We’re doing well with the fundraiser, with $1935 of our $2000 goal raised—just $65 to go to meet the goal, folks! Many heartfelt thanks to those who’ve donated; for those who haven’t, if not now, when? If not you, who?
The barred owl who came in with a massive concussion was released last week. As you can see in the video, it took him a few seconds to realize if he’d just stop biting the glove, he was free, but when it sank in, he wasted no time taking off! I tried to walk over to where he landed for a post-release photo and he flew off again, so I zoomed as far as my camera would go and got the not-great shot of him glaring at me.
The third red tail from last week’s update, the one who needed x-rays to confirm what I suspected was a shoulder fracture, actually had a fractured humerus. It’s not a promising-looking fracture, but vets Jim and Peggy Hobby and I agreed it was worth giving the bird time to see what would happen. It’s a long shot, but long shots have paid off with releasable birds in the past, so…we’ll see. Meanwhile, he’s inhaling everything I offer him, making up for the meals he’d missed in the wild. And he apparently has “fainting goat” genes somewhere in his lineage, as the shot below is what I see every time I look in his box with no food in my hand…
Red tail #2 is still recovering from a fractured ulna and is doing well. He’s very antsy, and much unhappier at confinement than the other two red tails are.
And the big ol’ female red tail remains utterly gorgeous and stubbornly refuses to demonstrate that she can fly; I’ve only seen a half-flight from her, which is not enough to warrant release. Honestly, I think she’s decided she’s got the proverbial “three hots and a cot” and doesn’t plan to go anywhere anytime soon…not that I’m actually complaining, as walking into the flight to feed her still takes my breath away. She’s just…perfect.
The MIKI has been moved into the mini-pen and is apparently a bit…ummm…pudgy. Okay, he’s too fat to fly. I overfed him. We’ve cut back, which he’s not thrilled with, but he’s already making better progress with his flight. He really, really wants to fly away, so once he’s at flight weight, he won’t be at LWR too long.
A red shoulder came in late Friday evening exhibiting full paralysis of his legs and tail but full use of his wings. He’s starvation thin but alert and hungry, so we’re trying steroids for a couple of days to see if the problem is inflamed nerves. My gut says this is a fatal injury but sometimes a couple of days of steroids will reduce swelling that causes paralysis.
This morning a barred owl came in with a right wing fracture. It’s still very swollen but the crunchiness I felt during his intake exam leads me to believe it’s not going to be a fixable break. Since it’s a Sunday and Smalley’s won’t be open till Monday, we have a little time for the swelling to go down before attempting an x-ray. Poor baby’s also experiencing a massive molt, so his head looks all funky!
And a call just came in as I was working on the update: Another red tail is en route and should arrive before 6 pm…
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