LWR had two new intakes last week, a screech and a barred owl. One will be releasable soon; the other probably not at all.
Starting with the screech, he came in after flying into the rear of someone’s car and sustaining a nasty concussion. X-rays showed no fractures—but look at the size of those eyes compared to his tiny little screech brain! He did have some blood in the lower half of his left eye, but it’s cleared up nicely and he should be good to go soon.
Starting with the screech, he came in after flying into the rear of someone’s car and sustaining a nasty concussion. X-rays showed no fractures—but look at the size of those eyes compared to his tiny little screech brain! He did have some blood in the lower half of his left eye, but it’s cleared up nicely and he should be good to go soon.
The barred owl, pulled from a barbed wire fence, may not be as lucky. His left wing shows no signs of a fracture but there’s no flesh left on the bone—at least that I can see. He’ll be making a trip to Smalley’s to be sure I didn’t miss anything, but I’m honestly not optimistic about his chances.
Meanwhile, the Helene barred is looking good and should be releasable this week. I love these shots of him because most of the time photos of barreds show their eyes as solid black; the light hit his face just right to show the true color of a barred’s eyes.
And it looks like we have the juvie red tail placed as an ed bird. Keep your fingers crossed while we wait for the paperwork to be approved, and I’ll give more details as we know more, but I know Micki Soresi, the person he’ll be going to if all goes well, and she’ll provide him an excellent home. Her need for a red tail literally fell into my lap via another raptor educator y’all know by now, Beth Thomson of Blue Ridge Raptors. Micki is just stepping out on her own after several years apprenticing under Beth, and she needed a red tail—talk about serendipity!
Remember, he has no physical issues; his issues are all mental. He was kept illegally for two weeks during a critical period of his development, and no attempt was made by the lawbreaker to avoid imprinting. No other rehabber in the state had young red tails when he arrived at LWR, so colleague Kathryn Dudeck suggested using mirrors to avoid further imprinting…and we thought maybe it had worked, but every time I’ve attempted to release him, he’s refused to fly away. Well, he’s refused to fly at all, although he flies beautifully in the main flight. So after evaluating him, vet Peggy Hobby agreed he was imprinted and wrote a letter stating he was nonreleasable because of this. It’s been submitted to the feds, and now we hurry up and wait. I’m just thrilled I don’t have to euthanize a healthy bird because of someone’s arrogance and stupidity.
He’s gotten food aggressive and started mantling his food again, which I find highly amusing. I tell him every day, “I promise you, I do NOT want your mice,” but does he listen? Of course not; he’s a stubborn, goofy juvie!
Remember, he has no physical issues; his issues are all mental. He was kept illegally for two weeks during a critical period of his development, and no attempt was made by the lawbreaker to avoid imprinting. No other rehabber in the state had young red tails when he arrived at LWR, so colleague Kathryn Dudeck suggested using mirrors to avoid further imprinting…and we thought maybe it had worked, but every time I’ve attempted to release him, he’s refused to fly away. Well, he’s refused to fly at all, although he flies beautifully in the main flight. So after evaluating him, vet Peggy Hobby agreed he was imprinted and wrote a letter stating he was nonreleasable because of this. It’s been submitted to the feds, and now we hurry up and wait. I’m just thrilled I don’t have to euthanize a healthy bird because of someone’s arrogance and stupidity.
He’s gotten food aggressive and started mantling his food again, which I find highly amusing. I tell him every day, “I promise you, I do NOT want your mice,” but does he listen? Of course not; he’s a stubborn, goofy juvie!
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