Wildlife Rehabilitation in Utah/Second Chance Wildlife Rehabilitation: Just when you think you've seen it all..............

Friday, December 10, 2010

Just when you think you've seen it all..............

Well, I've been mentioning a Red-Tail hawk the last post or two. I even posted a couple of pictures prior to our trip to the vet's office. We named her Patience. We actually have another female Red-Tail Hawk who we took to our vet's office in Payson for surgery today, but that's another story. This update will be about Patience.

She came to us from the next county over. Her eye was horrible. One of the most horrific eye injuries I've ever seen. Just as a side note, everyone has THEIR thing and mine are eye injuries. They give me the willies! We kept cleaning the outside of her eye and expressing some white goo from the torn eyeball itself. I could not do anything for her regarding this eye until we got her weight up as she was near death at intake. She obviously had been on the ground for quite some time, unable to hunt and was starving and dehydrated. To add to her condition, she had parasites all over her, which is common for a bird in her condition, unable to care for themselves, then the 'bugs' take advantage of this. This in turn caused her to be anemic as they were feeding on her.
She was too weak in the beginning to start the medication she needed for the parasites as it is a very harsh drug and she was just too 'down', so it had to wait.

Gradually, with a lot of subcutaneous fluids, tube feeding, antibiotics and pain medication, she became stronger, heavier and less anemic. We started the anti parasitic drug and then got her up to our vet in Salt Lake for her eye. The day we took her up, they took her right in and removed the eye. I took a lot of pictures and I'm hoping to get some of those posted. Dr. MacLaren said all the 'white stuff' in the eyeball was infection. When they got in there and started to clean out the infected bone as well, which there was quite a bit, they found the cause for all of this damage. She had been shot! Some little punk, used an air gun on her and the cartridge was up near her brain. They got it out and saved it for me. That poor bird.

For the first few days after her surgery, she was very unstable, but if you had just lost half of your face, you would be as well. We added a second antibiotic and put her on stronger pain meds and over a couple of weeks, she was back to her normal self.

I took her back to my vet in Payson to get her entire body x-rayed as I didn't know if there might be any more of those cartridges somewhere in her body. Thank God there were no more.

I turned the cartridge that had been removed during the surgery over to Wildlife Resources Law enforcement. The person who did this will probably never be caught. Pisses me off. This magnificent creature tortured like this. Thank goodness she was found by someone, although near death, we were able to save her!
She is now free and flying like she should. She was ready for us to be out of her life. I hope she does well and since she is an adult, she knows how to kill and has done that many times already.
Be free Patience, and stay away from idiot humans!

Also, just a brief update on Miss Moon, our little Screech owl. I had a full body x-ray done on her and her fracture isn't healing very timely. I still have her confined and her food has more bones in it now and she is eating 100% on her own. This is wonderful for her and us. Both the radius and ulna were broken. She still looks like a good release candidate here in the future.

I love a story with a happy ending.....
Debbie

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ATTENTION

Spring is a very active wonderful time for all animals. Babies are born and learning what it takes to be wild from their parents. Unfortunately, many may end up in trouble and often times humans may try to intervene, whether or not it is necessary. The inexperienced human finding a baby bird, for instance, more than likely cannot tell if the bird is truely in need of help, or is learning to fly, something that can take a few days to master. Leaving the baby to learn what it needs is something an experienced birder can spot, but taking that baby home, thinking you're helping, when in fact, it is the worst thing possible for that baby, has now changed it's life forever.
Call a rehabilitator for answers. Yes, we want that baby to be safe from predators, but give that baby a chance. The worst thing that happens in these situations is an improper diet being fed by the 'rescuer'. This will result in death, if not right away, then in time, due to improper development. Different birds require different diets and different amounts of food at different times. Here is where a wildlife rehabilitators knowledge and experience makes all the difference. Don't try to do this yourself, only to attempt to find a rehabilitator as the baby is dying due to your 'efforts'. When they are at this stage, there is very little that can be done AND it is also illegal to attempt raising wildlife. Only a permitted wildlife rehabilitator can do this legally, for we know how to keep them wild and ready for release as well. Making them pets, besides being illegal is very selfish and is not what's best for the wildlife. They need to be free and have learned how to find the food they will need to survive in the wild and know what to avoid and learn the language of their species. There is a lot that goes into a successful rehabilitation and the orphans out there deserve the best chance possible. Don't you agree?

DID YOU KNOW...........

Wildlife rehabilitation is a profession borne of a love and concern for wild things everywhere. We wildlife rehabilitators have taken this many steps forward, increasing our knowledge, skills and techniques into a career that most people do not know exists. Most people assume that the work that a wildlife rehabilitator does is something all state wildlife agencies perform as state employees. This could not be further from the truth.
The reality is, all wildlife rehabilitation is done, in all 50 states, by us, wildlife rehabilitators. State and federal officials MAY occasionally pick up the patients that come to us, but they bring them to us at our homes and facilities, not their state or federal offices or vets offices.
Ours is a specialized field that primarily involves vet/medical expertise. No, we are not veterinarians, but many of us have extensive backgrounds in medicine (people and animals).
We also have vast backgrounds in the natural history of the patients we care for. Our work involves many fields. State and federal wildlife folks just don't have that training or background.
The other aspect of our work that is not known, is that we are not paid by anyone. Our patients don't 'belong' to anyone. They are wild beings. So when they have medical needs, there is no one to step up to this challenge except wildlife rehabilitators. Most of us work basically 24/7. Holidays are no exception. When an animal is hurt, it needs help now!
To top it all off, whatever expenses these patient incure, the bills are paid by us, for vet care, surgeries, medications, all of it. We build their homes and repair them as needed. All of our patients need something. They are not here to visit, they are in trouble. So imagine if you will......going to work everyday, driving your own vehicle to do that work and never getting a paycheck. OK, so maybe you can do that.....now imaging having a source of income from somewhere, now, this is where things get really different. When you get that money, you just turn it over to other people to pay for what your patients need, regardless of your financial needs!
This is wildlife rehabilitation.
We also are constantly pursuing continuous education of the latest finds in our field. We strive to be the best we can for those entrusted to us.
So please, support your wildlife rehabilitator in your area. They need it and believe me, it is very much appreciated.

Wildlife Rehabilitation in Utah/Second Chance Wildlife Rehabilitation

Friday, December 10, 2010

Just when you think you've seen it all..............

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