A funny old bird is the pelican

It's bill can hold more than its belly can.

As you can see from the pics below, we did a rescue of a different kind today. This morning was the day of the first Brisbane Area Rescue Network's (BARN) annual general meeting. Three of our members, Hammy, Nat and Mandy, are also part of the Pelican and Seabird Rescue organisation. Naturally, the rescue phone didn't stop ringing during the meeting, and neither did PASR's phone.

Someone who lives nearby where these photos were taken at Cabbage Tree Point had reported a sick pelican and Hammy was going down to check it out. Donna and I jumped at the chance to go and help.

By the time we got there (bloody sat nav) two birds had already been caught, simply by grabbing them by the bill. The birds at Cabbage Tree Point are used to fishermen and so are pretty tame, unlike in some places where they get stressed out by dogs and kids, so they weren't that hard to catch.

One of the birds had a fish hook in its back. That was removed and the bird released after being given the once over with a metal detector to make sure it didn't have any other fishing tackle in it.

The other one was quite ill and out of condition, that's the one that Hammy had got the call about. It was transported up to the wildlife hospital at Australia Zoo. Yes, that's right, Steve Irwin's zoo.

A third bird had a hole in the bottom of its bill. It needed to be caught and assessed as well. Bill catching this one was going to be a bit harder as the birds were now getting a bit wary. So while one person kept them occupied (bribed them with fish), a snare was set up.

Once that was all done, it was a simple matter of luring the right bird over the snare and catching it. We gave it the once over, or I should say Hammy and Wes from PASR gave it the once over while showing us how to do it, then after painting a "P" on each wing it was released by Donna.

The reason for the "P" was that if someone rang to report a pelican with a hole in its bill, the person taking the call would ask if it had a letter on its wings. Then they'd know it was okay as it had already been checked. Different organisations use different letters.

Hopefully, we'll get to do a few more rescues like this one. It's a lot more interesting and challenging than picking up an animal that's already been restrained and put in a cardboard box for you. It's also something that not a lot of people around here are doing. Also, Hammy's a great teacher and really gives you a chance to get involved, rather than just showing you.


Donna checks over the bird with a metal detector while Hammy (kneeling) and Jen restrain it. Jen is lucky enough to live just up the road from here and she was the one that reported it.


Donna carries the sick bird to the rescue truck for its trip to Australia Zoo. If you think that's a big bird, it's actually quite underweight. Most of them are bigger.


Hammy lays out the snare.


Caught. Wes chases the snared bird, the one second from left without its feet under it. It all happened so quickly I nearly missed photographing it.


Wes holds the bird while Hammy checks it over. Notice the hole in its bill, as it's only a small hole it'll totally recover.


Just to prove I didn't hide behind the camera the whole time. I got the chance to handle the bird as well. Hammy thought she'd found something in the bird until she realised the metal detector had found my watch and wedding ring, and probably my mobile phone, wallet and the zip on my jacket.


The bird after realease wearing her P-plates.

If you've ever wondered how to tell the difference between a male and female pelican, have a look at them when they're standing in a group. The males have longer bills, long enough for it to be noticeable.

Rescues, sort of

It's been a bit of a funny weekend rescue-wise.

Yesterday we got called out to a possum that was lying on its back. Details were a bit sketchy, but we got the impression it was on the ground somewhere, so it didn't sound good. A lot of the calls we get come via the RSPCA, or other organisations, so by the time BARN ring us it's a real case of Chinese whispers.

Before we left home Donna rang the person that had called it in and the possum had now moved on to its side. OK, so it's moving at least, that's a good sign.

When we got there, we were shown where the possum was and he was not a happy chappie. He was in the crook of a tree, about three feet from the ground, having a sleep. Donna poked him a couple of times to see if he was alright. He turned around and hissed at her, threatening to tear her limb from limb if she didn't go away. He'd just found a nice place to sleep that happened to be not very private that's all. We're still glad the lady called it in though.

Today we got a call from Natasja from BARN, asking if we could assist with a wallaby. It had been hit by a car, but was still mobile. She needed help to round it up. Donna found it after we'd been traipsing around in the bush for about ten minutes, but it didn't want to be caught and didn't seem to be injured at all so we left it alone.

The picture below shows where the wallaby was.



If you're wondering about the warning, well about three hours later, as we were feeding the animals, I could feel something irritating my leg. It was itching, bordering on being painful. I went inside, dropped my pants and found a very small tick (and I'm not talking facial twitch or what clocks do). The little bugger was only about two inches from my willy.

Donna removed it, and some of my skin, with a pair of tweezers and the irritation is now gone. The funny thing is, we have a tick remover thingy on our car keys. I showed it to the instructor on the first aid course I did last weekend and he asked if I had to use it yet. I hadn't, but we tried it today and it didn't work because the tick was too small.

Anyway, after all that was done and the animals were all fed we had one more wildlife related job to do. We had a ringtail possum brought to us a couple of weeks ago that was a bit out of sorts. We don't really know what was wrong with Eliza, but she definitely got better while she was with us, so this evening was release time.

Ringtails are aboreal, meaning they spend nearly all their time in trees. It's unusual for a ringie to be on the ground, brushtails will get down sometimes, so will koalas, but ringies tend to stay in the trees as much as possible.

We found a place to release Eliza, close to where she'd originally been picked up. We opened up her drey and placed it close to a suitable tree. This particular tree looked perfect, it was big, had a nice rough bark that she could get a grip on, had plenty of branches that she could use to get to other trees. In other words it looked like possum heaven, a real des res.

She sat in her drey for about five minutes and had a bit of a sniff, then out she got. Did she run up the perfect tree we'd selected for her? No, she jumped out of her drey, ran along the ground and shot up the smallest tree she could find.

Hopefully she'll be alright. We released her on dusk, so she's got all night to find herself somewhere to sleep during the day.

So, after all that, two rescues and a release, and the only wildlife we brought home was a blood sucking parasite.

We've now got two empty cages waiting for someone to move in. One will most likely end up with our three little baby ringtails that we've had since last weekend, Yoda, Pinky and Perky. The other, we're hoping to get some birds in it.

We'll post some pics of Yoda and the girls soon, but I'll leave you with this thought. Someone said yesterday when talking about Yoda, "it's because he's so ugly that he's cute".

TV's no good for you

Donna and I, in the short time that we've been wildlife carers have been called out to a few rescues. We've had to turn down a few for various reasons, but we've had a few calls just lately that we've attended, including a dead possum that may have had a baby in the pouch, but turned out to be a juvenile male.

Last Friday we got called out to pick up a lorikeet that couldn't fly. Most of these calls come via the RSPCA, so they're third or fourth hand by the time we get the details. This one, like the juvy possum was no different. The only details we had were that it couldn't fly and it was a business address.

We put the necessary gear in the car, programmed the GPS for the correct address, and off we went. The GPS took us via the scenic route and we arrived at a private address that was running a pest control business, totally legally I should add.

We walked in with our gear, looking totally professional, as we usually do (think Oscar nominees) and were told that the lorikeet we were to rescue was contained.

This is always a big relief when you do a rescue. Rescue is a bit of a misnomer, because nine times out of ten the person calling it in has contained the animal and it's just a case of assessing the animal, then taking it away.

This particular animal had managed to do something that we hadn't experienced before. We get a lot of lorikeets that have concussed themselves by flying into buildings, trees, windows or cars, this one had managed to collide with a TV antenna, something that takes either a bit of accuracy or some really bad luck. He (or she) had pierced his chest and was bleeding a fair bit.

We gave him a quick assessment, then put him into a basket along with Donna's leather gloves that he wouldn't let go of, then took him to a local vet that we know is really good with wildlife, and especially birds. If you live in the Cleveland area in the Redlands then I can recommend Dr David Banks at the Raby Bay vet surgery, he really, really cares about the animals he's treating.

With the three of us holding our patient, Donna holding the legs, me holding the head, and Dr Dave doing the important stuff, our poor patient was given a thorough examination.

The hole in his chest was close to the crop, so the doc used a syringe to put a saline solution down into the crop to see if it had been pierced. That was OK, so he gave the little guy a couple of injections, one was an antibiotic and the other a pain killer.

We left with high hopes for the bird and some antibiotics to feed him every day for the next four or five days. Oh, and instructions to flush out the wound with salt water.

We kept that up religiously for a few days, and I think he was starting to get used to us. He certainly quietened down each time we gave him his 0.1mm of antibiotics. Unfortunately, Donna checked on him last night and he hadn't made it.

We had high hopes for him, but sometimes, as the vet said, they show their gratitude by dying on you. This little guy at least gave us the opportunity to learn from him. We got some experience in handling a bird that is capable of (and has a reputation for) inflicting some pretty serious wounds when they bite. We also got some experience in treating a bird that had a pretty serious injury. So, as sad as it was, his passing wasn't for nothing.

Just so he's not forgotten, here's a picture of him being spoon fed a couple of hours before he passed on.