''Rhea or Rheia is a goddess in Greek mythology, the Titaness daughter of the earth goddess Gaia and the sky god Ouranos (Uranus).
She is most renowned as the mother of Zeus, but many of The 12 Olympians are her offspring Demeter, Hades, Hera, Hestia, and Poseidon.'' - via www.thoughtco.com
On January 6th this year I noticed that one of the many pigeons that frequent our garden couldn't fly. Her wing was dragging on the ground and when all the others took off, she stayed hidden in the bushes. After two days of upset and stress on my part, I was on my way outside to put the bird food out when she was sitting in front of the door, in the pouring rain, looking at me.
On the 8th of January, I was able to get a hold of her and put her safely in the hutch in our back garden that has previously been home to Hoggle the Rescue Hedgehog and a summer day shelter for our piggies when they are out in their run.
After leaving her alone with food and water for a day or two to settle, we PPE'd up and gently assessed the situation. Thankfully, what was first thought to be a break was not! She had a wound the size of a 20p under her wing in her wing pit which we cleaned with a specific wound cleaning solution before popping her back in the hutch to relax again.
She was named in line with all of our pet's names (minus Baker) who are all also God and Goddess names. I think Rhea suits her.
I inparticular have a bit of experience with wildlife rehab and in regards to birds have in the past hand-reared a baby Blackbird, assisted two young sparrows that fell down my wood burner chimney, helped a fledgling pigeon who had been spray-painted blue and waded into a river to catch a juvenile herring gull that was covered in oil. I feel the need to explain that because it hurts my heart to have people question my knowledge.
Where we live there are not the types of wildlife rescues that I was lucky enough to have in my hometown. As pigeons are seen by many as vermin there are also not many rescues that will have the time, money or energy to be able to help one with a broken or badly injured wing, so of course, we couldn't risk anyone putting her down and decided to do everything we could to help her. Including lots of research reading and watching things online, online orders and a Pets at Home trip.
After leaving her alone with food and water for a day or two to settle, we PPE'd up and gently assessed the situation. Thankfully, what was first thought to be a break was not! She had a wound the size of a 20p under her wing in her wing pit which we cleaned with a specific wound cleaning solution before popping her back in the hutch to relax again.
She was named in line with all of our pet's names (minus Baker) who are all also God and Goddess names. I think Rhea suits her.
I inparticular have a bit of experience with wildlife rehab and in regards to birds have in the past hand-reared a baby Blackbird, assisted two young sparrows that fell down my wood burner chimney, helped a fledgling pigeon who had been spray-painted blue and waded into a river to catch a juvenile herring gull that was covered in oil. I feel the need to explain that because it hurts my heart to have people question my knowledge.
Where we live there are not the types of wildlife rescues that I was lucky enough to have in my hometown. As pigeons are seen by many as vermin there are also not many rescues that will have the time, money or energy to be able to help one with a broken or badly injured wing, so of course, we couldn't risk anyone putting her down and decided to do everything we could to help her. Including lots of research reading and watching things online, online orders and a Pets at Home trip.
A week or so later we needed to check the wound again to see if it was healing and decided to wrap her wing to prevent her from picking at it or any bugs from getting into it. However, after being so calm and well behaved getting it on she decided she didn't like it and wouldn't move around with it on. We'd planned to leave it on for the day to give the Vetericyn time to soak in but when we returned in the evening to take it off she'd already done it for us haha! At that point, with it not being a break, we decided to just leave her to it and give her the much needed time she needed to rest up and heal.
As the days passed, Rhea got stronger and stronger. Although her wing would never return to the original position without being wrapped up, over time she did start to regain proper movement in it.
Until one day...she stood in the run and flapped her wings! She turned her head to look at me and did it again. Rhea was telling me that she was ready to try and fly.
The run did have a net over the top of it for safety - both to protect her from any cats and other predators that may come into our garden and to stop her from getting out and not being about to get back in if we weren't around.
I gave it another day or two to make sure she was fit and healthy. I took sneaky peeks of her wing pit when she opened her wings to stretch and could see no sign of the wound at all and was happy that it had completely healed!
On February 26th we removed the run, opened the doors and watched as she walked out and had a look around. She had a look around for a minute or two, and then she took off. And of course, I cried.
It is apparently a tradition that I miss the release on video because the same happened with my Blackbird release, but we stood and watched her as she looked down at us from our roof before she was off for good.
I hope she is getting on okay and is living safely and happily. She hasn't yet been spotted her back in our gardens if she has come back, but it's possible she's purposely staying away in fear of being locked up in a hutch again! We had planned to buy or build a purpose-built aviary better suited for her if she hadn't regained her flight and I even posted about it being a strong possibility a mere 6 days before she left us.
It goes to show what time and care can do. I don't think it was by chance that she ended up in our garden and I'm glad we were there to help her.
(In regards to avian flu, there were no confirmed cases in my area until after Rhea had been released. We practised a high level of hygiene and have had no contact with any other birds. She was observed as healthy* before we caught her and healthy upon release. Fingers crossed she still is.
*other than the wing injury.)
The run did have a net over the top of it for safety - both to protect her from any cats and other predators that may come into our garden and to stop her from getting out and not being about to get back in if we weren't around.
I gave it another day or two to make sure she was fit and healthy. I took sneaky peeks of her wing pit when she opened her wings to stretch and could see no sign of the wound at all and was happy that it had completely healed!
On February 26th we removed the run, opened the doors and watched as she walked out and had a look around. She had a look around for a minute or two, and then she took off. And of course, I cried.
It is apparently a tradition that I miss the release on video because the same happened with my Blackbird release, but we stood and watched her as she looked down at us from our roof before she was off for good.
I hope she is getting on okay and is living safely and happily. She hasn't yet been spotted her back in our gardens if she has come back, but it's possible she's purposely staying away in fear of being locked up in a hutch again! We had planned to buy or build a purpose-built aviary better suited for her if she hadn't regained her flight and I even posted about it being a strong possibility a mere 6 days before she left us.
It goes to show what time and care can do. I don't think it was by chance that she ended up in our garden and I'm glad we were there to help her.
(In regards to avian flu, there were no confirmed cases in my area until after Rhea had been released. We practised a high level of hygiene and have had no contact with any other birds. She was observed as healthy* before we caught her and healthy upon release. Fingers crossed she still is.
*other than the wing injury.)
