poor old thing?
Posted: Sun Aug 31, 2014 6:37 pm
I received a distressing phone call a week ago about an abandoned and dying seagull somewhere on the south coast.
The details of its whereabouts were relayed back to me and i made my way down to retreive the "old bird"
From its identity ring it wears the numbers AD1584.
An unusual sub-species that i havn't got in my flock. On first inspection it had clearly been attacked by other scavengers! Most of its feathers were missing,had very bad circulation and a very weak heart! It was also covered in thick black oily goo everywhere. Good greif i thought, how can anyone misstreat one of these magnificent seabirds!
Suffice to say,a deal was quickly done with the promise that if any more seagulls should happen to pass by in the same condition then he should call me at once.
Once back at the seagull rescue centre (BRISTOL) the old bird (AD1584) went straight into the bath for a long soak to try and get rid of the horrid smelly black oily goo. Once out of the bath, i could see this "old bird" had seen many a skirmish with its other feathered flock mates.Probably as this is an old bird it was outcast from its flock and picked upon by passing scavengers!
Well, the drama continued long into the middle part of this week and many hours of painstaking surgery later, there are signs of recovery.
During the surgery,i found this old bird had a collapsed lung (1 broken piston ring and 1 seized) evidence this bird had been a prolific smoker in its younger days.(8:1 fuel mix) I'll have to have a word in its ear when its better about cutting down on its smoking habit?
On top of the collapsed lung it had poor circulation (VERY RUSTY water jacket) With these ailments now hopefully cured for good, it was time to look at its ticker! Very weak and thready pulse, what to do? (evidene of a previous botched surgery to replace ignition coil, also claggy points have been cleansed and gapped but still a weak pulse)
Drastic measures were called for, a temporary heart transplant was the way to go (complete wipac ignition) whilst i work on its original ticker!
Early signs this morning are promising whilst out in the paddling pool (test bin) It wants to fly but i wont release it out with the rest of my flock until its strong enough.(still a little bit asthmatic with a cheasty cough((slightly blocked carb jet and stale fuel))
It still has to grow most of its feathers back yet, and some of its previous injuries and scars have started to mutate slightly. These will need some corrective surgery later on.
Messages have been sent out already to other seagull lovers for "organ donations" (spare parts) as i don't think we're out of the woods yet with this little one.
Here at the rescue centre (my shed at the bottom of the garden) i make it my objective to rescue as many of these older generation seagulls as i can but unfortunately not all of them can be saved. Some of them seeing far too horrific injuries to hope for any recovery!
Still early days with this "old bird" as its got a long way to go before it makes a full recovery, but as i've said , feathers are growing back slowly but have yet to reach their full maturity and full colour? (paint job and refurb on the tank)
Not bad for 1 weeks work so far!
The details of its whereabouts were relayed back to me and i made my way down to retreive the "old bird"
From its identity ring it wears the numbers AD1584.
An unusual sub-species that i havn't got in my flock. On first inspection it had clearly been attacked by other scavengers! Most of its feathers were missing,had very bad circulation and a very weak heart! It was also covered in thick black oily goo everywhere. Good greif i thought, how can anyone misstreat one of these magnificent seabirds!
Suffice to say,a deal was quickly done with the promise that if any more seagulls should happen to pass by in the same condition then he should call me at once.
Once back at the seagull rescue centre (BRISTOL) the old bird (AD1584) went straight into the bath for a long soak to try and get rid of the horrid smelly black oily goo. Once out of the bath, i could see this "old bird" had seen many a skirmish with its other feathered flock mates.Probably as this is an old bird it was outcast from its flock and picked upon by passing scavengers!
Well, the drama continued long into the middle part of this week and many hours of painstaking surgery later, there are signs of recovery.
During the surgery,i found this old bird had a collapsed lung (1 broken piston ring and 1 seized) evidence this bird had been a prolific smoker in its younger days.(8:1 fuel mix) I'll have to have a word in its ear when its better about cutting down on its smoking habit?
On top of the collapsed lung it had poor circulation (VERY RUSTY water jacket) With these ailments now hopefully cured for good, it was time to look at its ticker! Very weak and thready pulse, what to do? (evidene of a previous botched surgery to replace ignition coil, also claggy points have been cleansed and gapped but still a weak pulse)
Drastic measures were called for, a temporary heart transplant was the way to go (complete wipac ignition) whilst i work on its original ticker!
Early signs this morning are promising whilst out in the paddling pool (test bin) It wants to fly but i wont release it out with the rest of my flock until its strong enough.(still a little bit asthmatic with a cheasty cough((slightly blocked carb jet and stale fuel))
It still has to grow most of its feathers back yet, and some of its previous injuries and scars have started to mutate slightly. These will need some corrective surgery later on.
Messages have been sent out already to other seagull lovers for "organ donations" (spare parts) as i don't think we're out of the woods yet with this little one.
Here at the rescue centre (my shed at the bottom of the garden) i make it my objective to rescue as many of these older generation seagulls as i can but unfortunately not all of them can be saved. Some of them seeing far too horrific injuries to hope for any recovery!
Still early days with this "old bird" as its got a long way to go before it makes a full recovery, but as i've said , feathers are growing back slowly but have yet to reach their full maturity and full colour? (paint job and refurb on the tank)
Not bad for 1 weeks work so far!
