Laurens Wildlife Rescue - This week in wildlife

Laurens Wildlife Rescue

More baby owls

4/12/2026

Last Saturday, the day before Easter, two barred owl hatchlings joined the “nursery” at LWR.

Hunters in Washington County noticed the babies exposed on the ground as they went to their blind but waited to see if the parents would coax/move them into the brush. Upon the hunters’ return, the nestlings, between baseball- and softball-sized, were still in the same spot with no nest in sight, so the hunters contacted LWR and brought the babies here.

Their eyes were barely open when they arrived, and they were only days old, as their egg teeth were still in place, but they’ve grown quite a bit in a week…and sometimes they even use their nest instead of cramming themselves into a corner of their box…

The great horned juvie was moved into the main flight midweek, where she has more room to avoid her feeder person, which she’s happy about (as is the feeder person, honestly; it means the bird didn’t imprint or habituate). She’s flying well but refuses to seek her food at all just yet. It still has to be in one specific spot or she ignores it. We’re working on that; remember, great horneds aren’t known for their smarts.

And that’s the latest “news fit to print!”

Spring appears to’ve sprung

3/29/2026

Although who knows for sure? In the past month I’ve had the AC and heat running on consecutive days, and then the windows open before and after that. At least “my” barn swallows are back, so when the skeeters make their appearance I’ve got Nature’s insect control in place. And while the chuck-will’s-widows haven’t arrived yet, I’ve had a whippoorwill serenade for the past several nights.

There were no new intakes over the past two weeks. Looking back at last year’s March intakes, we’re close to the same, though, so no complaints here!

The great horned finally started self-feeding and could be moved into the mini-pen, where she glares, threat displays, and beak-clicks every time her food is delivered. Great horneds have big feet as a rule, but this gal’s got gunboats and ridiculously thick legs—like columns!—hence the “she” now. She’s gonna be a big ol’ gal—remember, she’s still got growing to do!

The black vulture did require euthanasia; his poor wing drooped more with each passing day. Y’all know I’m fond of vultures, with their lively intelligence and clownish personalities. No decision to euthanize is ever easy, but for some species it just hits a little harder when you have to make that call.

And the precious little screech—another of my favorite species—turned out to have severely compromised vision. He could sort of see just barely enough to locate his food, but watching him, I realized he was relying more on sound than sight, i.e., he’d listen to determine where I laid the mice. If he knocked them off that spot, he couldn’t relocate them to eat. With one good eye, he could have been released, but he couldn’t see from even one eye well enough to fly, which is why I initially thought he had soft tissue damage to one of his wings. He also was euthanized, and saying making that decision sucked is putting it mildly.

I know we just had a two-week break, but there will be no update next Sunday, Easter Sunday. I’ll be spending that day with family, and hope y’all do the same.

Catchy headline here

3/15/2026

‘Cause sometimes ya draw a blank when trying to come up with a good header…

The nestling great horned continues to thrive and make clear his utter disdain for his feeder. If he’d only learn to self-feed, his feeder could just drop the food in the box, but noooo… If he drops a rodent bit, he totally ignores it; it no longer exists. Nobody ever said great horneds were smart; in fact, I like to say they have just two functional brain cells that only communicate regarding food or mating—and in the case of youngsters, they don’t communicate at all…

The adult barred, on the other hand, exhibited a complete failure to thrive. She refused to self-feed and spat out everything she was force-fed. After 10 days of struggling and failing to get her to keep at least a mouse or two down, I made the difficult decision to humanely euthanize.

A volunteer restrained the young black vulture last Monday while I wrapped his wing. We were so proud of ourselves for our efficiency that neither of us snapped a pic of the finished result. Knowing how smart and mischief-prone vultures are, I should’ve known better…Within four hours the little snot had mostly ripped off the wrap; by the next morning, it was all off. Because the risk is always present that a bird who rips off wing wraps will do further damage in trying to remove the wraps, I opted not to attempt a re-wrap. This means, however, that his wing will continue to droop and the chances of healing for flight go from minuscule to nonexistent. This, in turn, means he will require euthanasia, as a non-flighted vulture cannot be released.

The screech is presenting a conundrum. He seems to be able to see; he can find his food. But the constantly dilated pupils in both eyes and his lack of response to anything other than being handled are definitely NOT normal, and he still shows no ability to fly properly. We call this ADR—ain’t doin’ right. Does he have lingering head trauma? Is there soft tissue damage? Is there some other underlying issue that we missed? We’ll give him more time to see how things play out.

There will be no update next Sunday, March 22.

First baby of the season

3/8/2026

LWR received its first 2026 baby last week, and it was… NOT a barred owl! Sorry, couldn’t resist that, since about two thirds of our intakes so far for the year have been barreds.

Nope, the official first baby for 2026 was a great horned owl.

The finder, from northwestern Laurens County, had watched the grounded baby for several days and was sure the parents were feeding it but was worried about predators the longer it stayed on the ground. He couldn’t locate a nest for renesting, and the photo he sent of the bird showed the pupils were unequal, indicating possible head trauma.

I contacted Georgia Wildlife Network, a statewide network of volunteer transporters, and a local transporter stepped up to retrieve the bird and get it to LWR the next day. The pic she sent of the bird once it was in her possession also showed unequal pupils.

However, by the time the bird reached LWR, the pupils were nearly equal. He—or she, as it’s a bit early to tell just yet—is a hissy, clicky little grump who clearly understands s/he shouldn’t be with humans but also ain’t gonna pass up a meal from any source.

I reached out to colleagues to see if anybody had a buddy for this baby, but no one else has raptor babies yet.

In other news, the barnie finally gained his freedom! Of course, he complained about it—loudly—all the way to the release site and even as he flew off. But fly he did, strong and straight!

The second intake for last week was an adult barred, probably female based on size, and also from Laurens County. She’d been found by the road and her left ear was full of blood. She’s got some major head trauma going on and is still “not right.”

The vulture’s wing is drooping pretty badly now that the swelling has gone down. I was hoping the muscles would be strong enough to keep it in place. We face a Catch-22 with him because of that torn/ruptured tendon—wrap it and risk the tendon shortening as it heals, thereby destroying his chances of flight, or leave it loose, which would again destroy his chances of flight. Retired colleague Steve Hicks suggested wrapping it loosely, just enough to mitigate the drooping, which is the current plan. It sounds like it might give the bird a chance at release.

And the screech seems to have flight issues, which would indicate soft tissue damage—not the best news. He struggles to gain lift. If he was a recent intake I’d say it was a coracoid fracture, but he’s been at LWR for about a month now, so that leaves soft tissue damage as the culprit. We’ll give him more time and hope for the best.

Looking promising for a release this week!

3/1/2026

LWR had two new intakes last week, and we’re awaiting an arrival from Sumter County late this afternoon—a vulture, species not mentioned by the transporter.

The weather looks like it’s finally gonna cooperate so we can release the barnie this week—probably just before sunset today, if all goes well. Fingers crossed!

The head trauma barred that appeared to be blind was, in fact, blind and was humanely euthanized.

Wednesday DNR brought a young black vulture from Dodge County with a suspected broken wing. Upon an intake exam—which the vulture vigorously protested by biting the crap out of my hands—I could find no fractures, so the feisty rascal paid a visit to Smalley’s Animal Hospital the next morning, where he attempted to bite everything and everyone in sight. (In his defense, he was hungry—or perhaps hangry would be more apt; I don’t feed vultures before a vet visit so we don’t have puking on the exam table—one experience of that was quite enough for a lifetime!)

Rads confirmed no factures, but we could clearly see separation of the left elbow bones which should have been nestled against each other—see rads of both wings below and note the difference in the right and left elbows. Vet Peggy Hobby said this was likely a result of a torn tendon, which may or may not heal for flight.

Obviously, we’re giving him time to see how this plays out. He’ll be confined to “box rest” for a few weeks to so he can’t attempt to use the wing and do further damage. At least he’s lessened his attempts to damage me now that he’s getting fed regularly, so there’s that.

The morning the vulture went to the vet, yet another barred came in, this one from Bibb County. Since I was already headed to Smalley’s, I only did a cursory intake exam, noted blood under the right wing, and boxed him for transport. A proper exam and rads confirmed an open and badly displaced fracture, so he was humanely euthanized.

And the screech’s eye showed DRASTIC improvement last week, so he’s in the mini-pen now. He may still have limited vision in that eye, but his left eye is fine and he’s finding his food with no issues, so unless he has some soft tissue damage, he should be good for release pretty quickly. What a difference a week can make, right?!

Two weeks later, the weather’s still insane

2/22/2026

Honestly, y’all, this weather…we’re under a wind advisory, with gusts that’ll rip your hat off and push you sideways, while Parts North appear to be having a blizzard…and this after a week of springlike weather. Unfortunately, said springlike weather involved rain every third or fourth day, so the poor barnie’s still awaiting release. In the meantime, LWR had three new intakes over the past two weeks.

The first, a screech, was found in Laurens County. On intake, his right pupil was dilated and unresponsive and his left eye was swollen shut. As of this morning, the swelling in the left eye has gone down. It’s looking pretty trashed, and I probably should go ahead and call it on the fierce little fellow. While owls can successfully hunt with only one eye, the looks of that eye indicate release isn’t gonna be an option. He’s locating his food with no issues, but the injury will most likely cause long-term health issues for the bird. We’ll wait a bit longer before making a decision.

Next was a barred from Burke County, whose head trauma appears to’ve resulted in total blindness. This may or may not resolve itself, as y’all know from previous concussion-related blindness in birds.

And last was yet another barred from Liberty County with a badly fractured right wing. He required euthanasia.

And as I mentioned at the outset, the barnie is SO ready to go—and I’m almost as eager as he is for a release, but we’ve got to have several days of decent weather first.

Readers in Parts North, stay in and stay warm; fellow Southrons, try not to get blown off the map in this wind.

Temps finally moderating

2/8/2026

Nothing new to report at LWR for last week, aside from slightly better weather…if you discount the wind, which seems to have a personal vendetta against me. No joke—it can be perfectly calm at daybreak, and within seconds of me walking outside half an hour later, the wind begins gusting. I’m sure there’s a proper scientific explanation, but I’m stickin’ with “the wind hates me.”

The barnie remains the sole guest at LWR, but the predicted weather for the next couple of weeks is looking pretty decent for his release. Maybe. If the weather guessers haven’t guessed wrong. We’ll see…

Honestly, with baby season lurking just around the corner, a less-than-full house for a while is a welcome break—and speaking of breaks, there will be no update next Sunday, Feb. 15.

Another frigid week in the South

2/1/2026

And the insanely, unusually, mind-numbingly cold weather has kept people inside for the most part, so there were no calls, much less intakes, last week. Everybody was too busy hunkering down under blankets. And, oh frabjous joy, the long-range forecasts indicate we may see the same weather pattern through mid-February…

The barnie is currently the only resident at LWR and, given the long-range forecasts mentioned above, he’ll likely remain here through at least mid-month, maybe till spring at the rate we’re going. Releasing adults who have some survival experience behind them into this weather is one thing; releasing a juvie who’s never actually had to hunt his food (live prey tests don’t count—they just prove he can catch prey but still in an enclosed environment where the prey can’t really escape) is another entirely. We’ll hold off till better weather means prey is actually moving and offers a chance of being caught. (Sorry for the poor photo quality; between his bobbing and weaving and my hands shaking from the cold, good pix were virtually impossible.)

And now I’m going to curl back up under my blanket here on the couch and try to stay warm… I mean, dang, y’all, my heat ran for 17 hours straight, from 6pm yesterday till 11am today—didn’t even cut off once…The Southern people and our wildlife are NOT used to this kind of cold!

Screech #2 released

1/25/2026

The second screech, the little male, regained his freedom early last week and wasted no time disappearing into the low brush—a great hiding place until he could get his bearings.

The barnie remains in the main flight, primarily because, since he’s a juvie, he needs a longer stretch of really decent weather for release…and we ain’t had that yet. Snow last Sunday, followed by frigid temps; the threat of ice this weekend, which dodged us but is slamming North Georgia; and predicted frigid temps for this week…yeah, the barnie’s better off where he is for a while longer.

We had two intakes last week, a red shoulder and a barred.

The red shoulder, a window strike from Baldwin County, was DOA.

The barred, found by two GBI agents at the Laurens-Dodge line, had a right shoulder fracture that required euthanasia.

The whole South looks to be in deep freeze mode this week, so y’all stay as warm as possible!

Snow day!

1/18/2026

For the second year in a row, Middle Georgia got snow—and pretty close to the same time as last year, although nowhere near the impressive five inches we got last year. This was just a dusting and has already begun to melt. Still…snow two years in a row?! (Hush up, y’all from Parts North; snow is a much-enjoyed rarity here!)

Okay, enough gushing about our tiny bit of snow and on to last week’s goings-on at LWR…

First, the female screech regained her freedom. She was quite ready to go, obviously!

This meant the little male screech could be moved into the mini-pen. He’s flying well already, so he’ll most likely regain his freedom this week.

The barnie is ready to go, as well; he may also be released this week or next. We’ll see…

And with no new intakes last week, that’s our update, y’all. Stay warm!