...And this one’s about to eat me outta house and home—but never fear, my cousin, whose entire supply of large goldfish I’ve wiped out in a week, has offered me the back room at his bait and tackle shop and a couple of blankets to crash on when the bird bankrupts me... We’re both just kidding. I think. At this point, with $200 worth of fish for that bird in 10 days and no idea when my cousin will be able to replenish his supply, it may be the heron who’s got troubles!
Actually, we’re aiming for more complete x-rays Monday before the heron’s either euthanized or transferred to the Georgia Sea Turtle Center on Jekyll Island this week. My vets were out of town last week, and the rehabber at GSTC was also unavailable, hence the delay in both x-rays and transfer.
Aside from watching LWR’s limited funds go down the heron’s throat in great gulps, it was a fairly slow week, with only two intakes.
A young adult Virginia rail with a wing fracture took a roundabout path from Columbus, near the Alabama line, to LWR. He was emaciated when he arrived, and he’d obviously not eaten while on his circuitous route here: The towel lining his box was covered with small white dots of poop, indicating lack of food. Sadly, he died the night of intake.
Aside from watching LWR’s limited funds go down the heron’s throat in great gulps, it was a fairly slow week, with only two intakes.
A young adult Virginia rail with a wing fracture took a roundabout path from Columbus, near the Alabama line, to LWR. He was emaciated when he arrived, and he’d obviously not eaten while on his circuitous route here: The towel lining his box was covered with small white dots of poop, indicating lack of food. Sadly, he died the night of intake.
And a late first-year/early second year red tail was so desperate for food he tried to attack a covered chicken coop and was himself attacked by a dog—and then apparently ended up in a pool as the homeowner tried to catch him to see if the dog had injured him. Adding insult to injury, he was driven some 60 miles in a wire dog crate in the back of a truck with no blankets to muffle the road noise and wind, so when he arrived at LWR, he was stressed to the max.
Since nothing was broken I tried the bird in the mini-pen, where he perched very precariously on the low perch, wings drooping and head down and exhibiting nervous tics that made me suspect possible neurological damage. Also, the inside of his beak was pale, almost white, so I worried about possible internal bleeding or potential capillaria. It seemed a better idea to bring him inside where I could monitor his poop after the initial treatment for capillaria—and watch for bloody poop that would indicate internal injuries.
Since nothing was broken I tried the bird in the mini-pen, where he perched very precariously on the low perch, wings drooping and head down and exhibiting nervous tics that made me suspect possible neurological damage. Also, the inside of his beak was pale, almost white, so I worried about possible internal bleeding or potential capillaria. It seemed a better idea to bring him inside where I could monitor his poop after the initial treatment for capillaria—and watch for bloody poop that would indicate internal injuries.
He did continue Saturday to exhibit a slight nervous tic: His head “ticked” like a clock second hand slowly to the right, to about 90 degrees, and then jerked quickly back to center. Today, though, the tic seems to’ve resolved; he’s bright-eyed and holding that head steady. A few days of R&R at the LWR B&B won’t hurt him, though; he can stand to flesh out a bit. His keel was a bit prominent on intake, and I prefer to release well-fleshed raptors.
On a “housekeeping” note, there will be no update on Sunday, Oct. 25; the next update will be on November 1.
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