apparently we're horrible cruel animal abusers...

[katzklaw]

because a turtle lives in our water feature in the mini-golf course.

we have one of those plastic ponds (about 3'-4' or so) with a 3 bowl "waterfall" and pump setup... poorly disguised by rocks. it's decently done, but it's pretty obvious that it's not natural. lol. anyways. we have a turtle that has decided to take up residence in this fake pond. he's been taken out of the pond a few times, and comes back every time, so obviously he must like it in there.. so we toss feeder goldfish in there every once in a while for him. potential problem, tho, fake pond has steep sides, so it looks like he can't get out.

had a guest today who was extremely concerned about the welfare of our turtle.. said she was a vet tech and a reptile lover... said her kids were "really broken up about it" and it shouldn't be living like that... she said that wild caught it should be released back to the wild, and if it wasn't, it should be adopted out to someone who would properly care for it... i asked her what we could do to improve it's living situation (thinking, hoping, maybe she would say something useful) and she says "maybe not have it in a pond where kids are throwing money at it" (pond has a few pennies in it. people treat it like a wishing well sometimes).

manager actually had to go over to her site later and tell her that 1. no we did not put the turtle there, 2. when the turtle is removed, he comes back, so he seems to like it, and 3, we'll build him a ramp tomorrow so he can get out of the pond if he wants.

funny thing is, while i was telling the manager about the "concerned reptile lover", another woman was standing right there with her kids admiring the turtle, and she overheard me, and she said "i'm a vet tech too. looks fine to me."

lol... people... smh

[WishfulSpirit]

I don't really mind someone trying to help an animal that seems to be in distress (helping animals is good), but she should have dropped it when told "that's a wild turtle and he can get out, he just likes it there."

I and some other good samaritans once coaxed a wild turtle onto a blanket and helped it across the road so it wouldn't get squashed.

Turtles and reptiles do seem to like golf courses. There's a video on PGAs YouTube featuring animal encounters and several turtles are in it. As well as a few crocodilians.

[mathnerd]

A vet tech is not a vet, and a vet, as well educated as he or she is, is not a wildlife expert. If I were the manager I would have told the crazy lady that the turtle keeps coming back, but based on her concerns, I'd be contacting the wildlife expert of my choice for advise on the best habitat for the little guy.

I have a kind of sort of similar situation going on with my new addition. Charlotte is a disabled Scarlett Macaw (for anybody who read my first thread, yes, we changed her name). All of a sudden everybody I know is a bird expert. It's either "birds shouldn't be in captivity (well, this one would die in about a day, and she's got a happy home here, and the other birds are happy too), or advise on how to manage her issues. Only one friend actually has knowledge, and I take advise from her, and I take advise from people who I know are knowledgeable on a particular parrot forum, but everybody else gets told "I will discuss that with my avian vet".

[Mr Hero]

Taking care of turtles is easy. Feed it pizza.

[notalwaysright]

All of a sudden everybody I know is a bird expert.

Growing up we always had chickens... You know how many people saw them taking dust baths and freaked out? Tons of advice. Especially about eggs. I'm not an expert, but I'm a PhD compared to these people who were telling me how wrong I was doing everything.

There are some animals who legitimately don't do well in captivity, or require a very large area to be happy. Obviously not every place is super concerned about this. I'm looking at you, horrible mall in China with the "saddest polar bear in the world." I feel pretty safe to say that turtles do just fine in captivity. Plus it wanted to be there. Hasn't there been some posts about people upset and concerned about wild geese or seals when they're just hanging out minding their own business?

[ladydyani]

Taking care of turtles is easy. Feed it pizza.

And make sure it has a skateboard and some weapons.

[Sparklyturtle]

I have a Facebook friend who is a big proponent of raw food for cats. While I want my cats to be healthy, I simply can't afford to spend over $100+ per payday on food for my cats, especially the feral ones who comes by my back porch for food. So, they eat dry indoor cat food, and we just agree to disagree. I also pointed out that I can't afford to feed the feral cats raw food, so they get dry food because it's better than no food at all. At least we agree on this. My indoor cats are all older and are all very healthy, and the ferals all seem to be quite healthy (only have one left to get fixed, but she's proving to be quite a challenge to catch; any ideas out there?) so I'm going to keep doing what I can and those who have an issue with what I feed my cats can just mind their own business.

[nutraxfornerves]

I once worked as a flunky in a wildlife lab. We didn't get the people who found an "abandoned" fawn, thank goodness, but we did get Good Samaritans™ who "rescued" sick or injured hawks. A few knew what they were doing, but most were self-appointed experts. They's keep the hawk for a day or two before realizing they couldn't cope, and bring it in.

Most of the time, they kept the poor bird in a cardboard box. Hawks, like a lot of birds, need to grip something with their feet. After a few hours of slipping & sliding around a box, they dislocate their hips. Even if the bird had only minor injuries when captured, by the time we got it, it was in trouble. We'd thank the Good Samaritan, suggest, they call a game warden the next time, and take the bird off to be euthanized.

Game wardens or people who actually knew about birds, would put twigs & branches in the bottom of the box for the bird to hang on to. If it looked like it was able to be rehabbed, it went into the hawk pen. (One of my less thrilling jobs was to fed surplus lab mice to the hawks. Since the mice couldn't be allowed to run around & escape, they had to be dispatched and given to the hawks while still warm. The Happy Dispatch was done by hand.)

Every so often, one of the kind people would show up and ask to see "their" hawk. We'd take them out back & point to the healthiest bird in the pen.

[WishfulSpirit]

I'll keep that in mind. For some reason Hubby's family attracts lost or injured animals. Though I do think that my first response upon finding a wild animal would be to call an expert, if I do end up with a bird in some kind of enclosure, I'll give it a log or branch to perch on.

So far we've only found about 4 cats (all either reunited with owners or found new homes...two of them live with us now) and a muskrat hiding on my parent's porch (there's an irrigation ditch right behind their property and a fence that's easy for animals to get under...we just left it alone and think it wandered back to the water).

My parents also get deer in their yard on occasion, who are also just left alone and watched from a window.

[Nunavut Pants]

(only have one left to get fixed, but she's proving to be quite a challenge to catch; any ideas out there?)

The "deadfall" type live-traps are pretty good. Especially if you put the food in there for several days running while tying up the door so the trap is disarmed.

This is good for indiscriminate trapping (gets the first one in) but you can get lucky. Or if your problem child is consistent about the times she eats, you can get her that way.

I've gotten several cats, a bunch of kittens, and one very unhappy opossum that way...

[Argabarga]

It's one of the constants of the universe, film your pet doing something, anything, eating, sleeping, farting, chasing their tail, whatever. Then, put it on YouTube, and watch the first 10 comments be people claiming to be professional vets/breeders/trainers threatening to call the ASPCA because you're abusing your animals and your video is "proof"

This is why we can't have nice things.

[mathnerd]

I have a Facebook friend who is a big proponent of raw food for cats. While I want my cats to be healthy, I simply can't afford to spend over $100+ per payday on food for my cats, especially the feral ones who comes by my back porch for food. So, they eat dry indoor cat food, and we just agree to disagree. I also pointed out that I can't afford to feed the feral cats raw food, so they get dry food because it's better than no food at all. At least we agree on this. My indoor cats are all older and are all very healthy, and the ferals all seem to be quite healthy (only have one left to get fixed, but she's proving to be quite a challenge to catch; any ideas out there?) so I'm going to keep doing what I can and those who have an issue with what I feed my cats can just mind their own business.

I'm pretty sure my birds eat better than I do. About a third of the contents of the fridge is bird food. They get fresh fruits and veggies, plus home made "chop" (a mix of stuff that's good for birds), and home baked "birdie bread" (cornbread stuffed with veggies, fruits and nuts that's good for them). Then they get in-the-shell nuts both as treats and for the necessary workouts for their beaks (except Charlotte, who doesn't recognize them as food yet, so she gets already shelled nuts for now.)

[dalesys]

...I've gotten several cats, a bunch of kittens, and one very unhappy opossum that way...

It's the very unhappy stripy kitty that will make your day...

[Slave to the Phone]

Yeah, I learned the hard way to always have the trap on a bench or table to avoid catching the black and white kitties.

I agree that you should leave the trap baited and rigged so it doesn't shut for a few days. Use a wet stinky bait on a paper plate behind the paddle (trigger) while the trap is unset and when you are ready to try for kitty, smear the bait on the paddle itself. If it won't mess with the paddle working, smear the bait under the paddle.

I have an inside only cat who doesn't care about being trapped as long as he gets some of the yummy bait, so I trap him and let him rub his happy scent all over the trap while I'm telling him what a good boy he is and dropping treats through the bars.

I don't know if it helps, but cats are all about pheromones.

Try covering the trap.

Try rubbing catnip on the trap.

If target kitty is a male, see if any of the local rescues have an in heat female that you can borrow. Put female in a carrier, butt the end of the trap against the door of the carrier and cover everything.

If kitty is a female, try doing the same thing with your phone playing a recording of very young kittens crying in the carrier. That never worked for me, but it has worked for some people.

I've trapped 1 skunk, several raccoons and one crow. Crows are assholes, btw. When I saw it, I just let it go. One would think that it would be grateful, right? One would be WRONG!!! It hated me and told all of its friends about me. It was years before I could go in the back yard without being harassed by crows.

Back to turtles. My in-laws live in WV. When visiting I like to walk around the park that was close to their home and smoke my after dinner cig. So, I'm walking along and saw a turtle in a pond. I rescued the turtle from the water and carried it to flat ground. The next night, the poor turtle was back in the water. I rescued it again. The same thing happened the next day. After about a week, my mother in law thought she would walk with me and I saw the poor turtle again. As I exclaimed with dismay that the poor turtle kept getting stuck in the water, my mother in law kindly suggested that maybe the turtle kept going back there because it liked it there, so I left it alone. I'll bet that turtle hated me even more than the crow did.

[Sparklyturtle]

The "deadfall" type live-traps are pretty good. Especially if you put the food in there for several days running while tying up the door so the trap is disarmed.

This is good for indiscriminate trapping (gets the first one in) but you can get lucky. Or if your problem child is consistent about the times she eats, you can get her that way.

I've gotten several cats, a bunch of kittens, and one very unhappy opossum that way...

I've got one of those, and I used it to catch the kittens and think it's my best bet for catching her. I've been told that KFC chicken is a good bait, but the problem there is if I put it under the drop trap I'll end up with every feral cat for miles around in that trap, and she's very unlikely to be one of the first to race in there. While sorting out the ones I don't need is a pain, I'll do it if it means I can get her fixed. I'm going to try the KFC chicken, though; nothing ventured, nothing gained, and two more experienced trappers told me about it. Wish me luck.

Back to our thread. I don't leave the traps out at night unattended because I'm liable to trap one of two raccoons who visit my feeding station, which I also take in at night. One of the raccoons is huge, and the other has half a tail so they're easy to differentiate. I'd rather not have to deal with a raccoon. I live about two blocks from the downtown section of the town where I live and across a very busy street from a park, so I have no idea where the raccoons come from. They both look very well fed, so they've obviously got a mooch route.