Today I saw:

[scarecrowsdrm]

What quick thinking---kudos to both you and Oprah! I hope the little guys make it. Between the fire ants, predators and loss of habitat, the killdeer which used to be common in our area are now a much rarer sight. I sure hope these can be saved.

[Equilibrium]

You know.... Texas came up with a decent fire ant control.... you might want to check into it. Might help keep their numbers down by you. I saved the research somewhere.... where I dunno right about now. I'm thinking the neighbor was pretty quick getting em to me. She was on the nest last night when him and his wife went to bed and this morning she was on it then a coupla hours later he found her dead so the eggs haven't been left unattended for very long. There's a chance they'll make it. Now if 1 of the umpteen places I called will just call me back.... I can get them to somebody who will have the training and experience to give them the best shot at hatching and surviving. For right now.... Oprah is giving everyone H E double hockey sticks who comes near her and her eggs!!! Which reminds me... I meant to run out there and put a few ceramic dishes of water and pellets in by her. I really don't want her getting off those eggs.... 1 of our pet chickens pecks eggs. I don't know which 1 but 1 of them does and I want to keep her on those eggs!!!

[NEWisc]

there's a chance they'll make it. Now if 1 of the umpteen places i called will just call me back.... I can get them to somebody who will have the training and experience to give them the best shot at hatching and surviving.

nobody has called back yet ...
They'll be fine with oprah for now ...
Somebody will call ...
But oprah could probably raise them ...
Get them food; protect them ...
They would be really cute ...
It would be wonderful to watch them grow up ...
I'm going to be a killdeer mom!!!

..... .....
.

[Equilibrium]

NEWisc> "Get them food; protect them ...
They would be really cute ...
It would be wonderful to watch them grow up ...
I'm going to be a killdeer mom!!!" Does this mean you want them? You're kidding right? I think it's illegal crossing state lines with the eggs. You know the babies only eat insects.... right? They're not like day old chicks that can move around when they're 1st hatched. They're like little fluffy covered flesh blobs with big gaping holes that need to be fed. Do you have any idea how many insects it would take in a day to keep 4 of them going? I'll check into whether or not I can let you be the Kildeer mommy or not. I've got like 10 calls out there already and I think the last time I called I started offering $$$ for somebody to take them off my hands.
--
FWIW.... I'll keep calling but if these "things" hatch on me and nobody calls me back... I will drive them up to you. I work too many hours and I can't be taking these to work with me during the week.

[NEWisc]

Sorry, couldn't help myself.

A call to the local Audubon or even the DNR might provide some leads on how you could pass the eggs along. Or possibly an ornithologist at a local college??


Edited to add:
Apparently killdeer young aren't fed by their parents. This info might make it easier to convince a rehabber to undertake raising the chicks:
http://www.allaboutbirds.org/Page.as...-son-brought-1
.

[Equilibrium]

Yaa.... I know what you mean. They're cute and all but I don't want em here either. I called Audubon thinking maybe they've got a member who's licensed. We'll see. The DNR publishes a list of rehabbers. I found that. These rehabbers get so many calls it's just 1 of those deals where you have to sit and wait it out. They know the eggs are under a chicken so I'm probably not a high priority call back.
--
I do feel a lot better about them hatching out before somebody gets here after reading this at your link, "A. Baby Killdeer, like baby ducks, geese, and poultry, are what we call "precocial chicks." These chicks hatch out covered with thick down, open their eyes quickly, and are perfectly capable of walking. Within minutes of hatching, they imprint on their parents and follow them tenaciously. Both parents show them food items, which they pick up and eat. The family unit stays together for several weeks." That shoulda been a no brainer if I'd been thinking clearly since they're ground nesters. I'm so glad I was dead wrong on the chicks being big holes that needed to be fed but.... I'd still end up taking runs to the pet store for crickets because my chickens pretty much eat everything that flutters, hops, or crawls in their run so Kildeer babies would find slim pickins in there and I wouldn't be thrilled letting Oprah out where she'd end up in the belly of a coyote. I guess if I'm forced to choose our Oprah over 4 Kildeer babies.... I'll let her out with the chicks. I won't be happy about it but.... I'll do it.

[BooBooBearBecky]

Oprah, the rescue chicken!!!

Keep us up to date Equilibrium.

If I lived closer to you, I would have taken them. I have, afterall, pretended to eat bugs to encourage young wildlife to fend for themselves.

[Rebek56]

Equil, the adventures you have!

[scarecrowsdrm]

When I walked out to the carport this evening, the male phoebe was making distress calls and showed me the egg culprit: Texas Rat Snake, aka "Chicken Snake"! (And yes, it was removed from the scene, and no, it will not be coming back) The phoebes are ok for now.

[Equilibrium]

Here's where I am on Oprah's eggs... 1st off.... she's still sitting on them and when my neighbor goes anywhere near the nestbox she's in.... she'll poof up twice her size and make a racket that makes even me want to clap my hands over my ears so they're pretty safe underneath her. This morning at 5am.... a wildlife control guy of all people called me back. Interesting.... I never called him. He said he'll transport em for me to Flint Rehab (I did call them) where they're set up to take these types of "projects" and he's making arrangements to coordinate an egg pick up with when he's out in my area dealing with "nuisance" critters. He said he'd be out some time in the next few days but probably wouldn't be able to give me an exact day or time because of the "nature" of his business. I told him how to get here and how to walk around to the back where the chicken coop is so he's gonna help himself if I'm not around. He wouldn't take money from me... not even for gas but.... he wanted to know if I'd take in an opossum, 3 ground hogs, a mole, a fox, and a snapper. Ummmm.... didn't even need to think twice about that. Yes to everything but the snapper. Everybody cross their fingers for me that when he shows up with my new "friends" that he does it on my days off so I can watch!!! I'm really excited about the opossum coming and the ground hogs will be a hoot since we haven't had any around here in years.... somebody's been killing them and it definitely wasn't us.
--
4B> I woulda given em to you!!! And.... I woulda bought a video camera to document the "process".
--
Rebek> Too bad you don't live closer to me.... I'd get you over to this 1 nursing home I go to that I LOVE that has a memory care unit. Wanna talk about having a wild and crazy adventure where you'll be laughing so hard your face hurts.... try volunteering at a memory care unit!!! Just 1 walk in the wilds with them will blow any adventures outa the water you could have on your own. It's always exciting when you're asked to come to a memory care unit!!! Talk about a fresh perspective on the world!!!
--
scarecrow> That's a gorgeous snake!!! I had a snake here that was eating golf balls we'd put in our nest boxes. It was the funniest thing. I kept thinking 1 of our kids was taking the golf balls for what ever reason but it was a snake and I found where the snake was passing the golf balls. I think my eyeballs about popped out of my head when I was back by the rock pile and saw all the golf balls just laying around. It was pretty wild and I started laughing out loud at the golf ball grave yard I'd found once I realized our kids weren't the culprits. We've got a good door on our chicken coop so the snake can't get in anymore. 1 time we found the snake lounging in the sun coming in from the window in the coop before we'd closed it in. That was pretty funny too. I added more slate to his rock pile and I'm thinking about picking up more slate and creating another slate pile for our snakes. I'm thinking our population mighta outgrown the slate pile we've got!!!