Rehabbers don’t get sick leave; we drag our sorry carcasses out of our sick beds; feed, clean and medicate, as needed, all the critters; and then and only then do we crawl back under the covers—and pray the phone doesn’t ring.
But it always does…and we drag ourselves back up long enough to settle in the new intake and crash again. And then the weather goes sideways and puts a screeching halt to plans to rearrange critter pens…
The “fun” just never ends…
Oh well… let’s get on with the update.
The barred owl who came in two weeks ago that I felt was iffy died that night. There were obviously internal injuries.
Week before last, a second-year red tail came in—no injuries but dazed and confused acting, and a bit on the thin side. He’s eating well but still acting dazed and confused over a week later, so I’m not sure what his issue is. I moved him to the mini-pen, where he promptly bathed but refused to perch, even though he’d been perching in his box inside.
But it always does…and we drag ourselves back up long enough to settle in the new intake and crash again. And then the weather goes sideways and puts a screeching halt to plans to rearrange critter pens…
The “fun” just never ends…
Oh well… let’s get on with the update.
The barred owl who came in two weeks ago that I felt was iffy died that night. There were obviously internal injuries.
Week before last, a second-year red tail came in—no injuries but dazed and confused acting, and a bit on the thin side. He’s eating well but still acting dazed and confused over a week later, so I’m not sure what his issue is. I moved him to the mini-pen, where he promptly bathed but refused to perch, even though he’d been perching in his box inside.
That expression!
And then a gray-phase screech came in, found in the middle of the road. Amazingly, nothing was broken, and he flies quite well inside, as I found out when I inadvertently left his box unsecured one night while I was sick. Outside, we’re not so sure about yet; the mini-pen and raptor flight are occupied at the moment. But I think he’ll be just fine once he’s had a chance to stretch his wings a bit—soon, I hope.
The raptor flight currently houses the two barred owls. The one recovering from the wing fracture can fly the length of the flight and back again, so he’s doing exceptionally well. The one with the eye injury isn’t quite as confident yet.
Northern Harriers are only in Georgia during the fall and winter, and I honestly don’t recall the last time I saw one in the wild or in rehab, until last Sunday, when a first-year Harrier, probably female based on size, came in with an open wing fracture. She’d been down a while and was rail-thin. Thinness we can work with as long as the bird will eat; an old open fracture is the “fatal blow.” This gorgeous gal had to be euthanized.
And on Thursday another gray-phase screech came in. This poor fellow was pulled out of a fog light and he definitely had a leg fracture. Given his total inability to stand, I also suspected a pelvic fracture, but there was no need for x-rays; he died overnight, which would indicate internal injuries.
Friday must’ve been a BOGO day for birds. The day started with a barred owl whose leg was beyond repair. I euthanized immediately; no photos.
Then a second male American kestrel came in with a swollen black eye and bloody nose. His eye looks better today but he’s reluctant to eat, unlike Sisyphus, who I’m pretty sure would eat my hand if I left it in his cage long enough.
Then a second male American kestrel came in with a swollen black eye and bloody nose. His eye looks better today but he’s reluctant to eat, unlike Sisyphus, who I’m pretty sure would eat my hand if I left it in his cage long enough.
And then an American coot arrived. Given his general level of alertness, I figured he’d just crash-landed in the parking lot where he was found, so as soon as the several days of rain we were experiencing ended, I took him to a favorite release site for water fowl. And he stood in the water…and stood there…and stood there, occasionally interrupting his preening to sip a bit of water…After 20 minutes I finally decided he was just gonna take his time leaving and started to walk away myself. However, I was less than five yards away when I heard splashing and turned to see him on his side flailing helplessly in the shallow water. Needless to say, he’s back at LWR until we can figure out what’s going on.
The flyers are in a larger cage now and mostly self-feeding, so photo ops for them will probably be limited going forward; we’ll see.
And Sisyphus continues to cuss me out at every opportunity…Attitude, attitude—and all of it bad!
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