Quote:
Originally Posted by
dacjohns
C&Rman :
Hmm, a cormorant, I have no clue how to say that haha. He sure is friendly for being wild. Where the heck would he have came from? I dont have any ponds near me, the closest one is maybe 10 miles away then there is a second one that is probally 15 miles away. He can't fly sop I doubt he migrated here from one of those ponds, I named him Bill cause of his beak 
What should I do with him? I kinda want to keep him.
peewee- I do want to keep him there is a ton of water snakes in my backyard I have killed at least 100 in the last month we have a small ditch running behind our fence so a bunch of snake come through here. I will have to catch fish for him this weekend could I feed him Sardienes? I have no clue how to spell that
Be very careful what you say on here.
I don't think you have watersnakes, you probably are talking about garter snakes, a relatively harmless and beneficial snake. I don't think there are any watersnakes in Utah. You are also breaking the law by killing snakes. See the link about venomous snakes. I would ask you to not indiscriminately kill snakes or other wildlife.
On the subject of the cormorant, although you may be well intentioned you are also breaking the law by keeping it. You should try to find a licensed wildlife rehabber. You say it can't fly. It didn't walk to your house. Are there any obivious signs of injury? It might just be taking a break or it might be ill. There is definitely something wrong if it isn't trying to escape.
So once again, it is good to be concerned and to try to help but think about the consequences to yourself also.
http://extension.usu.edu/files/publications/publication/nr_wd_008.pdf
well said
and yes it is protected UNDER FEDERAL LAW and they dont play with waterfowl. They will burn your rear over it. Whether you WANT to keep it or not, you need to let it out. Now that all this is on a public forum, there are folks with nothing better to do than turn you in for it. Under NO circumstances are you allowed to personally take ANY wildlife and cage it. Only licensed rehab centers can do this.
These and Anhingas spend their life diving for fish. To be less buoyant and help them stay under longer, their feathers arent as protected as other waterfowl with oils. This in turn gets them water logged and the have to dry off before they can fly well again. The pics on the previous page with their wings spread, well that's what they are doing. I am sure this bird can fly very well.
But you must let it out of any type of pen, what it does from there, well is just nature. If it stay it stays, it wont of course, but you will be out of danger from heavy fines from keeping it penned . To own birds of the migratory waterfowl class, you have to have the proper Federal Permits and buy them from fellow licensed breeders.
Dont mean to be the jerk or any thing, just stating the law to keep you out of trouble.
