Date: 4/13/25 6:57 am From: jerry Kruth <00000005ead0dac6-dmarc-request...> Subject: Re: Owelet outta the box! Pittsburgh Fire Dept guys to the rescue!
Hail the Fire Dept Guys! (and all first-responders!)
Linda and I debated what to do with our fuzzy little visitor? If we just set the little thing is some thicket, it would be chirping for its folks, and we thought with the bevy of prowling raccoons, cats, hawks, crows and Horny Owls, it wouldn't last long hanging outside. I was about to go retrieve my long ladder and climb up to the box with it, when Linda suggested asking the Fire Dept guys?
So, I went over to the station, just as guys were coming down. A a nice guy asked what's up?. I laughed at myself and quickly explained. He smiled as he listened, and replied, "We're just on our way now to a back-up call, we shouldn't be long. I'll see! What's the address?," he called out as they headed out. One minute later and I'd have missed them!
I waited a little while at home and it was getting dark. I was just about to go drive out to fetch my ladder, when a bunch of red-blinking lights pulled up in front of the house!!!
Those guys were great They threw up a ladder, and one carried the little thing up in the cardboard box, and gently took it, without touching it, wrapped in a tea towel, and deposited it back into the box!
We hope this was the best option! Nature takes its own turns with myriad exceptions. I took the responsibility to erect boxes and invite wildlife onto our urban plot; I did what I hope will turn out the best!
We hope this has a happy ending.
This mini-drama played out because we have these NESTBOXES (six), around the house. This includes one with a glass side at my office window, so I can watch (the squirrels) in there carrying on! YOU can do it too!
Linda ( Goodfellow ) will have some video, and me some pics, later on FB, if interested.
Thanks for reading, and create your own mini-dramas, no matter where you live!
Jerry Kruth
Pgh
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On Saturday, April 12, 2025 at 12:46:59 PM EDT, SCOTT WEIDENSAUL <scottweidensaul...> wrote:
Jerry,
I wouldn’t try to give it anything unless you have a dead mouse that you are certain couldn’t have gotten into rodenticide. Chances are it’s got some baby fat on it, and should be OK for roughly 24 hours. I would be more focused on placing it somewhere with dense cover, even if it’s not right next to the nest box. When the chicks fledge they scatter like quail, and the adults always manage to find them and feed them. Main thing is making sure a cat or other predator like a barred owl doesn’t spot it first.
Scott
> On Apr 12, 2025, at 11:53 AM, jerry Kruth <gkruth...> wrote:
>
> Hi Scott, and thanks for the reply. "Wait until dark," does appear to be the timeline.
>
> This evening I'm going to get a smaller ladder, and hope to perch the little thing on a tree limb near the nestbox where the parents can access.
>
> Til then, we'll leave it closed in the powder room where it can move around but not bolt through the rest of the house. n.b. -- it had no intention of remaining cooped up in that closed (albeit briefly) box, so pushed its way out again, so why stress it!
>
> Do you (or anyone) have any suggestions as to what to attempt to feed it until this evening?
>
> We have Cesar dog treats for Maggie -- that has small bits of various meats in some jelled concoction. It's soft. We also thought of finely chopped lunch meat, or tuna?
>
> Thoughts?
>
> If you have any lengthy thoughts (or anyone), please feel free to phone: 412-491-6354.
>
> Thanks for any and all suggestions.
>
> I'll also add -- when you have nestboxes around, even if you live on an urban postage stamp, YOU TOO can still have interesting dramas with wildlife if you create the habitat (with feeders, and a water feature), and native plantings.
>
>
>
> Jerry Kruth
>
> Pgh
>
>
>
>
> On Saturday, April 12, 2025 at 06:48:56 AM EDT, SCOTT WEIDENSAUL <scottweidensaul...> wrote:
>
>
> Jerry,
>
> Like any fledgling, if as you say it appears old enough to be moving on its own, I would wait until dark and put it near the nestbox in thick cover. It will vocalize and the adults will find it. This all sounds perfectly normal to me.
>
> Scott Weidensaul
> Milton, NH (formerly Schuylkill Co.)
>
> > On Apr 11, 2025, at 10:59 PM, jerry Kruth <00000005ead0dac6-dmarc-request...> wrote:
> >
> > Does anybody have any advice?
> > Well, we sure have Screechie making little ones. One of our neighbors found a little one on the street under the nest box this evening. We scooped it up to keep it safe from prowling varmints and have it closed up in a cardboard box with some soft cloth and a cup of water for the night.
> > What should we do in the morning?
> > I lent out my ext ladder last week and can't put it back up in the nestbox. It look like it is perhaps mature enough it's trying to move around on its own.
> > Do I put it back on a tree branch? It's parents must be nearby I presume?
> > Anybody?
> > Thank you,
> > Jerry Kruth
> > Pgh
>
