The goal of wildlife rehab is, of course, to release critters back into the wild, and rehabbers celebrate those releases. Sometimes, however, releases take a less pleasant but equally valuable form: euthanasia. A release from pain and suffering is sometimes the only one we can offer wildlife in our care.
Such was the case with the barred owl who came in late Monday. If you’ll recall, in that day-late update, I stated that his wing felt too “crunchy” to be good news. When he was x-rayed at Smalley’s Animal Hospital on Tuesday, vet tech Christy Harrell and I knew immediately upon seeing the x-ray that there was nothing to be done. Vet Richie Hatcher walked in, took one look at the image, and headed back out to get the euthanasia solution. You can see below why we all knew this was a done deal. The humerus is badly displaced but beyond that, if you look closely at the elbow joint, you can see that bone is shattered. The only humane option for the poor bird was euthanasia.
Such was the case with the barred owl who came in late Monday. If you’ll recall, in that day-late update, I stated that his wing felt too “crunchy” to be good news. When he was x-rayed at Smalley’s Animal Hospital on Tuesday, vet tech Christy Harrell and I knew immediately upon seeing the x-ray that there was nothing to be done. Vet Richie Hatcher walked in, took one look at the image, and headed back out to get the euthanasia solution. You can see below why we all knew this was a done deal. The humerus is badly displaced but beyond that, if you look closely at the elbow joint, you can see that bone is shattered. The only humane option for the poor bird was euthanasia.
That same evening, a second-year female red-tailed hawk came in from mammal rehabber Libby Parker in Valdosta. She’d been brought to her the previous evening, when the finder claimed she couldn’t fly. She’d managed to escape her box that night at Libby’s; it took her all of half an hour to figure out an escape from her box at LWR. This gal was pissy and footy, and I immediately adored her! An exam showed no fractures, a well-fleshed keel, and a full crop. Libby said she hadn’t fed her the previous night, so I was pretty sure I knew her problem—she’d eaten too much, “cropped out,” as it were, and was too heavy and lethargic to fly when her “rescuer” found her. The next morning, she went into the raptor flight, where she proved my theory correct by flying from one end of the flight to the other and back. Repeatedly. I was happy; she was NOT. She wanted her freedom back. NOW. I kept her for another 48 hours for observation, just to be sure—and in hopes she’d encourage the male red-tail to attempt flight—and then released her Saturday. She ate well during her stay at LWR, and it was a refreshing change to have a bird who was healthy and ready to go.
Unfortunately, my attempt at dime-store psychology didn’t work and the male red-tail remains unflighted. The only thing the female encouraged him to do was mantle his food. It’s not looking promising for him.
And the flyers are having a blast in their larger quarters, and being impossibly adorable in the process, of course!
Some little nosy-parker got right up in the lens, but it's still a cute pic!
Nope, that's not cow's milk, which will kill flyers and other small mammals. It's a species-specific formula available to rehabbers.
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