January’s nearly done?

Wow, the first month of 2023 flew by!

Unfortunately, last week saw a couple of euthanasias and a DOA (dead on arrival), so the end of the month isn’t shaping up to be all that spectacular on the rehab front.

As indicated was likely last week, the Coop was euthanized. He was unable to fly more than two or three feet, only a couple of feet off the ground, after almost two months in the flight pen. I’m not even gonna attempt to sugarcoat it; it hurt my heart to put down this Coop. He was probably the calmest healthy accipiter I’ve ever worked with.

With his euthanasia, the main flight was open, so I moved the first-year red tail into it before taking him in for x-rays...and realized x-rays weren’t needed. The droop in his left shoulder from the old, healed fracture was much more pronounced once he was out of the indoor housing. This wasn’t an injury he could ever learn to work around; he flat-out couldn’t fly ever again. And red tails are hard to place as ed birds—not because they’re difficult to work with but because they’re SO easy to work with that every facility needing or wanting a red tail (or two) already has its full quota.

Sadly, he also required euthanasia.

A first-year sharpie came in after he jumped into a woman’s kayak and sat there, sopping wet and lethargic, until she returned to shore. She said she placed him on the shore and then waited to see if he’d dry off and fly away. He didn’t, so she called LWR. On intake, the sharpie could barely lift his head and he was starvation thin. I told his rescuer his chances were slim, at best, but at least he didn’t drown or end up freezing to death, as we were about to have another sub-freezing night. I’d placed him in a donut to make it easier for him to breathe and was about to mix up a slurry to try and get some nutrition into him when he flared his wings and tail and died.

Within an hour of the sharpie’s intake and death, a mature male red tail arrived. He’d been seen sitting by the side of the road the previous day and when he was still there the following day, he was captured and brought to LWR. On intake he refused to stand, although nothing felt broken anywhere. His eyes, nares and throat were clear, which is always good. By the next morning he was standing but would hunker down like a setting hen whenever I walked over to his box. As of today, he’s standing (except when I walk over to check his food) but still not eating, but his intake weight was reasonable and he’s alert, so we’ll see what happens with him.

And with the temps bouncing from above freezing to below freezing on two nonconsecutive nights this past week, the screech had to come in for two nights, and lemme tell y’all right now, he’s about fed up with this in-and-out business. He purely cusses at me now when I go to bring him inside, and he really, really likes to bite my fingers in protest while giving me pro-level stink-eye. I swear, it is impossible for anybody with a soul not to utterly adore a screech...so much attitude in such a tiny package!