Would you save it?

Today my family and I went to a field to have out pictures done. We came across a large mouse thing -- I'm not sure what it was...It looked like a giant agouti mouse with a cute brown tail and pretty golden highlights around it's legs. It had a hole in it's side and it gasped for air every couple seconds and it's belly was sunken. I felt so bad for the poor thing

I really wanted to take it home and treat it, but my mom wouldn't let me. Where I believe that all suffering creatures should be helped, she believes that it's nature, and it should be left to die.

If you found a suffering wild creature, would you leave it and let nature take it's course, or would you save it and treat it until it was better?

Depends on the situation and it depends on what animal it is. If I had a safe way to transport it (like a carrier) and a place to take it (Wildlife Rescue) then I wouldn't hesitate. But some wild creatures carry disease and I would very very cautious. I would not want to treat it myself because I've no experience in that area.

I'll have to agree with Slick. Once my friends and I were walking to school and there was a bird who couldn't fly. Its wing was broken, I think. It was sticking out and even if people walked near him, he wouldn't fly away. I wanted to help so bad but I didn't know how to. I was going to school, I couldn't just pick it up and go. Also, some birds may carry diseases and lastly, I wouldn't have known what to do. *shrugs* If I did see an injured dog or cat or something and I was at home, I would probably do my best but something like a crow or a seagull...I just don't know what they could carry with them. :(

Yes, I would try to save it. If it were an animal that we don't have to fear (mice, birds, etc.) I would simply get gloves and put it in a shoebox and transport it to a wildlife refuge.

I have done this before with birds, chipmunks and squirrels. The people there are extremely friendly and will help any animal no matter how ordinary it may be.

If it were something more intimidating or large, I would call the wildlife refuge and let them know the details of the injury and location of the animal.

I would help it.

I already have helped out wild animals. I helped out an injured Mallard duck and a fawn. The duck had a broken wing and couldn't fly. So my dad picked it up, and I held it on my lap- on a towel. We took it to the Wisconsin Humane Society in Milwaukee. They have a wildlife rehabilation service, and they fixed the wing and released the duck. I don't want to talk about the fawn, because it is too sad. Let's just say we ended its pain after a person hit it and didn't stop. It's a LONG story anyways.

I have rescued countless painted and snapping turtles from the road. I think that counts too as far as helping them out!! :)

I would have taken it to a vet or wildlife refuge. I've done that before with an injured bird.. I just couldn't let it suffer :( I wouldn't treat it in my own home though.

It depends here too. I'd more likely save animals that I know once helped they could go back to the wild and arn't young enough to think I'm momma.

I wouldn't treat it myself either, I would let professionals do it.

Yes, I would try to save a wild animal if it was sick or injured. Of course, my safety would come first. If it was a freakin lion or bear, I'm running. hehe.

My husband just told me a story yesterday. He said that when he was a kid, he found a hawk. It was a beautiful hawk, but it was obviously not well because it let Mike pick it up. He said he was carrying it home to take care of it and these teenagers bullied him and took the hawk. He said they tormented it, tied rocks to its feet, and threw it in the river. Mike said he ran home crying, and to this day, it bothers him. He says he'll never forget how beautiful the hawk was. My husband isn't a real sensitive guy, so I was surprised he'd share that with me. We were both in tears by the end of his story.

it really depends for me, if I seen a wild animal injured and in pain I would either put it out of its misery or try to help it. If I seen animals killing another animal I wouldent interfere because that is the way it was ment to be.

I wouldn't take it to a vet. I'd call a vet, but I would never take it to them unless it was really really necessary. I've done that with injured birds I've found, taken them all to different vets and every time they just kill it. :( :o

I don't think my city has an animal refuge/rehab. I'm going to look it up incase one day I run into something I can't handle :)

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it really depends for me, if I seen a wild animal injured and in pain I would either put it out of its misery or try to help it. If I seen animals killing another animal I wouldent interfere because that is the way it was ment to be.

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I agree.

it depends when I was younger I was walking with my brother and our friend, and we came across a red winged halk with a broken wing on the sidewalk, my brother and our friend stayed behind a watched the halk while I ran home to get my mom, she found a box, and towl and called the wildlife center, she came used the towl to get the halk in the box and then draped the towel over the box to help keep the halk calm, we kept him at our house until the wildlife people came to pick him up :) but them the halk was injured bad and was laying on the ground but alive, I think I woul dlet nature take its coarse for an animal with teeth however, they can and do bite when afraid, they could get me really really sick if i tried anything. it really depends on the problem and the animal.

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Originally posted by cali
came across a red winged halk.

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:confused: There is no such thing as a Red Winged Halk. Do you mean a Red Tailed Hawk? :confused:

oop yes I meant red tailed halk *blush* dont know where I got winged from but yes tail is was what I meant to say :p

I would try my best to save it. When I was a kid we found a hummingbird, and my dad, mom, brother and me all nursed it back to health. When it started flying around our house it was time to let it go. Letting it go was the best feeling I have ever had and yet it was still so hard to say good bye. I honestly do not remember what was wrong with it but I remember having to feed it with a long eye dropper thing. After we let it go, it would still come around to the hummingbird feeders that we had outside.

Another time, there was some kind of bird I don't know what kind it was, but it looked mean. At the time we had 21 cats all indoor out door cats. Well anyways, the cats jumped up to get the bird and the bird slamed right into the house, broke its neck (we think) it couldn't move anything but its beak. The cats went over to see what it was and the bird bit every single one of them that touched it. My mom made my brother take care of it and put it out of its misery. There was no help for the bird what so ever and that was the best thing to do. We didn't want to take it to a vet because at that time, my moms car was broke down, and the closest vet to us was over an hour away and her car wouldn't have made it that far.

We have an awesome wildlife care center run by volunteers at someone's house in the country. We've taken injured animals there before, where they are cared for and released back into the wild. We have birds hit our picture window quite a bit, and they get injured. We've only taken a couple to the center, just because the others died instantly:( The dove we took recently had a broken wing and some other stuff because it was bleeding pretty badly. They took it in and cared for it:)

yes I think I would do something, I could not bear to leave it suffering, sure it may well die, but how long would that take, maybe days of terrible suffering.

I can remember as a very young child on the farm , our cats would catch mice, which of course is natural and what they were supposed to do, but I could not bear to see the baby ones being caught and played with, and I used to take it off the cat, and keep it in my hut and try to nurse it back to life, of course they always died, and I did not realise at the time, I was indeed not doing the poor mouse any favours, and NO my parents did not know.

We live and learn.

I volunteered in wildlife rescue for several years so as long as I could in some way contain the animal I'd take it to the rehab center.

If an animal is suffering and there is no way to help it, sometimes it's kindest to put it out of it's misery. :(

It depends. I've stopped to help pigeons in a certain parking lot where people fly through and hit them frequently, and I've stopped for some larger animals, but the odds of such a little creature surviving are so low that I think I would leave it.

Just as a side note, I HATE HATE HATE it when people think they're doing a baby bird a favor by picking it up off of the ground and sentencing it to death...er...trying to raise it. Odds are it was trying to fledge, so just LEAVE IT THERE! *EXPLODES*

With the whole, "if I see another animal killing another, I'd leave it alone and let nature take it's course..." I would only do that in certain situations. If I see a cat in the process of killing a bird, I'll stop that cat and help the bird. I don't think I'd ever see a lion killing an antelope, but of course I couldn't stop that, nor would I want to. *That's* when nature is taking it's course.... not a bird/cat, dog/cat and so on.

Anyway, I'd help any and every animal, regardless of what it may be. (You know what I mean, hopefully.)

"if I see another animal killing another, I'd leave it alone and let nature take it's course..."



Sort of letting your house dog eat house cat? I would NEVER leave that alone!

I remember rescuing some sparrows along with the duck, deer, and turtles.

We used to have this stupid metal birdfeeder, with a tray, which had little slits cut in the tray. The sparrows kept on getting their legs caught in the slits and I would look out the window to see a sparrow hanging upside down franticly trying to get loose.
So my dad and I got it's leg out. I held the bird in my hand to keep the weight off its legs, and my dad took a pair of plyers and opened up the gap. He checked over the leg and it was intact, but it flew away before we could take it anywhere to get it looked at.

:) I felt really good that day, I was only around 10 or so- but I wished we could have gotten him looked at to make sure it was 100% ok....

In the case of your story and from what you said about the rat like animal (hole on side, sunken stomach) it would not have made it and as much as you don't want to hear this, I would have had to put it out of it misery. Well honestly have my husband do it for me, don't know if I could do it. Even the Wildlife rescue would do the same, just the humane thing to do.

Now in a different sitution (animal not to far gone) I would save it, without question.

Yes, I would help. I've gotten up at 4 in the morning and driven an hour and a half to help a bunny who was attacked by cats. We had it put to sleep by a vets office. I've also gotten birds which my cats were attacking and deced not to "play" with them any more. They just sat there sick and suffering. So in the carrior thy went and off to the vets it was for them. The vets either tried to heal them or they put them down. It's the best for the animal I think. There lives are ended peacfully and there pain is stoped or if they have a chance they are givin it.


Ash

I already have done that. These weren't injured but there were some baby birds abandoned at the barn. Two of them and I took them home and fed them until I could get them to a woman that works with birds. They were so cute!

It really all depends on the animal its self. If it a gofer, rabbit, beaver, or some other large robent the answer is noway. Not because I'm mean or disslake them, its because I don't know how to properly handle them when they're hurt & would end up getting bitten.

Rob has helped a deer the only way a hit deer can be helped out here. He called OPP & asked permission to shoot it with his work gun (was was an armoured car driver & he hit the deer). Rob felt s bad for the deer, he said it was crying & he had to end its horrible suffering.

I have saved wild birds, & have assisted in saving some. I ws about 7 when some local teens had found a seagull. Its wing had cut open, but it had no broken bones, except its beak. I assisted on keeping its good wing from flapping around, while they cleaned, disinfected & sewed up its wounds. There is no help for wild animals back home, so u gotta do it urself. Saddly as te bird was bing returned to the park, the truck had hi a huge pothole & tossed the kids around, which caused the box to open & the bird jumped out & they tried to grab him, but thy were too late, he hopped out of the truck & was hit by a car. They all came back crying.

I saved a baby pidgion from drowning & raised it to be an adult.

I once told Max to go down a steep cliff & retreave a drowning pidgion (a diff one). He did that & he tried to get i, but the pidgion kept swimming under the water & it was scaring him. At least he tried.

I would rescue any dog.

I once climbed a tree & rescued a pissed off cat. I ended up having to carry it by the scruff in order to be able to climb back down with less wounds.

I also rescued a young kitten up a tree, except I needed both hands to get down, so I ended up bitting his scruff & climbing down the tree. I was given $10.00 by the owners for rescuing it in a funny way.

When I was at the last Pet Talk Reunion in Findlay Park, the dogs found a bunny hutch with babies in it. There were 4. One was dead, two were okay and one looked like it had a broken neck.

We released the two healthy ones back into the brush. We put the dead one in a plastic bag and disposed of it.

The last one I took home with me and called my friend who is a vet tech at the shelter I work with. She suggested I take it to the Emergency Vet Hospital nearby, which I did. They euthanized him.

We did everything we could for the bunnies. But nature can be cruel. Ya do your best and then do what is in the best interest of the animal.