Poor pidgie tarred & feathered...

[Rockie]

Hi all,

I'm sure most people know this, but just in case...

I rescued a sweet, precious scared pij today. Sitting all alone in the rain/sleet I said to myself, "here we go again". It seems I am always greeted at work with a poor pidgie problem, or a stinking hawk problem (which was the last two days - kestral).

This baby looked like he hurt a wing, but it was only upon capture that I saw both feet and legs completely covered w/tar & junk! You couldn't see the feet at all! This poor thing, how was he getting around?

Long story short, DAWN DISHWASHING LIQUID IS THE BEST! At first I tried the soap I had handy and this poor sweetie was VERY patient. We washed & washed...& then I ran out for some DAWN. The Dawn REALLY made a difference. All in all it took about 2 washing sessions of 45 minutes each, but she is now standing tall! There were also wood pieces tarred under one wing, attached to her chest. I saw no other visible wounds & hope to see that this was the extent of the wing injury.

She's already dry from her bath & we're about to head home. So DAWN is the real deal...in case this situation ever arises for you.

[Pete Jasinski]

Hi Leslie,
I wonder how that poor lil fella got tar all over himself? Anyhow, it was that little guys lucky day that you happened by to the rescue. Not that things aren't hectic enough already now add another patient into the mix That's the fate of the good samaritan! If life wasn't moving at 100mph things would get boring. Let us know how your patient does when you're all done.
Good work!

[Pigeonpal2002]

Hi Leslie,


Thanks for the info about the dawn soap. I remember hearing mention of this detergent in the past and on TV. Particularly when there are oil spills and massive numbers of birds have to be cleaned up.

Thanks again for reminding anyone that might come up against this situation in the future.

[Reti]

Thank you for the info, Leslie.
That is good to know.

Reti

[elvis_911]

Good job caring for the bird


elvis

[pdpbison]

Hi Leslie,


Ooooo, nice to know this, thanks!

I never bathed any in anything but tepid or warm water, usually 'Butt-Baths' for the ones that had poo all built up back there gobbed in their vent Feathers, sick ones to have that condition like that.

But you know, the 'Dawn' might be a good head start for 'dumpster' Birds, the ones that someimes get born behind a mcdonalds or friedchicken or bad chinee restaurant place...some of them can not even fly they are so full of stinky oil. I wonder if it would be okay to do the scrub-a-dubb-dubb on them entire?

Would their skin absorb anything from the 'Dawn' detergent, that would hurt them?

One would of course rinse them thoroughly in clean plain warm Water, after...

Anyone know? If you washed them thoroughly, if that is cool to do ?


Phil

[kat0100]

I used Dawn dishsoap to clean the feral that I rescued! He had fallen in a puddle of hydraulic oil and was COVERED. Dawn is some awesome stuff!!

[TAWhatley]

http://www.ibrrc.org/oiled_bird_procedures.html

Terry

[pdpbison]

Hi Terry,


Wow...cool link...good article.

"Dawn"...is the way-to-go !

phil

[Rockie]

Hi everyone,

Thanks for all the "thanks", and I feel worse than awful right now to tell you all the pidjie didn't make it.

Thank you Terry for the link for more info...I of course feel like this was my fault, but a rehabber that I deal with says the tar is extremely toxic and even very little ingested is fatal. The article speaks of waiting 48 hours to remove the oil???I understand the delicate condition and trying not to stress them, but was I wrong to proceed after she was warmed?

All I can say is that during the cleaning procedure (which I was very delicate about) she was very calm. Before and after the bath I kept her warm. About a 1/2 hour after the bath she was standing tall & almost all dry. I was so excited. She came home with me and in the morning it looked like she hadn't eaten. I did notice her walking particularly slowly in her box, when she saw me.

I was taking her to work with me (in her box, in a preheated car) and had taken all my feeding supplies, etc. as well. In the 40 minutes it took me to get there and peek in on her, she was gone. I was more than shocked, because she was alive when I started out.

I believe the rehabber about the toxicity, but, if anyone else has any input as to whether I may have done something not completely right & jeopardized this baby, please let me know. I feel horrible. The only thing I can say is that she passed comfortably with her feet underneath her where they belonged.

I really hoped this would be a success story, for her sake as well as mine.