. So bringing this bird in would DEFINITELY cause more harm than good. Especially as she seems to be getting along ok in spite of the limp, and is part of a family with a spouse and four babies.

And interestingly enough, I noticed that one of the babies also is limping.. so it's possible they were both injured in an incident.. or that this is a genetic thing..

So there it is.. in this case the best thing I can do is leave them be. I'll probably go back to look for them pretty often to see how they're getting along.. but only at a distance and no intervention.

Thank God I didn't follow the advice of the keener I spoke with on the phone the first time. I'd have done great damage to this lovely family of geese.
 
Sounds like leaving him/her alone is the right thing for now. That goose is lucky to have you looking after him/her! Definitely not worth separating the entire family for something that is likely not a bother. And honestly, even if there is some pain associated with it, the goose probably would rather just have a sore leg and a family than to suddenly be in captivity. Really glad now that your instincts told you to question the first wild life person you spoke to.
 
I stopped by at the park today to check in on my little goose family.. I found them.. Mama was still limping, but it seemed somewhat better today. In any event it's not holding her back from getting around.

So sad, though, there were only three babies today. I can only assume that the fourth has died. I wish I knew what happened.. one thing I can say for sure.. people clearly ARE their enemy. Over this past week, each time I've been there to check on them, I've seen children chase after them, try to scare them, throw things at them.. and the grown ups are either not there or they do nothing.

I was able to redirect a few kids about their behaviour, but after what I've seen, I can only imagine what must go on day and night for those poor creatures.
 
Aww, too bad. I just think of it as nature, someone else has gotta live and probly feed their babies.
And unbelievable!! Of course kids don't know any better, but one of my biggest pet peeves is parents letting their kids scream and be inappropriate like that. Poor things :(
 
So distressing.. my husband has suggested I write an op-ed piece on this.. and I'm going to! (though I'm not a writer)..

I've been going to the park most days to check on my little geese family. They're still doing well. But the humans... I'm SO disgusted by what I've been seeing.

Children throwing things at the geese, children trying to scare them, today parents sat by and let their little girl almost trample the baby geese. I ran in to stop the kid.. it's so awful.. and then, right in front of the sign that says "Do NOT feed the birds", the parents gave their kids a bag of popcorn to scatter and feed the birds! So.. aside from this not being the best thing for them to eat, it causes a huge mob scene of many different bird species, and again, the baby geese almost got trampled... but worse yet, the baby geese learn in some sense that people are "good" because they bring food.. and this is not good for wild life.. because people are NOT good. People are their enemy.

Then a man came up to me to tell me how terrible it is that all these geese poo all over the place. And how there's too many of them, and we need to get rid of some of them! (He thinks a few are nice, but not more than that!) OMG I was so beside myself.. it was all I could do to speak firmly and NOT get rude.

I am so sad that humans have so little respect or regard for wild life. They come to the parks to see the ducks and geese and gulls, but still only regard them as something for their amusement, with not a thought about their lives and who they are. We humans are like a bull in a china shop when it comes to wild life in our city parks.
 
People seem to forget that the world is not exclusively for our use. We share this planet and need to respect other animals. How disgusting parents would let their children terrorize these creatures. They'd of got a mouthful from me, for sure.
 
I recall being at a park in a nearby city and hollering at a kid to stop chasing the ducks. The 'kid' was at least 16 and she should have known better.
The funniest incident was when we went to a local 'zoo' (not fancy like a big place) and there were two older boys (once again, maybe 17?) aggravating the tigers. It was me, my friend, and a couple of her little girls. I hollered "LITTLE BOY! LITTLE BOY!" (in a stern, momma's voice) and when he turned around to look at me I said "LEAVE THEM ALONE!" in the same stern voice. Well the two boys moved on, but one of my friend's daughters was quite confused as to why I was hollering "little boy" when they were obviously older. I'm pretty sure the guys got the hint though! Hahaha!
 
I was out of town for 9 days, just got back this evening, and ran over to the park to check on my favorite goose family. I hardly recognize them. It seems mama's foot is okay now, but there are only two babies. I looked around, but there is no other goose family I know of at that location.. So mama's foot is better, but another of their babies has died. I'm going back tomorrow again to check.. I wish there was something more I could do for them..
 
We humans are very sheltered. We fight against Mother Nature every day, and win a lot of battles that would otherwise be lost. Much of the rest of the world does not have that ability. We have forgotten what it's like outside our bubble...
 
My rescue friend here just had a call on a flock of canadian geese that some 8 to 10 year old kids were killing with rocks. They killed ones mate and 2 babies. I am just angry over the whole thing because of the kids age the police did nothing about it. They also had a call on a racoon who was burned all over his poor head, They named him Freedom before they had him put to sleep. It is horrible how wildlife are treated and it is even worse when nothing is done.
 
Humans being cruel is a totally different thing - it is done with forethought and the knowledge that what we are doing will hurt the animal and cause them suffering.
I think there is something wrong with people who can't feel any empathy. Perhaps we ought to put those people in the reverse position so they can actually feel what they are doing. Hmmm, they stone people in Saudi Arabia don't they?
 

Latest posts

Back
Top