The resilience of Critters astounds me. (birds, coyote, cold, wildlife)

[Bretrick]

Incredible to watch the resilience of injured wild animals.
They get injured, heal without treatment, adjust to their predicament and get on with it.
Look at Waterbirds. So many lose a leg/foot, being bitten off by hungry fish.
They heal and waddle on.
I was watching a Pacific Black Duck on the weekend, one leg missing from the knee down, the gait changes, the good leg seems to move with the knee bent enough so that the shortened leg is touching the ground. Very little wobble because of a shortened leg.
Amazing. Could us humans do that? Have a leg amputated at the knee joint, allow it to heal naturally then get on with life?
No. We would no doubt bleed to death.

[Always Needmore]

First of all, I agree with your basic premise. The will to live among wildlife is impressive.

But, I think some of your observations might be stilted. What you are witnessing are the success stories. In the wild it's "survival of the fittest" and nature has a way of clearing the deck of failures (predators).

Mankind has all these welfare practices in place ....empower the weak, punish the strong, reward the lazy, validate the nonconformist etc etc. You don't see prescribed benevolence most places in the wild kingdom.

As for waterfowl with one foot, it's really sad, IMO. Most instances are the result of humans not disposing of unwanted fishing line properly.

The bird gets tangled up, the line tightens, cutting off circulation until the extremity dies, and rots off....so in a way thats a "perfect storm" scenario where the bird isn't going to bleed to death because the affliction serves as a tourniquet.

But it's really a shame more people can't dispose of their discarded fishing line properly...it really is a big deal. I always make it a point to seek and dispose of carelessly discarded fishing line whenever I am near a river bank or lake's beach

[Maine Writer]

We usually don't see wildlife as it's dying. An animal losing part of leg is going to have to deal with infection and fever, a slowdown in its ability to get food and water, and if it's not the cold of winter, maggots. Without a vet to debride the stump and prescribe antibiotics the animal isn't likely to survive. Broken bones fare better than missing limbs.

We found the full skeleton of a bull moose in the woods years after it died. We know it was a bull because of the skull. We know it died after antler drop in late fall/early winter, and before antlers begin to regrow in April. There were no broken bones. The skeleton hadn't been strewn around by coyotes. It's been years since we found it, and I still wonder what happened. Ticks maybe, or old age.

Originally Posted by Bretrick

Incredible to watch the resilience of injured wild animals.
They get injured, heal without treatment, adjust to their predicament and get on with it.
Look at Waterbirds. So many lose a leg/foot, being bitten off by hungry fish.
They heal and waddle on.
I was watching a Pacific Black Duck on the weekend, one leg missing from the knee down, the gait changes, the good leg seems to move with the knee bent enough so that the shortened leg is touching the ground. Very little wobble because of a shortened leg.
Amazing. Could us humans do that? Have a leg amputated at the knee joint, allow it to heal naturally then get on with life?
No. We would no doubt bleed to death.