Laurens Wildlife Rescue
  • Home
  • I found a wild baby - what do I do?
  • How can I help?
  • Contact us
  • FAQ
  • This week in wildlife

What was that about a fall slowdown?

11/3/2009

0 Comments

 
Murphy’s Law kicked in after I made that statement in the last regular update!  It was right after that that the bald eagle came in, followed by two chipmunks, five brown bats, an adult gray squirrel, a gunshot red tailed hawk, a HBC barred owl and a migrating Swainson’s thrush.

Let’s start with the animal whose fate you’re probably most interested in: the eagle. She was released on Halloween and did beautifully. Below are some photos of her in rehab at Bubba & Friends and on the day of her release. Thanks to www.pikecountytimes.com and Paul Powers for permission to use their photos.

 
Picture
In a flight pen at Bubba & Friends
Picture
Bolting to freedom
Picture
There she goes!
Sadly, the GHO whose leg we were so hoping would heal properly had to be euthanized. X-rays showed that the leg was not healing at all, and there was definite nerve damage to that foot, as well. Adding to her problems, the strain of bearing her weight on that one good leg was starting to affect the foot. None of us wanted to make the call, but we knew it was necessary.  At the risk of starting another rant, let me remind you that had some jerk called DNR for the number of the nearest rehabber when they first found her, instead of attempting to make a pet of her, this sad fate could have been avoided and she’d be out in the wild right now, choosing a mate and producing gorgeous babies.
Picture
On the gray squirrel front, LWR has just four babies remaining. Three are in release phase and one has several weeks to go before he’ll reach that point. Here are the two males who came in several weeks ago with bloody noses and a broken arm.

Picture
The flyers are also in release phase and are beginning to show an interest in the world outside their release cage, so they should have moved on by the next update. Catching them still long enough for photos is nigh-impossible these days; they’re like quicksilver. Here are a few fairly decent shots of them.

Picture
Picture
Picture
One chipmunk was released; the other had spinal damage and its back legs were useless. It was euthanized.

Picture
The five brown bats were healthy adults removed from an old house undergoing remodeling.  Normally I transfer any rabies-vector species to someone who’s RVS licensed, but these were adults, so after conferring with an RVS-licensed rehabber, I decided to place the bats in one of my bat boxes, which local bats have steadfastly ignored, and hope that they’d hang around. Alas, the bat box was a nice layover, but they preferred the surrounding woods for permanent digs.  Too bad—bats are excellent natural insect control.

The adult gray squirrel had spinal damage. She came in over the weekend and died before I could get her to the vet.

 

The barred owl flew into the grille of a vehicle, and the owner of the vehicle left him there all weekend, deciding on Monday that since the owl hadn’t “conveniently” died over the weekend, it was now an emergency. When I removed the owl from the grille, the radiator fan had made hamburger of his wing, so there was no humane option other than euthanasia.

Folks, if you hit ANY animal that you think is in your grille, please stop immediately. The damage may already be too severe for the animal to be saved, but there’s always a chance that’s not the case. Don’t let some bird or other animal sit in your grille and suffer for days—that’s cruel, inhumane and lots of other words I can’t use on a family-friendly site.
Picture
The Swainson’s thrush is a true Northern bird, breeding along the U.S.-Canada border and passing through Georgia on its way to South America for the winter. This gorgeous olive-drab bird was found in someone’s yard. He can’t use his legs at all, but X-rays showed nothing broken, so we’ve given a steroid injection and are giving him a day or two to see what happens. He’s very alert, but he’s also losing weight, which may not bode well for his survival chances.

Picture
The red tail is a first-year bird, most likely a late baby, as Steve Hicks of Bubba & Friends says that photos I sent him indicate she’s not long out of the nest. Also, he says the behavior I’ve described—food aggression and “mantling,” or using her wings to hide her food while she eats—are signs of a very young bird.

Picture
She was found by the side of the road, unable to fly. Vet Shelley Baumann of Smalley’s Animal Hospital could find no injuries at first, but an X-ray showed two lead pellets lodged in her leg and wing. While they were recent injuries, pellets can lodge in the flesh/bone and not leave an external sign, meaning that the lead will continue to leach into the bird’s system and it will die slowly and painfully of lead poisoning. This young lady was already feeling the effects of lead poisoning when Shelley removed the pellets.

Within four hours of the removal of the lead pellets, however, she had perked up considerably and her appetite had most definitely returned. She’s doing well and had to stay with me until Steve could release the eagle and free up a flight pen for her. This week she goes to him for flight conditioning and eventual release.

Picture
How did she end up with pellets in her leg and wing? Looking at the X-rays, Steve & I are guessing that she was perched when someone—probably some unsupervised child who’d never been taught that if you don’t eat it, you don’t kill it—shot her leg. She flared her wing at the pain, and the little cretin shot her in the wing. This is why children don’t need to be around guns without adult supervision.

Just as a reminder, injuring/killing any bird protected by the Migratory Bird Treaty Act,  disturbing its nest or young, or having one of these protected birds in your possession without a permit is a violation of federal law.  The MBTA protects all songbirds, including crows, and all birds of prey, which includes owls. If you see or know of someone who’s breaking the law, don’t hesitate to report them, as doing so could save a bird’s life. In Georgia the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Law Enforcement number is 404-679-7057; outside Georgia, check www.fws.gov under “Law Enforcement” for the number of the office nearest you. A even quicker solution is to call your local game warden or, in Georgia, the DNR hotline at 800-241-4113. State agencies cooperate fully with the feds on issues concerning  the MBTA.
0 Comments

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    Archives

    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    August 2011
    July 2011
    June 2011
    May 2011
    April 2011
    March 2011
    February 2011
    January 2011
    December 2010
    November 2010
    October 2010
    September 2010
    August 2010
    July 2010
    June 2010
    May 2010
    April 2010
    March 2010
    February 2010
    January 2010
    December 2009
    November 2009
    October 2009
    September 2009
    August 2009
    July 2009
    June 2009
    May 2009
    April 2009
    March 2009
    February 2009
    January 2009
    December 2008
    November 2008
    October 2008
    September 2008
    August 2008
    July 2008
    June 2008
    May 2008
    April 2008

    Categories

    All
    Baby Birds
    Baby Deer
    Baby Opossums
    Baby Possums
    Baby Rabbits
    Bluegray Gnatcatchers
    Carolina Wren
    Common Loons
    Epd
    Fawns
    House Finch
    Mbta
    Migratory Bird Treaty Act
    Mockers
    Mockingbirds
    Orphaned Birds
    Orphaned Deer
    Orphaned Fawns
    Orphaned Opossums
    Orphaned Possums
    Orphaned Rabbits
    Orphaned Wildlife
    Squirrels
    Wildlife
    Wood Ducks

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.