On Gifts for Firefighters

I'm losing my mind. I have at least three cords for my camera (to download photos) and I cannot locate any of them (which makes me think a certain person trying to help me tidy up put them someplace special for me). I was going to post a series of photos of the feral cats but I need that darn cord! And I refuse to buy one because I have three. . . . Somewhere.

But I've got something better.

The good news is that thanks to a special oxygen mask, Rex the lizard, of Naples, Florida, shall live another day. The bad news is that Savannah Monitors like Rex are not native to Florida and he lives in a tank in someone's house. His heat lamp apparently fell over and started a fire.

The Animal Rights Foundation of Florida, from which I pilfered this story, says:

You Can Help
Recovery oxygen masks would make a great holiday gift for your local fire department. A kit of three masks (for large dogs, small dogs and one for cats) can be purchased for $60. Contact your local Fire Chief and ask if he or she would be interested in receiving the life-saving masks. Then contact ARFF and we’ll help you to purchase the masks.

I did some research of my own on recovery oxygen masks because I know nothing about them or their manufacturers. I suggest that no matter where you live, contact ARFF about the purchase of the masks, as there could be something you don't know about the various companies that produce or sell them (I know some of the masks are made in China, which is sort of ironic).

Before we moved to this house we lived in a townhouse on a lake and I was the (Muscovy) duck lady. I cared for, rehabbed, and adored about 30 ducks (not to mention anhingas, herons of all kinds, a couple of mallards and dozens of ring-neck doves), purely by accident (you learn about one type of waterfowl or bird, then you can't help but learn about the others around it). I was the outreach person and the go-to-person, and that often involved climbing onto roofs. And when you climb onto roofs in order to, say, scoop up seven, day-old ducklings who won't survive on said roofs and are in no position to dismount and survive, you often must involve the fire department.

In fact, sometimes you must call the fire department to rescue your husband, in addition to the seven ducklings. And sometimes the fire department must return later the same day when your husband gets stuck on the roof again in an attempt to rescue a rogue duckling that was missed the first time around.

Sometimes.

With budgets being the way they are, and fire departments often run by volunteers, I think the recovery oxygen mask is a great idea for local fire departments.

Comments

[Nella]

Ducks do seem to be experts at getting into dodgy situations, don't they? I've had the roof thing, plus some ducklings who managed to get stuck in the middle of a bridge (they'd started walking up the barrier wall where it was close to the ground, and got up the slope without noticing - and being babies, they didn't have the sense to walk down the other side or turn around or the ability to fly down), not to mention the large brood of tiny babies whose mother thought it was a great idea to try to walk them all across a busy crossroads because her homing instinct for water didn't translate into an instinct for not getting run over by cars. Luckily most people seem to like ducks as much as you and I do, so a lot of people turned out to help stop traffic, lure the ducks off the road with food etc. Getting random members of the public to particpate in helping a pigeon, however, is rather like pulling teeth, which is kind of sad.

[Bea Elliott]

Okay... I have a duck story too! A few blocks from me is a very busy 4 lane road - There my husband and I stopped the car behind several other stopped cars... a dozen or so people desperate to get 3 adorable baby ducks back to the sidewalk where momma duck was quacking in hysteria. And there was "success" - the happy family was reunited. We all got back to our cars, thumbs up! We smiled to each other and patted our backs that we all had done such a kindness. All was right with the world! Then I wondered - how many folks were heading toward KFC -absolutely "clueless"...