Today was an interesting one in the animal department. went to work at 5am, got on a train full of soybeans and did a lot of waiting. brought it up the road to the storage track we use and walked towards getting the derailing device off the side track when i heard some rustling near my feet. normally this would be a small mouse skittering away but the early am hours told me to hit panic mode as snakes like to hang out on the ballast. to my relief it was but a simple box turtle trying its darndest to climb the rail and cross the tracks. this maneuver typically results in the death of said turtle. (took out a MONSTER snapping turtle a month ago). so i helped the little guy out and stuck him in a patch of trees on the other side of the track. felt kinda good inside. finished my work without much fanfare.
got home a few hours later and the wife wanted me to retrieve a few boxes out of her car. simple enough, then i saw some movement out the corner of my eye. there was a baby bird of some sort hopping around on the asphalt parking lot. (at this point the record temp of 106 was toasting ATL). i folded a box and kinda scooped it up inside. crap, now ive got a bird that cant feed itself. so i played mommy bird all afternoon, digging up worms and kinda piecemealing them to it. got the wife calling around to local animal rehab places and got one to call us back. stick it outside near where you found it and watch. after about an hour the little thing figured out where home was and proceeded to hop over to it but couldnt hop the foot tall retaining wall. momma bird took over picking up bugs and feeding the baby whilst i picked the little one up yet again to get it home.
hopefully the feral cats wont get any ideas or this momma bird is gonna have to bust some heads...
on a side note got 150rds of 38 loaded for the wife. all round good day despite the record heat.
A while back something like that with turtle happened to me. I was headed to my folks house via the country back roads and came across a small box turtle crossing the road. I stopped in the road and picked him up and moved him in the direction he was goin. People out here just run em over.
Then came back from taking the dogs to the Elk River yesterday and went out to water the garden. There is a mocking bird nest in the walnut tree by the garden and I saw the water from the sprinkler was hitting the nest. So as I am heading toward the front of the house to turn the water down a baby falls out of the tree. Aaww dam, so I turn the water off get the ladder, move the baby so it won't be stepped on by the ladder. I got some baby powder and put it on my hands. Picked up the baby and put it back in the nest. Momma mocking bird was in the nest. She flew out and was givin me a good arse chewin. I was watching to see if she went back to the nest and she did. I just hope that she stayed thru the night with them. If I see her at the nest this morning I will know everything is alright.
What was funny was, when I went to pick up the baby, head straight up and mouth wide open. I quickly told the baby NOT THE MOMMA. LOL
Yeah, I'm getting to be a softie for critters in my old age too. Makes ya feel good to help one out. I'm even thinking of building a rabbit house out of plywood for the bunnies that live in our yard. The kitchen window/sink area kind of "overhangs" the foundation by a couple of feet, and I could fit a nice wooden box under there pretty easily. I'd make some "rooms" in it to provide walls and baffling for protection from the cold and predators. I could probably make two nice "apartments" in it to hold several bunnies.
The piping for our kitchen sink runs through this "overhang" thing, and it's frozen up a few times in really cold weather, I've had to get in the crawlspace and pack fiberglass insulation all around the pipes, which helps. But adding a "bunny condo" under the overhang would help to block off the cold air too.
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Ever feel like the world's a tuxedo, and you're a pair of brown shoes? - George Gobel
Today was an interesting one in the animal department. went to work at 5am, got on a train full of soybeans and did a lot of waiting. brought it up the road to the storage track we use and walked towards getting the derailing device off the side track when i heard some rustling near my feet. normally this would be a small mouse skittering away but the early am hours told me to hit panic mode as snakes like to hang out on the ballast. to my relief it was but a simple box turtle trying its darndest to climb the rail and cross the tracks. this maneuver typically results in the death of said turtle. (took out a MONSTER snapping turtle a month ago). so i helped the little guy out and stuck him in a patch of trees on the other side of the track. felt kinda good inside. finished my work without much fanfare.
got home a few hours later and the wife wanted me to retrieve a few boxes out of her car. simple enough, then i saw some movement out the corner of my eye. there was a baby bird of some sort hopping around on the asphalt parking lot. (at this point the record temp of 106 was toasting ATL). i folded a box and kinda scooped it up inside. crap, now ive got a bird that cant feed itself. so i played mommy bird all afternoon, digging up worms and kinda piecemealing them to it. got the wife calling around to local animal rehab places and got one to call us back. stick it outside near where you found it and watch. after about an hour the little thing figured out where home was and proceeded to hop over to it but couldnt hop the foot tall retaining wall. momma bird took over picking up bugs and feeding the baby whilst i picked the little one up yet again to get it home.
hopefully the feral cats wont get any ideas or this momma bird is gonna have to bust some heads...
on a side note got 150rds of 38 loaded for the wife. all round good day despite the record heat.
Sounds like a good day!
.38 VS feral cats = SAFE baby bird!
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"If we ever forget we are one nation under God, then we will be a nation gone under." Ronald Reagan
A Man WITH a gun is a CITIZEN, a Man WITHOUT a gun is a SUBJECT
Twitch, nice work. Sometimes it seems like animals appreciate being helped more than people do.
The other day when I went in to work I seen this dog wondering around in front of the firehouse. The guys who were going home were just watching it. The house is at an extremely busy intersection, luckily it was Saturday. I keep a leash in my car so I grabbed it an chased him around for awhile with one of the guys from my shift. We eventually got him and sent him home. Turned out to be a really good dog and we had him doing tricks while we waited for the owner. The guys who just stood there watching got quite an earfull from a couple of my guys for doing nothing.
In case your wondering why I keep a leash in my car it's because I have a knack for finding dogs. So I have a leash in both my cars and after catching this dog I will be keeping some biscuits with the leash. Now it's a running joke that I'm the dog catcher.
About 16 years ago a young box turtle was crossing the road in AR, and didn't quite make it. She wasn't dead, but badly injured. A little girl was traveling with her uncle from Minnesota. He was a veterinarian so she asked him to save the turtle. He brought it back home and nursed it back to health. A few years later, a little girl came in with her cat, saw the turtle and asked if she could have it. He was glad to get rid of it and all the things she would need to take care of it. After five years she got tired of taking care of it and put an ad in the local paper. "Free Box Turtle" I saw it and went to take a look. Got to talking to the Dad about how to take care of the turtle, and asked him what he did. He said he started a small reloading component company, thirty years ago. Ballistic Products
He gave me all the things I needed to take care of the turtle. And the little girl is still doing fine after five years.
A few years ago I was driving on a 65 MPH divided 4-lane road and saw a box turtle trying to cross to get to a small lake. I turned around and picked it up, took it across and put through the fence on the other side.
There were a few superficial scuff marks on one edge of its shell. Looked like he almost bought it once.
It feels good to help a critter now and then.
About a month later, my daughter bought one from a pet shop to keep another one company she's had for about 15 years. If only I had known.
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The possession of arms is the distinction of a free man from a slave.
-Andrew Fletcher
Nice job, I to hate to see dogs running around with that look in there eye , WARES MY HOME. I will do my best to help them too.
Quote:
Originally Posted by magicjeep
Twitch, nice work. Sometimes it seems like animals appreciate being helped more than people do.
The other day when I went in to work I seen this dog wondering around in front of the firehouse. The guys who were going home were just watching it. The house is at an extremely busy intersection, luckily it was Saturday. I keep a leash in my car so I grabbed it an chased him around for awhile with one of the guys from my shift. We eventually got him and sent him home. Turned out to be a really good dog and we had him doing tricks while we waited for the owner. The guys who just stood there watching got quite an earfull from a couple of my guys for doing nothing.
In case your wondering why I keep a leash in my car it's because I have a knack for finding dogs. So I have a leash in both my cars and after catching this dog I will be keeping some biscuits with the leash. Now it's a running joke that I'm the dog catcher.
All you grown men/women are a bunch of wusses!!... Can I join the club??... I have several "pet" chipmunks that I feed whole kernel corn to. They know it's me and when it's time to be fed. Whenever I'm in the garage/shop, and play my music, they come around and start squeaking. They also come to the front door and sit on the porch, hollering for food. They're a joy, to be sure...BUT... I haven't seen my buddies in about 2 weeks, and I'm concerned as there's been a stray cat lurking about.. This morning I noticed their food hasn't been touched, and when I opened the garage/shop door, there was my buddies cat, sitting at my door..
I am glad to see that lots of guys try to save turtles and other creatures. I do the same. Somehow, bumble bees get into our basement. Not many -- about one or two a week.
I catch them in a towel and release them out the back door. Generally speaking, bees are beneficial animals.
As for the guy talking about building a squirrel nest box -- we have a family of cottontails living under our canoe. It is on the property line, well away from our house, and behind a little jungle of vegetation. I don't care. The wife has a good fence around her garden, so the rabbits will not harm our little world.
I try to be kind to God's small critters but Krieg sometimes has other ideas. When I took her out to her kennel last night a rabbit had baby's inside in the long grass. The Mother wasn't there and it wouldn't have done much good if she was. I could hear the screams and crunch, and could see Krieg was having a snack. I have learned not to mess with Krieg while she is dispatching a critter. I have gotten bit doing things like that. But I do love my Dingo.
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Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch.
I guess as I get older I don't have the urge to go out and shoot Tree Rats anymore. I find myself at the local park on weekends feeding them peanuts. They come right up and almost take them out of my hand. They did have an Albino squirrel in the park but I haven't seen him in awhile. I enjoy feeding the birds all winter long also. I like getting up early on the weekends and watch them on the feeders.
__________________ USAF SSgt 80-86 IN GOD WE TRUST NRA MEMBER
It's always amazed me that, as much as I love to hunt, I get really mushy around small, helpless critters. Doesn't bother me at all to bust a pig, deer, rabbit, dove, quail, turkey, etc., but let me run across a baby of almost any species and I turn into an idiot redneck with an eyedropper full of milk in my hand.
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