Look at those long legs
Thanks to Rick, I can now add a Black-necked Stilt to my list of rescues. Look at this little guy's long legs...
While working in a customer's backyard yesterday, an injured stilt (not the one in this sample picture) must have fallen from the sky and landed right there in the middle of the yard. Our worker walked right up to it and could see some blood on its legs. He bent down and picked it up and held it in his hands while looking for injuries. There appeared to be one puncture wound under his right wing which I would guess came from being attacked by another bird. I was called and Rick told me to either come get it right away, or they would put it out of its misery. Of course I went right over and picked him up. They had put him in a tiny little box and the poor bird ended up upside down by the time I got him home. At one point he almost got loose in my car as I drove and I know that would have been quite a sight. Me screaming and the bird trying to escape....
I called the Texas Wildlife Rehabilitation Center which takes in orphaned or injured wildlife and found out they would not take a wading bird (I think the long beaks have something to do with it), but they sent me to the Wildlife Rehab and Education Center on the Katy freeway. They said they would take him, but not until this morning. So, the stilt stayed with us for the night. I put him in an old aquarium and set it in the bathtub of my guest bath with the lights off and curtains drawn. He had a quiet night and by morning he was moving around and I'm sure he told me he wanted to go home. When I dropped him off they said he appeared to be well-fed and I feel pretty sure he will do just fine. I'm just so grateful to those people who work (as volunteers) taking in these beautiful animals and spending so much time to help them.
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