Sad announcement - the passing of a villager.

For the last couple of weeks, as I drove back and forth up and down the Great North Road, I've been pleased to see one of our lesser-known village citizens pottering around the hedgerow between Polecat Lane and the bus stop.

You'd hardly give her a second glance - she was quite small, dressed in a natty little black suit with white trimmings, green leggings and a little red beak.

Yup, a Moorhen.

I smole at her as I drove into the village this morning at around 11 o'clock, and wondered, in my own inimitable way, what her story was. How had she come to be there, and how was she going to manage through the cold weather?

Now I don't have to wonder any more - her little story has ended in the middle of the road, where somebody, in broad daylight and on a clear day, ran her over.

I've just been back down to move her out of the way of other vehicles, and placed her in the hedgerow she used as a shelter.

Gentlefolk All - this might have been an accident, and the person responsible might never have known they had hit her, in which case, it's very sad, but we move on.

Or it might have been deliberate, in which case it's inexcusable, and says rather a lot about the person who did it.

I've often been accused of over-dramatising things - not untrue - but I feel these little deaths keenly. We are not so well-off for wildlife any more - things have changed drastically over the last ten-fifteen years, as we, who live in the countryside, cannot fail to have noticed.

So please, let's take a little more care of the creatures who live with us.

It's like the story I read when I was a child, about the kid who stomped on spiders. A passer-by noticed him, and looking him in the eye, said 'Hey, that's pretty neat, squashing that spider. If I ask you nicely, can you make me another one?'

That's something none of us can do.

Think about it.

That's sad, Tac, and you are correct. We should take care with the wildlife. I'll try to be more careful. In a couple of months we'll be having quite a few ducks crossing roads with their chicks. Maybe being a little late wouldn't be such a bad thing.

100% agreed, Tac.

Every living being is, well, a living being. They feel pain, fear, perhaps sadness and happiness if they are advanced enough. There's no reason to maliciously harm them.

Nicely said, Tac.
No matter how she went, it is sad when we lose a friend we see daily in the wild.

quote:

Originally posted by tacfoley:
We are not so well-off for wildlife any more ....

That’s an interesting observation. Do you know why that is?

I ask because around where I live in Colorado many types of wildlife are far more prevalent now than they were 60+ years ago when I was a kid in the same area. I still clearly remember how it was something to be pointed out when we saw a deer or hawk when motoring, and I don’t recall ever seeing an elk or pronghorn (“antelope”) at the time. Now when it’s not hunting season, all three big game animals are very common, especially deer, and there are regular reports of bear and mountain lions. We even have bald eagles on occasion, and that would have been a sensation when I was young. For many years not long ago foxes would den up in a pile of scrap lumber across the street well within the town limits.

As for the reasons, perhaps there are fewer hunters in general, but I suspect that laws and hunter education and other education programs have changed attitudes about wanton killing. I still remember an account by Elmer Keith and the development of the Smith and Wesson 44 Magnum revolver. Shortly after he received his (the first one?) he had a chance to shoot a perched hawk, and he (evidently proudly) recounted that it was the first “game” animal killed with the cartridge. Fortunately attitudes do change, but I doubt that that’s a factor in the UK.

Comments?

Mrs.BurtonRW and I are frequent visitors to Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge. It's about a 90 minute drive, but well worth it. Mostly, it's a scenic, 4-mile long road over a series of causeways along a river. We were there at dawn yesterday morning, in fact, to watch the early migratory Tundra Swans and Snow Geese wake up and fly off, en masse, to breakfast in neighboring fields. Truly a sight to behold.

During the summer months, there are quite a few turtles in the river and they'll cross the causeways and road as turtles are wont to do. It makes me angry (perhaps unreasonably so) to see them crushed by vehicles. In a National Wildlife Refuge. Where the frequently ignored speed limit is 15mph and drivers are supposed to be extra cautious about the resident wildlife.

FWS obviously doesn't have law enforcement for this sort of thing (the speeding) and even in the event of extreme trespass in off-limits areas & wildlife harassment (we once had to call on an Asian playing the language barrier, who had passed at least two "restricted access" signs to photograph a group of waterfowl way too close), the only person available to respond is a non-LEO state parks employee attached to the refuge who can come and chase people off (or at least back to where they're supposed to be).

I've often wished I could get some sort of special LE commission from FWS solely for purposes of speed enforcement in the refuge. Sadly, no such commission exists.

I feel your pain, Tac. I love animals and absolutely hate seeing their reckless destruction. I'm so sorry.

-Rob

Other than the mosquitoes the black water refuge is a neat place.

My brother and I had a mud hen in middle school - cat rigged, flat bottom centerboard sailboat, which only drew 6” with the centerboard up.

We managed to get into one of the ditches along side the road in the refuge one time.

Had an interesting time polling our way back out, once we realized where we were - before MD went full commie and kids could muck about on boats and buy 22s, shotgun shells and rifle rounds if a parent filled out a card at the gun shop.

thank you for caring. I never thought of myself as a "mantra" person. But mine is "May all creatures be happy and free."

Almost every day, I take a short drive to my gym for my workout. Last night, for some reason, I decided to get some additional exercise in so I walked to the gym. It's part of a hospital complex and there is a large pond in front. As I turned the corner to walk around the pond, I saw the most beautiful hawk just sitting on the ground staring back at me. I immediately figured something was wrong because it's not normal to see hawks on the ground and he didn't budge when I happened upon him. I inched closer to see if I could see any obvious injuries. He moved his wings, which didn't appear injured, but he couldn't take flight. He tried to scamper away and I could see at least one of his legs was obviously wounded as he was dragging it across the ground. I had a towel with me and was able to scoop him up in it and my wife came and picked me up and we took him to the local Conservancy which has a wildlife hospital. We made it 5 minutes before they closed for the night. I didn't find out the extent of his injuries or if he is likely to survive - the hospital won't give updates given the high volume of patients they get.

I'm not a superstitious or religious person, but I think I was meant to find him and help him. Normally I would have just driven there and come in the back way like always, never even having a chance to spot the bird. I wonder how long he had been there and how many people may have not seen him or seen him and not done anything.

I hope the little guy is able to recover and be released. Truly a beautiful and magnificent creature that I felt privileged to hold and help.