Blog Archives

Christmas fundraiser!

11/30/2025

Yep, it’s that time of year again, with Giving Tuesday coming up this week. LWR’s goal for this fundraiser is $2000 and, as usual, all donations are greatly appreciated! After evaluating a mind-numbing number of the various fundraising platforms out there, LWR is sticking with PayPal. What I didn’t know till recently is that not only does PayPal generate “Donate” buttons for websites, they also generate donation/”order” links for social media, making it even easier for donors! The link for our December fundraiser is below:

https://www.paypal.com/ncp/payment/4LRUMMCTB7RK2

Now on to the actual update, which will be fairly short; last week was quiet—always nice this time of year!

The sole intake was a late nestling/early brancher barnie from UGA’s Wildlife Clinic. I’m still awaiting the paperwork on the bird, so all I know is that he’d been at UGA since the week before Thanksgiving. He’s an aggressive, footy little fellow who steadfastly refuses to stop toe dusting for a photo. All the photos I attempted had lovely abstract blurs for his head. So we’re going with a video instead. He straight-up attacks and inhales his food, too, so he’ll likely go into the mini-pen this week.

Last week’s barred owl appears to be blind. The bruising and swelling on the right eye have cleared up, but the left eye is cloudy, and he cannot find his food. I’ve been hand-feeding him, but if he doesn’t regain his vision this week, we’ll call it. The blindness could be from residual swelling from the head trauma putting pressure on the optic nerve, or there could be permanent damage to the optic nerve. He’s got the remainder of this week; 12-14 days is usually our time limit on a blind bird.

Please remember our fundraiser and share the link for others who might donate. Your donations will help us stuff the barnie’s Christmas stocking with mice!

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So-so week

11/23/2025

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With one intake last week and one today, it’s been a 50-50 scenario at LWR.

Last week’s intake was a nestling barn owl who’d fallen from his nest, located at Toombs County High School. DNR said it was impossible to renest, which is actually a good thing, as the impact of his fall broke his femur. It was a badly displaced break, but vet Jim Hobby of Smalley’s Animal Hospital was willing to place a pin in the bone to allow it to heal properly. We’d worked out a plan of action and Jim had explained the steps of the surgery to me; we just needed to stabilize the bird first. Unfortunately, he’d also sustained internal injuries in the fall and didn’t survive the night.

For those who’re questioning, “But wait a sec, baby season is over for this year, right?” the answer is yes, for most species. But barnies aren’t normal in any sense of the word. They have no specific breeding season; they breed year-round if the food supply is sufficient.

Today’s intake was a barred owl, found by the roadside in Laurens County. DNR picked him up and delivered him to LWR. Aside from a bruised and swollen right eye and a concussion, he appears to have no other injuries. He was most likely whacked by a vehicle late last night or early this morning, as he’s still pretty out of it.

Y’all have a happy Thanksgiving!

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The times that try rehabbers’ souls (with apologies to Thomas Paine)

11/16/2025

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I’d venture to say all rehabbers start out with a “save ‘em all” mentality, only to be slapped in the face—quickly—by the reality that we can’t save ‘em all. Those who don’t adapt seldom remain in rehab for long; they get burned out or bummed out and just drop out.

Those of us who do adapt learn to accept that sometimes the only release we can offer is a release from suffering. We develop coping mechanisms, foremost among them a dark, twisted, and often inappropriate sense of humor. We learn to compartmentalize, so that it’s not unusual to regretfully euthanize an animal and ten minutes later be laughing at the antics of another of our rehabs.

But the euthanasias never get easier; the day they do is the day we need to get out of rehab. Oh, the ability to determine an animal needs euthanasia develops to a finely honed skill, obviously. But the regret and heartache—those still sting. Every time.

And I prefaced this update with that philosophical musing because last week was indeed a trying week. Not a single bird that came in survived. All required euthanasia.

The barred owl that came in last Sunday morning? Blind.

The two barreds that came in Monday? Both had open wrist fractures.

The red shoulder that came in Thursday? Leg broken so badly his foot faced backward.

It was NOT a good week. The sole redeeming factor for the week was that Georgia experienced an amazing reappearance of the Northern Lights the night of the 11th—the vivid red was actually bright enough to see with the naked eye. So rather than leave y’all with all gloom and doom, here’re a couple of shots of the aurora borealis as seen from my property.

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Releases and less pleasant events

11/9/2025

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It was a busier than usual week at LWR for November. We had two releases, one died-in-care, a GSW red tail, a DOA, and a probable HBC that came in this morning. Interestingly enough, all three new intakes were from Laurens County—a rarity!

Let’s start with the releases: The barred owl who’d been recovering from a wing fracture, having proved his flightworthiness, was released.

With his release, the peregrine could move into the main flight, where he immediately began flying laps around the pen—and with more space available, suddenly he wanted nothing to do with his feeder person (me). Instead of flying at me to snatch the food, he waited at the opposite end of the flight for me to put it down, then he’d nail it as soon as I walked away.

Given that our weather is about to drop into the freezing temps for the next several nights, it was time for this fellow to resume his trek to warmer climes for the winter. And he wasted no time hightailing it outta here—what a gorgeous release!

The up-and-down barred owl went down again, to the point I’d planned to euthanize, but he died overnight instead.

Late Monday afternoon, a first-year red tail was brought in. He had an open fracture, left wing, but the nature of the injury made me suspect gunshot: small entry wound underwing and large exit wound upper wing. Tuesday morning, Smalley’s worked me in for x-rays, and sure enough, the lead flecks were clearly visible, along with a shattered ulna. We had no option but euthanasia—and let me tell y’all in this case it sucked worse than usual. This was an alert, aggressive bird with a healthy appetite—absolutely gorgeous in every respect…as are all red tails. Vet Peggy Hobby and I spent the poor bird’s last minutes apologizing to him over and over for having to put him down because of some jerk’s stupidity.

Obviously, his injury was reported to the state and feds, and a copy of the x-ray was forwarded to them. Problem is, the finder didn’t witness the injury; his wife actually saw the grounded bird and told him about it. So, as is too often the case, the jackass who shot this bird will likely never see justice.

The week ended with a screech owl intake. He was found in the road only a few miles from LWR and brought in within less than an hour of being found. His face was basically degloved and he was lethargic and unresponsive. Given that the tear ducts on his left eye were completely gone, along with most of the flesh of the lower lid, he likely would have required eventual euthanasia, but the poor fellow died within two hours of intake.

And this morning, another barred owl came in. Apparently party-goers saw him in the road last night and moved him to the side of the road, where another teen found him and took him home to seek help. Nothing is broken, although he does favor his left wing, and his right eye is cloudy. The blood on the beak is nothing to worry about; the beak is fully functional. He’s woozy, typical of head trauma, but if there’s no brain bleed, with a little time to heal, he should be fine.

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Aaannnd…maintaining the status quo

11/2/2025

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LWR had no new intakes last week and no releases, although that may change this week. We shall see…

The potentially blind barred owl still ain’t doin’ right (Yes, it’s a “medical” term my vets and I use when we can’t find an actual problem but we know there is one: We say the patient has ADR). He may or may not eat, mostly not, and he alternates between acting stir crazy and just sitting slumped over. In other words, we still have major head trauma here, and there’s not a lot we can do but allow the bird time and see what happens.

The other barred owl is ready for release this week, probably midweek.

And the little feathered pig—sorry, I mean the peregrine—will then move into the main flight where, if he flies as well as he’s currently doing in the mini-pen, he’ll only spend a week or so before his release. He’s been a much calmer guest than the tail-shredding female peregrine of a couple of years ago, and I’ve enjoyed having a more laid-back bird to observe. I think it’s safe to say I’m slightly besotted with this fellow!

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Christmas fundraiser!

So-so week

The times that try rehabbers’ souls (with apologies to Thomas Paine)

Releases and less pleasant events

Aaannnd…maintaining the status quo

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