What started out as a truly heart-rending fatal week ended with the first baby of the season—a very late-hatch great horned owl nestling.
This “leetle feller” was found on the ground Wednesday night in Emmanuel County. His finders said they thought they could see the nest but there was no way to reach it to be sure, so they took him in for the night and called LWR the next morning.
On intake, he was quite vocal about his hunger, and quite eager to eat. Great horned babies are bottomless pits! He settled down once his hunger was sated, though.
This “leetle feller” was found on the ground Wednesday night in Emmanuel County. His finders said they thought they could see the nest but there was no way to reach it to be sure, so they took him in for the night and called LWR the next morning.
On intake, he was quite vocal about his hunger, and quite eager to eat. Great horned babies are bottomless pits! He settled down once his hunger was sated, though.
His intake sort of made up for the two euthanasias, also great horneds, that we had this week.
Monday morning, Smalley’s Animal Hospital alerted me that someone had dropped off an adult great horned. The bird was starvation thin and lethargic, and his right leg seemed “not right” so we x-rayed to see if we could find the problem. He had a femur fracture that resulted in his being grounded so long that he was virtually at death’s door when he arrived at Smalley’s; we euthanized.
Monday morning, Smalley’s Animal Hospital alerted me that someone had dropped off an adult great horned. The bird was starvation thin and lethargic, and his right leg seemed “not right” so we x-rayed to see if we could find the problem. He had a femur fracture that resulted in his being grounded so long that he was virtually at death’s door when he arrived at Smalley’s; we euthanized.
Wednesday a nuisance animal trapper from a neighboring county called with an adult great horned caught in a leg hold trap they’d put out. Don’t even get me started on what I think of anyone who uses a leg hold trap; they’re cruel and unusual even for the “target” animals and fatal for raptors that get caught in them. The poor owl’s leg was trashed; there was nothing to be done but euthanize an otherwise perfectly healthy, alert, aggressive, well-fleshed bird. And yes, I was and am livid.
And finally, last week’s concussed great horned is in the flight pen, where he favors his left wing when trying to fly, but he managed to get to the highest point in the flight overnight, so that’s promising. It’s not broken so we have some sort of soft tissue damage and will just have to give him time to see if it heals for flight.
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