Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I'm having a hard time sleeping because I didn't do something I think I should have.

It had visible injuries as well on the underside of a wing and it's side. I don't know any wildlife vets around here. But I wish I could have at least euthanized it and given it a clean exit.

Does anyone have experience with the legalities and practicalities of that? I've put a few smaller animals out of their misery (stomping is quick if grotesque). But for something like a bird or deer I'm worried about how to do it, since I don't usually have a firearm, and I'm worried about legalities too.
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We wouldn't have 6 and a half billion people if you had to be beautiful to get laid.
1.3 African House Snakes
3.2 reticulated pythons
1 corn snake
4.3 Florida Kings
2 speckled kings
1.2 ball pythons
1 Argentine boa
1 Texas Rat Snake
1 checkered garter snake

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We wouldn't have 6 and a half billion people if you had to be beautiful to get laid.
1.3 African House Snakes
3.2 reticulated pythons
1 corn snake
4.3 Florida Kings
2 speckled kings
1.2 ball pythons
1 Argentine boa
1 Texas Rat Snake
1 checkered garter snake

That's a tough situation that I have been presented with several times myself. My cat brought in a squirrel that had fallen out of the nest and I tried to release but it stuck around. I eventually took it to a wildlife vet who rehabilitates sick/injured animals and she nursed it back to health so it could be released. There is usually someone in most areas that will take care of small animals, however, it would be harder to find someone to take in an animal of the size of the bird in the picture. Most of the time, I just leave injured animals as I found them in the wild to "let nature take its course." It's a tough thing, but as stated in the other post, nature isn't always pretty. I once found a subadult corn snake on a dirt road that had apparently just been grazed by a vehicle on it's head. It must have injured its spinal cord and the snake was literally spinning around in circles trying to move away. Its tongue was stuck out and I figured it was a goner. I used an icescraper(the only thing I had at the time) to dispatch it, but it was not pretty. In the end, I was bitten by the snake and it was an overall traumatic experience for me. I found its actually easier on me to just get them off the roadway and hope for the best.

Justin

I should have.

Tough situation to be in and sorry you were in it... should you have done something... no.

You're out in the field as an observer... sure you want to see all the pretty and pleasant things out there but every now and again what you will observe is that nature is not pretty and it is not pleasant for the vast majority of animals.

Look at this from an extreme opposite point of view... less than 10% of the large wading bird hatchlings will survive to adulthood... you happen upon a rookery of three breeding pairs... those three breeding pairs have 10 hatchlings between them... statistically only one of the hatchlings is going to survive... should you do "something" to nine of those hatchlings because you can stave off or ease what is certainly going to be a gruesome outcome?

None of the cold hard facts of course will ease what you think you should have done but keep in mind that scenarios such as the one you witnessed are going on right now in your own back yard... you simply aren't there to witness it... are you going to beat yourself up over that?

Whatever happened to that bird, somewhere, something is benefiting from it... just the way it works whether you're there to bear witness or not.

Gerry

Yes, Gerry...nature can be a very cruel lady at times. I guess that is a very realistic way to look at alot of it.

Some things still suck though, and watching animals suffer is definitely one of those things..

I tend to feel far more for animals than I do people.

~Doug
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"a snake in the grass is a GOOD thing"

least varanid had nothing to read except my reply which seems cold and heartless... but... well think of all the fish, snakes, frogs etc that will now have their chances increased with it's passing... plain/cold/simple/heartless... it's the way it works whether you like it or not.

Again, tough situation to be in and sorry you were in it... sorrier still you weren't ready for it.

Gery

Seeing predation doesn't bother me; I've seen plenty of predation events (snakes eating lizards or birds, birds eating snakes, a weasel eating what I think was a mouse, coons eating...lots of stuff, etc). But watching an animal that's been injured just dying a lingering death does. *shrug* It was similar to ocming onto an animal that had been hit by a car...
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We wouldn't have 6 and a half billion people if you had to be beautiful to get laid.
1.3 African House Snakes
3.2 reticulated pythons
1 corn snake
4.3 Florida Kings
2 speckled kings
1.2 ball pythons
1 Argentine boa
1 Texas Rat Snake
1 checkered garter snake

I thought doug had the right focus: the animal's suffering. Dispatch it and the animal's body still enters the food chain. That's why I feed frozen when I can, and not live.

Might you run afoul of the law? (pun unintentional). Maybe. But I've always thought there are laws I'd be ashamed of being caught for violating, and others I could stand in front of a judge and admit to, head held high. It's up to each of us to decide where our limits are.

That is tough. I think Gerry is right, it isn't something to blame yourself for but in the future I think there are times when out of humanity we should intervene. I'm not saying I would have done anything different. I mean something that big, how do you go about it without having something like a gun to do it quickly and painless. Not to mention all the stress to the animal trying to catch it. Lets just hope the endorphins were kicked in, it was feeling no pain and went to sleep. Gees now it's bothering me.