how I came upon my corvids
I've had the privilege of getting to know Debby Porter a bit over the past couple of weeks, after she sent me a note through the site. Aside from having a generally big heart for God's creatures, Debby has quite a unique outreach on behalf of birds which most often go neglected and underappreciated. And she graciously agreed to share more about her passion, corvidae, here:
My crows found me. I went into my backyard to feed my Mastiffs, and saw this black thing under the rabbit hutch. I was thinking, "Oh, no. A dead crow." And I didn't want to deal with it. But it was a live crow that was wounded, and I promised him that I would get him fixed. So I took him to the animal emergency hospital to get him help. For some reason, they kept skipping my name, so I ended up spending an hour with this crow and bonding with him. He let me pet him, and didn't seem to be afraid of me.
They didn't fix his wing correctly, so I went to another doctor who had to amputate his wing. When I called Wildlife Rehabilitators, they told me that if a crow couldn't fly when turned into them, that they would euthanize it. I decided to keep him, and named him 'Crow.' He was a beautiful bird, and he just passed away last year of pneumonia after I had him for five years.
Crows are social creatures, so I posted my name and number at all the emergency vets near me, so that if they found an injured crow, I would take it and rehabilitate it. A week later I got a call from a vet about a wounded crow. He had been hit by a car. He, too, had to have a wing amputated! I named him 'Speedbump.'
So now, I had two adult crows with one wing. I built them ramps in their original cage, so they could climb to their perch. Then my vet called me about a baby crow with Avian Pox. It was so sad, this beautiful baby covered with the equivalent of human chicken pox. Only the avian version looks more like barnacles on the poor birds. It saddened me to see him look like this, even though it didn’t appear to affect his personality. I prayed over him daily to rid him of this scurge, and treated him, and he became imprinted on me. I named him 'Ricky.'
But there's more. The owner of a pet store next to my vet was a veterinarian technician, and she told me about another baby crow that had fallen out of a tree. I went to visit her at the vet, as they couldn’t release her to me yet. She looked so pitiful and lifeless, and so small. No one thought she would make it, but everyday I came in the afternoon and held her, and prayed over her in the spirit. She rallied, and I was allowed to take her home. I named her 'Moses' (at first I thought she was a 'he,' but she began to act very prissy like a 'she').
She too developed avian pox, and had to have a foot amputated. There is nothing so sad as to see a baby bird with this disease. The pox even covered her beautiful blue eyes. Since Ricky was already affected with pox, they were allowed to share the same cage at home, and weren’t too far apart in age. Again, I cried unto the Lord, literally, to heal this little girl. He answered my prayer immediately, but in a strange way: Ricky had picked off the pox lesions from Moses! She also became imprinted on me, having been in my care for so long, and having to receive oral and topical medication.
Then the guy at the local vacuum store, not knowing I had crows, said he had a pet crow with a broken wing and he felt sorry for it because it was home all day alone. I said I would take him, and that's how I got 'Jack' (who has since laid eggs and is a 'she'). Jack has a large vocabulary of human language.
One day, I came home and my postman was out front. He knew I had crows and asked if one of them was across the street in the vacant lot. It wasn't mine, but someone had kept her as a pet, and had trimmed her tail and wings so weirdly that she couldn't fly. I took her to my vet, and it turned out she had parasites, so I couldn't integrate her right away with my other crows. She ended up being in a cage all by herself for 6 months or more, and became very attached to me. I had to give her oral medication all that time. She was so patient, I had to pry her bill open to squirt in the medication. Sometimes, she would become perturbed and bite at the syringe, which actually made it easier to medicate her! Finally she was well enough to put her in with the other crows, and the name I gave her was 'Postal,' in honor of the postman.
Then I found out about Corvid Ranch, and I really wanted a raven. These ravens are not indigenous to the United States, but rather originate in Africa, and are therefore legal to own. That's how I got 'Edgar,' my silly and brilliant raven. Speaking of which, all of my crows can play catch with toys. And all of them can say 'crow,' except for Speedbump; Postal says 'crow' and 'hello.'
Rest in Peace, 'Crow,' my handsome prince. And may God bless all who treasure his magnificent creatures ~ Debby Porter.
Debby has since rescued two more baby ravens, and asks for prayer especially for 'Home Boy,' who was injured falling out of a store sign. Please do check out Debby's tremendously educational and testimonial site Corvidae: Crows and Ravens, as well as her delightful YouTube video channel (just one example is below).
And if you can, please support Debby's rescue efforts through her page Rescue Pets Revenue, her wonderful merchandise site The Crow's Caws, or I'd be happy to put you in touch. Many thanks, Debby, for sharing some of your heart and passion with us.
(content and photos courtesy and copyright Debby Porter; first photo is of 'Duncan')
Ben DeVries
Debby sent me a note to say Home Boy unfortunately passed recently. But please do continue to pray for her, her rescue and other crows.
Ben DeVries
Please see another recent post on the amazing intelligence of crows, "A Murder of Crows" ("murder" refers to a flock of crows).
Reader Comments (7)
This just made my whole day, Ben. Man, I love the things you expose your readers to. Wonderful!
Ben, you know how fond I am of birds....This is such a wonderful blessing to see what Debby is doing, especially after my rescue failure this week....
..although, I am not sure about how I feel about what Corvid Ranch is doing...
Tracy and Tracey, thank you both very much for the response and encouragement; I was just happy to hear from Debby and find out what she is doing. It's very unique, and very cool, and she's a wonderful person. Tracey, as for Corvid Ranch, I'm not sure how I feel about it as a breeding business either, though I guess a lot would depend on how the animals are raised and sold. But I didn't want to draw attention to such a small point with so much else, everything in fact, to celebrate in Debby's post.
Hello,
I was searching the web looking for crow rescues and found this. Will you pass on my email to Debbie? I would like to know more about her crow rescue. I would also like to ask her to join a yahoo crow group: crows@yahoogroups.com
Knowing Debbie would be helpful in our group where we are often looking for homes for an injured or imprinted crow. It would also encourage others to open their homes to these birds in need.
Carol, thank you very much for your note, and I'll be more than happy to pass it along to Debby. Blessings to you and your friends on your compassionate work as well - Ben D.
Hi All! Corvid Ranch is not just a breeder; they do a wonderful educational program about animals named Blazers Animals, where they educate the public about wild animals. They also supply animals to movie animal trainers. Trust me when I say, they love their animals. Go to their site and read about Brian Blazer.
Carol, I don't have an email address to contact you, so please feel free to email me at: debby_porter@yahoo.com
God Bless His Creatures Great and Small, Debby