This little raven has been hanging around our yard for about a month. It no longer flies, it walks everywhere. It seems to be having some sort of respiratory distress, very noisy laboured breathing. It eats dog food and sometimes bread, and is drinking lots. I think it may have west nile. I am trying to keep it safe from predators. Poor little creature, nature can be so cruel.
up close and personal
its little head seems squished down, not much neck.
maybe it is just how ravens are
it is one of this years young
it seems very little.
Five minutes after I posted this, the young raven passed away in its sleep. It was in one of our compost bins. So sad. We will bury it tomorrow, so not to spread whatever illness it had.
3 comments:
Oh, Pegg, so sad! :( I don't think I've ever seen a raven this up close. We get little birds that fly into our big windows now and then. They usually survive (some are stunned for awhile), but now and then they do not and I always feel so guilty.
By coincidence, I'm reading a book called Ravens Black right now.
Karen it is really sad.
Nature can be so cruel, what a terrible disease.
We had never been this close to a raven before either. This little birds parents have been hanging about for years, we feed them for a big part of the year on demand.
We knew this little bird was very sick, but part of me wished that it wasn't, we weren't sure if it had a birth defect or if it was west nile. I am pretty sure from its symptoms that it was west nile. I hope we gave it a little comfort in its last month of life.
Poor fellow. Pegg, you were so good to help him like you did.
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