Warning: Rant ahead

A mostly slow week ended Friday with a great horned owl intake—and he had a small leg hold trap hung on two toes.

The couple who found the owl brought him to LWR, and the husband and I tried unsuccessfully to remove the trap, as one side was rusted and needed more pressure than we could provide to get it open. In a desperate attempt to ensure the poor bird kept those two toes, I called a neighbor, who had a channel lock that we were able to use to remove the trap from the bird’s foot. He used the channel lock on one side, the husband pried open the other side, and I kept either of them from ending up with interesting new body piercings by restraining the bird and pulling his toes out once they had the trap open.

The couple who found the owl were infuriated, as he was found on their property, where they walk with their dogs daily. The husband was worried that a deer their dog had chased that seemed to be limping might also have been a victim of another such trap.

Luckily, it was a small trap and the toes don’t seem to be broken, just very sore. Had it been a larger trap, he’d’ve lost both those toes or, if more of his foot had gotten caught, ended up with a broken leg or worse.

And here begins the rant, one y’all’ve heard numerous times before: There’s a special place in hell for people who use those leg hold traps. Sadly, they’re not illegal, but they’re damn sure inhumane and dangerous. The meat used to bait them attracts curious dogs and cats, as well as hungry wildlife such as bobcats, foxes, possums, and raptors—and let’s not even consider the possibility that a child might wander up on one. It’s my considered opinion, after years of dealing with the aftermath of these contraptions, that people who use them are lazy, irresponsible and inhumane. The trapped animal suffers until the “trapper” shows up to kill it—and what about the traps that the “trapper” forgets the location of? I don’t even care what the intended prey might be—coyote or whatever—the damn traps are still cruel and no ethical person would use them.

Excuse me while I step off my soapbox so we can move on…

The barred owl is in the main flight and not showing any inclination to fly yet. Barreds are weird that way; nearly every one that goes into the main flight takes several days to try their wings…and to begin eating again…

The screech is in the mini-pen and both eating and flying well. This bodes well for his release in another week or so.

And the falcon threw a full-on screaming hissy fit when I changed her entire box last week; she’d shredded the sides of the former box. Apparently I insulted her interior decorating skills by replacing the whole box. I’m pretty sure it’s a good thing I don’t speak Falcon fluently, as it sounded to me like I was being called everything but a child of God…

Hope y’all all have a happy Thanksgiving!