stories

I was in a hurry to get to a meeting as I walked out of my house (May 23rd) and across my front lawn. Something in the middle of the lawn caught my eye. It was a pale green egg (about the size of a chicken egg) that wasn't there the day before. I picked it up - the shell appeared to be intact. I carried it into the house and started-up my incubator. Outside in the yard, I later found an empty shell of another egg telling me that the nest was destroyed by a predator.

Living close to Winona Lake, and being a conservationist at heart, each year brings yet another experience raising, rescuing or hatching a castaway. I'm not a licensed wildlife rehabilitator so if you do have the need for the services of one - please call a state licensed rehabilitator.

After a week in the incubator I candled the egg and saw signs of life so I calculated the estimated time of arrival as June 17th. Well on June 12th he/she decided to make his/her way into the world. Prematurely? He/she made two small attempts at using its "egg tooth" to chip out. He/she was also vocalizing and shaking the egg from inside. Then he stopped and decided that it didn't want to come out. I waited until 4:30 a.m. but it made no further progress. I checked the egg in the incubator the first thing the next morning and decided to do a cesarean section of the egg. Slowly chipping away and making a small hole adjacent to the area that he started from the inside. He then started to become more active and vocal. After making the opening large enough and also stopping some bleeding it emerged except for his rear end. He was exhausted but alive and peeping.

After a period of time it pushed the rest of the way out of the egg and I then noticed that there was considerable bleeding in the empty shell and coming from his abdomen that quickly stopped. Anyway he/she pulled through, is eating, bathing and doing well.