…2013 is gonna be a hellacious year. In Jan. 2012, LWR received 6 critters total, for the entire month. As of this week, the Jan. 2013 intake tally is already at 5. This isn’t boding well for the rest of the year…or my sanity (what little is left of it).
The gray squirrels’ eyes are open, but they’re in that nasty little stage of using each other as bathrooms, so they’re not real attractive at this point. By the next update, they will have outgrown that stage and will look decent enough for photos!
The gunshot female red tail’s (RT) follow-up x-ray had us all nearly dancing in the clinic. Her leg is healing beautifully!
To remind you, here’s her x-ray on intake in Dec.:
The gray squirrels’ eyes are open, but they’re in that nasty little stage of using each other as bathrooms, so they’re not real attractive at this point. By the next update, they will have outgrown that stage and will look decent enough for photos!
The gunshot female red tail’s (RT) follow-up x-ray had us all nearly dancing in the clinic. Her leg is healing beautifully!
To remind you, here’s her x-ray on intake in Dec.:
And here’s her x-ray from early this month:
Both x-rays courtesy of Smalley's Animal Hospital
Makes YOU wanna dance a happy jig, too, doesn’t it?
The gunshot male RT is due for a follow-up x-ray next week, but I’m pretty sure his will also be a good report. He’s holding both wings level, and when I change his paper, he can flare both evenly. He’s a paranoid little rascal (and he IS small next to this big ol’ female). Below is his typical reaction to a paper change.
After a few minutes, he perches normally again:
Shortly after the last update, I picked up a first-year RT, a male, with frounce. Fortunately, he was found in time for it to be treated, and I released him over the weekend. Below you can see how weak he was on intake.
And here are a couple of shots of him on release. Yes, that’s the porch of an abandoned old house on our property. There are rodents galore there and in the hay bales nearby, and trees all around to perch in…once he left the porch!
LWR recently received a Canada goose with an open fracture that had scabbed over. When the scab was prodded slightly, it came loose, taking a large chunk of bone with it, so the poor goose was euthanized.
Thanks to vet tech Christy Harrell for holding the goose while I snapped the photo.
This adult male red tail was found by the road. It was obvious to the finder that the wing was broken; he just wasn’t sure how badly. I met the finder that night to retrieve the bird, and when I opened the box, I could smell the infection before even examining him. His left wing had an open fracture; about an inch of bone was exposed, and the flesh was already turning black. There was nothing we could do for the poor bird but euthanize.
The next morning, a call came in about an owl found in the road. The caller’s description sounded like a great horned owl (GHO), and sure enough, when I picked up the bird, it was a small male GHO. In addition to a concussion—see the right pupil?—he had an open fracture on his right wing, with about 2 inches of bone exposed—another case of euthanasia being the only humane choice.
Some people question the “humaneness” of euthanasia, so let me briefly address that here. When the alternative for an animal is a short and pain-filled life, euthanasia is a humane end to its suffering. If the alternative to euthanasia is starving to death, dying from exposure, or being eaten by predators, euthanasia is humane. When an animal’s injuries would preclude its release and its temperament isn’t suitable for an educational animal, euthanasia is more humane than a stress-filled life of captivity.
Rehabbers don’t make the decision to euthanize an animal lightly. It’s a generally touted statistic in rehab circles that some 50% of the wildlife we receive will either require euthanasia or die during the rehab process. We weigh the options carefully and sometimes delay the inevitable, hoping for a miracle. I always say that you can euthanize later if need be, but once it’s done, you can’t take it back. And every now and then, we get that miracle we hope for and watch another beautiful critter take its rightful place back in the wild. It’s my personal opinion that every release is a small miracle, and it’s my privilege to be a part of that small miracle.
Rehabbers don’t make the decision to euthanize an animal lightly. It’s a generally touted statistic in rehab circles that some 50% of the wildlife we receive will either require euthanasia or die during the rehab process. We weigh the options carefully and sometimes delay the inevitable, hoping for a miracle. I always say that you can euthanize later if need be, but once it’s done, you can’t take it back. And every now and then, we get that miracle we hope for and watch another beautiful critter take its rightful place back in the wild. It’s my personal opinion that every release is a small miracle, and it’s my privilege to be a part of that small miracle.
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