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Message: <blockquote data-quote="BayWren" data-source="post: 1668366" data-attributes="member: 81641">I volunteer for a raptor rehabilitation facility, so I understand the whole compassion thing just fine. However, I also understand the difference between trying to rescue something for its benefit, and trying to rescue it for your own benefit. Trying to rescue this Sora when I still have no idea what it needs rescuing from sounds more like the latter case. We usually have at least a few overwintering Virginia Rails here in northern Colorado every year, so I don't think a cold snap represents a dire threat.A bird could be injured by a passing car, or a passing Sharp-shinned Hawk. Are these events truly equivalent, equally requiring rescue? I don't think so, but I know that there are a lot of people who think they are, and that any animal capable of being "rescued" needs it in order for us to demonstrate our compassion. However, not all demonstrations of compassion are consistent with a true nature ethic, one that understands life and death in a more ecological sense.</blockquote>