Sometimes, an unexpected event changes the trajectory of your life.
For Ashland resident, bird photographer and IT expert Brad Dinerman, it was the unforgettable thud of a bird slamming into his kitchen window three years ago.
“I looked out and saw an American goldfinch sitting on the ground, obviously stunned. Stunned birds are easy targets for hawks, cats and other predators, which are often watching/waiting quietly on the sidelines. I went outside and carefully picked it up. After a few minutes in my hand, it regained its senses and happily flew off into the woods.”
According to The Cornell Lab of Ornithology, birds fly into glass because “they see the landscape—trees, sky, clouds—reflected on the glass surface but do not realize that a hard, transparent surface lies between them and that apparent open space.” The lab also offers suggestions on how to reduce collisions with windows. For example, you can stick objects to the outside of the glass or relocate birdfeeders.
Not long after the successful bird rescue, Dinerman began volunteering Sundays at Mass Audubon’s Blue Hills Trailside Museum in Milton in their education group, where he gives live-animal presentations with an owl, falcon or raven perched on his gloved hand, and at the New England Wildlife Center (NEWC) in Weymouth on Saturdays, where he works directly with veterinarians or veterinarian technicians to help care for injured or recuperating wildlife.
Learning Rehabilitation
More recently, Dinerman completed a 10-week rehabilitation course at NEWC. The course “provides basic information about the process of becoming a wildlife rehabilitator, about the biology of selected groups of animals, and introduces participants to the skills necessary to conduct successful wildlife care.” To obtain a rehabilitator permit from the Massachusetts Department of Fisheries and Wildlife and United States Department of Fish and Wildlife, Dinerman must pass an examination, secure a location to rehabilitate animals, and obtain permission from the town.
The long journey to rehabilitator is not for the faint of animal heart. It is clearly a labor of wildlife love for Dinerman, who has chosen to work primarily with birds. “The success rate of animal rehabilitation and release is only 30-40 percent. Most of the animals will die of their injuries when they arrive or during the rehabilitation process, Dinerman said. “Despite that, I volunteer because it feels meaningful to help undo some of the damage that wildlife suffers as a result of human activity: habitat loss, predation by pets, toxins in the environment, and automobile/window collisions.”
“There are three common ways for the most visible injuries: They fly into windows, get hit by cars, and get attacked by cats or other predators,” he said. “Also, lead poisoning and rodenticide (rat poison) are frequent culprits for internal injury to birds and other animals,” he said. As an owner and lover of cats, it made me wince that my feline pals do so much damage to birds. Then I put the process into perspective. The feline instinct to hunt and kill is as much a part of their nature as the birds’ desire to eat insects or rodents. Unless we want to modify the behavior of cats, all we can do is assist the injured.
Dinerman did want to pass along one important bit of assisting-wild-creature advice: “If you see a baby bird alone under a tree, please leave it there. In most situations, the baby has either jumped or been pushed out of the nest because nature says, ‘It is time to learn to fly.’ Usually, the parents are nearby watching the process, making sure the baby is safe and bringing it food until it really can fly.”
The State of Massachusetts allows licensed wildlife rehabilitators to “legally possess and treat birds, mammals, reptiles and amphibians with the exception of deer, moose, bear, federally listed species and venomous snakes.” Dinerman told me that federally listed birds include migratory and the raptor, or birds of prey family: eagles, falcons, hawks, kites, owls and vultures.
Immediately, the film Jurassic Park came to mind so I asked. “Weren’t the huge, scary flying dinosaurs in Jurassic Park also called raptors?”
“Yes. Many scientists believe that avian raptors are descended from the dinosaurs. The Velociraptors in the film were presented as way larger than we observe in fossils. They were actually just a couple of feet high, perhaps up to an average person’s waist,” he said.
Duties of Rehabilitators
As part of his future rehabilitator duty, Dinerman might transport a bird from a facility like Tufts Wildlife, wrap its wing or keep it hydrated. It surprised me that with all the stringent laws to be followed, wildlife rehabilitators cannot charge for their services, although they may ask for donations to help cover the cost of medical supplies. “You pay a vet for services, medication and supplies because you own your dog or cat. Wildlife are considered as ‘owned’ by the State, which can’t be charged,” Dinerman explained.
Unlike domesticated animals, I realized that the State’s wild creatures are on their own. If they get injured and no one finds them, they often die alone or get devoured by another animal. It’s admirable that people like Dinerman volunteer a considerable amount of their time to take care of the wildlife that enriches our lives, landscapes and learning.
At the end of our interview, I asked Dinerman for his greatest take-away from his 10-week training. “It increased my desire to help the sick and injured. In college I started off in pre-med, but had a change of heart by the time I hit organic chemistry. Instead, I got a Ph.D. in physics concentrating on lasers. At that time, the job market was not great for someone so junior in the field, so I taught myself IT and eventually opened my own consulting business. Now I’m back on a path that has a medical feel to it. It feels right . . . meaningful.”
Currently, there are 41 licensed wildlife rehabilitators in Massachusetts listed on the Department of Fish and Game Web site. Dinerman would be the first one in Ashland.
What to Do When You Find Injured Wildlife
Ashland residents who find injured animals are encouraged to contact Tufts Wildlife in Grafton, 508-839-7918, or call Dona Walsh, Ashland’s animal control officer, at 508-881-0122.
For More Information:
Ashland Animal Control: www.ashlandmass.com/150/Animal-Control
Blue Hills Trailside Museum: www.Massaudubon.org/get-outdoors/wildlife-sanctuaries/blue-hills-trailsi...
New England Wildlife Center: www.newildlife.org/
The Cornell Lab of Ornithology: www.birds.cornell.edu/Page.aspx?pid=1478
Tufts Wildlife Clinic: vet.tufts.edu/tufts-wildlife-clinic
Wildlife Rehabilitators List: www.mass.gov/eea/agencies/dfg/dfw/fish-wildlife-plants/wildlife-rehabili...
Issue Date:
January, 2017
Article Body: