Wobbly legs and embedded threads: caring for Aberdeen’s wildlife

No sooner had we said goodbye to Mary than we had Bertie the juvenile gull in the house for a few days. I found him at St Nicholas Kirk after someone reported he couldn’t walk. He could walk but not very well, his legs were wobbly, and he couldn’t fly. I caught him quite easily.

After several days of sardines he started to show some improvement but I wasn’t sure where to send him. There’s always a worry when you send an animal to one of the main rescue centres that they might euthanise them. This is because they will only rehabilitate and release animals that have a very good prognosis and high chance of surviving independently in the wild. Broken legs and wings in birds are generally considered a poor prognosis and there are no dedicated sanctuaries for disabled gulls.

It didn’t look to me like Bertie had any broken bones so in the end he went with the SSPCA, hopefully to their hospital in Fishcross though I will have to wait until next week to learn his fate. I’m not sure what was wrong with him. I think most of the baby gulls in Aberdeen city centre are malnourished as they eat our junk food which is bad for them as well as us. Baby gulls grow very rapidly and need a lot of calcium; without it they can get avian rickets.

On his last night with us I let him loose in the utility room to give him more space as he was going stir-crazy in the dog crate. The good news is he is able to fly – in the morning I found him up on the bench.

Yesterday we went in search of the brown pigeon with severe stringfoot that we’ve been trying to catch for a month. Amazingly, I caught it! It was the peanuts that did it, plus I think this bird is starving as she felt very thin. I tried removing all the string then and there but it was too embedded and even though I really wanted to release her straight away we’ve brought her home. So now we have Matilda with us.

Unfortunately I have not been able to remove all the string. There are a few threads sticking out but they have been cut already. They cannot be pulled out or unwound – I have tried. They are embedded in the tissue. I am not sure what to do so for the time being I will continue to bathe her feet in saline and apply Vetericyn spray. Hopefully the swelling will subside and I’ll eventually be able to remove the remaining threads.

Matilda needs feeding up too. Because she has been in pain this has made her vulnerable and less bold in accessing food. She ate a lot yesterday when she first arrived and she’s very taken with the mirror I put in the cage. Agnes wasn’t at all interested in the mirror but Matilda stares at it all day.