The Glamorous Work of Saving Oiled Wildlife
Sheri and I spent a day doing the heroic and heart warming task of compiling all the medical records for the birds that had been cleaned of oil, and had moved out of the drying rooms.
I'm only being a little bit ironic, when I say that. The task was Herculean, and every single rehabilitator who saw what we were working on thanked us profusely.
All of the birds' care had been faithfully recorded from the moment they entered care, but not all of the information had been transcribed onto individual records. We didn't quite finish our task, but when we left at the end of the day, the birds were much closer to all having unique medical records. Now a rehabilitator or vet can glance at a bird's medical file and see if to has gained or lost weight, or if the problems that they may be observing are long-standing or new.
There have been over nine hundred oiled birds in care, and meticulous documentation is the key to tracking their recoveries.
For those wondering, here are the current statistics:
951 oiled birds brought in to the center
394 washed
884 found dead in the field
197 died/euthanized
0 released
Everyone is hopeful that that last number will be changing, soon!
I'm only being a little bit ironic, when I say that. The task was Herculean, and every single rehabilitator who saw what we were working on thanked us profusely.
All of the birds' care had been faithfully recorded from the moment they entered care, but not all of the information had been transcribed onto individual records. We didn't quite finish our task, but when we left at the end of the day, the birds were much closer to all having unique medical records. Now a rehabilitator or vet can glance at a bird's medical file and see if to has gained or lost weight, or if the problems that they may be observing are long-standing or new.
There have been over nine hundred oiled birds in care, and meticulous documentation is the key to tracking their recoveries.
For those wondering, here are the current statistics:
951 oiled birds brought in to the center
394 washed
884 found dead in the field
197 died/euthanized
0 released
Everyone is hopeful that that last number will be changing, soon!
Comments
As a birder and lover of wildlife, I am so horrified and joyed at the same time by your reports of this terrible incident. Looking at those numbers is stagering, in both the impact and tragedy of the situation.
I just feel I need to say thank you for taking the time to care. Taking the time to do whatever needs to be down to help. This Thanksgiving, I will be thankful for the kindness of people in the world to step out of their regular routine to help someone else, or in this case, thousands of birds.
Thank you!!!!
jackbear
xo
Sheila