38
Wednesday, July 8, 2020 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
WILDLIFE: Watch out
along shorelines of
lakes and streams
Continued from page 1
to some local folks that it has
been deserted by its mom
and has to be picked up and
cared for. Wildlife biologists
recommend that you just
ignore the fawn in your yard.
Leave it alone; don9t even go
near it.
There is no discernible
scent to a fawn; even a coy-
ote or cougar can9t usually
smell one. But if a human
goes traipsing around the
fawn their scent will be as
strong as a skunk to a preda-
tor looking for a meal. In
addition, the doe will go into
stress looking for her baby.
A fawn can spend sev-
eral days in one spot as mom
comes back at night and
nurses it, then leaves before
dawn to pursue her goals.
There9s a similar situation
with wild birds.
Native Bird Care, a
wild bird rehabilitation
facility near Sisters oper-
ated by Elise Wolf, has been
caring for orphaned baby
birds for years. Wolf says,
<Baby and young birds can
wind up on the ground, in
the hands of humans for all
sorts of reasons. Predators
(cats, raccoons, jays, crows,
ravens, squirrels) can ran-
sack the nest and kill babies
or parents. Weather, wind,
and human interference like
limbing trees in the summer
can also result in babies in
distress.=
Going boating, fish-
ing, or heading to the lake?
Waterbirds (ducks, geese,
grebes, rails) and shorebirds
(sandpipers, killdeer) nest
along lakes and river shore-
lines. These birds9 babies all
are born with down and can
walk. They are supposed to
be on the ground.
This nesting season, a
baby shorebird was taken to
Native Bird Care because
several young folks were
playing with it. Handling
baby birds stress them to the
point of death; they are easily
injured. Wolf says, <Please,
never play with wild baby
animals.=
If you go to the high lakes
to play in the water, don9t
turn your dog(s) loose. The
ground-nesting birds will be
spooked from their nests and
the hatchlings will scatter in
fright.
Some of these birds build
their nests in the reeds actu-
ally on the water. Be care-
ful poking around in the
marshes and reeds of a lake
during spring and summer.
A grebe Wolf is rehabbing
(named Itsy-Bitsy) was sep-
arated from her family by a
too-curious human paddling
into the reeds. Wolf advises
to give these areas a wide
berth in this time of year;
she doesn9t want anyone to
accidentally step on babies
or eggs.
The obvious thing to do if
you stumble on one of these
babies or nests is to leave the
area as quickly as possible so
as not to force the youngster
any further from home.
A few nestlings (doves,
robins, jays) leave the
nest before they can fly
PHOTO COURTESY NATIVE BIRD CARE
One of our local grebes undergoing rehabilitation at Native Bird Care of
Sisters, who is the acting foster parent.
(possessing feathered, short
tails). Parents care for them
as they hop along in the
branches of a tree. If the
nestling observed is active,
warm, not hurt, and parents
are agitated, just place it on a
tree branch 4 mom and dad
will take it from there.
Except for baby doves,
says Wolf, any bird sitting
still, not moving, and easy
to pick up are often birds in
distress. Those who have
hit windows at times will sit
stunned, usually injured, and
occasionally need help.
Wolf counsels, <We will
never see most of birds9 nests
as they excel at hiding. But
eventually the babies must
leave the nest. Some birds
must learn to find food on the
ground 4 they are ground-
feeders. As long as they
appear to be active, assume
it is natural for them to be
where they are and leave
them alone.=
To learn more about when
to rescue a bird, visit www.
nativebirdcare.org.
finally creating a country that
mirrors its grand stories of
freedom, equality, and self-
determination. What9s true
for me, must be true for all.
We all have gardens
to tend and weeds to pull.
Choosing ways to get to
work and foster change is
all our responsibility. A con-
certed effort will help our
country and this world to
heal. We all have a role to
play and a way to tend the
gardens we9ve started and
inherited. There is no place
left to go. We can9t escape
the world we have created 4
whether we accept respon-
sibility or not. It9s here, it9s
alive and it9s wounded. How
we choose to behave now
will affect future generations
and their harvests. Will we
be part of the solution or part
of the problem? Roots buried
deeply can survive all kinds
of trials, it9s up to us to nour-
ish, cull and create a place
where everyone can bloom.
Commentary...
Tending your garden after a storm
By Katy Yoder
Columnist
A hail and windstorm
ravaged indiscriminately
throughout Central Oregon
recently. Gardens and farms
tended with love, faith and
fortitude were in shambles.
Other people and places were
untouched 4 maybe a little
rain and whipping winds, but
nothing that a hammer or a
rake couldn9t fix. No trauma,
just inconvenience.
Why were some spared
and other not? Was a score
being kept, leaving swaths
of punishment, hardship,
and adversity? During these
times, challenges and trials
continue to mount. Is that by
design? Or by virtue of birth,
circumstance, or karma?
Then there9s the challenges
we inherit, born of unjust
laws, learned biases and
cruel traditions that refuse to
die.
Walking through my gar-
den, planted to nourish bees
and butterflies, I marvel at
what remains after so much
was lost. Tiny, slender shoots
lay against earth like fallen
soldiers after a battle. Some
have begun to reach towards
sunlight in a valiant effort to
rise again. Spinach, chard
and butter lettuce leaves
were shredded, or torn in
half. The plants are alive, but
leaves had to be removed to
ease the burden of depleting
energy from the plant. Some
could be harvested, cleaned,
and eaten. Others were too
far gone to save.
Irises transplanted to
make room for parsley, cilan-
tro and dill were struggling
to acclimate to their new
circumstances. But a few
were able to produce buds,
and I hoped blooms for the
pollinators. The hailstorm
delivered golf ball sized hail
that bounced off the ground
at angles that sliced through
stalks, leaving budding flow-
ers in tattered shambles. The
force pulverized inch-thick
rhubarb stalks, leaving their
sheltering leaves in ruins.
Thumb-sized holes
remain across our land, a
reminder of the indiscrimi-
nate force that came and then
moved on to others. There
are sad stories of farms and
the crops destroyed under
ocean-colored turquoise
clouds that opened above
them. People tending plants
to feed their families will
have to wait for another
growing cycle. Growers,
depending on their crops for
their livelihood face another
hardship.
As I step on ground still
telling the torrent9s story, I
know I must keep tending
our garden. No matter how
overwhelmed I feel by the
effort, if I stop now all the
hard-won work will be lost.
The same can be said for
maintaining social distanc-
ing and cleanliness as we
try to thwart a second and
larger wave of COVID-19.
But many are going out any-
way. Some are seeking social
time, work, and a return to
normalcy. Others are react-
ing to a cry for solidarity and
the chance to simply breathe.
They know the consequences
of their actions could be dire,
for themselves and others,
but they are called to act and
bring change and justice for
all.
The pandemic hasn9t
stopped those who bravely
walk the streets in large cit-
ies and rural roads, protest-
ing the injustice of another
unarmed Black man killed
while others watched. Our
nation has been devastated
by natural disasters, a pan-
demic and social injustices.
The onslaught of weather,
rising tides and melting ice
didn9t start with us. But the
recent social injustice is on
all our shoulders. Some of us
have more power than others
to clean up the mess. As we
see and hear what9s happen-
ing, we can choose to look
at the devastation and figure
out how we can help, or we
can turn away and let the
hard work done by so many
turn to dust.
Some may feel removed
and wrongly accused of
racial injustice, but only the
very young are truly inno-
cent. We are products of
family lore, traditions, and
slippery explanations of why
we9re not at fault.
As a white woman of
privilege, it9s time for me
to look deeply at the roots
I9ve planted and the garden
I tend. There are weeds with
rhizomes running stealthily
beneath me. Often, I don9t
know they are there or where
they came from. If I stop,
listen, and open my heart to
hearing what it9s like to be
born a Black, Brown, Red or
Yellow flower, I can begin to
understand what I can do to
support their right to flour-
ish and grow. There are walls
and brutal elements trying to
keep them down. With my
eyes opened, I realize every
person has a part to play in
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541-420-2165
khivarealestate@gmail.com
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