No such thing as a “normal” week

​Of course, the fundraiser is ongoing, and we’re stalled at $1720, with no new donations in the past couple of days. Again, I want to thank those who’ve already donated; if you’re waiting for someone else to donate, guess what? YOU are that someone! So please consider a tax-deductible donation to help us raise the remaining $780—LWR’s ability to continue caring for our native wildlife depends on YOUR generosity!

​The other big story is a leucistic red-shouldered hawk who came in late yesterday. He was found near a road, so we presume he may’ve been hit by car. He is alert and well-fleshed at 400g but has some swelling under his left wing, so he’ll go in for x-rays on Monday.
 
Leucism is actually a moderate form of albinism and most leucistic/albino wildlife doesn’t survive—first off, the lack of pigmentation makes them moving targets; then there’s the issue of vision problems as true albinos, marked by pink or red eyes, usually have severe vision problems including blindness, while leucistic wildlife, often with blue eyes, seems less likely to be blind but may still have vision impairment.
 
Rather than continue to drone on drily about the characteristics of leucistic wildlife, I’ll just let you feast your eyes on this gorgeous fellow.

​In other guests at LWR, the mallard continues to grow like a weed and is getting in feathers under his down now, so he looks a bit frazzled!

​The red-headed woodpecker is in the flight pen now and doing quite well.

​The spazzy red-bellied woodpecker finally unspazzed and proved himself capable of perfect flight and has been released; the younger red-belly is almost ready to head for the flight pen.

​This barred owl was found in someone’s yard and his actions led me to believe he might have been a victim of rodenticide poisoning. Rat poison all too often kills more than its intended victims, as a poisoned rat or mouse will be sluggish and easy prey for hawks, owls, bobcats, etc., who then become victims of secondary rodenticide poisoning. This owl, while well-fleshed, was lethargic, the inside of his beak was so pale as to be almost white, and instead of casting a pellet, he more or less vomited up a black, oily substance—all signs of internal bleeding, most likely from rat poison. He didn’t respond to treatment and required euthanasia.
 
Bottom line: don’t use rodenticides, insecticides, pesticides or glue traps that can kill unintended victims.  

​This adorable towhee fledgling came in with a leg fracture. Because it was a recent injury, it was necessary to wait for the swelling and bruising to go down to see exactly how bad the fracture was. Unfortunately, it was very severe and a high-hip fracture, impossible to splint. Had he been a nestling who’d stay in a “donut”, we might have had a slim chance at proper healing. Given that he was a fledgling who wanted to hop around all the time—and that splinting was not an option—we had to call it on the sweet little fellow. And yes, it always hurts worse to have to euthanize a baby. At least with an adult there’s the consolation that they had their chance at life; with babies, all you can think is that they never even had a chance at life. It sucks, quite frankly.

​The screech has actually passed his live prey test with flying colors but I won’t release an owl whose head is still as “fuzzy” as his, so he’ll remain in the raptor flight for a while longer.

​And finally, the crow and all his released buddies are still hanging around for handouts but coming down less often—except for the crow, who delights in hamming it up for the camera.