Let’s lead with a follow-up on last week’s barred owl—the one I was sure had a badly fractured or dislocated shoulder. The poor bird checked out overnight, but I took his carcass in for x-rays anyway, because I wanted to see just what was going on with that shoulder. As a reminder, I’ve re-posted a shot of the shoulder from last week.
I’m extremely fortunate that I have vets at Smalley’s Animal Hospital who share my intellectual curiosity. Turns out the shoulder was neither fractured nor dislocated. The poor bird had a massive growth, probably cancerous, on the bone, and it was breaking through the skin. This isn’t a common occurrence, so leave it to me to get the weird stuff, right?
The same Monday I took the barred owl carcass in for x-rays, I got in a first-year female red tailed hawk (RT). Her entire left leg from the ankle down was necrotic, i.e., it was dead.
The flesh was cold and black, it reeked, and the skin was peeling off in huge flakes. There was absolutely nothing we could do for this gorgeous bird. A best-guess scenario is that as an inexperienced huntress, she didn’t grab a squirrel correctly avoid his powerful jaws. He bit her; it got infected; what you see is the end result.
Even if federal law allowed amputation of a leg/foot in a raptor, I wouldn’t do it. Raptors need two healthy feet to properly hold and tear the flesh of their prey. Also, birds that large need both legs to stand on, so they can shift their weight from one to the other. Without the ability to shift weight in that manner, they’re highly prone to all sorts of stress-related issues on that one leg, not the least of which is bumblefoot, cracking and tearing of the flesh from the pressure of standing on the one good foot all the time—much like pressure sores (or bedsores) in human bedridden patients. I’d rather the bird die with dignity than be put through that sort of hell for the rest of her life.
In more pleasant news, the flyers are completely weaned from hand-feeding but as I’ve mentioned before, they’ve not been in the wild to stockpile mast for the winter and find a suitable cavity for shelter during the colder days ahead, so they’ll overwinter with me, to be released as soon as possible next spring. (They do have a nice little stockpile of goodies in their pen, however…in the nest box, in the corners of the pen, under the pads lining the pen…)
I managed to snag a better video of the little rascals bouncing off the walls of their pen.
I managed to snag a better video of the little rascals bouncing off the walls of their pen.
And here they’re eating their pecan treats. Pecans are like candy bars for squirrels of any species: tasty but totally lacking in real nutritive value. For that reason, they get pecans only every other day, as a treat.
Look at those gorgeous little feather-like tails and those huge, dark eyes! Hard to believe they’re the same tiny little eyes-closed dolls who came in late in September, huh?!
Please remember our two current fund-raising efforts: Macon, Georgia’s Grand Opera House has very generously donated 2 tickets to Bring It On: The Musical in January and we’ll be “raffling” them off in an online drawing. From now until Dec. 6, donors will have their names entered into the drawing for the tickets, valued at $100. For every $5 donated, your name will go in the pot once, i.e., donate $25 and you’re entered 5 times. You can use the PayPal links located on each page of the website to donate, or mail your donations to Laurens Wildlife Rescue, 1101-L Hillcrest Pkwy, PMB #255, Dublin, GA 31021. The lucky winner will be announced in the Dec. 8 update!
Also, the 2014 Laurens Wildlife Rescue calendar is available at http://www.lulu.com/shop/laurens-wildlife-rescue-2014-calendar/calendar/product-21282459.html?showPreview=true . All proceeds above Lulu.com’s fees will be used to fund LWR’s operations next year, so buy lots of calendars—they’ll make great Christmas gifts or stocking stuffers! The button below will take you directly to the Lulu site and add a calendar to your shopping cart automatically.
Also, the 2014 Laurens Wildlife Rescue calendar is available at http://www.lulu.com/shop/laurens-wildlife-rescue-2014-calendar/calendar/product-21282459.html?showPreview=true . All proceeds above Lulu.com’s fees will be used to fund LWR’s operations next year, so buy lots of calendars—they’ll make great Christmas gifts or stocking stuffers! The button below will take you directly to the Lulu site and add a calendar to your shopping cart automatically.
Finally, a “housekeeping” note: This Week in Wildlife will be updated on Monday, Nov. 18 next week, rather than on Sunday. Just FYI!
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