Yep, with just five days left in the LWR fundraiser and only $1045 of the needed $3000 raised, LWR is officially not accepting new intakes for the time being.  The funds we currently have on hand will be needed to see the birds already in our care through to release. I’ll continue to provide weekly updates until these birds have been released; after that, who knows? If and when more funds become available, I’ll begin accepting birds again on at least a limited basis, but I’m not optimistic that will happen in the remainder of this year.

No, that’s not a “shock” ploy. It’s the God’s honest truth. The funds just aren’t there, nor are the donations, and this couldn’t have come at a worse time. Any other year, and I’d be breathing flames to try and cajole, harangue and guilt people into donating. This year, I’m still reeling from my father’s death. Just getting through each day is like navigating quicksand. I cannot summon the strength or energy to beg, harangue and cajole people to donate toward the care of our native wildlife, our legacy to future generations. Either you care enough to donate or you don’t; it’s that simple.

To those who have donated, either throughout the year or during this fundraiser, many times from very limited budgets, thank you. I appreciate your support and your sacrifices.

As most of you know by now, wildlife rehabbers receive no state or federal funding; LWR is no exception. None of the funds donated to LWR go toward a “salary” for me; I freelance edit to provide my income. All donations go toward care and upkeep of the wildlife in my care—food, supplies, gas for vet trips, etc. It takes a lot of mice, as I’ve indicated to you over the past month, in addition to boxes and puppy pads to line the boxes for the raptors; paper towels, insects and formula for the songbirds and tissues to line songbird nests; fish for the waterfowl; formula, bedding, mealworms and seeds, fruits and nuts for the flying squirrels; equipment wears out and must be repaired or replaced…And these are just the normal, ongoing expenses that immediately come to mind; I’m sure there’s something I’ve left out.

The point is, again, the funds aren’t there to continue to accept intakes, not unless I plan to start transferring birds in my care to other already overburdened rehabbers as my funds run out. At least by not accepting new intakes I can ensure the birds currently at LWR can be released without transfer to someone else. Beyond that, as I said, we’ll see.
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There’s still time to donate toward the care of the birds currently at LWR—and even time for a miracle influx of funds, perhaps, although miracles seem to be in short supply these days. Again, I’m deeply appreciative to those of you who’ve donated, sometimes even through your own cash shortages. 

​LWR did accept a few new intakes this week, before it became obvious this was going to be untenable in the long run. An adult great blue heron was dumped at Smalley’s Animal Hospital; x-rays showed no wing fractures but what appeared on the body x-ray to be a coracoid fracture. He’s doing well, although he refuses to stand any time I’m near him; as soon as he sees me he hunkers down. Great blue herons are actually pretty shy birds, so his behavior is not unusual.

​An adult red shoulder hawk came in with no apparent wing injuries, although he favored his left wing a bit.  Within eight hours of intake, his right leg had begun to bleed profusely, despite the fact that an intake exam showed no wounds on the leg. He’s also keeping that foot balled now. Obviously, a trip to Smalley’s is in his immediate future.

​When a lady hit a first-year red tailed hawk, she did the responsible, humane thing and sought help for the bird. He has no movement and no neural response in his legs, which could as easily be from pinched nerves as from a fractured spine. His appetite is good so he’ll also be headed to Smalley’s for x-rays to determine his fate.

​The screech finally got his turn in the raptor flight and is slated for release as soon as his flight skills improve and he passes the live prey test.

Waiting to take his place, we have the two great horned owls; by the time they’re out, the red tail and barred owl from last week, both with similar wrist fractures, should be ready to have their separate turns in the raptor flight.

Again, I’ll keep you updated on these birds’ progress, so at least for a while you’ll still get weekly updates. Meanwhile, pray for that miracle so we can begin accepting intakes again, and donate toward making that possible if you can.

It was a fairly slow week, with the usual mix of the good, the bad and the ugly…

First, though, a reminder that the LWR fundraiser is still ongoing. With 12 days left, you’ve donated—well, some of you have, anyway—$965 toward the $3000 goal. That’s about 32% of the goal. 

In case you're wondering just how expensive mice to feed the raptors are, let me clue you in: first of the week, I placed an order for 6 bags of "crawler" mice (good for babies and debilitated adults), 5 bags of medium mice and 6 bags of large mice. That's 300 crawlers, 250 mediums and 300 large. The total bill? $564. Yeah, for those few mice.

How far will those—let's use the large—mice go? Well, currently LWR has four large raptors who eat 4 large mice a day. That’s 16 mice a day, times 7 days in a week; that’s 112 mice a week. 300 divided by 112 is...just under three weeks. THREE WEEKS. And that’s not including any new intakes; that’s just what’s currently “in house.” Then we'll switch to the mediums, which will disappear even quicker because it'll take more of them, and then I’ll dip into LWR’s ever-dwindling funds to order more mice. This is a regular routine, at least twice a month and sometimes thrice a month.

Feeding these birds ain't cheap, people. Every bit you can donate will help keep them fed.

And yes, I could “sell out” and more than likely easily have the funds if I accepted the occasional offers to be part of a reality TV show based on wildlife rehab. I hear those pay pretty well, but I also refuse to subject the wildlife under my care to that level of stress. I’ve read about how those shows are done, and I can promise you it’s not in the best interest of the animals. The most recent reality TV offer I had came just after Daddy’s death.  Below is part of the reply I sent them:

Thanks for your interest in our native Southern wildlife...I don’t do this for publicity, reality shows or any such voyeuristic nonsense; the only reason I even have a FB page, website and blog is it’s necessary for LWR’s 501c3 status. Sorry to be so brief and abrupt but I’m really swamped and I honestly despise reality TV.

Yeah, I’m sure that didn’t win me any fans among the producers, but I don’t care. My job as a wildlife rehabber is to care for the critters in my care to the best of my ability, return as many as feasible to the wild, and humanely end the suffering of those that cannot be returned to the wild. It doesn’t include shoving them in front of TV cameras, under bright lights, to have multiple “takes” done of an exam so the producers can get the “perfect” shot. Screw ‘em. The welfare of the wildlife comes first, always.
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And so I’m relegated to asking the public—that’s YOU—for donations to keep LWR up and running. Please do donate if you haven’t already. 

And speaking of wildlife, both the red tail and the barred owl did have wing fractures near the wrist, as I suspected—and both fractures were in approximately the same location, leading vet Peggy Hobby at Smalley’s to exclaim, “It’s the injury of the day, apparently!”

Luckily, neither fracture was badly displaced, and we’re hopeful they’ll both heal for flight. That close to the joint, it may be iffy. We’ll see.
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The barred owl does also have some clouding in his left eye but that should clear with time. He’s a pretty calm fellow.

​The red tail, however, is a feisty first-year bird who refuses to acknowledge that he needs cage rest. I’m not his favorite person right now, ‘cause I refuse to allow him to attempt to fly away with a broken wing. Go figure, right? But he eats well!

While we were working on these two beauties, a vulture was dropped off at Smalley’s, as well. (I'd spoken to the person on the phone while awaiting vet exams on the hawk and owl and told him to bring the bird to Smalley's.) He was a first-year turkey vulture whose x-rays showed no fractures but he was severely neurological. Peggy and I agreed that given the level of neurological issues the bird was having—unable to stand, unable to lift his head, unable to keep his eyes open more than a few seconds—our kindest option was euthanasia. 
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The Carolina wren hatchlings and eggs survived the night; both eggs hatched, sort of. One hatched and died by noon; the other broke open enough shell to expose his beak and feet and died before completing his hatch. This all happened before 6AM, as I found the poor unsuccessful hatch first thing that morning. Throughout the day, the original two hatchlings also died. Honestly, I think they get something akin to mammal colostrum from their parents’ saliva, and probiotics just aren’t a sufficient substitute.

The older Caros were doing quite well and then started crashing. It’s a cyclical thing—for several years I had great success with wrens; then my release rate dropped to almost nil for the past few years. They’re such stressy little birds…

The finch and mocker were released. I’d released them before I realized I had no photos of them in the songbird flight—been a busy editing week, with back-to-back deadlines, so it just didn’t cross my mind till it was too late. Neither is coming down for handouts but I do occasionally see and hear them.

A nestling mocker was found on the ground and brought to LWR early in the week; he’d been seen very early in the day but the original spotter “didn’t want to get whacked in the head” by the parents, so he was left on the ground, exposed to the elements, all day. People, mockers are SONGBIRDS. If they whack you in the head, it’s not even gonna sting like an NCIS Gibbs-style head slap, okay? I mean, really…
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At any rate, the poor fellow was in pretty bad shape and, adding insult to injury, he was dumped into a plastic container with water in the bottom, so when he reached LWR, he was weak, lethargic, soaked and chilled to the bone. He didn’t survive the night.

​The week ended with the arrival of an adult red shoulder who’d apparently been seen by the roadside for several days before any-damn-body decided to take action. He was starvation-thin—see the photo of his exposed keel (breastbone)—and he had an open wing fracture. Maggots had already eaten most of the flesh from the wing, as well. He was humanely euthanized.

The last of the MIKIs to come in, the one who wasn’t released last week, spent two days in the raptor flight, without flying that I ever saw, before apparently dropping dead during the night. He wasn’t near a wall, so I don’t think he broke his neck—especially given that I never saw him fly at all, despite having no fractures. There was apparently something else going on with the poor fellow.

The screech is slated for the raptor flight this week, to be followed by the great horneds as quickly as possible.
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It’s a constant juggling act with these birds!

​As of yesterday, the LWR fundraiser was at $595, 20% of our goal of $3000. Heartfelt thanks to those who’ve donated and if you haven’t donated yet, time’s a-wastin’!

​The big news is kite releases! All four MIKIs and the swallow tail were released this afternoon! The swallow tail’s x-ray showed a beautifully healed wing and after a week in the raptor flight he made it clear he was as antsy as the MIKIs for freedom. Rain delayed their release till today, though—and I also waited till my niece was available to help me chase down and net any birds that might have run into difficulty at release. Fortunately, we had five smooth releases, three of which we caught on video.

Three of last week’s late intakes, the cardinal, the blue jay and the mocker, didn’t make it; the house finch is headed for the songbird flight this week, where he’ll be joined by another mocker that came in late this week. I tried for photos of the finch and this week’s mocker but the mocker kept jumping out of the pen, leading me on a not-so-merry chase given that I’m still limping around.
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In new intakes, a gorgeous first-year red tail came in with a broken wing and is slated for x-rays early this week, along with this barred owl, who in addition to a damaged eye also has a broken wing. I’m cautiously optimistic for the red tail; the owl’s fracture feels like it’s right at the joint of his wrist. Not so good…

​Another young MIKI came in and will be placed in the raptor flight this week so he can be on his way to make migration ASAP.

​This hummingbird is a window-strike victim; his wing is broken right at the shoulder. This doesn’t bode well, as hummers have to be able to move their wings in a figure 8 in order to fly, but we’ll give him some time to hopefully prove me wrong.

​When a Carolina wren built a nest in her mailbox, the owner tried to get her mail carrier to hold her mail until the babies fledged; the carrier refused and even dumped mail on top of the babies and closed the box to prevent the parents from feeding them. A friend saw this and took the babies out of the mailbox before they got crushed or starved to death. No one will give me the carrier’s name or that person would be reported for being a colossal jackass in addition to disturbing an active nest, which is a violation of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. Thus far these babies are doing well.

​Two newly-hatched Carolina wrens and two unhatched eggs came in this evening after the mother was found dead in front of the nest. Honestly, babies this young have very slim chances of survival, and while it’s possible the eggs may hatch, it’s not likely, as we don’t know how long they were without heat.

​Both great horned owls are awaiting their turn in the raptor flight—after the latest MIKI shows his flight skills—and then the screech owl will finally get his turn at flight.

​And just a reminder—the fundraiser runs till the end of the month, unless the goal is met earlier. That would be “loverly” for everybody!

​Yeah, it’s that time of year. I managed this year to hold off coming to you, hat in hand, till August, though, so there’s that, at least. Briefly, here’s the situation: raptors, which LWR sees more and more of each year, are costly to rehab. Add to their mice costs the costs of insects and formula for both songbirds and flying squirrels, plus replacing feeding syringes, bedding, nest boxes, etc., that wear out yearly from heavy use, and well, it gets expensive. The LWR account is down to just over $900 at the moment, with five months left in the year—that won’t cover enough mice to see us through December, given that the fall of the year is when we start seeing intakes of migrating raptors and first-year raptors looking for a territory to claim…and there’s always the very real chance we’ll see baby barn owls in the fall, as barnies have no set breeding season. So I’m aiming at $3000 for this fundraiser, to see us through the end of the year. Please donate as generously as you can to help keep these birds (and flyers) fed!

​Now on to more pleasant topics: after a week of rain, the skies finally cleared late Friday and the songbird flight quickly emptied Saturday as restive birds took advantage of the open “escape hatch.” Three blue jays, the loggerhead shrike and the robin have joined the jay and grackle who’re still coming down for handouts, so it gets…interesting walking in my yard these days.

​Two more MIKIs came in, one a slightly older bird and the other about the same age as the original three. Unfortunately, the second MIKI of the week, who seemed alert, with no fractures and a healthy weight and appetite, died the night of intake. That came outta nowhere, lemme tell ya. I walked in the next morning and as I flipped on the lights, it looked like the two newest arrivals were cuddled together—and they were, sort of. The older one was nestled next to the body of the younger one, who had not a mark on him but was already in rigor. Not the best way to start your morning.

​Looking at the calendar, I realized we needed some “fruitbasket turnover.” The MIKIs have to be ready for migration, and soon—by the end of this month, optimally. So the younger GHO had to come back inside while the MIKIs all went out to the raptor flight. So far they’re acting like awkward little doofuses, giving me cause to wonder if they’ll even survive migration. They need to get their acts together pronto.

Last Sunday’s mocker and dove both died overnight, which I can’t say I was surprised about. Both were suspected HBC (hit by car) and there were apparently internal injuries for both.

This osprey was just as unlucky. He was rescued from a lake in a neighboring county and taken to a vet clinic there, from whence he came to me—crammed in a cat-sized pet crate.

I don’t like pet crates for transporting birds—for one thing, they run the risk of injuring themselves or worsening an injury while struggling to get out; for another, extracting them from a pet crate also must be done carefully to avoid injuring the bird or exacerbating an existing injury. Trust me, there is a VALID, LOGICAL reason rehabbers request that you bring wildlife to them in CARDBOARD BOXES. Cardboard “breathes” so you can close the flaps without worry. It’s dark inside, calming the wildlife. The risk of the wildlife doing further damage to itself in the box is low. And it’s easier for the rehabber to extract the wildlife.
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At any rate, the poor bird’s wing was broken at the wrist and, probably in the struggle to get him in the crate, it had become an open fracture—there was fresh blood and lots of it on the wing. He required euthanasia.

The older GHO and the swallowtail kite continue to heal; the swallowtail is due for a follow-up vet visit this week. To be honest, the way he’s flung himself around two consecutively smaller boxes, I’m not hopeful he’s allowed that wing to heal, but we’ll see.
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This mocker was found in the middle of the road, with nary a nest in sight. He’s doing well but is a food slinger, necessitating thorough cleaning after EVERY feeding (photo is post-feeding, pre-cleaning, as he’s quite...um…unhappy post-cleaning).  Yeah, I’ll be one more happy rehabber when he starts self-feeding on the mealworms in his box!

​When callers said they found a young cardinal beneath their window, I recommended they box him up, place him in a cool, quiet, dark place, and give him a few hours to see if he was just stunned. Several hours later they called to report he was still unable to fly. Nothing appears broken, so we may just have lingering head trauma. We’ll see how things progress.

​And this nestling house finch is just days away from fledging but his finders said he was alone in the nest and refused to remain in the nest, although his wing feathers are still half-sheathed, after they re-nested him several times. They saw no adults. Who knows? At this point in the year, like most rehabbers, I’ve given up trying to make sense of how babies end up in our care.

​Just a closing reminder—please donate as generously as you can to the fundraiser. Your donations are tax-deductible, plus you get the warm, fuzzy feeling that comes from knowing you did your part to help our native wildlife!