Its a coot! Nope, no typo here. We didnt mean to say, Its a hoot!, and just got it misspelled... Truly... ITS A COOT! The American Coot, to be exact. A coot is a member of the rallidae bird family and a good reminder that not everything that floats...is a duck. These aquatic fowl walk instead of waddle...easily transversing lakes as well as dry ground by the use of their unique looking lobed and scaled toes instead of webbed feet. The American coot is a migratory bird that make its home in wetlands and open water, building floating nests where they lay an average of 8-12 eggs at a time. Groups of coots are called covers and the oldest known coot lived to be 22 years old. Our coot today was found a few days ago wandering in a local driveway showing signs of a gimpy-wing. One wing appeared to function normally...the other...not as much. The Coot-rescuer (whos wife calls him a Dr Doolittle to all animals) promptly filled up the family tub and in went the coot for a bit of aqua-therapy until the bird could be brought into the Ark to see Doc today. This afternoon, Ark Tech Emma was able to get the coots weight and Doc manipulated each wing, checking its mobility. Then while holding the body of the bird secure, the coot was able to demonstrate its wing-power by stretching and flapping both successfully. Doc determined that while there might have been some wing strain when the coot was found, a few days of R & R in a nice Amarillo home was all that was needed to set things right. Doc advised the other Dr-as-in-Doolittle on possible places in our Amarillo area where water and rushes are plentiful...and where even a few chunks of bread and crackers from the locals can be found. Another chorus of Born Free anyone?! All in all, it was a positive outcome for one of Gods creatures and a fun experience for the entire Ark Team!
Posted on: Tue, 07 Oct 2014 22:48:02 +0000
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