ain't nature cruel.
May 2nd 2012, 7:42 pm
#1
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ain't nature cruel.
Hi all, I've had a bit of a week with wildlife... heard a little pup crying and couldn't find it.... and the biggest grasshopper/cricket I had ever seen in my life that was injured in the road, I tried to move it and only succeeded in making it hop into the path of the next car....then found a chick fallen from the nest too late to save it.... then today I found a swift at the side of the road... it obviously couldn't fly, I didn't know what to do... I'm looking after someones dog and cats so not a good idea to take it home... I reluctantly left it where it was, I am too much of a coward to put it out of it's misery..hopefully it's demise was very quick and it has fed something else that was starving.... ain't nature cruel.. 
May 2nd 2012, 8:00 pm
#2
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Re: ain't nature cruel.
Life is cruel sometimes Doris
I suppose you must think of all the wonderful things around you too that nature provides, and not get to sad about things you can not change.
I suppose you must think of all the wonderful things around you too that nature provides, and not get to sad about things you can not change.
May 2nd 2012, 8:05 pm
#3
FreeThinker
Joined: Nov 2009
Location: the moors and levels
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Re: ain't nature cruel.
Hi all, I've had a bit of a week with wildlife... heard a little pup crying and couldn't find it.... and the biggest grasshopper/cricket I had ever seen in my life that was injured in the road, I tried to move it and only succeeded in making it hop into the path of the next car....then found a chick fallen from the nest too late to save it.... then today I found a swift at the side of the road... it obviously couldn't fly, I didn't know what to do... I'm looking after someones dog and cats so not a good idea to take it home... I reluctantly left it where it was, I am too much of a coward to put it out of it's misery..hopefully it's demise was very quick and it has fed something else that was starving.... ain't nature cruel..
May 2nd 2012, 8:08 pm
#4
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Re: ain't nature cruel.
Oh dear! How did you know the swift couldn't fly? Swifts, once they leave the nest, stay on the wing for the next three years. They then make a nest on a vertical surface (cliff, house) to breed. Swifts can't take off from the ground. You have to pick it up and launch it.
May 2nd 2012, 8:25 pm
#5
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Re: ain't nature cruel.
nope,,, it's gone... hopefully to a better place,,, something in the back of my mind when I found it told me to take it and launch it from the sun roof... something as you said Jemenato about them not being able to take off... wish I had now...
May 2nd 2012, 8:42 pm
#6
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Re: ain't nature cruel.
May 2nd 2012, 9:21 pm
#7
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Re: ain't nature cruel.
From the CommonSwift Worldwide site,
Can the Common Swift take off from flat ground?
Yes. Healthy Common Swifts can take off from the ground easily, sometimes by pushing off with their long wings, but the ground must be smooth, so that the wings can flap freely. A Swift is not able to take off in long grass, for example
Yes. Healthy Common Swifts can take off from the ground easily, sometimes by pushing off with their long wings, but the ground must be smooth, so that the wings can flap freely. A Swift is not able to take off in long grass, for example
May 2nd 2012, 9:47 pm
#8
FreeThinker
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Re: ain't nature cruel.
May 2nd 2012, 9:52 pm
#9
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Re: ain't nature cruel.
This is the bit I had seen...
There's obviously some controversy...
Swifts' wings are so long and their legs so short (in fact, relative to their body size, they have the shortest legs of any bird) that they are unable to walk or take off from the ground. If you find a Swift on the ground that is not obviously injured, pick it up, place it on your hand with the bird facing forwards, and slowly raise your arm up and down to encourage it to take off.
May 2nd 2012, 10:15 pm
#10
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Location: On Top of the World
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Re: ain't nature cruel.
Last one I had dealings with could take off well enough.
It had flown into my 15th floor apt in TF.and made a right old mess.
I placed it outside on the balcony ready for take off into free airspace after recovering from its activities, however it promptly took off and flew straight back in again, shitting all over the walls and knocking over a couple of ornaments in return for my kindness.
It had flown into my 15th floor apt in TF.and made a right old mess.
I placed it outside on the balcony ready for take off into free airspace after recovering from its activities, however it promptly took off and flew straight back in again, shitting all over the walls and knocking over a couple of ornaments in return for my kindness.
