A few days ago, Marilyn, one of our rehabbers (who is also licensed to treat non-raptors, is a retired art teacher, and a generally neat person), got a call about a "big bird" in a bad part of town. The person reporting it also said that some neighborhood boys were throwing things at it.
When Marilyn arrived, she knew what it was.
(I love bird feet....they have never lost their reptilian roots)
Anyone want to guess the owner of this foot?
Here's Lorelei's hand next to the foot.
Give?
Okay....it was a sandhill crane.
It was a juvenile, suffering from a broken leg. A badly broken leg, with the lower leg just below the knee dangling by a thread.
Marilyn has been doing rehab basically forever, and knew this break would never heal properly. She took it immediately to one of our vets for euthanasia.
When I heard that we had a sandhill crane in the freezer, I had to have a look.
Poor sweet bird....the neck was gently folded towards the back so it could fit into our freezer.
(This bird has gone to the Cincinnati Museum Center to be added to their collection)
It was so heavy....we are used to 3 pound hawks and a big 4 1/2 pound turkey vulture. This guy felt like it weighed about 10 pounds.
I couldn't stop exclaiming how beautiful it was. And how sad it was....and how enraged I was that pissy little boys were trying to hurt it as it trembled alone in the world, left behind by its flock.
Migration is so very rough on birds...Look at the ragged edges of the feathers:
The more I think about it, the angrier I get.
I have two girls. I'm a girl. So I really don't get the mentality of human males.
WHY do boys do things like that? Is it nature? Is it nurture? What makes a little boy fry ants with a magnifying glass, or stomp bugs, or throw rocks at a sandhill crane?
I've had countless conversations with moms of boys, and they all say the same thing (and I don't buy it)...."Boys will be boys" and "It's a boy thing".
Please.
Someone explain this to me.
