It appears that every weekend in Georgia this winter is gonna be wet; it’s overcast and nasty-damp today. Good sleepin’ weather for people, cats and dogs; lousy hunting and feeding weather for wildlife. The songbirds are cleaning out my feeders within hours of me filling them. Makes me worry about nesting great horned owls, as this is their breeding season…

At any rate, we don’t control the weather, so all we can do is react to it—and take advantage of the clear weather to schedule releases.

As you’ll recall from last Sunday’s update, the red shoulder found near the interstate right before Christmas was flying well in the raptor flight. By Wednesday, he was soaring from one end to the other and back without a pause, indicating his readiness for release.
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So I got him boxed up and off we headed to a suitable release site, where he bolted from the box, barely giving me time to get a not-great video of his release.

I lowered the camera and started walking toward where he landed, aiming at some post-release photos, and he let me know quickly that wasn’t gonna happen—spread those wings and took off deeper into the woods, and I lost sight of him. Now I consider that a good release!

Aside from his release, it was a quiet week. About the time I get used to occasional quiet, slow weeks, baby season will kick in, and there’ll be six months of nonstop insanity, so I’m enjoying each quiet week to the fullest.
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Besides, I still have those annual reports to get done… 

Hope everybody enjoyed their New Year’s celebrations. Now that 2018 is behind us, it’s time for rehabbers to begin working on those dreaded annual reports. Some of y’all organized types or those who have staff to help might’ve done this in “real time” throughout the year but most of us will spend January getting all the paperwork in order. Oh joy…can’t escape paperwork, can you?

As for 2019, it’s off to a fairly normal start. We had intakes right through New Year’s Eve and then a slight break before the next one, along with some releases.
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Let’s start with the releases: the barred owl was rarin’ to go and only the weeklong downpour kept him from being released much earlier. He had no fractures; the eye, while still a bit cloudy, was looking good and he could find his food, so he was a “go” waiting on the weather to cooperate.

Same for the mourning dove—while his tail feathers weren’t as long as I would’ve liked, he escaped his box three times last week as I was freshening food and water, so as soon as the skies cleared I placed him in the songbird flight and opened the escape hatch. Two hours later, I went back out to check, and sure enough, he was long gone.
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The New Year’s Eve intake wasn’t as lucky. The victim of a dog attack, this poor adult mockingbird was missing most of his right wing and his entire right leg, along with having a severely damaged left eye. He was humanely euthanized. All photos were taken post-euthanasia.

​Midweek, a juvenile turkey vulture came in. His finders’ description didn’t sound promising, and when they arrived with the poor fellow, my forebodings proved accurate. His left wing had been broken and healed very badly in the wild, at an impossible angle—the original fracture had been at or near the wrist, and the wing had healed with the wrist rotated backwards and facing up. The poor fellow would never fly again.

When his finders asked about his prognosis, I was honest. The bird would require euthanasia. Both got very emotional and said repeatedly they wished they’d never brought him and they should have kept him in a pen in their back yard, etc., etc.

Leaving aside the illegality of possessing wildlife without a permit, let me make a few observations.

First off, why on God’s green Earth would anybody think that a life in a pen would be a happy existence for a bird used to riding the thermals thousands of feet in the air? Second, that wing had to be causing massive pain still, as he had begun gnawing on the flesh of the opposite wing—what kind of life is that for a bird? Third, people need to stop viewing euthanasia as “the enemy.”  It is a TOOL in the rehabber’s kit, a means of giving wildlife the only release that is sometimes possible: a release from suffering.

And let me be clear on this: I will always, ALWAYS do what’s best for the wildlife, and if that hurts your little feelings, oh well…I’m not a licensed PEOPLE rehabber; I’m a licensed WILDLIFE rehabber. If I can’t return the wildlife to the wild and it’s not a suitable candidate—through injury or temperament—for an educational animal, I will euthanize rather than subject that animal to a lifetime of misery in a cage. I submit to you that people who think a lifetime of captivity and pain is preferable to humane euthanasia are incredibly selfish, thinking only of themselves and not the best interests of the wildlife.

Okay, off my soapbox…for this week…
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The red shoulder is in the raptor flight. He still cants his tail to the right slightly but seems to have no issues flying. This week is supposed to be gorgeous, so we’ll see how he improves and aim at possible release late this week or possibly early next week.

Our area of Middle Georgia has experienced enough rain that I’m threatening to invest in scuba gear for use in my yard…and it’s not over yet. Rain’s predicted till the end of the week…And you watch, come garden-planting time and/or time for the crops to start sprouting, and it’ll be bone-dry. Reminds me of the old Jerry Clower joke about the fool who got elected to Congress (are there any other kinds, really?) and the first piece of legislation he introduced was a bill to move February between July and August, as “it’s a short, cool, wet month and we need the cooler weather and rain right about then.”

At any rate, the soggy weather has affected intakes for LWR, which have actually picked up over the past couple of weeks.
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First, the mourning dove from the pre-Christmas update was a very lucky bird; the x-ray showed the pellet passed straight through with no fractures. He still holds the wing at a bit of an odd angle, but we’re fairly confident it won’t affect flight when the poor bird’s tail feathers grow back in.

​On Dec. 17, two waterfowl came in, the first a great blue heron who showed no signs of fractures but was unable to stand and had no neurological response at all in his feet and legs.  He was humanely euthanized.

Later that same day a juvenile great egret came in, emaciated and with blood around his beak and one ear. He seemed fairly alert and since nothing appeared broken, the plan was to get him to Smalley’s for x-rays the next day, to see if maybe he had a lead sinker or something in his digestive tract that might be causing lead poisoning. He was standing with his head tucked for the night at lights-out and was dead the next morning—very frustrating…

​On Dec. 23, a family called about a bluebird that they’d found on the ground when their dog “pointed” it.  On arrival at LWR the bird, a male, was in bad shape. He had no visible wounds and no fractures but he was lethargic and his eyes were dull; he also refused to stand. He was medicated and placed in a donut with mealworms and water within easy reach, since he couldn’t stand, but he died overnight. My guess—and this is purely conjecture—is that a free-roaming cat attacked him and he wasn’t found in time for the meds to be effective. His finders did say the neighbors had free-roaming cats.

​Then, on Christmas Eve, callers reported finding a hawk in the middle of the road. They brought the bird, an adult male red shoulder, to LWR shortly after dark. He was concussed out of his gourd and reluctant to stand but again, nothing seemed broken. Subsequent x-rays confirmed no fractures, and he’s now attempting to stand and eat but is slow to flare his tail or spread his wings. Vet Jim Hobby and I suspect mild nerve trauma, as I’m seeing daily improvement. The goal now is to get him in the raptor flight as soon as the weather dries out a bit. (Yes, I know birds deal with the rain every day; however, I don’t wanna have to slog through the swamp that is now my yard to the raptor flight every day!)

​And today an adult male barred owl came in. He also appears to have no fractures but has a whale of a concussion: blood in beak, blood in right ear, right eye filled with blood. He’ll be headed to Smalley’s next week but for the next couple of days he’ll be kept dark and quiet and given pain meds to ease that pounding headache he must have.

​Hope everybody had a great Christmas and hope y’all have quiet or festive—whichever’s your flavor—New Year’s Eve. Fellow Southrons, hope y’all found those collards to go with y’all’s black-eyed peas, as there’s a weather-related shortage this year. Folks in Parts North, I don’t know what y’all’s traditional New Year’s Day meal is, but enjoy whatever it is!

…and there’s been slightly more stirring at LWR than in past weeks.

First off, the barred owl from last week didn’t survive the night; I really wasn’t surprised, as I suspected internal injuries on intake.
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Toward the end of the week a late first-year red tail came in. He was starvation-thin and, as the old folks say, “eat up” with frounce (sort of like thrush in a human baby but in the throat rather than the mouth.) His first 24 hours were on a thin slurry; the next 24 were on small bits of chopped up mouse—all while treating the frounce. He seemed to be doing well—was more alert, actually lunging for the food…and then, the morning of the third day, he was dead. And yes, it sucked. I really didn’t see that coming, as he seemed to be responding so well to treatment. 

​Yesterday an adult mourning dove came in. The volunteer who initially picked him up suspected he’d narrowly escaped being a Coop’s meal, given that he’s missing all his tail feathers. Made sense until the second volunteer (they “ponied” the bird to LWR) arrived with the bird and I was able to examine him. He appears to have a pellet lodged in his wing, right at the wrist. I won’t know for sure till we get x-rays, but I suspect it’s not a fixable fracture. This one won’t be reported to DNR or FWS, as it’s dove season and he likely was hit when hunters were “spraying and praying” into a flock of doves. Sloppy hunting but not illegal…

​And today people called about a bird that neighborhood children had apparently been harassing; their own children rescued the bird and took it home, whereupon the parents called LWR. It’s an adult great blue heron—no wing fractures, no leg fractures, able to poop well…but unable to stand. He has a fist-sized raw spot on his lower belly near his cloaca but there are no tears in the skin or anything. He can flail with his wings but he absolutely cannot stand. The raw spot has been treated; the inability to stand will have to wait till tomorrow for a vet visit to see if we can determine what’s going on.

There will be no update next Sunday; due to the work schedules of my niece and nephew, we’ll be celebrating Christmas on the 23rd, as they’re both off that day. So the next LWR update will be Dec. 30.
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Merry Christmas, y’all!

It’s been a rough couple of weeks for our local wildlife, with torrential downpours last weekend, cold temps in between, and more heavy rain and, in some areas of the state, snow, this weekend. Intakes have been low because people are just not getting outside to see wildlife in need; for the most part, they’re staying inside where it’s warm and dry.

That said, LWR had two intakes this week, a screech owl and a barred owl, both found in the road.
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The screech, a tiny red-phase male, came in midweek; he was found in the turning lane of an exit to the interstate. Upon examination, it was obvious he had a ruptured eye and at least one broken wing; the other also felt as if it might be broken. His stress poop, which should have been black, oily and smelly, was instead rust-colored. None of this boded well for the little fellow but he was fairly alert and even tried to preen his wings a bit, so I was hopeful I’d overstated the extent of his injuries.

​However, x-rays at Smalley’s confirmed my initial assessment: the left wrist was shattered; the right ulna was broken in three places, and the right eyeball was totally trashed.  

Obviously, the most humane option for this poor fellow was euthanasia. Given that the entire staff of Smalley’s shares my utter adoration of screeches, none of us were happy about the outcome but we also knew we were ending his suffering quickly and humanely.
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This morning, a barred owl, also male based on his size, came in after being found in the middle of the road several counties away. His right hip feels broken, and his finders attempted to splint his leg to stabilize it somewhat.  He has no neural response in his foot, though, and he also had fresh blood in his poop, in addition to the inside of his mouth being totally white—this indicates internal bleeding. None of this bodes well for the poor bird, but if he makes it through the night he’ll head to Smalley’s for x-rays, as well.

With the weather like it is—cold, wet and nasty—it’s hard for raptors to find food. They’re hunting near roadways because people toss their trash on the side of the road, attracting rodents. When the hawk or owl focuses on its prey and swoops in for the kill, it doesn’t see oncoming traffic; it only sees that potential meal. This is how they get whacked by vehicles. The bird may successfully capture the prey and get hit as it lifts back into the air, or it may get hit as it’s diving after the prey or chasing it across the road. Regardless, vehicle versus raptor seldom ends well for the raptor.
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What can you do? Aside from either not driving at all or driving so slowly that impact with a raptor would cause minimal damage to the bird—neither of which is practical or practicable—be alert when you’re driving. It’s not called defensive driving for nothing. If you’re alert and watching the sides of the roads you may be able to slow, stop or swerve to avoid hitting a hunting raptor. And for the love of all that’s holy, DON’T toss your trash, not even fruit or other foodstuffs, out on the side of the road to attract raptor prey to dangerous hunting areas. Keep a bag or box in your vehicle for your trash; it takes all of maybe 60 seconds to empty it at home or at a gas station. Those 60 seconds could mean the difference between life and death for a raptor.

In other words, a typical week for any rehabber at any given time...LWR had both an unexpected death and a much-anticipated release this week.
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Let’s get the bad news out of the way first: the red shoulder’s x-ray showed a fracture that should have healed perfectly, with no flight impairment at all. 

However, two days later, he keeled over overnight.  Some birds just don’t deal well with the stress of captivity, and that’s all I can figure was going on with him.
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The excellent news is that the red shoulder who’d been recovering from the wing fracture forever and was flying so beautifully in the raptor flight was released. No video, although I tried; he burst out of the box like he had a rocket booster on his tail. After some searching, though, I did manage to locate where he’d landed and get some pretty decent post-release photos.

All calls this week were from folks way out of LWR’s range and were referred to rehabbers closer to them. 
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And that, people, is the sum total of this week’s update!

The first rule of wildlife rehab is never complain about a slow week! Breaks are always nice, especially this time of year, with baby season behind us and annual reports looming. Having a chance to sit back and catch your breath, figuratively speaking, is always welcome—and it’s been a long time since I’ve actually had a really slow “slow” season.
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The red shoulder from last week did turn out to have a wing fracture; it’s close to the wrist and we haven’t gotten x-rays yet—that will be this week. Raptors especially have very strong muscles that can hide a fracture because they support the bones so well initially—and in his case, there was no swelling at the outset, so those strong muscles masked the break quite effectively.  The good news is that he’s holding the wing perfectly level, so I’m cautiously optimistic that x-rays will show a fixable fracture.

​The news is very good indeed for the red tail who finally got his turn in the raptor flight. He’s able to traverse the entire length of the pen airborne, so his stay at LWR is about to end. We have rain predicted here the next few days, but by midweek things are looking good for a release. He’s quite ready to go—whatever end of the raptor flight I’m in, he makes sure he’s at the opposite end!

​And that, folks, is it for this week, so you can get back to watching those feel-good Christmas movies or posting cute Christmas memes on Facebook…or whatever… 

​Yep, the poor lacerated-cornea red tail who’d healed weeks ago FINALLY flew the coop, after a two-week “rain delay.”  He wasted no time bolting from the box and kept soaring farther and farther from me when I tried to “stalk” him for a decent post-release photo. Below is the best I could manage, but I’m not complaining; his flight was strong, straight and utterly gorgeous to behold.

​This means the red tail whose wing fracture healed weeks ago finally has his time in the flight pen. Recall, if you will, that his fracture was pretty close to the joint so we’re not sure he’ll be able to fly but he’ll have several weeks to test his ability in the raptor flight.

​And now for the promised rant. LWR received a call early in the week about a barred owl a few hours’ drive away. It took all day but with the help of WREN (Wildlife Resources Education Network, a volunteer transport coordination group), one of our stalwart transporters picked up the bird and got it to LWR late that night. Why the haste? We discovered that the bird had been held illegally for TWO WEEKS with a broken wing because the finder “didn’t want him euthanized.”  But she was scared of him, so these are the conditions he lived in for two weeks:

The transporter said the steak in the bottom of the pen was crawling with maggots and there was moldy bread in there, as well.
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And when the poor owl reached LWR, his right wing was so badly broken that it faced upside down—see the post-euthanasia photo below.

​And he’d been in so much pain for two weeks that he’d begun to self-mutilate, gnawing at his own wing trying to stop the source of the pain.

All because some fool “didn’t want him euthanized.”

People, let me explain something to you: Euthanasia is often the kindest, most humane option we can offer badly injured wildlife. This bird’s suffering could have been ended two weeks earlier; instead, he sat in filth and agony until rescued and brought to LWR, where his suffering ended immediately.

If wildlife can’t be “fixed”, at least a properly licensed rehabber has the means to end its suffering quickly and humanely. Don’t fall into the “I’ll save it” trap and keep injured wildlife for days or weeks before contacting a rehabber—by the time you do, a fracture that might have been fixable earlier may be past repair now, or systemic infection may have set in or maggots may have infested the wound to the point that the tissue has been totally consumed down to the bone. Yes, I’ve seen all these conditions, and they all required euthanasia—and all might have been “fixable” had the wildlife been brought in earlier.

Time is of the essence with injured wildlife. Would you sit for days or weeks with an ill or injured pet or child before seeking treatment? Of course not! So why would any sane person think that was a viable option for wildlife?
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Contrast the above disaster with this red shoulder hit by a college student. The bird flew out in front of her in the rain; she couldn’t brake in time. She called LWR almost immediately afterward and because it was near dark, raining heavily and she was a couple of hours away, I explained how to secure the bird overnight. She didn’t need to be driving in the dark on rainy, unfamiliar roads. The next morning she had the bird to LWR ASAP. She didn’t ask on the phone if it could be fixed or what I’d do with the bird; she just did the right thing and brought the bird. As it turned out, he had a nasty open wing fracture, with a good two inches of bone exposed. When I showed her the wound and explained he’d require euthanasia, she accepted it with a simple, “I was hoping for a better outcome but I understand.” And she still made a donation to LWR. THIS is the type of young person who gives me some small hope for our future.

​And earlier this afternoon, the area FWS agent called with a HBC hawk—it was found by the roadside and seemed unable to fly. This didn’t bode well, I feared, but when he showed up, the red shoulder actually had only a minor ding on his foot and the tip of his beak had been peeled, exposing the softer keratin beneath. He’s still woozy and reluctant to perch but is well-fleshed and otherwise healthy-looking. No fractures, amazingly. 

​But the beak worried me; I didn’t want it to break in the wild and cause the bird problems. I consulted with colleague Kathryn Dudeck of Chattahoochee Nature Center, and after seeing a photo of his beak, she recommended just trimming the exposed softer portion and then seeing if he can tear into a rat or mouse. If so, he’s good to go; if not he’ll stay at LWR till the beak tip grows back. The trim was no problem at all, partially because the poor fellow is still a bit discombobulated. But it will be tomorrow before we try feeding; head traumas never eat when they’re still woozy.

​Hope y’all have a wonderful Thanksgiving, and if I can offer a recommendation, spend “Black Friday” in nature’s majesty and not in stores fighting crowds of crazed bargain hunters.

It was a thoroughly exasperating week; between the weather and an inconsiderate public with zero follow-through, my patience was tested to the max. So you reap the benefits with a list of what should be common-sense rules of etiquette when dealing with wildlife rehabbers.

Before diving into the list, however, let’s get the true update out of the way: no new intakes, and a week of rain prevented release of the red tail in the flight pen, so the red tail in the house is still awaiting his flight time…no rain is currently predicted after Tuesday of this week, so…fingers crossed….
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Now, to some basic, common-sense-if-your-mama-raised-you-right rules of etiquette when dealing with wildlife rehabbers:

1. ONE CALL is sufficient. If you leave a message and the rehabber returns your call and sets up a time for you to bring the bird, leave it at that unless something changes—the bird dies or your schedule changes, etc. DO NOT blow up the rehabber’s phone with calls and texts every couple of hours with cryptic “Call me” messages.  
2. If you set up a time to bring the bird that day, the next day or in a couple of days, HAVE THE COURTESY TO NOTIFY THE REHABBER if there’s a change in status. It’s not our place to ride your arse to get the bird; YOU called US. Believe it or not, we do have other things going on in our lives: other wildlife to care for, jobs to keep our lights on, family matters to deal with, etc.
3. DO NOT bypass the rehabber’s voicemail message with an immediate hang-up and text. There is important information in the voicemail message. When you do an “end-run” around the voicemail message, you miss vital information and irritate the rehabber.
4. Text ONLY when the rehabber hasn’t responded to the voicemail you left within thirty minutes to an hour. We don’t have time to text back and forth with you for half an hour when a five-minute phone call could have addressed the issue.
5. In voicemail messages, leave your location as well as your phone number.  Feel free to send a CLEAR photo of the bird via text but mention in the voicemail message that you’re doing so; that way we know where that random bird pic came from.
6. If you insist on texting first, send a CLEAR photo of the bird to begin with—saves time. Also, see #5 above—include location and phone number.
7. IT IS YOUR RESPONSIBILITY TO GET THE BIRD TO THE REHABBER. We are NOT employees of DNR or FWS. This means we actually have paying jobs in addition to our VOLUNTEER work as rehabbers. Whether we work outside the home or freelance from home, we CANNOT drop what we’re doing and ignore deadlines and the wildlife currently in our care to drive up to 150 miles round-trip multiple times a day to pick up more wildlife. And if you live less than 50 miles from a rehabber and balk at driving  the wildlife to the rehabber, SHAME ON YOU.
8. Just because we’re home-based—and most rehabbers are—doesn’t mean we don’t eat or sleep at some point during the day/night. If you call during normal meal times—which 90% of people seem to do—there’s a good chance we’re at least wolfing down a pack of crackers at that point and would prefer not to try to talk to you while chewing our food. WE WILL CALL YOU BACK. Give us time. Similarly, if you call after 8pm and we say wait till the morning to bring us the wildlife you found, PLEASE DO NOT INSIST ON BRINGING IT THAT NIGHT.  We do need time to bathe and sleep, and even continue working on our paying jobs in many cases. Hard as it may be to believe, we’re more effective as rehabbers when we have a few hours’ rest a night.
9. LEARN THE GENERAL GEOGRAPHY OF YOUR STATE. If the rehabber you’re about to call is a day-trip away, be sure you’re willing to drive three or more hours one way to get the bird to them. If not, seek help closer to home. There IS a public list of licensed rehabbers available in every state. Most game and fish agencies have that list on their website; many rehabbers also post the list on their websites. Please DO NOT call a rehabber 150 miles away and then tell them it’s too far to drive and ask them to spend 15 minutes trying to locate a rehabber near you—the lists are out there and easily accessible.
10. DON’T EVEN call/email a rehabber in another state and ask for advice on caring for wildlife illegally. The rehab community is fairly small and we tend to at least know each others’ names if we’re not personally acquainted. And we talk to each other. So we KNOW when you’re lying about there not being a rehabber near you. Chances are, we know the rehabber who lives less than 10 miles from you that has already told you to bring them the bird.  And we tend to get a bit pissy when we’re blatantly lied to.
11. (Yeah, I know—even God only had ten commandments.) Please understand that as a rule, rehabbers are NOT “people” people. We don’t like people too much; we deal with them only because we have to in order to help the wildlife. So if, when you bring us a bird or other wildlife, we ignore you while examining and actually talking in dulcet tones to the wildlife, it’s not personal. We just prefer the wildlife to you.

There were no new intakes last week; this week looks to be busier. LWR already has two birds on the way in the next couple of days.
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The barred owl from week before last that I was not real hopeful about did indeed have a nasty, unfixable fracture. He was humanely euthanized.

The red tail with the healed corneal laceration is still in the raptor flight; weather hasn’t been cooperative for a release. That means the red tail with the healed wing fracture hasn’t been placed in the raptor flight yet.
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And that, folks, is this week’s update. And I’m really not complaining. A slow week here and there gives me time to catch my breath.