I live in the hills of south west kerry.
I have just rescued a gannet on the beach. Was being attacked by dogs. Seems okay but possibly wrong with its wing. I have kept human interaction to a minimum, and hes resting out the back of the house now. Bought some fresh fish and left it for him, but he doesnt seem too interested.
Dont want to take him to the local vet down here as I think he wouldnt have a clue, probably say to throw him straight back in the water.
Not sure what to do next?
Linds
Hi Lindsay,
As the RSPB is a conservation charity welfare isn't really our areas of knowhow, but if the bird is injured it will need to be referred to an expert rehabilitator. Given your location i would recommend contacting the ISPCA, Tel: 048 9081 42 42.
Their website also has lots of info on all sorts of welfare organisations in southern Ireland that should be able to help: www.ispca.ie
Hope thats helps!
Lloyd
10.10pm. Hi Linds......I can undertstand your concern for the Gannet poor wee thing, it must be so scared.
Is there not a Wildlife Sanctuary or any Animal Rescue people (RSPCA) you could call. Maybe your local Police Station would have addresses/phone numbers?
Good Luck and let me know how you get on.
"Birds of a Feather".... ~( :o )
Hi Linds
How did you get on with the Gannet? Did it survive?
Take care
Hi Maureen,
the gannet is fine. We got hold of a guy further up country who has taken in and rereleased a few birds. He checked it out and suspects that it was just exhausted by a storm and had strained its wings. We have been resting it up and I think it is almost ready to be released again. However the weather here is even worse than the storm that caught the gannet in the first place so we might leave it until monday.
We've called him squirt because hes (ironically) quite big, and also he keeps squirting all over our utility room. We also figured out how to feed him: we needed fish with a head and tail and then you wiggle it on the floor to make it seem alive.
If you remind me Ill put a link to some video. In the mean time I've got to tend to the jack russell who got a nasty nip on his eye when he went to sniff the gannett.
thanks for the help,
I called the ispca and that led me on a chain off telephone calls to find a local guy who knew a bit about gannets.
Great news Linds...I am so glad the Gannet is OK. You now have a friend for life :o ) As for Jack Russell, that's what he/she gets for being nosy.
Oh I do like a happy ending :)
My friend and I (when we were about 12) rescued a Fulmer from the beach on Benbecula in the Outer Hebrides. It was exhaused and was lying on the beach and a thug was allowing his dog to torment it. I wrapped it in my jacket (it was too tired to argue) and we took it to my friends house as she had a horse in a field at the back of her house. We put it in an upended box and gave it food and water. It stayed there for about 5 days and then one morning it was off. It was such a friendly wee thing, probably just grateful, and I'll never forget him / her. My parents incidentally thought I was mad and were less than impressed at the state of my jacket!
Make the most of today because, unlike Sky+, there isn't a rewind button.
its got to be said that my girlfriend is the real hero. Im was just hunting around the internet for her to find some help. Ive only been with her a few months and already we've rescued a chicken, a stray dog, and now this gannet. We were on the verge of heading up to Trallee to help out with the whales you may have heard got stranded there.
So here's to many more animal rescues to come :)
Have you kept the chicken to have eggs for breakfast???
Have you kept the wee dog as company for Jack Russell (what's its name)???
Hope you don't have plans to keep a whale!!!!!!
Wouldn't it be wonderful to win the lottery and buy enough land to have loads of animals????
Hope the Gannet is well.
My partner were on holiday in Harris recently and came upon a young gannet on the road - my partner attempted to rescue it but it bit his finger (a trip to Stornoway A&E for tetanus took care of that). Eventually he managed to lift it holding its beak and put it back in the water where it just floated away quite happy though this bird was not injured.
the chicken was called leia, and seemed too old to lay, just needed a home
the stray dog is called danni, but hes only just started to learn his new name.
the gannet was called squirt (for obvious reasons) and we tried to release him on the weekend but he didnt seem to want to leave the cliffs. so now weve taken him to cork where there is a rescue bird reserve and they get cared for and looked after until they want to take off on their own.
i was just wondering where we might fit the whale.
i think that if we stayed in the area for a few more months we would have a rescue centre in all but name. unfortunatley we have decided to go travelling so we are rehoming everything that comes our way.
Hiya Lindsay, Congrats on your good works. Re the Whale.......Could you not take it to the Wailway Station and put it on a Twain? Lol
No one is useless in this world who lightens the burden of another. Charles Dickens.
ha you have got too much free time to be thinking up jokes that bad.
I rescued another bird on the beach. My dogs where sniffing it when i came up and i thought 'here we go again' He had hurt his leg but a nights rest and he was fine, good to go so I released him the next afternoon. I made video about it on http://www.littlemansuccess.com/daring-rescue
Hi Lindsay
I tried to play your video but not luck!
Finding a Gannet on the beach is quite unusual. I hope that he survives, and grows to a grand old age. They live for a long time in the wild..
Slightly off topic but another rescued bird: I remember a many years back going for a walk along one of the local footpaths to me (near the local Golf Course). I could see an adult Magpie sitting half dazed in a shallow pool of water at the side of the path close to my home.
After passing it by, I went all the way home 15 mins walk and got an old shoe box - made some holes in it and went back to pick up the Magpie. It was still there. It did not worry about me lifting it up at all. The body ended up in the shoe box and tha tail stuck out for a good length - Magpies have long tails.
Got back home and rang up the SSPCA. They advised me what to do care for the bird etc.... Along came along the SSPCA van, and picked it up, and took it away, The story behind the Magpie was that it was thought a Golf Ball had hit its head and knocked it out. It survived after a few days care.
Mind you times are different now, and wildlife rescue centres where not around so much at that time otherwise I would have to ran up a special 'wild animal' group to help the bird. I think the wildlife Centres are a lot more prepared now for wildlife 'accidents' now
What was the other type of bird you rescued - wish I could see your video!
Regards
Kathy and Dave
lindsaymacvean ha you have got too much free time to be thinking up jokes that bad. I rescued another bird on the beach. My dogs where sniffing it when i came up and i thought 'here we go again' He had hurt his leg but a nights rest and he was fine, good to go so I released him the next afternoon. I made video about it on http://www.littlemansuccess.com/daring-rescue