A helpless seagull chick was found glued to a wall and riddled with maggots in the most horrible thing a rescuer had seen.
Bird emergency responder Jennifer Steer was called to a seagull chick in Exmouth, Devon, which was freed by police officers but was in desperate need of medical attention.
With maggots crawling through a wound in the chick’s skull, in and out of its brain, Jennifer eventually conceded the poor animal was beyond saving, DevonLive reports.
Since she started saving birds and launching a website designed to defend seagulls, Jennifer says this latest glued chick is the worst she’s come across.
Jennifer said: “We had a phone call that this gull had been found in Exmouth and had been glued to the wall. I think the police had released it and let it go.
The poor bird’s head looked like it was bald, it was really hard and the skin was in almost patchwork and I think it had been pecked before. I put cream on it the night I got him and I let him walk and he’s walking very slowly and then he’d trip over something and he’s obviously not right.”
The following day, Jennifer says she noticed that the seagull’s head was “crawling” with maggots.
While she initially feared she would have to have it put down, she says she received advice that they could be cleared out with the help of antiseptic spray. However, even after the wound had been cleaned, the bird died a few hours later.
Jennifer said: “The next day, I was looking at his head and saw something moving and it was absolutely crawling with maggots. The maggots had got under the wounds on his head. Initially I thought I was going to have to take him to be put down and then I spoke to another bird sanctuary and she said you can wash [the maggots] out with this antiseptic spray.
“I sprayed it on and went through with tweezers and just got them out. I got the dead skin off and it was lovely and clean but he was shaking his head a bit and the vet later confirmed that the maggots had probably got into his brain.
“A couple of hours later, he was gone, he was dead.
“I was really upset because they’re innocent creatures. His wings were hanging down as well because they had got really stretched. It’s horrible to see because his dignity was gone. I’ve never seen anything so horrible.”
Jennifer first began caring for animals while working as a response driver for Secret World Wildlife, a Somerset-based organisation that rescues sick, injured and orphaned wildlife.
She received a call asking to help care for a bird while an elderly woman, who rescued birds in and around Exeter, was in hospital.
This article by Mary Stenson and Charles Wade-Palmer was first published by The Daily Star on 11 July 2023. Lead Image: A seagull found stuck to a wall had to be put down (Image: Getty Images).
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