Found 4 geese and 2 ducks dumped at the forest preserve, what to do??

[allcreaturesgreatandsmall]

Yes, I would love to take them, but currently I just live in a townhouse. There's barely room for me, the dog and finch (both pets have been in their new "forever" home with me for some time now.) Am just hoping for the best for these birds, as we all do. I will do my best to help get them to their new home, too.

 

[Miss Lydia]

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[Miss Lydia]

Any news on the rescue?

 

[allcreaturesgreatandsmall]

Sorry to repeat some of this info but, one of my co-workers, who knows someone at the local wildlife rescue center, was told that the birds would be "rescued" by forest preserve workers last Sunday, 11/20 after an unsuccessful attempt the previous Wednesday, 11/16. I don't really know if an attempt was made or not either time as no one could give me even an approx time as to when this would happen, but THE BIRDS ARE STILL THERE.

I left a voicemail message with the forest preserve employee who is supposedly coordinating this and also with one of the supposed volunteers involved. I did state that I and others were will to help if they would call us with details. NO ONE HAS RETURNED ANY OF MY CALLS, and the birds are still there.

I do not want to jeopardize any of these supposed rescue efforts, but I also would not want to see these birds perish out there this winter. I am willing to wait a bit longer for a reply from the forest preserve employee, but I am really beginning to wonder if any of the info we have been given is true or not.

I really wonder how the original person who posted all this back in September got thru to the forest preserve people. She has not done any postings on this since Sept 20, and SHE ALSO HAS NOT REPLIED TO the PM I SENT HER.

I am at a loss as to what to do and would welcome any advice.

 

[Miss Lydia]

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Is this a place where alot of people go or is it pretty private area? I'm wondering if your not getting the run around. You know your the one there and probably the best to make the judgement on rather to wait a bit longer or go ahead and try to rescue these birds, Do you know of a place where they are welcome. Make sure you have a good plan before attempting anything. If the area where the birds have been dumped isn't very used, then I'd say go for it because you probably won't stir up much attention. But again make sure you and who ever is helping you have a solid plan of action. Since you have befriended the birds they probably trust you more then if strangers tried to rescue them. That might be a help to you getting them. I rescued a couple of ducks from our river that someone had dumped [domiscated] and it didn't take me long to make friends with them because they were so hungry. After about a week of feeding them I set up a dog expen down at the river with the open end facing the water, put feed[ lots of scratch] inside the pen closeest to the back so they had to walk all the way in then I sat down close to the side of the pen as they went in to eat I just eased up and slowly closed the pen up. It was actually pretty easy. But you have many more than 2 so you may have to do it in stages, unless you could corral them into something big enough that they all went into at once. I would love to be able to help with this rescue, so many people think I'll take them to the water they'll be okay. Not so, the ducks I rescued were under weight and hungry, they couldn't have made it through a winter. I thank you for caring enough to want to do something for these birds, I wish you the best and thanks for the update. Please keep us informed as to what is going on. I doubt i have helped you much but I just wanted you to know I am behind you on this.

 

[allcreaturesgreatandsmall]

Thanks for taking the time to write with your ideas.

Whenever I go out to feed the birds, there are usually 2 or 3 people walking their dogs on the trails, or jogging. Sometimes there is an individual fishing. I'm sure I would attract attention, but I doubt anyone would object once they knew it was a rescue. I guess I will try the general "contact me" email for the forest preserve - maybe someone will route me to the people who have supposedly been working on this.

The geese will come within a couple of feet of me once they see me toss out some grain, but the ducks stay in the water until I start walking off to leave. I think the geese would walk into an enclosure for food if they were hungry enough. the ducks, might have to wait awhile until the weather gets worse and they are desparate. I am a bit afraid of separating the five birds - perhaps as a group they are slightly more protected against predators, but each day is a gamble for these guys.

I do have an old dog excercise pen, two dog crates, and actually a small outdoor kennel with a gate, which when broken down into panels is fairly portable. It can be assembled pretty quickly with just some plastic cable ties. I think some combination of these could work with a few people (and another vehicle) to help.

I do not have a network, other than this forum, for finding these birds a home - short of knocking on doors of farmers. Is there a better way to post my concerns on this site? If so, please give me specifics. I just linked into this thru a general google search.

By the way, the wildlife center will not take domestics, unless they are injured and are brought to them. They had no other ideas for me. I did call some local nature centers who declined the birds, due to their concern for the health of their existing animals.

The only place I could find to take them, so far, is a farm west of here - it is really a business. People can go there for activities. They also have a traveling petting zoo. I guess I really need to go there to see if this might be a suitable home - tho what's the alternative once winter really sets in?

Thanks for any and all ideas/assistance on this.

 

[Miss Lydia]

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I think while your working on finding them a place to live you should continue tryi ng to contact the forest preserve. but it sounds like you have the equiptment to go through with the rescue, as far as taking the geese first then coming back for the ducks you may not have a choice if you can't get the ducks out of the water. I'd try to get who you can and then go from there. I didn't tell you that when we rescued these ducks there was a third one and it just wouldn't come eat with the others always hug back till i would walk up to my car, when we got these 2 home we went back left the xpen down at the river and every day i would go down and put feed in but he would not come out of the water till i was back up at my car, so one evening my dh and son went down to catch this duck, the river was low do to drought but there are alot of boulders in the river [mt. rivers are full of them, we only managed to get bruises and cuts from falling on slippery rocks and never did get that duck, I kept going down to feed him but one morning when i went down he was laying in the river washed up close to a rock, he had either been killed or died of natural causes. It was so heart breaking for me since I knew something would happen to him eventually. I truely hope you can get all these birds and i'm sure you'll try your best, but even if you don't manage to rescue them all at least you'll have helped the ones you do. Please keep us updated on whats going on, sounds like the farm with the petting zoo would be better than starvation. All the best.

 

[allcreaturesgreatandsmall]

Thanks for all the advice and encouragement. Your rescue story was both heartbreaking and inspirational. Each night, I too worry what I will find the next day when I go to feed the birds. We do what we can, I guess, just wish people would think more about the commitment needed before they bring animals into their lives. Anyway...

You are clearly a caring and devoted person - wish you were closer, but just reading your account helps give me resolve to see this thru. Thank you again and I'll post more as events happen.

 

[Miss Lydia]

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Thanks looking forward to hearing all about it and wishing you all the best as you all do your best.

 

[Miss Lydia]

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Thanks looking forward to hearing all about it and wishing you all the best as you all do your best.