Inside the Wildlife Clinic: Unusual patients

NAPLES — Unusual patients were among the 54 animals admitted to the Conservancy of Southwest Florida Wildlife Rehabilitation Clinic during the past week.

They included a black-neck stilt and a Caspian tern. Multiple admissions included two osprey, five mourning doves, two anhinga and several opossums. Individual admissions included an American crow, an eastern cottontail and a white-tailed deer.

One of the prettiest patients admitted was a purple gallinule, a brightly colored marsh bird about the size of a chicken.

It has blue and green feathers, long yellow legs, very long toes and a red bill with a yellow tip. Its extremely long toes help it walk on lily pads without sinking.

No reptiles were admitted this week.

Visitor to the rescue --- or not?

The black-necked stilt, a striking black-and-white bird with very long, thin red legs, is only the second stilt ever admitted to the Clinic. When nesting, they require bare open ground with little vegetation.

A well-meaning visitor to the area found a healthy, young bird in the road and believed it was in distress, so he “rescued” it.

He found the baby adjacent to a large field, the exact habitat used by nesting stilts, an indication the baby had just taken a wrong step.

The kind man encountered two large birds (most likely the parents) flying closely as he “rescued” the baby.

Call ahead --- save time and lives.

We are very grateful that this man devoted his time caring about this baby. Had we had a chance to assess the situation over the phone with him, he would have learned transporting the healthy baby to the Clinic was unnecessary.

Since the parents were flying nearby, the baby could have been reunited with them. Also, this baby would have been a prime candidate for re-nesting but because the rescuer was a visitor to the area, he was not able to pinpoint the spot where he originally found the bird.

This stilt is very small, weighing about .5 ounces with a head the size of a cotton ball.

Since he was an unwilling eater the first day at the Clinic, we had to hold him still, keep its mouth open and use tweezers to put tiny pieces of food in its mouth every half hour. Needless to say, this is very stressful for the baby. Thankfully the stilt learned to feed itself on the second day at the Clinic.

Healthy baby birds belong with their parents. Call us ahead of time to discuss the situation.

Another rare visitor

The Caspian tern, a beautiful wading bird, was only the third one we have treated at the Clinic.

Caspian terns look similar to the royal tern commonly seen on our beaches, except the Caspian is quite a bit larger and has slightly different coloring.

The bird was found on the beach near the Naples Pier and brought to the Clinic by beach patrol.

Sadly, the bird was extremely weak and emaciated, over 10 ounces underweight, and did not survive the afternoon.

Friends at Ave Maria

We received a call about an opossum found injured near the university.

This caller was unable to transport the animal to the Clinic and unable to contain the animal in a box. Since time was of the essence, I spoke with a security officer at Ave Maria, who willingly went to check on the animal and contained it in a box until we could arrange for transportation to the Clinic.

It is extremely rare that we find someone so willing to help, especially from such a long distance from the Clinic.

Sadly, the young mother opossum had sustained severe head trauma and the only humane option was to euthanize her.

Her babies weighed less then 2 grams, which made it impossible to save them.

While this is a sad ending, the Clinic staff is so thankful that the security officer cared enough to help the opossums so they weren’t left to suffer a slow and painful death.

Exciting releases

After four days of supportive care, we released a Florida red-bellied turtle that had been hit by a car and then propelled across the road.

Outside of scrapes on various areas of her shell, the turtle looked good upon admission. Often a turtle may not have any external damage when hit by cars but they usually sustain some type of internal damage, making it impossible for them to swim and submerge themselves.

The turtle was placed in a large pool in an outdoor recovery enclosure to ensure that she could swim properly and submerge. She could do both.

This was an extremely fortunate turtle. A second Florida red-bellied was admitted this week after being hit by a car. The force of the collision launched it across the road onto the shoulder.

Similar situations, such different outcomes: That turtle was admitted with no apparent external injuries as well but died two days later from internal injuries.

The best release of all this week was a tricolored heron that had been admitted with neurological injuries.

The bird, found in a yard in Pine Ridge Estates, was unable to stand, but it still had pain response.

Spinal injuries can be hard to detect on an X-ray and the heron’s X-ray was inconclusive. After 48 hours, there was no improvement and it was feared the bird would need to be euthanized. Although it appeared paralyzed, it still was alert and tried to stab at us whenever it was handled.

To the excitement of the Clinic staff, it was noticed that on the third day of care the bird moved one leg.

The next morning the heron was sitting on its hocks, not standing fully but an amazing improvement. Five days after admission the heron was walking around its cage.

Clinic staff was thrilled. It is rare to have a tricolored admitted and rare to have an animal recover from such severe neurological damage.

Because the staff has been so busy caring for the animals at the Clinic, we relied on the help of a volunteer to do the release.

The heron’s release was successful. The bird flew strong and landed in a mangrove. It is a euphoric feeling knowing the bird survived and is back in the wild.

If you see a sick, injured or orphaned animal, please call us at 239-262-CARE to assess the situation and determine the best course of action.

Other wildlife handling tips are available on our Web site: conservancy.org.