Rescued Baby Egret

[lizardjasper]

Rescued this little guy last Friday. There are literally hundreds of egrets (great, intermediate, little and cattle) nesting in the local Botanical Gardens, and I was up there photographing them when I came across this little baby who had fallen from his nest. Up a palm tree.
Long story short, none of the zoo staff were interested in him, and the vets were simply culling the babies the zoo brought to them at the end of each day. There are so many nesting, and so many babies in each nest, that the smallest egrets are pushed out by bigger siblings. Each day, the staff would collect the fallen babies and take them to the vets. Once the first few were with carers, they wouldn't take any more, and so the vets just killed them.
After much searching around the internet (on which there is NO information about raising egrets!) and a heap of phone calls to different people and places, I finally got on to a carer who would take him.

Happy Ending!

 

[AMY22]

AWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!!!

That is the hard part of caring, a lot of critters just get euthanaised. The place I used to care with recieved so many birds that they don't even care for birds anymore. Well there are some carers that still do, I guess they are with fauna rescue now.

 

[TahneeMaree]

Aww he's so ugly he's cute!
Good on ya for finding him a carer :3

 

[WombleHerp]

he's so damn CUTE!!

 

[Snake Catcher Victoria]

Good on you LJ, gotta love a happy ending.
I have heard egrets become tame quickly and will follow their carer everywhere..
So is it a cattle egret?
Looking at it now, I think it may be a Great egret

 

[lizardjasper]

I have no idea what kind of egret he is! All the different types of egrets were nesting around the same area, almost 20 different nests per tree, depending on the tree, so I have no idea! I was thinking great too, just because he's such a big baby!
He kept putting his little crest up when you spoke to him, which was adorable!

Everyone who's been affected by the rain and storms around QLD, keep your eyes out for animals in trouble. The vets got in a little Eastern Beardie the other day who ad been swept to someones back door in the flooding we had here.

 

[Sock Puppet]

That's nice that these fallen babies are getting cared for & looked after, I love em, they look like muppets haha

However, (& no, I'm not having a go at ya) to play devil's advocate for a minute:

1) Isn't it just survival of the fittest when the larger chicks push out the smaller/weaker ones? I'm sure it's not a new thing & has been going on for tens of thousands (or more) years. Sure we've detroyed a lot of their habitat so it's nice to give something back, but do they really need our help?

2) What happens once these chicks have been raised? Will these chicks know how to look after themselves in the wild if released? If they're not released, where will they go if the zoos etc don't even want them now?

Just food for thought,
Cheers,
Socky

PS: They are very cute.

 

[lizardjasper]

Ah yeah, I know that it's a survival thing, but I don't really care about that. I mean, nothing deserves to suffer. Either put the things out of their misery, or care for them. You see Socky, I have a heart!
Once he's old enough to be set free, the carer will do so in the area where he was found. They are very well able to care for themselves.

 

[Snake Catcher Victoria]

Yes it is survival of the fittest and the chick could have been left for a lucky predator, probably a cat or a fox or a dog.
With all the rain you are getting the water birds will do ok so this year they dont need as much help as in the past.
Also, it dosnt hurt to give a little back sometimes and when done properly, water birds can be released quite successfully..they are good survivors.
As i mentioned before, they can be good for educational displays when release isnt an option.

 

[Sock Puppet]

You see Socky, I have a heart! They are very well able to care for themselves.

And a generous heart at that lj!

Also, it dosnt hurt to give a little back sometimes and when done properly, water birds can be released quite successfully..they are good survivors.

Yeah, I wouldn't know whether or not they'd release relatively successfully (especially still being a chick), so thought I'd just put the question out there.

Anyway, as I mentioned, it's fantastic some of these young birds are getting a chance to grow up. I wish their carers great success with raising healthy birds to release successfully.

 

[xycom]

2) What happens once these chicks have been raised? Will these chicks know how to look after themselves in the wild if released? If they're not released, where will they go if the zoos etc don't even want them now?

It is an issue often everlooked by many carers, the appropriate methods of release need to be considered aswell. If you read the studies done on possums the survival rate upon release is very low.



Per

 

[AaronR]

As a carer if the animal is deemed inappropriate to ever release into the wild again it should technecally be euthanised how ever I for one do not agree with this guideline/rule and have had several animals live long happy lives in no pain but never released.

 

[xycom]

I haven't held on to any animals we've had in care but sometimes I think its a better option. I've seen many animals live what seems to be quite full and happy lives around or with the people who cared for them.

Per

 

[Herpgirl]

I do alot of chick rearing, My mother is in W.I.R.E.S and I get to help her with the bats and native bird chicks. I hope she/he does ok If an emergency is present and you cannot do anything you can always deliver him/her to me and my mother and we can help We just finished rearing to crested pgeon chicks.

 

[Herpgirl]

oops sorry didn't see the end bit. Thats good