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What a week!

2/22/2015

7 Comments

 
Despite uncooperative weather, last week was amazingly productive. Only two new intakes for the week, but LWR now has a raptor flight pen almost ready for  occupation!

Remember Cody Rogers, the Georgia Southern engineering senior who coordinated the group of volunteers in January who got the songbird flight pen up? He and a friend from his hometown, Tyson Krantz, my nephew Alex and his friend Aaron Baeumel busted their butts yesterday and got the raptor flight almost completely done. These hardworking young men continued by four-wheeler headlights after dark to get the last of the slats up, so that all we have left is the latticework roof, the hardware cloth on the top, sides and interior floor, and the door and roofing tin.

I don’t even know where to begin expressing my gratitude to Cody, Tyson, Alex and Aaron. I have, however, promised to name the first downy raptor intake of the year in Cody’s honor, as he coordinated both construction efforts and made these flight pens happen!
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L-R: Tyson Krantz, Cody Rogers, Alex Bracewell
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Alex and I finished with the hardware cloth predator guard in the songbird flight, so now we just need to get the door up on it.
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The poor screech is still glaring at me from his nest box;  rain early last week and then frigid (for Georgia) temps thwarted his planned release. Toward the middle of this week, the weather’s actually supposed to be nice for several consecutive days, so fingers crossed we can get the peeved little fellow out then. Meanwhile, this is pretty much all I see of him:
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This female house finch came in with a very advanced case of “finch eye”, or mycoplasmic conjunctivitis. It’s a highly contagious avian disease most often seen in birds who frequent feeders that aren’t cleaned regularly. In its early stages it’s treatable but by the time this poor girl came in, it was too late. I didn’t even have to euthanize; she died shortly after intake.
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And finally, I love it when people work together for the benefit of an injured bird. Late Thursday, a UPS driver named Mike (didn’t get his last name) called and said he’d found a hawk by the side of the road. His route was nowhere near LWR, but he did have customer on his route he thought might be willing to meet me in Dublin with the bird. He said he’d ask her when he delivered her package and have her call me if she was willing to transport the hawk. Less than 10 minutes later Michelle called me and quite cheerfully agreed to bring me the hawk. Way to go, Mike and Michelle!

The hawk, an adult male red shoulder, had a massive concussion but surprisingly—and happily—no broken bones. He had a bit of a head tic to the right and was unable to stand, sitting back on his hocks with his feet balled. I gave him meds for pain and left him alone until the next morning.
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Friday he was standing with his head tucked, so aside from medicating again and offering him a low perch, I just let him rest. Saturday—head still tucked most of the time; still no interest in food. It’s not unusual for a concussed raptor to refuse food for 24-48 hours, so I didn’t stress this guy out with force feeding.
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Today he’s mostly kept his head untucked and is more alert, but now his head tic is more pronounced and to the left. He still won’t lower his head to pick up food, so I hand fed him earlier. He was resistant at first but pretty quickly decided he was hungry, as long as he didn’t have to lower that head!
We’ll be watching that head tic closely, as it indicates some sort of neurological issue. It may be just “fallout” from the concussion, or it may signal more serious problems. Right now,  I’m leaning toward lingering aftereffects of the concussion, but only time will tell.
7 Comments
Ann Feldman
2/22/2015 11:45:40 am

What good news! Hope you won't need that raptor flight pen any time soon (but we all know you will...let's hope for the red shoulder). Nice to know there are good young folks in the world. By the way, might be a good time to do an article on dirty feeders..which can also cause illness from aflatoxins. Many folks don't have a clue..I didn't until last year. I don't do feeders (apartment dweller) I just leave seeds on old tree stumps or bare ground (when there is any).

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Laurens Wildlife Rescue
2/22/2015 12:04:17 pm

Thanks Ann! Yeah, those young men are pretty amazing. I actually went into detail a few months ago about dirty feeders, after I had another bird come in with finch eye. Repetition is key, huh?

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Suzie Gilbert link
2/23/2015 01:45:15 am

Good luck with the red-shouldered, Vonda! And congrats on the flight - guys outside in short sleeves, I'd forgotten that was possible :)

Reply
Laurens Wildlife Rescue
2/23/2015 03:16:56 am

Thanks Suzie! The day before, our high was 38, after a morning low of 18; that Saturday dawned at 25 but it was in the mid-60s for most of the day. Welcome to Georgia--we may not be able to give you all four seasons in one day, but we can usually squeeze 'em into a week!

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Pipette
2/23/2015 02:19:11 pm

A big round of applause for Cody, Tyson, Alex and Aaron for giving so generously of their time. Thank you, gentlemen: you put your good hearts, fine minds and strong backs into the service to wildlife in this very much-needed way. The good you have done will come back to you.

It is genuinely heartening to know that we still have men like this in our midst, and I wish all of them the best, because they are the best!

Reply
Laurens Wildlife Rescue
2/23/2015 02:26:35 pm

Well-stated, Pipette! Good karma is definitely headed their way!

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Rob
2/3/2021 12:03:53 pm

Hi Lauren, my wife, a fellow rehabber, came across this page and she needs a flight pen built. I like the approach here, but without guessing, can you offer the measurements used? My guess based on a good amount of building experience is this is 8 feet high, 8 feet wide and 16 feet long? Thanks in advance,

Cheers

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