Urgent help needed
 

Hi all

We have e bit of a predicament here, A duck just flew into the side of our house and has broken her wing. We are at our wits end trying to figure where we can take it. Any ideas would be great as to where it can be taken to try and save the bird. It's a young Mallard hen most likely from this year.

Thank you all in advance
Slash8

You can call Medicine River wildlife center. They are from west of Innisfail maybe in the Caroline district. The other is Fish and Wildlife. Good luck.

I'm sure there is a lot of individuals here who would love it for an easy dinner. If I was available I would.

If you are intent on saving it for a broken wing and from the stew pot, maybe try the SPCA or SRD. However, F&W will likely wait for you to leave, then simply kill it, and the SPCA will likely turn you away. It is a mallard hen, which is a very common bird. F&W doesn't even save red-tailed hawks that have broken wings...

really??...and you are serious???....what a..... the Alberta Wild Bird Recovery Center (?) is near you, I will try to find the #...or F&W will direct you....

If you don't believe me, you're welcome to call the F&W biol out of Whitecourt (Curtis Stambaugh) and the Fox Creek F&W Officer (Marc Foisy) who dropped off the red-tail. Would have been the fall/winter of 2010/2011.

Generally, common critters are not rehabilitated by tax-payer dollars. Red-tail hawks, Swainson's hawks, mallards, American coots, Great-grey owls, etc, fall under the definition of common. These species (and many others) have very healthy, sustainable populations in Alberta, and the expenditure of thousands of dollars to fix a broken wing. Now, I could understand dropping off the mallard hen at a recovery center to allow the species-at-risk being rehabilitated there to have fresh, wild meat, that'd be great of you!

That being said, certain species (ferruginous hawks, burrowing owls, silver foxes, pigmy owls, peregrine falcons) are considered to be "At-Risk" (or endangered, depending on the species), and should be rehabilitated at these centers to help the wild population grow and become more sustainable. But to spend that money on a mallard hen, a species shot in the ten's of thousands every fall by hunters across North America?

The Medicine River Wildlife Rehab place would be the best...I took a "common" little bird there years ago and they took care of it. I wish there were more of those places around...I think there used to be one north of Cochrane and there is a raptor rescue place way south around Lethbridge, I think...Good luck! Put it in a cozy dark box for transport!:)

At risk of seeming callous, I think Craddosk's suggestion is the most realistic. Rescuing a wounded malllard sounds a bit ...unnecessary. I'm recalling the lengths one Calgary citizen went to about 20 years ago in a rescue attempt on a duck down at Prince's Island that had a 6-pack plastic holder around it's neck.

Are we to now have rescue drop off centers for deer, squirrels and magpies that get clipped by vehicles? Where does the difference lie?

You're kidding, aren't you?

You do realize that Silver Foxes aren't a species, they are just a colour phase of the Red Fox.

You have a local RCMP station in Tolfied. Go there and ask, they may have the answer for you.

Sorry, my bad, I meant to indicate Swift Foxes, but mistyped.

I'd have taken it to the BBQ.

Sorry if I sound harsh. Two words: LEAD ASPIRIN.

:snapoutofit: Thats not harsh, I agree, dipatch it quickly and humanely
Theen into the pot ya go.

x2:bad_boys_20:

Yummy....Just feed him while you "nurse it"
 

Sometimes nature presents you with something so special you have no choice but to bow down to the ingredient and present it as purely as you can. I know, Jaded Ones: You’ve heard this mantra aped by hundreds of chefs hundreds of times — “honor the protein,” and such. It’s a cliche. But in this case it’s warranted.

I present to you wild foie gras. Yes, it exists. Under certain circumstances, wild ducks and geese will indeed gorge themselves far beyond their normal nutritional needs, to the point where they develop a fat layer comparable to that seen on a domestic duck, loads of fat around their gizzards and guts — and, most importantly, livers that develop into the lovely wobbly bit you see at left in the picture. Doctors call the condition steatosis, in which liver cells accumulate lipids. I call it yummy.

Not all ducks seem to do this. You will rarely see a diver duck this fat, and you will never see a snow goose this sclerotic. Mostly you see it in seed-loving ducks: Mallards, gadwall, wigeon, green-winged teal and most of all in the northern pintail, anas acuta.

Unfortunately, that is the way it is. My wife was a forest officer and has had the unfortunate task of putting down such birds.

Great job on saving the duck though! I did the same thing with a family of ducks i found at work. Set them free on my dugout after some rehab. Great feeling!

for future reference in the case of a wonded hawk, owl, eagle or falcon - You are fairly close to the Strathcona Raptor Shelter.
It is a great place.

i think you may have picked the wrong forum to ask that question. Just saying. :bad_boys_20: