Raven in distress
This raven has a sad story. He was hopping around on the ground as a fledgling when he was “saved” by well-meaning people, who then kept him in their chicken coop for the next 2 months. They finally brought him in after they released him and he just sat in a tree for 2 days, because he had no idea what to do.
If you find a baby bird, follow the instructions here.
This poor bird is stranded in between worlds–his family has moved on, and he has nobody to teach him what he needs to know to be a wild raven. He is probably non-releasable.
He will be assessed by a friend with a lot of corvid experience, to see what would be best for him. He’s super-smart, and, as the people did not interact with him beyond putting in food a few times a day, very wary of humans.
Wildwoods still operates on private land and occasionally in a private house with a spare bathroom. We thought our spare bathroom couldn’t possibly suffer more than it did at the paws of baby raccoons earlier this summer. Boy, were we wrong; a raven is messier than 5 raccoons put together!
poor baby — looks distressed
Have you tried the Zoo, since they just lost their raven, or are they no longer deemed trustworthy? (no sarcasm intended in that)
From the director:
Critter updates:
Grey squirrel with spinal bruising has regained use of his hind legs again, and very slowly gaining the use of and strength in them.
Raven is so smart! We hide his food around his area to keep him engaged. He’s learning to open cardboard boxes to discover treats inside (his favorites? dried mealworms and the yolks of hard-boiled eggs). He makes the funniest sounds when we’re not in the room with him. And when I’m arranging his room and “hiding” stuff, the feathers on top of his head over his eyes pouf up like little thought-bumps as he watches me and analyzes things.
Cedar waxwing fledgling is still terribly off balance, but much more energetic (which is a mixed blessing). He’s let us know he likes fruit, fruit, and only fruit, and please keep your nasty mealworms and baby bird formula to yourselves! (but every now and then, we sneak a bit in, to make sure he’s getting some protein). In the meanwhile, he’s feasting on blueberries, raspberries, and bits of grape and cantalope.
Robin with balance issues isn’t just spinning in circles any more, but has started to be able to forage a little (thanks for all the organic worms, Robin Mainella Annala!) and to perch. We’ll still hand-feeding him, though.
Baby mouse opened his eyes yesterday, and is gaining weight nicely–up from 3g when we got him to 5g today.
Baby bunnies–doing well, and eating mountains of greens. Turbo-suck bun is still “milking” our kindheartedness, and refusing to wean off milk completely (and I cave in to him every day, because I love feeding him!)
Baby pigeon–what a cutie, built like a tank and eats like a teenaged boy. Other adult pigeons recovering nicely from various injuries.
So there you have it!
Not only is it a bad idea to “save” wild animals when you don’t know what you’re doing, but it’s illegal. Ravens are protected by an international treaty which includes basically all non-game and non-invasive wild birds.
Jade, the best thing to do is call your state and federally licensed rehabilitator at Wildwoods!