Not a huge number for a larger center with more staff, but for a one-person operation whose only volunteers are transporters, it’s…a lot. Second year in a row we’ve hit the 300-mark, and there’s still the rest of the year to go, however short. Should be interesting…
The gorgeous intake of the week was this male kestrel, who came in with a wrist fracture. Kestrels are little works of art; there’s just no two ways about it. They’re also small falcons and so are prone to be high-strung, stressy birds—which this little fellow has NOT been thus far. Well, he’s definitely stressed but he hasn’t opted for high-strung. Yet.
The gorgeous intake of the week was this male kestrel, who came in with a wrist fracture. Kestrels are little works of art; there’s just no two ways about it. They’re also small falcons and so are prone to be high-strung, stressy birds—which this little fellow has NOT been thus far. Well, he’s definitely stressed but he hasn’t opted for high-strung. Yet.
The fracture was in such a position that it was difficult to see on regular x-rays so vet Jim Hobby of Smalley’s Animal Hospital decided to try something a little different: he took a shot of the leading edge of the wing to see if the fracture would show more clearly so we’d have a better idea of what we were dealing with. It worked!
Because the bird was keeping the wing pretty close to perfectly aligned and because wrist fractures are often more wrist displacements than actual breaks, we decided to see how this is gonna play out. After talking with colleagues Steve Hicks of Bubba & Friends and Kathryn Dudeck of Chattahoochee Nature Center, our general consensus seemed to be that given the small size of kestrels, traditional figure-eight bandaging would be nigh-impossible. Steve and I had discussed using a tube sock; Kathryn confirmed that she’d done this with a couple of kestrels and mentioned vet stocking as a possibility, as well. I had some larger vet stocking but nothing small enough for a kestrel, so Smalley’s graciously provided several different sizes to see what we could get to work. Unfortunately, Sir Kestrel didn’t like our efforts; the first wrap lasted all of three hours.
Soo…vet stocking too stretchy; time for tube sock…Second attempt lasted through the night but he’d wiggled out of it by morning.
Ooookaaay…third time’s the charm? So far, so good, but he’s sulking and I can see the wheels turning in his devious little mind. I give it till lights-out before he’s maneuvered out of this one, too.
On a less pleasant note, mid-week a lady called about a pheasant she found tied to a tree in the parking lot of the business where she worked—and don’t EVEN get me started on my thoughts as to what kind of sadistic jackass would do such a thing. I try to keep this page family-friendly and NOTHING I have to say about such a cretin is family-friendly. The lady who found him thought his leg was broken; on intake I suspected dislocation rather than a fracture. X-rays at Smalley’s confirmed that the leg was indeed badly dislocated; Jim and I noted a lack of neural response and blood flow to the leg, as well. Basically, the bird was done for; there was nothing we could do to repair any of the damage to the leg.
But in the good news column, the barred owl who’d been antsy to leave the LWR B&B was finally released—and he didn’t waste any time about it, either!
However…the second barred owl—the one who came in last week with head trauma and clouded eyes—isn’t looking as promising for an eventual release. His eyes have cleared up beautifully, but there appears to be nerve damage. He seems to be totally blind. Not vision-impaired—completely sightless. He’s not moved from the low perch I put him on in the raptor flight for three days now. Not good at all…
And the news is worse for the great horned owl. When his eye finally cleared, it revealed a totally trashed eye. I’m giving him another day or two on the very miniscule chance there will be some improvement, but honestly, I know it’s a lost cause. That eye is just gonna continue to deteriorate, and it’s not merely a case of having just one good eye. That damaged eye, as it continues to deteriorate, will eventually deform the entire side of his face, to say nothing of the pain it’ll cause. As I’ve said before, sometimes the only release we can offer is a release from suffering…
There’s no change with the red-tailed hawk; surgery is still an option but we run the very real risk of shattering the bone when we try to remove the pellet, so we’re holding off for a while longer, because nothing sucks worse than having to make the decision to just let an anesthetized bird not wake up because the surgery goes south.
The flyers remain utterly adorable, of course.
The flyers remain utterly adorable, of course.
And let me take this opportunity to wish y’all a happy Thanksgiving!
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