Laurens Wildlife Rescue
  • Home
  • I found a wild baby - what do I do?
  • How can I help?
  • Contact us
  • FAQ
  • This week in wildlife

Rainy weather equals injured raptors

11/30/2014

6 Comments

 
Georgia experienced several days of heavy rains early last week, and prolonged rains nearly always result in raptors getting hit by cars. Sure enough, every raptor that came in last week was pretty obviously HBC (hit by car).

The first came in late last Sunday, after dedicated volunteers drove in sheets of rain to pick him up. Actually, his story apparently started the previous Friday, when the rain really started, as well. He was found in the middle of the road, and his finder had every intention of keeping him—had named him, made him a perch, and even made it clear she’d drive all the way to Laurens County to retrieve him “when he was ready.” Interesting, since she couldn’t drive him to Laurens County for rehab and we actually had to threaten her with DNR and FWS to even get the bird… (And that, boys and girls, is a prime example of why rehabbers are generally distrustful of callers when they show the slightest hesitation about getting a bird to us.)

This guy’s bell had been rung, well and truly. He was still, two days out, woozy and uncoordinated, but nothing appeared to be broken. He had a tendency to squint his right eye, and it looked a little bruised on the lower lid, but the eye was clear and the pupil responsive to light—and he ate a mouse right away, which was good.
Picture
Picture
By the next day he’d perked up but I still wanted the eye checked out by the vets at Smalley’s Animal Hospital. 
Picture
Picture
Before I could set up an appointment for him, though, a call came in about an injured red tailed hawk in another county. The caller’s brother had found the bird in the road and they were willing to drive him to me. I asked if they had a cardboard box or even a pet taxi to put him in and was told he was in a pet cage. To me, that means pet taxi or something similar, so…okay.

We meet, in the rain, and the elderly gentlemen had put the hawk in the only cage they had handy—a very large humane (Havahart) trap. Not ideal at all. He was totally freaked out—and it takes a lot to freak out a RT; they’re generally very laid-back birds.
Picture
It took him several hours to calm down, during which time I’d already made arrangements to get both birds to Smalley’s for exams and, in the case of the RT, x-rays. I knew his left wing was broken; I just couldn’t tell how badly.

The barred owl was deemed in good health after vet Richie Hatcher examined him; we agreed he’d just had a major concussion going on. He was also a bit on the thin side, so a few days at the LWR B&B weren’t gonna hurt him any. I’ll be releasing him this week, weather cooperating.

The RT was well-fleshed and had calmed to the laid-back, easy to handle bird his species usually is. Unfortunately, both his radius and ulna were badly fractured, and these aren’t bones that can be pinned: they’re too thin. We had no option but to euthanize.
Picture
The next day a call came in about yet another owl—and yes, it was still raining. When I picked this one up, he was in a wire cage, sitting in the rain—and this pickup was from a local agency that should have known better, so I was highly perturbed and have taken measures to ensure that never happens again.

His humerus was broken, and it felt bad to me—nearly an open fracture. I placed him in the smallest box possible to minimize movement until I could get him to Smalley’s the next day. Upon examination of the wing, Richie agreed it was bad, almost an open fracture. We were about to x-ray when he palpated it a bit more and said, “Wait a minute, I think it is an open fracture.” Brushing aside the thick feathers covering the bone, we could finally see the end of the bone jutting out—and it looked black, like an old injury. When the bone is black it’s effectively dead; there’s no way to repair that sort of damage. We had to euthanize this barred owl.
Picture
By Thanksgiving Day the rain had stopped and the phone had also stopped ringing…temporarily.  I’d just started to the desserts after dinner (lunch for you city types) when my phone rang and sure enough, it was a wildlife call. Someone an hour’s drive away had found an injured Canada goose in the ditch and was headed toward Laurens County on his way to Atlanta.

We agreed to meet in the parking lot of a local restaurant in an hour or so, and when I got there the goose was quite active in his box. On the way home he managed to work his head free and was peering around the back of my station wagon, so I really thought he had a good chance at rehab and release. I’d not examined him at this point, as it was cold and windy in the parking lot.

When I got him home and examined him, I found that for all his feistiness, he was unfixable. His right leg was broken in the joint; his right wing was broken, with a large chunk of flesh and bone missing; his keel was raw; and his upper belly, just below the keel, had two large open wounds that were already beginning to fester—all wounds consistent with being hit by a car during the previous several days of rain. I had the means at my disposal to humanely end his pain, so I did.
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Because I feel each intake should be a learning experience, even when euthanasia is required, I thought I’d offer this photo of the goose’s bill. I’ve honestly never examined their bills closely and had no idea they had “teeth”! They’re actually made of serrated cartilage and aid the birds in pulling up grass on land and roots and such from pond bottoms. Neat, huh?
Picture
Folks, remember that the 2015 LWR calendars are available through Lulu.com (link below) for $16.50 + shipping. US, UK and Canadian holidays are featured, and $5 of each purchase goes toward funding next year’s rehab efforts. (The remaining 11.50 goes to Lulu; I see no personal profit from these calendars.) 
Support independent publishing: Buy this calendar on Lulu.
And as Cyber Monday approaches, those of you who do your Christmas shopping online please remember that when you shop at AmazonSmile, Amazon donates 0.5% of the purchase price to Laurens Wildlife Rescue Inc. Bookmark the link http://smile.amazon.com/ch/26-1668846 and support us every time you shop.

Some of you are probably already tired of seeing the calendars and the AmazonSmile program promoted, but let me give you two very recent examples of the costs LWR incurs, especially when rehabbing raptors.  You should all remember the barred owl whose broken wing was pinned, right? Well, it took 4 medium-to-large mice a day to feed him. Four mice a day for two months comes to $200—for ONE bird.

Need another example? The GHO released the week before Thanksgiving was at LWR for just over two weeks. GHOs are bottomless pits. He ate 8 jumbo mice a day. His total feed bill for 16 days? $120.

And finally, local folks please remember that LWR needs volunteers to help with flight pen renovation and construction. Thus far, one person has volunteered the services of her family.
6 Comments
dmortii
11/30/2014 10:49:20 am

Heck of a week! I hope your next week is better. Poor birds😢

Reply
Laurens Wildlife Rescue
11/30/2014 10:56:40 am

Thanks dm! Yeah, it was a pretty draining week...

Reply
Jan Buckwald
11/30/2014 11:45:09 am

agree. tough on you all around, and sad for the birds. glad owl #1 is going to make it. thank you, Vonda.

Reply
Laurens Wildlife Rescue
11/30/2014 11:49:33 am

Thanks Jan! Owl #1 is chomping at the bit, so he's looking at release ASAP.

Jan Buckwald
11/30/2014 11:52:44 am

xlnt!

Reply
Laurens Wildlife Rescue
11/30/2014 12:05:44 pm

:)

Reply

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    Archives

    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    August 2011
    July 2011
    June 2011
    May 2011
    April 2011
    March 2011
    February 2011
    January 2011
    December 2010
    November 2010
    October 2010
    September 2010
    August 2010
    July 2010
    June 2010
    May 2010
    April 2010
    March 2010
    February 2010
    January 2010
    December 2009
    November 2009
    October 2009
    September 2009
    August 2009
    July 2009
    June 2009
    May 2009
    April 2009
    March 2009
    February 2009
    January 2009
    December 2008
    November 2008
    October 2008
    September 2008
    August 2008
    July 2008
    June 2008
    May 2008
    April 2008

    Categories

    All
    Baby Birds
    Baby Deer
    Baby Opossums
    Baby Possums
    Baby Rabbits
    Bluegray Gnatcatchers
    Carolina Wren
    Common Loons
    Epd
    Fawns
    House Finch
    Mbta
    Migratory Bird Treaty Act
    Mockers
    Mockingbirds
    Orphaned Birds
    Orphaned Deer
    Orphaned Fawns
    Orphaned Opossums
    Orphaned Possums
    Orphaned Rabbits
    Orphaned Wildlife
    Squirrels
    Wildlife
    Wood Ducks

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.