After my return from my trip to Sydney, I was, as you can imagine, exhausted. I had a nanna nap once I had got home and got the animals organised, and my dinner. Then I had (for me) a long sleep that night, but by 10 am Sunday morning I was ready for a nanna nap. Before that happened, while I was still in my jarmies, and hadn’t quite finished my brekky, my elderly neighbour rang, and asked me to help her put sheets on the line. It was, in her opinion, going to be an excellent drying day, but she no longer has the strength to put the clothes on the line, hence her phone call. So in I went in my dressing gown and slippers, and did the job for her. Then, after I had my nanna nap (and I’d managed to have lunch), a knock came at the door. I answered to find a complete stranger with an injured kookaburra. The kookaburra looked awful. So I found a box, and put him in it, and didn’t expect him to make it through the night. He had obviously been hit by a car; his right eye was swollen shut, and looked mucky, his head feathers were in disarray, and he was not at all interested in life. So I put him in the spare room, and checked on him a few times during the afternoon (when I wasn’t having my next nanna nap). Just before dark he improved a little, and stood up in the box. It was obvious that it was an effort, though, because he was “listing to starboard” and constantly turning his head to look at me through his good eye. Even though he was now in a condition to be fed, I decided I wouldn’t, because it was nearly his bed time, and it would be stressful for him: I would have to force feed him. I decided I would get him to the vet as early as possible….again if he survived the night….and if we could do anything for him there, then I would start forcefeeding him.
Morning came, with the promise of a freezing day, and even though the kookaburra was still with us, it was obvious he was unhappy, and unwell. He was still leaning towards his injured side (an indication of a head injury), and his eye still looked terrible. He was able to open it at times now, but the pupil was completely dilated, and he appeared to be blind in that eye. So I took him down the vet. Being Monday, there was only the assistant there, but I knew after we examined the bird, she would ring Mudgee, and talk to one of the vets about what we could or couldn’t do. So she examined his eye, and the rest of him, then rang the vet. A fairly detailed conversation followed, but from what the vet was saying not a lot could be done for his eye. A one eyed kookaburra wouldn’t be able to find food in the wild, so we sent him to heaven.
I went home with the intention of staying inside in the warm for the rest of the day, and continuing with the cleaning up to get ready for my move, and another knock came at the door. Another man with another kookaburra. This one had also been hit by a car, and was being nursed (after a fashion) in the front seat of the car by his companion. It had been wrapped in a towel, and was VERY vocal in his objections to his current situation. The man said, “I think his wing is broken.” So I advised him to take straight to the vets. I explained if he’s fixable, they’ll pass him onto someone for care. Off he went, and within a few minutes I had received a phone call from the vet assistant: “I have a very cranky kookaburra, can you help me assess him, please?” So down to the vet I went. He wasn’t really cranky, he was just (in his opinion) defending himself. Both of us were a little concerned, however, by the position of his tail. He was sitting on it, which is definitely not normal in birds, and we were anxious about his having received spinal injuries. The bird was sitting in a dog cage, and as we approached, he opened his beak to warn us off. I grabbed a towel, not so much for protection, but I could cover his head with it, and calm him down (that’s the theory anyway). Also, gives them something to hang onto besides bits of person, and if they decide they need to go to the loo, it lands on the towel, instead of your clothes.
So, I picked him up, and took him into the consulting room. Once I picked him up, his tail resumed a normal position. We both heaved sighs of relief. By changing the position of the towel, we were able to assess his wings as uninjured, and we also discovered his feet had a good grip on the towel, and when we prised them off, they and his legs were working perfectly, although one had a slight graze on it. Then we decided we would look at his head. His eyes worked perfectly, and his head feathers weren’t ruffled. We decided he had only been hit a glancing blow by the car, and I would take him home overnight, and take him out to where he was found in the morning. Then he made a break for freedom!
He flew out of the towel, over a room divider and attempted to fly through a closed window. We rushed round (with the towel) and threw it over the top of him, where he was sitting on the floor, looking puzzled. I wrapped the towel round him securing ALL of him, and tucked him in a bundle under my arm, while we organised a box for him. The assistant told me where he had been found, and we closed the box…tightly, and off I went out into the cold. It was at that stage around 6C outside. Off I drove, and about 15 minutes later, found approximately where he had been picked up, and at the safest place I could find near there, I parked the car. Then I walked down a track into the bush, so I was away from the road. I put the box on the ground, and opened it, then unwrapped the towel. He was hanging onto it tightly, but as soon as he realised he was free, he flew to the nearest tree, landing about 40′ from the ground. He then turned and glared at me.
Oh that was such a good feeling! We don’t have a lot of successes in my line of business, and each one is just great! However, I didn’t waste any time congratulating myself, it was still cold, so I got back in the car and headed back to the vets, to return the towel, and let the assistant know all was well. She was also pleased, and I headed back to the warm….and a nanna nap!
Mamaroo's Diary 