It’s been a slow couple of weeks at Laurens Wildlife Rescue, with only one intake—a HBC (hit by car) king snake. I’ll be honest: I can clean maggots from an open wound without flinching; I cannot handle a snake without gloves. It’s one of those weird little quirks; go figure!
At any rate, the person who found the snake had it for several days while searching for someone to take it, and we initially thought the fact that he had survived that long was a good sign. Consults with Richie Hatcher at Smalley’s Animal Hospital and Steve Hicks of Bubba & Friends, who rehabs reptiles as well as raptors, confirmed my opinion that there wasn’t really a whole lot we could do from a rehab/veterinary perspective for a HBC snake. Since we really didn’t know when the king snake’s last meal was, the plan of action was to provide heat and a thawed rodent and hope for the best. Despite my efforts to coax the snake into eating by dragging the mouse around his pen, mimicking a live rodent, he refused to eat. I left the mouse with him for the night, in hopes he would eat; instead, I found the poor fellow in rigor the next morning.
Many people deliberately run over snakes, thinking they’re doing a service in the process. The problem is, drivers can’t tell from their cars whether the snake in the road is poisonous or not, so they often end up killing beneficial snakes like king snakes. For the record, non-venomous snakes are protected by Georgia law.
The flyers have been placed in the pre-release pen and will more than likely be released by the next update, unless they decide to hang around for the winter. Flyers are very social and accepting of new members to their colonies, and since I have an established colony of flyers in the woods near my house, these two may take up with the colony pretty quickly.
In other news, the flicker has been released, after a couple of weeks in the flight pen to build her stamina back up after two weeks in confinement. Even though she kept that right wing at a bit of an angle, she was flying around the flight pen beautifully, and when I opened the pen door, she hauled her feathered butt out and into the trees before I could even focus the camera. Below are some shots of her in the flight pen.
The flyers have been placed in the pre-release pen and will more than likely be released by the next update, unless they decide to hang around for the winter. Flyers are very social and accepting of new members to their colonies, and since I have an established colony of flyers in the woods near my house, these two may take up with the colony pretty quickly.
In other news, the flicker has been released, after a couple of weeks in the flight pen to build her stamina back up after two weeks in confinement. Even though she kept that right wing at a bit of an angle, she was flying around the flight pen beautifully, and when I opened the pen door, she hauled her feathered butt out and into the trees before I could even focus the camera. Below are some shots of her in the flight pen.
And as promised, here is a shot of her “pecking log” after her tender ministrations—I’m actually thinking about letting every woodpecker I rehab create such original “artwork” and selling it as a fundraiser! (Just kidding…I think…)
Speaking of fundraisers, we’re again offering a calendar for next year featuring photos of 12 of this year’s intakes. Lulu.com offered more room for creativity with the images and layout, as well as a larger portion of the purchase price for Laurens Wildlife Rescue, so the link for the 2013 LWR calendar is: http://www.lulu.com/content/legacy-lulustudio-calendar/lwr-2013-calendar/13378619
If you’re looking for Christmas gifts for friends, colleagues and/or relatives, a 2013 LWR calendar is a great option, and all proceeds over Lulu.com’s cut will be used to support our rehab efforts in 2013.
If you’re looking for Christmas gifts for friends, colleagues and/or relatives, a 2013 LWR calendar is a great option, and all proceeds over Lulu.com’s cut will be used to support our rehab efforts in 2013.
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