Last week wasn’t a good week, quite frankly. If you recall from last Sunday’s update, LWR had a turkey vulture come in with a leg fracture. I’d said he was slated for a vet visit ASAP. Well, Monday afternoon he got his vet visit, and it was bad news all the way. The poor bird had TEN pellets scattered throughout his body, including one in his eye, the leg was broken and there was an old healed-in-the-wild shoulder fracture that would have effectively grounded the bird, which is probably why some jackass filled him with birdshot.
And because he’d been injured as a result of illegal activity, both DNR and FWS had to be notified. It’s frustrating for all concerned because we know without eyewitnesses, no case can actually be made. Still, rules is rules, and at least both agencies know some jackass is taking potshots at raptors in the county where the vulture was found.
Adding to the general “Mondayness” of the day, a local mammal rehabber picked up and transported a weak and lethargic adult female red tail to LWR. She had multiple issues: emaciation, early stages of frounce and, I was afraid, rodenticide poisoning. I loaded her up along with the turkey vulture in hopes she wasn’t too far gone. Unfortunately, she had two seizures in the vet clinic waiting room—and we didn’t wait long—and died.
In short, DON’T USE THE CRAP. And don’t use glue traps, either—they also snag unintended victims like songbirds, lizards, bats and snakes. Use snap traps, humane traps (if you want to take the captured rodents far into the woods away from your property) and general hygiene, i.e., pick up your trash and don’t leave pet food sitting outside—and yes, even bird feeders will attract rodents, so you may want to bring them in at night. My preferred option would be, where possible, to place some owl nesting boxes to attract barn owls. One barn owl can eat a thousand rodents a year—imagine having a family of them on “rat patrol!”
In happier news, today the bumblesome Coop finally got it together enough to perch for the first time since intake. In another week or so, he should be good to go.