After finding a Northern Mockingbird with impaired feet, the caring staff members of California Wildlife Center (CWC) decided to rescue the animal.
The foot condition made it difficult for the mockingbird to walk, perch or grasp objects. The bird had suffered from an unknown injury that caused its feet to knuckle, a common occurrence with young birds.
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As it turns out, the treatment for the condition has an incredibly adorable solution. The rescuers crafted some tiny snowshoes out of cardboard in order to for the bird’s feet to heal properly.
“We needed to train her feet back to how they should be,” Duane Tom, the CWC veterinarian told The Dodo. “Essentially, we used pieces of cardboard to tape her toes into their proper position. It usually takes a week or two of wearing the snowshoes before their feet are back to normal.”
Thanks to the ingenuity of the staff at the CWC, the mockingbird’s feet were successfully treated. The bird is now snowshoe-free and on the road to a full recovery. Actually, almost all birds at the CWC that receive treatment for knuckled feet are eventually able to be released into the wild, according to Duane Tom.
After seeing the heartbreaking picture below of the mockingbird’s feet before the snowshoes, it is easy to see why the CWC wanted to rescue the poor thing.
To find out how you can help support the rescue of injured birds such as this Northern Mockingbird, head over to the Californnia Wildlife Center’s website here.
Have you ever been forced to get creative with solutions in order to help one of your pets?
[H/T Bored Panda, The Dodo]