Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!snorkelwacker!bloom-beacon!bu.edu!dartvax!eleazar.dartmouth.edu!dragon
From: dragon@eleazar.dartmouth.edu (Sam Conway)
Newsgroups: rec.birds
Subject: Do birds experience pain as we do?
Message-ID: <20693@dartvax.Dartmouth.EDU>
Date: 18 Mar 90 17:06:54 GMT
Sender: news@dartvax.Dartmouth.EDU
Organization: Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH
Lines: 35

I just spent nearly an hour ripping some very stubborn bloodfeathers out
of an equally stubborn peregrine falcon.  By the time I was done, it was
difficult to tell which of us was more stressed out.  In fact, I was so
upset by the task that I had to turn the bird over to another person to
clean off the blood when I was done.

Let me interject at this point that a bloodfeather is sort of like an
"ingrown feather", and results when a bird is unable to preen the feather
shafts.  These become very brittle and tend to bleed heavily from the
shaft when broken, creating a potentially dangerous bloodloss situation.

With each pull on the broken feathers, the poor falcon gave what very
strongly resembled a pain response:  that is, she screamed herself hoarse
and flailed wildly about.  My own stress response was caused by the fact
that I was apparently putting this bird through an awful lot of physical
torment which I could not avoid.

My questions are twain:  Do birds feel pain in the same sense that we do,
or is it, as some claim, a much lesser feeling of discomfort that results
more in a fear reaction than in the actual physical agony that humans feel;
secondly, if indeed they do feel pain, is there any form of topical or 
local anesthetic that can be used safely upon a bird to help reduce the
stress of an emergency procedure like this?  General anesthesia is
obviously out of the question, especially for a field rescue.

Please respond via email, if you have any answers to either of these
questions, particularly the latter.



--
Sam Conway                             * If you are not listed on the
dragon@eleazar.dartmouth.edu           * National Registry of Bone Marrow
Chemistry Dept., Dartmouth College, NH * Donors...you should be.
Vermont Raptor Center (VINS)           * Contact your local Red Cross.