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

World’s luckiest Coop? Quite possibly!

2/9/2014

18 Comments

 
When the call came in last week that a hawk was trapped in a truck grille, my heart sank. Truck grilles and hawks are NOT a good combination.  The truck owner, Andy Johnson (and you know I don’t normally list people’s names, but given the nature of this situation, I asked permission to do so), said the hawk came out of nowhere, flying low the ground, and he didn’t have time to stop or swerve. He saw an explosion of feathers and figured the bird was dead, so he drove the few remaining miles to his home, where he planned to extricate the carcass from his grille.

To his surprise, however, the hawk was still alive. After attempting to remove the bird, with no luck, he had his wife Serena post a photo of the trapped bird on Facebook, where a mutual friend saw it and tagged me. I contacted Serena, and she put Andy on the phone. At this point, I was still banking on a fatally injured bird but agreed to meet them if he could drive slowly to our designated meeting spot—there was a barrier between the hawk and the motor, so our main concern was stress on the bird as he drove.
Picture
Picture
Picture
I arrived a couple of minutes before he did, in a gas station parking lot on the north side of Dublin, and noticed a police car also in the lot. This was good from my point of view! Shortly afterward, Andy pulled up and showed me the trapped hawk using his flashlight. We needed more light to try and free the bird, so I walked over to the police car and asked the officer, Lt. Russell Brooks, if he had a spotlight. He had one mounted on his side view mirror and drove over to where we were parked to provide us sufficient light to see what we were doing.

As Andy removed the panel keeping the bird away from the motor, Lt. Brooks got out to see if he could help. Within a few minutes another officer, Sgt. Neal Clark, drove up to see what was going on. As Lt. Brooks explained the situation, Sgt. Clark got out and asked if I had an extra pair of gloves. As luck would have it, I always keep two pair in the car, so he donned a pair, I donned a pair, and while I pushed the hawk from the bottom of the grille, he pulled from the top. Within 15 minutes we’d managed to work the bird free.

At that point, I examined her—and her feet indicated female; her markings indicated Cooper’s hawk—and saw that her right wing was bloody. There was a huge chunk of bloody flesh exposed. Not good. Andy, Lt. Brooks and Sgt. Clark left thinking that all their efforts had been in vain.

However…

On the way home, I started thinking about that chunk of flesh. I hadn’t seen any bones sticking out. Parking lot exams are, after all, cursory at best.  Maybe a more thorough exam once I got home would show less damage than I initially thought.  And it did! The skin had been ripped away from the elbow, but nothing was actually broken as far as I could tell!
Picture
After cleaning and medicating the wing, which I now was certain could be repaired with a few well-placed sutures, I called Andy and Serena and the 911 communications desk to let all those involved in the Coop’s rescue know that she actually had a very good chance of survival.

The next morning, I took Miss Coop to Smalley’s Animal Hospital, where vet Peggy Hobby was as amazed as I was that she had survived crashing into a grille with only what amounted to a flesh wound. She again cleaned the wound and put in four sutures, leaving space for drainage should any slight infection set in—and even with antibiotics, there is often slight pus discharge from wounds.
Picture
Coops, as some of you may remember, are accipiters. This means they fall into the manic category of birds. They’re aggressive; they’re spastic—they’re hell on wings to deal with, in short. After we got back from the clinic, Miss Coop proceeded in short order to escape from her box FOUR times in as many hours. She was flailing that wing around wildly. She even managed to fly a short distance in the enclosed space of the “rehab” bathroom. In short, she did everything stupid that should have torn those stitches loose. As a testament to Peggy’s skill, the sutures remained in place (and yes, I called the next day to let her know just how good her sutures were!).
Picture
Picture
Picture
So now we wait for the wound to heal sufficiently to release Miss Coop—and I want to thank all the folks named above for their assistance in getting this lady to me so she could get the help she needs.

This barred owl was found by the side of the road and was also lucky in that nothing was broken and there is no eye damage. He just had a major headache. I’d hoped to have him back out where he belonged by the weekend, but he was slow to recover from his concussion, so the plan now is to get him back into his territory tomorrow.
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
You may think it’s too early for baby raptors. You would be wrong. Great horned owls (GHOs) go on the nest around here in the dead of winter, so the babies start coming in fairly early. This week LWR received its first downy GHO of the season. The little guy was found in the woods with no parents in sight and was ravenous when I got him…which isn’t unusual for GHOs, who are renowned for their appetites, but it would indicate that his parents hadn’t been around to feed him.  Because Steve Hicks of Bubba & Friends has adult GHOs for this little guy to learn all about being an owl from, he’s headed that way this week. 
Picture
Picture
Picture
The killdeer’s eye looks much better and as soon as I can get the pigeon out of the flight pen, I’ll put the killdeer in for a few days, to make sure he’s good to go. (Pigeons can be aggressive to smaller birds, so I never put pigeons and other birds together.)

And we narrowly averted a tragedy with the latest three flyers. Yesterday morning, all three were alert and active. By noon, the runt of the litter was lethargic, listless and limp, his eyes dull. When I listened to his lungs, I could hear the crackles that indicate pneumonia, so I started him on antibiotics. By nightfall, he couldn’t even keep his eyes open and barely ate. I medicated again and really expected to find him dead this morning. Instead, he was again bright-eyed, alert and active.

This is one of the reasons I stress that people need to get wildlife to me or another rehabber ASAP. Had this little guy been with someone who had no idea what was going on or without the meds to begin treatment immediately, he WOULD be dead right now. With baby season right around the corner, it’s not too early to remind you not to take chances with the precious little lives of orphaned wildlife—get those babies to a properly licensed rehabber as soon as humanly possible.
18 Comments
Catherine
2/9/2014 08:31:11 am

bless you Vonda...

Reply
Laurens Wildlife Rescue
2/9/2014 09:28:40 am

Thanks Catherine!

Reply
dmortii
2/9/2014 08:45:04 am

Great story about the hawk. Revives faith in humans! Keep up the good work!

Reply
Laurens Wildlife Rescue
2/9/2014 09:29:46 am

Thanks dm!

Reply
Pam
2/9/2014 10:02:31 am

Man, how many mice-halves did the little GHO eat before he was full? I counted like 10 mice or something. Great post as usual, love the movies.

Reply
Laurens Wildlife Rescue
2/9/2014 12:52:30 pm

LOL, he inhaled 6 small mice, cut into bite-size chunks, Pam! Imagine the "damage" he'll do to the rodent population as an adult!

Reply
Cheryl Ann Kingston
2/9/2014 10:33:57 am

Vonda ... you are truly an angel from God. With your love of animals, your patience, your skills and your healing touch, you provide these animals with their best chances of survival! You totally ROCK in my book. And special KUDOS to the couple who brought you their truck, the police officers that assisted and the wonderful Vet, too. Your love still amazes me!!!

Reply
Laurens Wildlife Rescue
2/9/2014 12:53:20 pm

Thanks Cheryl!

Reply
Anonymous
2/9/2014 10:37:21 am

When does baby season start? April?

Reply
Laurens Wildlife Rescue
2/9/2014 12:56:49 pm

Depends on species: for owls, baby season has begun. Ditto for squirrels. Possums and rabbits can theoretically breed year-round but usually hit their peak in spring/summer. Deer should be preggers about now. Baby birds, the vast majority of my intakes, will start coming in around late March/early April.

Reply
Ann Feldman
2/9/2014 10:44:58 am

*BUUURRP*! I lost count of how many mice raced down that gullet. Love the Coop story and glad he will get well if he doesn't kill himself trying to escape.

Reply
Laurens Wildlife Rescue
2/9/2014 12:58:48 pm

LOL, he's a little feathered pig, isn't he Ann?! That was six small mice, cut into bite-size chunks. The Coop rescue was pretty amazing even to me. She's a survivor--her genes will definitely improve the gene pool!

Reply
sandz
2/9/2014 11:06:44 am

The world is a better place because of you.
That said...uhmmmm, meeting in gas station parking lots, soliciting spotlights...

Reply
Laurens Wildlife Rescue
2/9/2014 01:02:16 pm

Thanks sandz! As for my meeting spots, that particular spot is one I can count on a police officer being in or near--and if not, I call 911 to alert them to my presence. I live in a very rural area, so my meeting spots are all parking lots or roadsides. As the old saying goes, "God takes care of children, fools and drunks"...and I don't drink!

Reply
Marylin k Sperling link
2/9/2014 11:35:33 am

You work such wonders, Vonda! I absolutely would rather come to your room than most of my doctors! Too bad I live too far away! Hugs to you!

Reply
Laurens Wildlife Rescue
2/9/2014 01:02:59 pm

Thanks Marylin!

Reply
Semolina
2/11/2014 03:22:46 am

Great story about the Cooper's hawk. I hope the winter storm isn't too bad in your area.

Reply
Laurens Wildlife Rescue
2/11/2014 03:34:00 am

Thanks Sem! No, we're supposed to get mostly cold rain, possibly freezing rain/sleet by Wed., but right now they're not predicting any major ice accumulation.

Reply

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    Archives

    April 2025
    March 2025
    February 2025
    January 2025
    December 2024
    November 2024
    October 2024
    September 2024
    August 2024
    July 2024
    June 2024
    May 2024
    April 2024
    March 2024
    February 2024
    January 2024
    December 2023
    November 2023
    October 2023
    September 2023
    August 2023
    July 2023
    June 2023
    May 2023
    April 2023
    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    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.