Birds are target of 'inhumane' abuse

Posted - Wednesday, March 06, 2013 10:36 AM EST

This herring gull is on the mend after someone wrapped a beer can around its neck. 'Whoever did this is sick,' says Maya Totman, director of Florida Keys Wildlife Rescue.

More than a decade of working to help injured animals in Monroe County didn't prepare Maya Totman, director of Florida Keys Wildlife Rescue, for what she saw on a Monday call to the Big Pine Key Fishing Lodge.

Totman arrived to find a herring gull and brown pelican weak and struggling, with deliberately cut and shaped aluminum cans of Busch Light beer shoved over their beaks and heads, then wrapped tightly around the birds' necks like tight collars.

The previous day, Totman and some fellow volunteers responded to the same location to treat an adult male osprey that had been shot with two BBs from an air-powered gun.

"I have seen so many different injuries in different type[s] of wildlife but nothing like this," Totman said. "This is shocking," she said. "It was done intentional. I'm sick about it. This is something outrageous. Whoever did this, they need some help -- completely inhumane. The poor birds were choking."

The gull was found at a campsite and the pelican nearby next to a fish-cleaning table. Fishing Lodge guest Greg Vogel cut the cans off both birds' necks with his Swiss Army knife.

The gull's head was forced through the can, but Vogel said the other can was modified to fit over the pelican's larger head.

"Somebody must have thought about this for awhile," Vogel said. "The can had a little bent clip so it could be wrapped around the pelican's neck."

But now, after a steady diet of nutrient-laden pureed grouper mixed with filtered water, the gull is set for release back into the wild as early as Friday, Totman said.

This herring gull is on the mend after someone wrapped a beer can around its neck. 'Whoever did this is sick,' says Maya Totman, director of Florida Keys Wildlife Rescue.

Continued:  http://www.keysnet.com/2013/03/06/485582/birds-are-target-of-inhumane-abuse.html

Bird strike by vehicle in Long Beach, Wash.: 92 dead, $5,500 reward - UPDATE

Every year, the Wildlife Center of the North Coast in Astoria reports dead birds intentionally hit by motorists on beaches of northwest Oregon and southwest Washington. Usually, one or two animals are killed. But last week, 92 shorebirds died in an apparent vehicle attack on Washington's Long Beach Peninsula.

The strike, one of the biggest ever according to the center, has raised a record reward.

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, an animal rights group headquartered in Virginia, offered $5,000 on Monday for information leading to prosecution. The group often puts up money to solve animal abuse cases around the country. But this is the first time it's intervened in a Northwest bird kill, said Stephanie Bell, associate director of PETA's cruelty investigations.

"We were horrified by the allegations," Bell said. "The alleged crime was vicious. Many of the animals had torn wings and died of their injuries."

The kill was reported by two beachcombers out for a mid-day stroll on Thursday along the Long Beach Peninsula. Near the Cranberry Beach entrance, they walked by a large flock of Dunlins, a small Sandpiper-like bird, gathered on the sand. All was fine. But when the pair returned 20 minutes later, carcasses littered the beach. Wide tire tracks were imprinted on the sand in a clear sign of a bird strike.

The couple, horrified, called the wildlife center, which, in turn, notified Washington state law enforcement. Two officers, one from Fish and Wildlife enforcement and another from the Pacific County Sheriff's Office, investigated late Thursday afternoon. They snapped pictures of the birds and examined carcasses.

It was clearly a crime scene, said Sgt. Dan Chadwick  of the Washington state Department of Fish and Wildlife.

"The trauma to the birds was indicative of a vehicle strike," Chadwick said

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http://www.oregonlive.com/pacific-northwest-news/index.ssf/2013/01/bird_strike_by_vehicle_on_long.html