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You can’t save ‘em all…

10/19/2014

8 Comments

 
…but it’s still painful when you lose ‘em, too. That never changes. Rehabbers develop what some call clinical detachment, which to me implies a total separation from the scene playing out before them. I prefer the term “clinical distance”, which seems to imply that the rehabber is very much a part of the scene but must step back emotionally in order to do what’s best for the wildlife.

This gorgeous slightly over one-year-old red tailed hawk came in last week with a broken wing. How do I estimate age? Look at his eyes: they’re just beginning to develop the caramel color that would mark a two-year-old bird.  A mature bird’s eyes will be dark brown. 
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Of course, with closed fractures, x-rays are necessary to determine the extent of the break and whether it’s fixable.  The x-ray on this guy, however, showed a jaggedly broken, almost open, badly displaced break. This wasn’t fixable. We had no option but euthanasia.
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Now, it’s very popular among the uninitiated to protest that rehabbers and vets should mend a bird in this shape as best they can and keep him as an educational bird.  Unless the bird is very young and has never experienced total freedom, I can’t in good conscience agree with that viewpoint.

A bird that has experienced free flight will never, ever be truly happy in captivity. No matter how “enriched” his environment is, it is NOT freedom. He’s alive, yes, but he’s not LIVING. Do you see the difference?  This is no way for such a magnificent bird to spend the remainder of his days. If I can’t offer him the hope of free, unfettered flight, I can at least give him a humane, dignified, peaceful death.  Life-saving is always preferable, but all too often rehabbers must choose life-ending. We do so because of our determination to make the decision that is right for the wildlife under our care. Their welfare isn’t our major concern; it’s our ONLY concern.

Sometimes we think a critter has a good chance at survival and release, even though it looks pretty rough. This mallard was a victim of repeated attacks by other ducks and geese; his rescuer actually intervened as he was about to be attacked again.
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All the feathers had been plucked from his neck and the skin was raw, bleeding and beginning to get infected in spots, but vet Richie Hatcher and I both thought his prognosis was pretty good. Oral antibiotics and ointments would fight the infection and ease the pain of the plucked neck, and while he was thinnish, his weight wasn’t too far off the baseline weight for mallards and his appetite was good.
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Unfortunately, our optimism was misplaced and the poor mallard died overnight. Maybe he was sick to begin with, and that’s why he had been so viciously attacked by the other ducks and geese; maybe the damage to his neck was more severe than we thought. In this instance, though, we opted NOT to euthanize because our assessment was that he had a fighting chance at survival and release.

And then we have our long-term guest, the barred owl with the pinned wing…He’s doing great and will likely have the pin removed in the next week or so, as his x-rays are showing only minimal weekly improvement now. This means the healing has advanced about as much as it ever will.
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Then the nail-biting begins for us as we hope and pray that the wing doesn’t snap and splinter the first time the owl attempts to use it without the pin stabilizing it. This is a very real possibility that we’ve been aware of from Day One. The x-rays have shown continued callus formation, which should stabilize the wing, but in the real world, anything could happen. We won’t know till we know—comforting thought, huh?

Welcome to a rehabber’s world.
8 Comments
dmortii
10/19/2014 09:45:15 am

Good luck with the barred. I hope all goes well!

Reply
Laurens Wildlife Rescue
10/19/2014 10:29:00 am

Thanks--fingers crossed!

Reply
Leslie A Jackson
10/19/2014 02:26:08 pm

Good job-good calls on the above cases, Vonda. I don't think the general public has any idea how many of our intakes are euthanized immediately....and perhaps that's a good thing. Do you have any idea how the RTHA received such a BAD break? My fingers are crossed on the BAOW...keep us posted as the situation develops, please.

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Laurens Wildlife Rescue
10/19/2014 03:36:44 pm

Thanks Leslie, and you're right, although I do point out frequently that at least 50% of our intakes either require EU or die from their illnesses/injuries during treatment.

As for the RT, yeah, based on the rescuer's description of seeing hawks "locking talons" I suspect this poor guy wandered into another RT's territory and lost the battle.

Thanks for the good wishes on the barred owl; my fingers are crossed too! We'll find out within the next couple of weeks...

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Pipette
10/19/2014 03:03:17 pm

The hawk has such intelligence and dignity in its eyes, as if he understands that he's in a serious predicament and trusts that the right thing will be done. Which it was! I choose to believe that his spirit thanks you for allowing him to fly free in the only way possible.

The mallard ... poor creature, what a sad sight.

I really hope the owl makes it. Am picturing him trying to woo a lady-owl with fantastic stories of his capture by kind aliens and his eventual "escape"!

Reply
Laurens Wildlife Rescue
10/19/2014 03:43:09 pm

I've always said that RTs in particular have a way of sizing up the situation and resigning themselves to their fate--you can see the thought process reflected in their eyes. It's one of the reasons they're my favorite diurnal raptors.

Yeah, that poor mallard looked rough, but we really thought he had every chance of a full recovery. Really bummed me out to find him dead the next morning...

"Kind" aliens??? LMAO, no, this guy will tell his children cautionary tales about sadistic humans who capture unsuspecting, unruly young owls and stuff them in crates and boxes and force vile substances into their beaks! "Mind your mother and me, or the human monster will steal you away while you sleep!"

Reply
Ann Feldman
10/22/2014 09:41:33 am

Regarding keeping badly injured raptors alive...Bobby and Cathy and I had just this conversation yesterday while returning a (very large, very feisty!) female red-tail to the "wild" of Prospect Park. You are so right...once they have been free, any other existence is torment for them. They too have had to EU many messed up critters recently, but it is the only right thing to do if the bird cannot be returned to a free life.

Reply
Laurens Wildlife Rescue
10/22/2014 09:56:48 am

Exactly, Ann. It's just unfair to the raptor--or to any wildlife that's been free. There's a legendary Canadian owl rehabber, Kate McKeever, who says that given a choice between freedom that means certain death and a life of captivity, the wildlife will always choose freedom and death. The decision to EU is never pleasant, but it's often the only right one for the animal.

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