Mockers and beavers and goslings…oh my!

So shoot me for using an overworked paraphrase—it seemed appropriate enough!

Let’s start with a release: the dog-attacked Eastern cottontail from last week’s update has been released. I’m always torn between relief and guilt when I release rabbits—relief that they survived to be released, and guilt that they may very well be some predator’s lunch before the day is over.

The mocker continues to look a bit scruffy but is maturing nicely and is almost ready for the flight pen.

Sadly, I called it on the possums; the respiratory infection took a turn for the worse and stopped responding to meds. They struggled to breathe and even on heat, they began to lose body heat. It was time to end their suffering.

Beaver Butt is attempting to wean himself from formula; one day he wants it, the next, he refuses it. He’s eating solids well, though, and getting a balanced diet from the variety of foods he has access to…and Lord knows he’s growing. He weighed 2 lbs. when he came in; he topped the scale at just over 5 lbs. this week.

This barred owl was hit by a car and is blind in one eye, as you can see in the photo. He also has a broken wing, but the break is fixable, so all he needs is a safe place, with a steady food supply, to recuperate—and flight conditioning afterwards, prior to release.  Owls with impaired vision in one eye can still be released, as they hunt primarily by sound. One good eye will suffice them nicely. Hawks, on the other hand, hunt visually and need good vision in both eyes.

And LWR also received a Canada goose egg this week. Yes, you read that correctly—an EGG. Long story short, the “rescuer” intervened and removed this egg from the nest when ants got the other eggs after several had hatched.  This person told me that s/he was surprised when the egg began to hatch. Well, why remove it if you didn’t expect it to hatch, huh?

This person then let the egg sit for “two or three days” with NO heat and NO humidity while the poor gosling struggled to hatch. When I was finally called, it was because the person “didn’t want the goose to think I’m his mother.” Uh-huh.  This happens all too often—people “rescue” a wild animal, nearly kill it with “kindness” or neglect, and then miraculously find my number when the critter’s nearly dead. Yeah, there’s a reason I’m cynical…

I got the egg home, sat it in a very shallow bowl of warm water to provide heat and humidity quickly and assessed the situation. The poor gosling had been trying to hatch for at least two and maybe three days. The portions of the membrane that I could see were dried out. The poor thing was peeping frantically.

I called Steve Hicks of Bubba & Friends, who has dealt with this situation with raptor eggs, and following his advice, I moistened the dried membrane and worked to free the bird from the shell. With each little bit I removed, the gosling became more active and struggled to finish freeing itself from the remaining shell.

When I finally got him completely out, there was poop in the shell. This is a sure sign that he’d been in the shell too long. Also, the membrane was dried out inside the shell, as well.

The result? A gosling I didn’t expect to live through the night. He was cold; his neck was like cooked spaghetti—he had no control over it at all—and he couldn’t stand. I put him on heat and started hand-feeding him.

I was headed to Smalley’s Animal Hospital the next day for the barred owl exam, so I took the gosling in with the intention of having him euthanized, as by that morning, he showed only minimal improvement. Vet Peggy Hobby and I discussed the situation and had decided that euthanasia was the best option when vet Jim Hobby walked through, asked what was up and got a brief rundown of the situation. He offhandedly suggested we give the gosling another 24 hours. I think at that point Peggy & I felt a bit guilty at maybe rushing the situation, as we both decided to do just that.

Jim, if you’re reading this, thank you! Today, 24 hours later, the gosling is still unsteady, but he’s preening himself, alert, and attempting to eat on his own. Only time will tell how much improvement there will be and whether he’ll be releasable, but he’s a determined little gosling, so we’ll see how much progress he can make toward a fairly normal life.

And finally, a huge thank you to those of you who posted reviews at Great Nonprofits, as we’ve slightly exceeded the minimum to be a Top-Rated Green Nonprofit, giving us exposure to potential donors. There’s still time if anyone else wants to post positive reviews by April 30, so here’s the link again: http://www.greatnonprofits.org/reviews/write/laurens-wildlife-rescue-inc/green-2012/ .