Over the years since I got my first DSLR camera I have had the misfortune of coming across a number of injured critters.
Many were sickening to see. These are the ones I was able to photograph.
The main reason I photographed them was to show F&W how bad off they were, but that only worked once.
First is a Sandhill Crane with part of one leg missing. It seemed to be managing okay.
Next was a very disturbing case. A whitetail doe with it's lower jaw broken, and she had a yearling fawn with her.
We figured she had no more then a few days left to live so we called Fish & Wildlife to ask if we could put her down.
They threatened to charge us if we did so we had to leave her to whatever fate nature had in store for her
Then I found this Bear in the same predicament. It wasn't much better off but at least I was able to report it to a forestry worker who had it put down.
Next on the list is a Mulie doe with a broken leg, she is the middle one. She seemed to be healthy otherwise and was getting around okay.
She and her companions were living in the town of Manning near where I live, and I suspect that offered her some protection from Coyotes who would have taken her down if she were out of town.
Next is a Moose. This one is not injured but is in a bad way nonetheless. This is what Tciks can do to a Moose and this one was lucky in that they can be a lot worse.
Some years up to half the Moose population is killed by ticks.
Then there was this Mulie Fawn, also with a broken jaw. It was sickening to see and again we were told to let nature take it's course.
That was not easy to do.
A few years before that I came across this Goose with a Broken wing. The second shot is blurred because my camera wanted to focus on the grass instead of the moving bird.
Last but not least was this Snowy Owl. Apparently Ravens pecked out one eye just before I found it. There is fresh blood on it's cheek under the missing eye.
I stayed close to it until the Ravens gave up and left. Last I saw of the Owl it was heading the opposite direction from the way the Ravens had gone.
I have no idea if it survived or not but at least it had a chance.