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“Hang around here? Whoo-wh’WHOO-whoo-whoo, me?”

11/23/2014

14 Comments

 
That was apparently the great horned owl’s sentiment last week, as he burst out of his box before I could even finish opening it!

Oh, but let’s back up a bit, shall we? Sir GHO is ready to go: he’s had his last capillaria treatment, the temps have warmed up, there’s no rain predicted for three days. He’s a young bird, one of this year’s hatches, so I don’t have to worry about returning him to an established territory—great! I have a safe place to release him, with plenty of prey, so into the flight pen I stride, gloved and ready to “do battle” with a very antsy and eager-to-leave GHO.

He flies into the back wall of the flight pen—remember, this is still a songbird flight pen, flimsy by raptor standards—and I’m able to grab him from behind as he tries to rip through the mesh. Honestly, I’m surprised he didn’t tear his way out over the past two weeks; his feet and beak were powerful enough to’ve ripped the mesh and probably the hardware cloth if he’d had enough sense to try. (I promise you, no GHO will ever be nominated for Mensa!)

So…got the very unhappy camper by the body; now to get those powerful feet under control ASAP, which I do with no trouble. It’s a skill honed by practice!

Next step, bring his back against my chest to control him as we head for the box that will take him to his release. But wait, Sir GHO is NOT gonna go quietly into that good box, no, not him. He turns around and BITES my BOOB—through a sweatshirt and bra. And I gotta give him credit here: he drew blood through two layers of clothing…without tearing the clothing! (And NO, there will be no photos of my bloody boob; I’m crazy, not stupid, and it wasn’t really THAT bad—only about a half-inch wound.)

Violent protests notwithstanding, Sir GHO’s feathered butt DID go into the box, and we headed to the release site. He was MOVING the box in the back of the car as I drove, so I knew this would be a quick release.

And it was. I had one flap partially open, and a feathered blur erupted, heading for the treeline and leaving me standing there with a totally useless camcorder in hand, looking like a doofus.

So I take off running into the woods to try and capture a few still photos, at least, and…I twist my ankle crashing through the brush in search of the GHO. Not a bad twist—no swelling, but it definitely feels bruised. The things I do to document releases…

Never fear, though, I did find the now-calm(ish) bird, sitting on a tall, skinny snag. 
Picture
As I got closer, he took off again, deeper into the woods, and I followed. He perched where I had a clear view of him and I even got some video to sorta kinda compensate for the missed release footage.
Picture
Picture
In the close-up video of his face below, he’s doing what we call “happy face”, which is a bit of a misnomer, as it can indicate either contentment or stress. In his case, given he was being chased through the woods by a fool with a camera, I’d lean toward stress!
Picture
And then he decided he’d had enough of THAT, thank you very much, so he took off again. And I followed again. The poor bird must’ve been developing a persecution complex at this point, but it paid off as far as I’m concerned. I got what turned out to be my favorite shot of him, thanked him as I tramped back out of the woods, and told him to have a good life and not do anything stupid. Yeah, right…he IS a great horned owl, after all…
Picture
Do remember that 2015 LWR calendars are available through Lulu.com (link below) for $16.50 + shipping. Thus far, a whopping 4 calendars have been sold, so I’m hoping that number picks up as the holiday gift-shopping begins in earnest later this week. (I refuse to utter the “C” word until after Turkey Day. Let’s enjoy one holiday at a time, shall we?) US, UK and Canadian holidays are featured, and $5 of each purchase goes toward funding next year’s rehab efforts. (The remaining 11.50 goes to Lulu; I see no personal profit from these calendars.)
Support independent publishing: Buy this calendar on Lulu.
And when you do start your online holiday shopping in earnest, be sure to use the Amazon Smile program (smile.amazon.com)  so that .05% of each qualified purchase (and I’ve been using this program for almost a year now and have found very few items that don’t qualify) is donated to LWR.
Laurens Wildlife Rescue Inc
And finally, if you’ll recall, last week I mentioned that LWR needs local volunteers to help tear down and rebuild the songbird flight pen and build the raptor flight pen from the ground up. Recall, also, that I asked for interested parties to call and leave a message. The silence thus far has been deafening.  I only need 3-4 people to help out, so c’mon, folks, let’s get these pens done before babies start coming in. Spring will be here before ya know it!
14 Comments
Pipette
11/23/2014 05:47:18 am

OUCH on the bite and also the ankle! Hope all will heal up quickly. Please don't risk unnecessary injury to document a release; ankle injuries are no joke. Trust me, we believe you when you say you've released a critter!

I wish I lived near you, b/c then I and my other half could help with the flight pens. I hope you'll hear from those who ARE near enough, and that they'll help you get them done!

Reply
Laurens Wildlife Rescue
11/23/2014 05:54:53 am

LOL, thanks Pipette, both bite and ankle are fine--it wasn't a bad sprain (had my share of those), just a twist. I like having photos of releases, though, so even without the website I'd still case the birds down if need be!

Oooh, it'd be nice if y'all were close enough to assist with the flight pens--thanks for the willingness to help, anyway!

Reply
Anne Golden
11/23/2014 05:52:12 am

Yes! What Pipette said. Sorry the ungrateful wretch wounded you, and take care of that ankle.

Reply
Laurens Wildlife Rescue
11/23/2014 05:57:07 am

Thanks Anne, and the ankle is really fine--just a bit bruised-feeling on the outside. And the GHO wasn't really ungrateful; in his dim little mind (and they ain't 'zackly known for their smarts) he was being attacked, so he responded in kind.

Reply
dmortii
11/23/2014 06:41:11 am

This gho is gorgeous! With that Saud. Good riddance. What a chore this one was. Glad he's ok tho. Keep up the good work

Reply
Laurens Wildlife Rescue
11/23/2014 06:46:07 am

Thanks dm! Ah, he wasn't a chore, just young and feisty, bless his dim little heart!

Reply
Sandee
11/23/2014 11:50:31 am

You are the bestest! Beautiful photos.
Was it the same side as your last boobectomy?
I think I have a tee shirt somewhere with that bullet proof stuff inside (bought it for him when he played baseball so the ball wouldn't hit his heart, there had been two deaths, its still brand new) but I think you need a flak jacket! Sorry about the ankle.

Reply
Laurens Wildlife Rescue
11/23/2014 12:21:28 pm

Thanks Sandz! LOL, I don't even remember which side it was last time...Ankle is fine, just tender when I pull it up in the chair to sit cross-legged while I edit.

Reply
Ann Feldman
11/23/2014 03:18:12 pm

When I had a feral cat with a hip-to-toe cast residing in my bathroom years back, I donned a thick jacket, goggles and leather gloves to catch her to take to her bi-monthly vet visits. Next time (hoping not) put on a quilted thick layer over the other layers. He's just gorgeous isn't he? Love those feet.

Reply
Laurens Wildlife Rescue
11/24/2014 08:49:48 am

Not a bad idea, Ann! Yeah, their feet are pretty impressive...and feathery!

Reply
Laurie Jackson
11/23/2014 11:55:47 pm

Great pictures! Thanks for all your hard work in capturing those for all to see. I guess I missed your last post, cause I didn't see about tearing down the flight pen. You know we will be glad to help, and I have a couple of son-in-laws that I'm sure would be happy to volunteer. Just pick a weekend. I'll also be ordering my calendars, (missed that, too). We loved ours last year, and seeing some of the beautiful birds that had been rehabbed. Thanks for all your hard work.

Reply
Laurens Wildlife Rescue
11/24/2014 08:51:38 am

Thanks Laurie, and I'll be in touch after Thanksgiving to see what weekend(s) will work for y'all. And thank YOU for getting the barred owl to me yesterday. He had a good vet visit today and should be fine.

Reply
Kelly Hagood
11/24/2014 01:23:15 am

What a great story! Thanks for sharing the beautiful pics and describing his feistiness so vividly! I will say, though, the the bird in the photos appears so calm, majestic, arrogant, and SMART - no wonder they have that reputation. Thanks for cluing us in on what dim witted critters they really are! I love your comment: "no GHO will ever be nominated for Mensa!"

Reply
Laurens Wildlife Rescue
11/24/2014 08:52:28 am

Thanks Kelly! He was a feisty fellow, that's for sure!

Reply



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