It was another not-great week for wildlife, salvaged by the sight of a flock of migrating robins in the trees on a gray, overcast mid-week afternoon.
First, the long-shot barred didn’t get re-x-rayed last week; the day I took him to Smalley’s, late in the week, the machine started malfunctioning when we had him on the table for x-rays. Our physical exam didn’t give us much hope; it appeared the bones had not been drawn back together by the muscle, as we’d hoped. But we’re holding off on any final action until we can actually see what everything looks like.
On Friday yet another barred owl came in, this one with a wing that didn’t require x-rays for me to know it was a fatal fracture. His left shoulder and humerus were shattered—and yes, he’d been found in the middle of the road, so he’d probably been hit by a car. The photo below was taken post-euthanasia, to show you the extent of the damage to his wing—you can see it’s facing backward.
First, the long-shot barred didn’t get re-x-rayed last week; the day I took him to Smalley’s, late in the week, the machine started malfunctioning when we had him on the table for x-rays. Our physical exam didn’t give us much hope; it appeared the bones had not been drawn back together by the muscle, as we’d hoped. But we’re holding off on any final action until we can actually see what everything looks like.
On Friday yet another barred owl came in, this one with a wing that didn’t require x-rays for me to know it was a fatal fracture. His left shoulder and humerus were shattered—and yes, he’d been found in the middle of the road, so he’d probably been hit by a car. The photo below was taken post-euthanasia, to show you the extent of the damage to his wing—you can see it’s facing backward.
And Saturday, a gorgeous red tail came in, severely emaciated and too weak to hold his head up. His finder had first seen him three days previously but by the time he made it to LWR, it was too late. I saw no signs of frounce and nothing was broken, so more than likely he had capillaria and it had advanced to the point that nothing could be done. For those who need a refresher, capillaria are worms that raptors pick up from eating infected rodents, and they fill the bird’s crop, effectively starving it to death while it feels full. I managed to get one small liquid feeding into the poor fellow, but it was too little, too late. He died within an hour of intake.
In a sign that spring is just around the corner—okay, if you’re in Georgia, spring is popping back and forth around that corner like a jack-in-the-box—about midweek I walked outside to a tumult in the scrub oak at the corner of my parents’ yard. I could hear the ruckus clearly in my yard, and I knew the sound: a flock of robins had descended into the upper branches of the trees and were chattering away. By the time I got the camera and got up there, they’d settled down and were fairly quiet, but just LOOK at the sheer numbers in that tree! (It was, as I mentioned at the outset, a very overcast day, so there’s very little color to be seen; sorry ‘bout that.)
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