Small miracles

As if needlessly and mysteriously injured birds weren’t enough to make this past week crappy, yesterday we had two bands of severe storms move through, one in the morning and one in the evening, near dark. The first saturated already-damp soil; the second had high winds that uprooted an approximately 25-foot sweet gum tree…onto the new raptor flight pen.

By flashlight last night it looked as if the structure was undamaged—the tree appeared to be mostly leaning against the side—and the owl never even moved from his perch, so he was fine. 

In daylight the tree didn’t look quite as daunting leaning against the raptor flight. 

My father got his tractor and cable, hooked the cable to the tree and with one clean, smooth jerk, lifted it right off. To our delight, the only damage was a slight ding to the edge of the roof. It’s a testament to the skill of the young men who built the flight that it was structurally sound enough to withstand a tree crashing into the side with only a ding to show for it!

We’re still evaluating the owl for flight capability. He has at least moved to a new perch after spending most of last week on the “ladder” perch.

This adult mourning dove was attacked by a cat and kept by the finder for three days before being brought to LWR. How he survived without antibiotics is honestly beyond me. As you can see, his tail feathers have been ripped out; he’s missing most of the feathers on both wings, and he had a severe puncture wound on his left side and a lesser one on the right.

Folks, crap like this is why cats belong INDOORS. While feral cats are a large part of the problem, free-roaming house cats are just as culpable—maybe more. Studies have shown that well-fed cats are actually more successful predators, as they’re not starving and desperate and will stalk their prey more carefully.

Further, free-roaming and feral cats are exposed to dangers of their own, ranging from vehicles to coyotes to owls to poisons and traps intended for other victims. And that doesn’t even touch on the injuries from fighting and the diseases they both pick up and spread.

I have cats. I love my cats. But for their safety—and for the safety of the wildlife in and around my yard—my cats are indoor-only. It’s my considered opinion as both a cat owner and a wildlife rehabber that only irresponsible and uncaring individuals allow their cats to roam freely outdoors. If you love your cats “like family”, then by-God TREAT them like family and bring them in the house with you!

The good news for this dove is that his injuries seem to be healing nicely, so all we have to do now is wait for all those ripped-out feathers to grow back…He’s one of the lucky ones.

The cardinal is still inside, as the adorable little brat stubbornly refuses to self-feed.  As a rule, I don’t put birds in the flight pen unless they’re doing at least some limited self-feeding. 

And because we had alternating days of sun and rain all last week, the young mourning dove is still in the flight pen. The predictions are for several consecutive days of clear weather early this week, so my goal is to get him out while the weather’s cooperating.

This adult red-headed woodpecker came in at the height of yesterday’s morning storms. He was found by a utility pole near dark the previous day, and the finder thought he had a wing injury. Upon examination, however, it became evident that he had spinal trauma of some sort. His legs were limp and useless but he was able to poop, and he was alert and had a healthy appetite—and could self-feed from a low dish.  I started meds in hopes of reducing any swelling that might be pressing on spinal nerves, but thus far there’s been no improvement. His spine looks odd just above the tail, as you can see in the video, but it doesn’t feel broken and he can move his tail. We’ll give him some time and see what happens.

The possums eat at night and sleep all day, so I actually seldom see them out and about except when it’s cage-cleaning time.  I can report that they have healthy appetites!

Now that the gray squirrel is in pre-release caging, meaning limited human contact, he’s become quite camera-shy.  Based on his age, behavior and eating habits, he’s pretty close now to release.

The Northern rough-winged swallow is getting restless and vocal, so we’re gonna try her in the flight pen this week and see who she does. Again, I’m hopeful but not optimistic that she’ll be capable of the skillful flight she’ll need for release. Fingers crossed, though…

When a caller said her son found a young killdeer in their back yard near dark mid-week, I urged her to try to reunite the baby with its sibs and parents. Killdeer are stressy little birds, and the only ones I’ve had success with in the past have been mildly injured adults. She had tried to locate his family the previous evening and the morning that she called me, and even took off work to go back home and try again, with no luck. 

Fortunately for both the killdeer and me, he’s an older baby and is doing quite well. Me, maybe not so much.  As I learned with my first killdeer experience years ago, these birds apparently never sleep! (Just kidding…I think…) As you know by now, birds are generally either diurnal (active during the day) or nocturnal (active at night). Some species, like screech owls and the nightjar family, tend to be more active at dawn and dusk, the “in-between” hours. Killdeer, however, are active all day and all night. Guess what that means for a rehabber? Can we say severe sleep deprivation, boys and girls?

He’s a sweetheart, though, so sleep-deprived I’ll remain until he’s old enough for the flight pen…