While the pace picked up from the previous week’s watching paint dry slowness, it wasn’t horribly hectic—nothing like colleagues in the Carolinas and Virginia experienced in dealing with Florence’s damage.
The GHOs were offered freedom; the UGA female took advantage and while I did attempt a video of her flight to freedom, it was so out of focus it wasn’t worth sharing. The photo below was taken when she landed in a nearby tree to get her bearings before soaring away.
The GHOs were offered freedom; the UGA female took advantage and while I did attempt a video of her flight to freedom, it was so out of focus it wasn’t worth sharing. The photo below was taken when she landed in a nearby tree to get her bearings before soaring away.
The younger fellow, though…Weeellll… “Houston, we have a problem.” He lunged out of the box…on the ground. He turned and looked at me…on the ground. I walked toward him. He gave me a gorgeous threat display—see below. But NO FLIGHT. I don’t like tossing released birds into the air, but I gloved up, caught him and gently lofted him upward…he spread his wings as if to take flight…and soared right back to the ground. Needless to say, he’s back in the raptor flight and I may end up trying to place him as an ed bird if he doesn’t take advantage of his next release attempt.
When this barred owl came in, I was pretty sure he only had a concussion; within 24 hours he was eating and both eyes were fully open and clear. He’s ready for release but given we didn’t know for sure how bad the winds from Florence would be in Middle Georgia, I held him through the weekend.
This juvenile ruby-throated hummer was a probable window-strike victim who never fully recovered. He seemed to be showing improvement at lights-out and died during the night.
Late Friday night a call came in about a hawk found in the road. The finder was willing to bring the bird to LWR that night, and she arrived with a woozy but very feisty runt male red shoulder. Again, nothing was broken; he just had blood in his beak indicating head trauma, probably a mild concussion. By the next morning he was alert and eating well. Again, his release was delayed to avoid any potential Florence-related weather this weekend.
Unfortunately, this female house finch, a cat-attack victim, wasn’t as lucky. She died en route to LWR.
So folks, here’s the deal: either keep your cats INDOORS where they cannot harm wildlife, or learn to grit your teeth and walk away while the murderer YOU loosed on your local wildlife wreaks havoc, killing adult and baby birds, squirrels, and rabbits. Don’t offer lame excuses about how “Fluffy never does this; I just don’t understand.” YES, Fluffy DOES “do this” all the time; you just don’t always see the results of Fluffy’s murderous rampages. Please read this next sentence very carefully: I do NOT blame the cat for doing what its instincts tell it to do; I blame YOU for being a sorry excuse of a pet owner and allowing your cat to roam freely, endangering both the area wildlife and the cat itself.
KEEP YOUR CATS INDOORS. It's that simple.
KEEP YOUR CATS INDOORS. It's that simple.
RSS Feed
