W.w.n.d???

[Running Mommy]

This morning I was riding up by "rattlesnake hill" - named for the 6-7 foot rattler that lives there, and his many friends that come down the hill and end up in the school yard across the street.
Anyway, I see this little lump of something up ahead and realize it's squirming. "Oh great! A snake!!" I think, but as I get closer I realize that it's been hit and is in the throes of death. It's a baby rattlesnake probably about 1.5 feet long.
So I give it a wide berth and say out loud "YUCK" as it's all bloody, and well... It's a snake!!
So then I think to myself "what would Nanci do??"... And I spend the next few miles pondering, and laughing out loud as I imagine her trying to apply a tourniquet to stop the bleeding, and trying to bring him back to life.... Stopping just short of mouth to mouth- cause well... It's a Rattlesnake!!
Then I see her saying a little prayer over his lifeless snake body, sending him off to snake heaven..

[Nanci]

When I come across an animal who is unsalvageably hit by a car, I kill it. Bird- wring neck. Snake- I guess I would stomp its head or whack with a shovel...

Poor little guy.

Nanci

[Nanci]

I was driving home from camping in southern Minnesota one time, and saw a bird flopping in the road. Stopped, of course, and picked up a Wood Duck who had been shot. Took him home, took him to work that night and x-rayed his wing. It was shot so badly it had multiple fractures- splintered would be a good description. There was an ER doc there who had been a vet in his former life. He told me that farm animals have amazing healing powers, and I should bandage the wing and immobilize it to the bird's body. So I cleaned the wounds and bandaged the wing with vet wrap and for four weeks I smelled the wing every day to make sure it hadn't become infected or developed gangrene. Finally, four weeks later, I removed the bandages. Lucky paused for a minute, stretched out both wings, and flapped. The gunshot wing detached from his body and flew across the kitchen! Amazing healing powers indeed!! The stump had healed perfectly, and the amputated wing had mummified, not rotted, since there really wasn't much for meat in the area of the wound. We found a new home for Lucky at a farm with other tame and wild ducks where he could swim and climb trees in safety.

Nanci

[Selkie]

Nanci---You are my hero. What a generous, caring soul you possess.

Sorry I can't get worked up about the injured snake.

[Lise]

Another amazing tale of compassion, ingenuity, and animal rescue from Nanci.

As for the snake, I just feel for any creature who's heading to death but can't quite get there. The compassionate thing is to finish it, but that's hard to do. L.

[margo49]

I had a kitten in a "state" and everybody told me "let nature take its course. His last day I asked no less than 4 men to help me finish him off. Not one agreed! And this was in Israel not California! The best was a guy who constantly wears a pistol on his belt. He came into my Dairy saying "That kitten should be put out of its misery. Do you want me to do it?" So I said "Oh, *would* you?" to which he replied that he didn't really mean it.
So I drown-ded him myself.
I am for mercy killing of animals.
Your words Lise are perfect ("can't quite get there")