Peg is short for Peg Leg.
I found Peg Saturday evening, caught by one leg, in a large rodent snap trap in our pasture.
I released her, scooped her up, and brought her into the house.
Her leg was a mess; a bloody compound fracture with her foot dangling by a long, skinny piece of skin.
I had to amputate her leg with toenail clippers.
(I had big dreams of being a vet when I was a kid.)
While I was bandaging her stub (with cotton and antibiotic gel wrapped with first aid tape - and duct tape for good measure), her eyes closed and I thought she was dying.
I said, "Don't you die on me little birdy! I haven't lost a patient on the
She rallied.
I think she was just in shock.
I was surprised to find Peg still alive Sunday morning. I fed her a mix of wild finch seed and millet pieces. ???? Just guessing on what might be right. She hung on and was a feisty little dish, escaping once to fly madly around my laundry room.
I dropped Peg off at an avian vet's office Tuesday. I knew she needed to be on antibiotics and might need her boney stub cauterized and I wasn't sure what to do next.
I thought Peg might be some kind of finch. The vet said she's definitely not a finch but wasn't sure what kind of bird she is. (The vet deals mostly with parrots, but kindheartedly treats wild birds that find their way to her office.) I emailed Peg's picture to a friend who said she looks like an immature meadowlark, and said she really should have some bugs to eat.
Do you think Peg is a young meadowlark?
The vet doesn't keep live food on hand, so I took some mealworms to the office today. Good timing too. They just got a flicker in that had been caught in a volleyball net and injured its wings.
So Peg - the alleged meadowlark - and the flicker will be eating good tonight.
Yum! Yum! Deeeelicious!
