The unusual cold snaps, snow, ice storms—it’s been a harsh winter for our native wildlife, as evidenced by the unusually high number of raptors we’re seeing in rehab. Steve Hicks of Bubba and Friends (www.bubba-and-friends.org) reports that all 14 of his flight pens are full and space inside for those needing extra attention and/or medication is also at a premium.

Here at Laurens Wildlife Rescue, we’ve already received 9 calls this year that didn’t result in an intake; only two additional birds have come in since the Jan. 3 update. I won’t complain—I needed the slight slowdown!

However, one of the birds who came in, a first year female red tail hawk, got the year off to a really frustrating start. This gorgeous lady had been shot; one pellet was still lodged in her shattered wing. Obviously, she had to be euthanized. I was infuriated, to say the least, but since she was picked up by Coffee County Animal Control and transferred to LWR, we had no way of knowing for sure who violated state and federal law by taking pot-shots at her. Of course, GaDNR and USFWS were notified, per our rehab regulations, but both state and federal officials admitted that without a witness to the shooting, nothing could really be done except to document the attack and see if a pattern developed.

My slight break in critter intakes allowed me to take my annual trek to Manhattan, where I went on a quest to locate Pale Male’s nest…and hoped to see The Hawk Himself there or in Central Park, but that didn’t happen this year. I did, however locate his nest, which may not be exciting to most people, but I was ecstatic, as was my niece Caitlan, who was with me and squealing like she’d just met a celebrity.  Yeah, other people go to the Big Apple in hopes of maybe spotting one of its resident human stars; we were all googly-eyed over a hawk nest! For those who may not be aware, Pale Male is a red tail hawk who is app. 20 years old this year and has nested on a building across from Central Park for pretty much his entire life. He’s the first red tail documented to’ve built a nest on a building rather than in a tree, and he’s outlived four mates, acquiring a new mate just this month, according to Pale Male watchers in New York City. They were both observed hanging around the nest the day before my Sunday visit to it (insert your own favorite swear words here; I’m trying to keep this site family-friendly!)…

While sitting in a Broadway show that night I was not really surprised to feel my cell phone vibrating just before intermission. During the show’s intermission, I returned the call from a person in Laurens County who’d just hit a screech owl. The caller said the owl seemed to be alert and uninjured but couldn’t fly. The standard procedure in the case of a HBC bird of any kind is to assume there’s a concussion and act accordingly, so I told the caller to place the screech in a cardboard box and let her remain quiet and dark until I got home the following night. Concussed birds won’t eat, so she’d be fine until I could pick her up, which I did Monday night.  In fact, this beautiful red screech is nearly ready for release—she’s eating well now, her eyes look clear, and she might be ready to go back into the wild as soon as tonight!

I’ll have final stats on 2010 intakes, donations and expenditures in the next update. I can tell you now that although I took in 247 animals last year, only 20 people bringing those animals made donations; in fact, half of the donations received came from two families who brought no animals to LWR but who showed their support in a way that benefitted the critters we care for. Kinda pathetic, huh?  The people who bring the animals “respect and admire” what I do, but as I’ve said before, “respect and admiration” don’t fill furry bellies or feathered crops, and while we are required to be licensed by the state and feds, neither agency provides any funding for our activities—the funds for our rehab efforts come from our own pockets, for the most part, and from the very few donations we receive.

Normally December is a fairly slow month for LWR but not Dec. 2010. We received 12 animals, for a total of 247 intakes for 2010.

The great horned owl had come in when I did the December update; see the December update for a photo of her. We originally thought she was weak from capillaria, which she did have, but after working with her for a few days, Steve Hicks of Bubba & Friends reached the conclusion that she had probably been the victim of a botched—and illegal—attempt at making a pet of her. When the novelty wore off or she sank those giant talons into someone, she was dumped and ended up—thankfully, for her sake—on the farm of a family who knew to contact me. Steve will continue to try and “deprogram” her, but if this doesn’t work, she’ll become an educational bird.

For the rest of the month we had a possum, a screech owl, two red tail hawks, two red shoulder hawks, two black vultures, two barred owls and a turkey vulture. Not all of them were treatable, of course: Some were euthanized, some transferred and some released.

Neither of the two black vultures was treatable; one had severe spinal damage; the other had a broken leg that had healed in the wild and left him with nerve damage and a useless foot.  Both were euthanized.

The possum had a broken spine, and one of the barred owls had sustained multiple fractures to both legs, probably as a result of colliding with a car. The other barred owl, pictured here, had a concussion and was released after a couple of days of R&R. My niece tried to help me get a photo of the release, but she was out of that box like a rocket. We barely saw where she landed in the trees, and when we walked over to see if we could snap a shot of her perching, she glared at us and soared off deeper into the woods.  That’s gratitude for ya!

Neither of the red tails survived; one came in a Sunday evening with fatal injuries from being hit by a car and died before the night was over. The other had an open wing fracture and had to be euthanized. The red tail pictured here, which came in on New Year’s Day, was probably the victim of a shotgun blast, according to Steve, who now has the bird but doesn’t give him much hope. He was in pretty bad shape when he came in and hadn’t improved any as of last night, when I talked to Steve.

This red screech owl had just a slight concussion and was released. He was a feisty little rascal for the two days he was with me and was delighted when I released him—flew straight into the woods.  Screeches are incredibly aggressive for their small size, but I love ‘em, anyway.

This turkey vulture had only a minor scrape on one wrist but couldn’t seem to fly. Given that she had been observed walking around the finder’s yard, going from door to door, Steve & I suspect imprinting. He’s still evaluating her behavior, which swings between normal wild and way too tame.

This adult red shoulder was taken from a couple in Coffee County who were rehabbing illegally. The bird is blind in one eye and appears to have severe vision problems in the other, yet these illegal and untrained people told me he was only a couple of days from release. I ended up driving to Coffee County to retrieve the red shoulder and the barred owl I released, after the game warden informed the couple that they had to get the birds to me but they kept coming up with excuses why they couldn’t meet me.  They had the birds in wire cages behind the checkout counter of their store, in plain view of the public, with no perches. They had no flight pen and tested the red shoulder’s readiness for release by holding him by the legs and letting him flap his wings—how he didn’t end up breaking a leg is beyond me. These people were also raising deer in their house and still bottle feeding 5 and 7 month old deer...Obviously, DNR & USFWS were notified and are investigating…

Folks, there’s a reason rehabbers are required to have permits. For one thing, a permit proves that we’ve taken and passed the appropriate exams, have had our facilities pass state and federal inspection, and have vets who are willing to work with us.  It also means that we have the combination of training and hands-on experience to know how to avoid imprinting animals while ensuring that they’re fully prepared for a return to the wild. As I’ve said before, anyone who’s in this for the ego trip won’t last long. What I may have failed to stress is that while they’re feeding their egos, they’re killing or screwing up animals by leaving them ill-prepared for release and life in the wild. I have absolutely no issues with anyone wanting to become a wildlife rehabber—Lord knows we need all the help we can get; for Georgia’s 159 counties, there are fewer than 100 rehabbers, and only a handful of us are licensed for songbirds and/or raptors—but if you’re interested in helping wildlife through rehab, DO IT RIGHT!!!

Now, to end up a slightly less “ranty” note, here’s a story I’m rather pleased to share: On Dec. 13 I received a massively tarred red shoulder—see the photo of this poor bird on intake. I honestly had little hope that I could help him after attempting to bathe him that evening and seeing no results; in fact, I don’t mind admitting that I sat there holding a wet, tarred bird and cried. Not one to give up easily, however, I called Steve Hicks of Bubba & Friends, who admitted he had little experience with tarred birds and suggested I call Kathryn Dudeck of Chattahoochee Wildlife Center. Since she’s located in the metro Atlanta area, we both figured she’d seen her share of tarred birds.  Kathryn was indeed able to offer invaluable aid, and the result is that Tar Baby is now (mostly) Tar-less Baby. Unfortunately, the combination of tar and baths stripped his feathers of their weatherproofing and dried out his skin; in fact, he has one spot where he nailed himself with a talon while struggling during a bath that, while it didn’t become infected, did weaken his already stressed skin to the point that as it continued to dry out, it ripped open, exposing a tendon. We’re treating this and watching it closely. It’s not in an ideal place for sutures, as it’s right at the joint. Also, he refuses to perch consistently, which may be related to this injury or to nerve damage from the hot tar. At the moment, however Tar Baby is eating well and quite vocally paranoid about the mere sight of a human—guess he’s afraid we’re going to try and drown him again, poor fellow. Nearly two weeks of unwilling daily baths will tend to have that effect!

Tar Baby's bath water on Dec. 13.

Tar Baby after his first bath on Dec. 13. Note that there is little difference from his appearance on intake.

Tar Baby on Dec. 15. We can see progress!

Tar Baby on Dec. 19.

Tar Baby on Dec. 22.

Tar Baby's bath water on Dec. 22.

Tar Baby on Christmas Day. Quite a difference, huh?