Submitted by domoslurpies t3_yy59jx in springfieldMO
Does anyone know of a wildlife rehabilitator in the area? I live in Howell County and my dad found an American Coot with a broken leg. We've tried contacting the conservation department with no luck. We just want to help this poor little guy out. Thanks!
You might search “wild bird sanctuary “ and call whoever comes up. They might be able to help/point you in the right direction.
Good luck on getting the coot rehabilitated. You hey are such a pretty bird.
Yeah, I figured we might just have to put him down. We tried to get a vet involved but she doesn't work on wild animals. I'll wait a little longer and see if we can find any help for it. It's sad because he seems so healthy otherwise.
Sunshine Animal Hospital will help!
They helped a random song bird we found - one of the ladies lives rurally and when they are healthy they go home with her
Did it cost you anything?
No - but we gave them a donation
Great, thanks! We'll try to call them tomorrow.
This. I had an injured hawk seek refuge in my house once. Animal Control took him to the zoo vet.
We just called Sunshine Animal Hospital and they said that they'll take him!
Glad to hear!
Thanks so much for your reply! We actually just called them tonight since they were open until 7 and they said that they can take him! We were worried that we would have to have him put down but now he has a chance.
Great news!
Thank you for helping this little guy. Hopefully the vet doesn’t have to put him down, but at least someone will help him either way. For future reference, the conservation department won’t do anything. They’ll tell you to let nature take its course. I’ve called them many times for random animals. Last time I called them about a baby deer stuck in the fence outside my neighborhood and I barely got someone to help us (they had to put it down) but only after playing phone tag with two or three people over several hours to finally find someone who would come help. Thank you again for your kindness!
Thank you! I knew the conservation department wouldn't do anything as we've called them a couple of times before about different animals. I just thought it was worth a try since there aren't many resources for injured wildlife where I live.
I wish there was an emergency wildlife vet or something where a person could call and get help in situations like this :/
I know right?! It's so stressful encountering an injured animal because it's so hard to find anybody that can help. I know that it's usually best to let nature take its course, but this coot was a little hard to pass by since he was right at the front door of my dad's business!
I went there with a squirrel with brain trauma…the vet thought it had a chance. I met with a state sanctioned rehab. She was off a “Golden” in Springfield but not the big road…but not far away.
There are many scenarios possible…clean break, ligament/tendon or infection or whatever. Let me say the worst place to be is as a human who finds an animal who is in a bad situation that you randomly come across. If it’s blue juice time, the vet knows. Much cleaner than dying in nature with a disability. If it’s fixable they will know.
I’ve heard of coots but never seen their feet…that’s some wild feet for waterfowl…and I’m a bird person.
Yeah whatever the outcome is, it's much better than his other options. He seems totally fine aside from his broken foot, so hopefully that is a good sign. I gave him a little dish of water and caught him trying to lay it earlier haha. Coots are one of my favorite birds, but I don't think I've ever seen their feet either until I came across this guy. They're very unique.
The zoo might help, you have to call. I took an inured owl there once, but he ended up being too far gone.
Thanks for your reply! The coot is being transported to Sunshine Animal Hospital right now so hopefully they can help him out.
ThumYorky t1_iwsbsb0 wrote
I used to work for the conservation department, and unfortunately you don’t really have options. If it were a bird of prey you could take it to the bird sanctuary in St. Louis. I mean, you could take it to a vet, but I’m not sure if they would fix it up and that could be pricey.
The sad thing is this happens all the time in the natural world, we just don’t see it and thus it is sheltered from our value system. If you cant find options, the best thing is to put it down. A painless death is better than what most animals succumb to anyways.