Wildlife Rehabilitation in Utah/Second Chance Wildlife Rehabilitation

General from Cisco.........

2012-01-28T21:52:00.004-07:00

Well, as I mentioned previously, we did get in another Golden eagle, this one a male and a mature one at that. His story is really odd as he was in the desert, in an extremely rural area of Utah eating on a dead cow that had been struck and killed by a train. Another train came by while he was eating and struck the cow again, this time with the eagle on it. Eagles don't move for many things as they are the top predator out there, so things usually move for them. This, however, cost him dearly. He had a concussion and broken bone in his left wing. He was also very thin and dehydrated, so this guy may have had a problem prior to the train incident.

Thank goodness someone was willing and able to catch him, an employee of the train company, and brought the eagle back to his home after alerting authorities. We headed right over and picked him up. We knew immediately we had a problem, not only from the story, but when we walked into the home where the eagle now was, he was lying on a kitchen counter, simply with a towel covering him and not moving. Not a good sign. A lot of activity was going on in that room and that alone should have made this eagle bolt.

Once back in Price, a full exam was completed and we found a very swollen area in the left wing and it was black in color from the bruising.

We obviously had trauma, but to what extent,

only an x-ray would tell us that. We gave him pain medication and administered fluids directly under his skin.

We held off with any food as his crop was full from the cow he had been eating on. He also had a terrible parasite load, quite common with debilitated raptors, so we began treatment for that as well. We continued to give supportive care and got him up to our vets for x-rays. What the vet found was an injury that he

thought he could repair with hopes of the bird flying again well enough to be released, so we left the eagle with our vet overnight and surgery was performed the following morning.

The area looks very different than it did just a few days ago.

The eagle was still acting a little 'off' however,

but we decided to see if he would do better outside in what is called a holding mew. He would have limited vision of his surroundings, but he would still be able to look around and see things. He would have very limited movement; don't want to undo what was just done! We continued his medications and monitored his surgical site. Our vet said since this was not the typical type of surgery we do, the normal device and pins that hold everything in place for many weeks and then needs to be removed, the bird could actually start moving a lot right away. He had a plate screwed on to the fracture and onto the undamaged bone and this will always be in place, never needing to be removed. So after we were sure he would eat on his own and was more stable neurologically, we moved him out to the flight with the rest of our current Golden eagles.

He immediately started to get to know the other eagles, showing interest in all of them and then started attempting to get upon the high perches with them. Eventually the next day, he made it, with a little help of a carefully placed 'ramp'.

I will be downloaded x-rays from this guy and a couple of Great Horned owls that came in all around the same time and post this guys x-ray photo at the next posting. The gentleman that found him and rescued him has named him General.
Debbie............

Nadia, the Great Blue Heron...

2012-01-22T14:26:00.004-07:00

We have in our care, a gorgeous female Great Blue Heron, whom we've named Nadia.

She came in several days ago, found in Moab, Utah. She had been observed hanging around in peoples yards, particularly those with small ponds. Now, those who know Great Blue Herons know that they like to go to small ponds and dine, but this gal had been hanging around far too long, not flying in and out, but walking. So, I asked some friends to try and catch her. They are very knowledgeable bird people and agreed.

Since they were able to catch her, something was obviously wrong. They drove her to Green River and I met them there.

Upon her exam, I found several fractures in her left wing and possibly up in that shoulder as well. We drove her to our vet's office after a couple of days (he wasn't working) and got the much needed x-rays. Turns out there are several closed fractures of the radius, all mid shaft and the clavicle and corocoid are dislocated. That was the swelling I felt up around the shoulder. And guess what caused all of this? She had been shot. Oh yes, another lovely gunshot victim. This is ridiculous. I have never seen this many gunshot cases in such a short time. It is obviously steel shot, so idiot waterfowl hunters shooting just to shoot. Poor little girl.

We put her on pain medication and the vet feels the clavicle and corocoid dislocation may not ground her. Time will only tell, but her felt that surgical intervention would not increase her odds of release, with either injury, so no surgery will be performed at this point. The radius fractures will heal with the ulna acting as a natural splint. Handling these type of fractures this way is quite common, so we just need to limit her movement as best as possible while healing.

She is still not eating willingly, so unfortunately, we are having to catch her twice a day to feed and medicate her. This is difficult since we want to keep her as still as we can, but we can't let her get too thin either. Sigh.

One day while feeding her, I noticed silver in her fleshy area in her 'mouth'. With all of the fish we had been putting down her, another piece of the steel shot had revealed itself. I grabbed some tweezers and pulled it out before she could swallow it.

I anticipate she will be with us for at least 8 more weeks. That should make it right with migration. The Moab area is a warmer part of Utah, so she could have stayed there the entire winter had this not happened.

That's today's update, more in a few more days.

Debbie

Could someone please turn the heat on!

2012-01-17T19:42:00.005-07:00

Boy there has been a lot going on since the last post. The Grebe situation here in Utah is getting a lot of attention because of the way it was handled. Even the New York Times ran an article about it. Author Suzie Gilbert also posted about it on her blog, the Crooked Wing. Hopefully, not holding my breath, policies will be created to handle a similar situation in the future.

So as to NOT overload myself, I'm just going to post one or two new situations or updates and then do this again in a few days.

So I had posted about a new Golden eagle that had come in with obvious lead poisoning symptoms. We treated her as a precaution as it was going to be a few days before getting her into our vet, so time was of the essence. We named her Spirit. What an amazing girl. With a great deal of time and patience on both our parts, she is recovering well. It was a long, concerning ordeal as she could not stand due to her feet, but we continued her supportive care, force feeding her until she would take it from us willingly. We still had to hold her for these

feedings, again, because she could not stand. She gradually began putting on much needed weight and became fully hydrated from the subcutaneous fluids we were giving her, helping her kidneys. We took her back into our vets to rerun her blood work. Strangely, some of her results are still concerning.

Watching her, now out in the eagle flight, flying around, eating on her own, going here and there, it just doesn't fit with the blood tests. Our vet, although concerned, agreed we need to base what we are doing on what we are seeing and with our remote cameras in the flight on all the time, I can peek in and watch her and the other eagles at any given time (except in the dark). We are certainly keeping a concerned eye on her, but things look good right now.

Copper, another Golden eagle we have posted about, finally got to have his pins and fixator removed here just over a week ago.

Sadly, during the removal surgery, our vet noticed that the wing with all the damage and lead shot dispersed throughout the entire wing, had a portion of the wing dying due to one of the pieces of lead. It was compromising the blood supply to another portion of that wing. Nothing could be done and a few days after that surgery, the dying portion of that wing, fell off.

Now, Copper is not releasable. Copper's lead poisoning is also under control. His was primary, unlike Spirit's, who's is secondary. Regardless, the effect of lead out in the environment from ammunition, whether directly into the body or in bodies of animals left after being shot with lead,

is lethal in most cases as most of it's victims are not found in time.

As I said, I will update again in a few days with more Great Horned owls and yes, another Golden eagle. We also now have a Great Blue Heron with us, so much more is coming.

Debbie..............

Angels falling from the sky...........

2011-12-26T21:53:00.006-07:00

Well there has been some strange goings on the last couple of weeks in Utah. We had a later than normal migration of Grebes, mostly Eared, but we saw some Westerns as well. The 'regular' migration was pretty much over. But one late large migration made national news, unfortunately.

Near Cedar City Utah, which is south of us, a group of over 5,000 came down in a Walmart parking lot, killing over 1,500 of them. These strange occurrences happen frequently, usually during snow or rain. During a snow storm, they can ice-over and this sends them to the ground and since Grebes migrate at night, their view of wet pavement looks similar to a lake. Think about it, a large area void of any trees or other land markers and with all the bright parking

lights, the wet ground reflects like water. These birds land in lakes as they are completely helpless on land, so they are always looking for water while migrating. Once they are on the ground, they are stuck. Some become injured in the 'landing' while others just need to be put onto a large body of water. These birds take a long 'run' before they can get air born, just like a jet vs. a helicopter.

The way this was handled by our states' wildlife agency made this terrible situation even worse. People with no medical background decided to put the surviving birds, even injured ones, onto water saying 'people couldn't help them'. Really? We rehabilitators do just that. We have that background to know what can or cannot be done and we were never asked to assist in this situation. We are wildlife rehabilitators for the State of Utah and none of us even received a phone call. Shame on you DWR! There needs to be a plan put into place, when things like this happen, that professionals can intervene and help determine what can be done to help the injured.

There needs to be a plan in place to work through these situations, involving wildlife rehabilitators since we are the ones qualified to determine what can and cannot be repaired well enough to survive in the wild. These are highly stressed birds and the handling they received was terrible.

No, this would not have been an easy task to work through, but none of what we rehabilitators do is easy.

You should have seen the video taken of these guys throwing the birds into a lake from a cardboard box, with no regard to how they landed. These birds were hitting each other, landing on top of one another and the public is watching this on the news channels. Embarrassing. Then a spokesperson goes on speaking that this is what is best for the birds....and we wonder why the general public thinks the way that they do regarding injured wildlife, thinking "oh, it's no big deal, anyone can do it". Well no wonder when they see stories like that on the news......ARGH! Birds with broken wings being thrown into a lake with clearly no chance of leaving that lake, ever!

It's an insult to our profession and our expertise. These DWR people don't have a clue about what we do and what is possible in the field of wildlife medicine. While these events will happen again and again, the devastation of these situations doesn't need to be made worse at the hands of people our wildlife is suppose to be being watched out for.

We received several Grebes during and after this large migration. Already having snow falling here in Utah, Grebes were being found, a few here and there throughout the state.

I've posted some of the photo's of these fallen angels and they were all successfully released throughout the state where we could find open water, once we determined they had no injuries.

Debbie

It's even COLDER.....BURRRRR

2011-12-08T18:32:00.009-07:00

OK,
It's gone polar now. I hate it when everything freezes; water hoses, ponds, my toes and so on.

Copper has finally started to eat on his own....we have been waiting for this to happen as every time that we would have to catch him to feed him, it jeopardizes his surgery site. Not good. The picture I've included today is of Copper right after his surgery. Amazing work.

Spirit, another golden eagle with us who has secondary lead poisoning, finally opened up one of her feet and stood on it. She briefly opened her right foot as well, but then it became clenched again. Poor girl hit her balled-up foot on the ground as though she was trying to make it open. She has so much fight and doesn't understand why she can't move the way she use to. Just heartbreaking.

When you have the time, go check out another blog site by another rehabilitator in New York. Suzie Gilbert is also a published author. She collects wonderful stories about her rehabilitation and others in the field. It's called The Crooked Wing.

http://suziegilbert.wordpress.com

Enjoy.................
Debbie

A cold cold day in eastern Utah.....

2011-12-04T17:43:00.005-07:00

Buuurrrr............Very cold here and windy. I've already had my fill of that!
Our three Great Horned owls are doing well. We are still searching for placement for them with a good facility somewhere in the country. I have had a facility in New York that was referred to us by a mutual friend who also has a facility there as well, call regarding one of the male owls. She is possibly interested but would not be able to build a facility for him until Spring, weather of course. We will have to see.

Copper is still not eating on his own, so we catch him once a day and force feed him. Today, we offered him food out in his mew, so tonight, we will see if he ate it.

We have a new Golden eagle that has secondary lead poisoning. She came in near death, very thin and dehydrated. She was anemic and covered in lice.
Her feet are clenched tight, which is one of the potential symptoms of lead. Her appetite, however, is voracious, something you don't normally see in lead patients. She has had one week of chelation therapy and her levels are now 'within normal range'. She still cannot stand and is very wobbly. Most of her parasites are now gone. We have named her Spirit.

We also were brought a female pheasant today, the apparent victim of a dog attack, but it appears it was the most recent attack. She has some injuries that suggest an earlier attack as well. Poor little thing. She is on pain meds and antibiotics. We will have to assess what her possibilities are in the next few days.

That's all for now...............Debbie

Busier than I'd like to be............

2011-11-25T19:42:00.008-07:00

Another new Great Horned owl, two new Golden eagles..........and there are a couple of releases in there as well.
Unfortunately the newest Great Horned owl is also non-releasable, so that's three I need to find placement for. The newest guy came from an area in San Juan county called Verger, so I'll probably call him Verger to help me keep the three straight. He's quite handsome and will soon be introduced to the other two Great Horns. Going to have to keep the remote camera's on that enclosure when that happens. He's been outside for awhile and perhaps they have been 'talking' and are familiar with each other by now, only time will tell. His x-ray shows the two broken bones which rendered him non-releasable. The most obvious one is the ulna in his left wing.

We released our Western Grebe. Connie was the one who did the actual release at an area near Huntington. There is a man made reservoir there and that's where she let our little guy go. Hopefully he is now somewhere much warmer having a good time with other Grebes.

The two new eagles are both serious cases. Of course, most are that come to us. They are not just stopping by to visit!
The first one came to us from San Juan county, specifically LaSall. He was found by the road, with what appeared to be a broken wing according to the finder of the bird. The wildlife officer that responded thought he 'didn't look too bad' (what a goof). Really? What does that mean?
Turns out the bird had been shot and is full of lead. He is also suffering from lead toxicity (go figure). He was thin and dehydrated and he has multiple broken bones. Lovely.
We started the usually protocol with fluids and pain medication. We also tube fed him for a few days, making sure we started out slowly before adding food that took more to process. We knew we had to get surgery done, but he would never survive the surgery in his current condition, so since we did have a few days that we could use to improve his overall condition, we did that and then the surgery went forward. We also started the chelation therapy to clean his body of the lead leaching into his gut. At this point he is considered clean.
We named the bird Copper and have started a Chip-In page for him to help with his expenses. As of today, he is still not eating on his own and we are having to force feed him twice a day. I've included pictures of the fixating device, now on his wing, to hold the bones in place while they heal. He will have this on for about 10 weeks, a little longer than usual, and then have to go through another surgery to remove it. I've included a couple of his x-rays to show the extent of the lead in his body.

The other eagle came to us from Emery county in a very rural part of that area. He was not found near a road, so we weren't surprised that there are no broken bones, but why was he down and in critical condition. He was extremely thin and dehydrated and had the worst parasite load I have ever seen in a patient. Literally thousands of lice of many different species covered him. Yuk! His signs and symptoms looked an awful lot like lead poisoning, whether primary or secondary I'm not sure. For precautions, I started chelation therapy on him as well, along with tube feeding and working our way to red, bloody meat. Talk about anemic, those lice did a number on him. I also added antibiotics as the lice could most certainly cause disease as well. He has power in his legs, but cannot stand on them and 'balls' his feet up under him. This is an indicator of lead, but could also be an indicator of other things as well, but I'm putting my money on the lead.
We are taking him into the vets tomorrow for x-rays and blood work. We ran a metal detector over him last night and it was beeping like crazy. Poor guy. One good thing in this whole story is he has a tremendous appetite! Both of these newest eagle are about the same age.

So right at this point, we have 4 Golden eagles. Fury, (secondary lead poisoning), Canyon, just off the nest and found near death, Copper, gunshot and primary lead poisoning and Spirit, our newest Golden, possible lead poisoning. Three of these 4 are going to be here for quite awhile, due to the problems associated with lead. We will have to constantly look at each of them for any signs of tiny improvements or problems.
These cases cannot be determined in a 'normal' time frame for rehab (whatever that is). Costs are going to be tremendous, this is why we put together the "Chip-In" button on this page for Copper. Food alone for these massive birds for many months is a scary thought.
Please help if you can and remember, all the work that we do is done through donations. All of it.

Debbie

Special Request

2011-11-13T18:02:00.004-07:00

To all of those who read my blog, first of all, thank you. I hope you enjoy the photo's and educational aspect of this blog. I am making a request that you add your name to the "followers" list as I just learned of a way of bringing in some much needed money for the animals, but it takes many people on the followers list. If you could do this, it may just be the answer to our prayers.
Thank you in advance..............

Debbie

(see all of those fish that little guy is going to eat; they didn't fall from the sky, we had to buy them; it all takes money)

Chip-In for Copper

2011-11-07T16:09:00.000-07:00

Now the rest of the story.................

2011-11-01T16:07:00.005-06:00

Regarding two postings back and the story of the eagle found hanging in a tree. Most of this post will be pictures.
Keith Cauley, a gentleman I became acquainted with from another eagle situation in his area, stumbled upon another Golden eagle in trouble. This guy is a professional wildlife photographer, so he's out and about everyday in very remote areas taking photo's.
He has found 3 or 4 now, that without him, surely would have died. This latest one was hanging upside down in a large Cottonwood tree. Once he discovered her, he notified the Division of Wildlife Resources. Thank God the officers down his way are wonderful guys, responding quickly. The only way to get her down was to shoot the branch she was attached to and hope it would break and she would fall. Casey Olsen, with the Division did just that. What a shot!
They caught her in a blanket they had ready. Then they called me and I suggested we needed to examine her as we had no idea if she had any injuries and just releasing her would be irresponsible.

Through a series of transporters, including us, we got her back to Price and she had an injury, possibly a break in her left wing and she had a bad abrasion on her right ankle, probably from trying to free herself, clear down to the bone. She was sore and had pain reactions in both legs and shoulders. We took her in and got x-rays and confirmed a break in a very tiny bone in the wrist area of that left wing. Time would tell if it would cause her to be non-releasable.
We also started working on healing the wound on her leg.
She was not happy about her stay with us, flailing herself again the walls in her enclosure. This wasn't good. We had to keep her as still as possible for that bone to heal correctly. We moved her to a larger enclosure, the opposite of what I would normally do, but she was the exception, not the rule. She did the same thing in the larger enclosure, just not as often. We had her on pain medication, but that didn't slow her down one bit!

Her leg wound was healing nicely, so after a couple of weeks, I moved her out into the eagle flight with two other Golden eagles. Man oh man, she went after the youngest eagle, Canyon.
We broke that up and make sure we were watching them on remote TV. This happened a couple of times, but Canyon held her own. I couldn't put her back in the smaller enclosure since she was limiting her chances of that wing healing well hitting the walls the way she was.
Pretty soon she was up on the perches and getting around very well. We had to take the opportunity and get her released, so at the first chance, I called Keith and asked him if he would like to release her.

We drove out to Monticello and he did just that.

He and his wife Dee were there along with two other people, friends of theirs.

Dee took the photo's while Keith did the toss. Perfect; off she flew and gained lift and higher and higher she went, then another eagle flew up to meet her; as maybe a greeting "hey, where have you been?" The flew together, circling and gaining more height. It was just beautiful. Could this have been a mate? Maybe. It couldn't have been any better. We finally lost sight of them.
The next day, Keith was back out there, taking more photographs and there she was. Easy to spot because of her band. Keith got a couple of great photo's of her back out there, doing exactly what she was meant to do !

This is why I do what I do!

Debbie

Video of the Ravens down in Kanab

2011-10-28T14:14:00.004-06:00

I'm posting a video, that Carmen sent me from the Wild Friends department at Best Friends Animal Society down in Kanab, Utah. Since we work together now and then on a variety of wildlife related issues, I had asked her to take these two as we were running out of room here and needed to move someone. Their 'rehab' is essentially done, we are just waiting for the female's (Marie) feathers to molt out and grow back as some idiot had cut them and make her a "pet".
Marie is the vocal one on the right hand side. I sure miss them.
Enjoy!

Debbie

Part of the story.............

2011-10-26T18:32:00.003-06:00

As I mentioned in the previous post, it's been a little busy. We had another Golden eagle come in from San Juan county several weeks ago. This angel was found hanging in a Cottonwood tree. Her talons had become caught somehow, and she could not free herself.
I'll post later the entire story and photo's from her being found, captured, in rehab and then release. The finder, our own Keith Cauley wrote an article about his experience and being able to then release her. The local paper ran that article and this is the link to that story.

Enjoy!

http://www.sjrnews.com/

Boy, it's getting chilly................fly birdies, fly

2011-10-24T20:01:00.003-06:00

Just going to update on a couple of patients.

First, the little female Kestrel that came in from Redmond, Utah has been released. I took her near the airport here in Price, where I just released some other Kestrels a few months ago and away she went. In spite of all she had endured at the hands of her 'rescuers', she is now free and hopefully doing well. This picture was taken just before I drove her to the airport.

We had another gunshot victim come in recently. An immature male Coopers hawk. Just horrifying. Both legs were broken, the shot having gone through both of them and breaking bones along the way. The poor little guy couldn't stand and was just dragging himself around, on the ground, by his wings. He was near death, starving and dehydrated. Normally we would NEVER do surgery on a patient in this condition. We would take some time and rehydrate them and get their weight up, increasing their chances of surviving the surgery. We didn't have that option on this guy as the injuries were already old and open, so I hydrated him for a day and gave him one tube feeding and said a prayer. We took x-rays and they showed the shot still in the bird. He went into surgery, planning on doing one leg, then bringing him out of anesthesia and then doing the other leg the next morning. He died as soon as the first surgery was over. We did everything we could. He had only lived a few months and suffered terribly at the end. I hate days like that. I have to remind myself of those that make it and are now free again to be wild.

So now that is two, actually three open cases we have for victims of gunshot. A Turkey vulture from LaSall, Utah, a Golden eagle from Monticello, Utah and this Coopers hawk from Price.

Debbie.....

Enjoy!

2011-10-04T17:15:00.002-06:00

Wow, been busy with transfers and more....

2011-10-03T13:40:00.007-06:00

I'm not really sure where to start so I'll just sort of jump in here. Our little Kestrel out of Redmond Utah is still kill testing. She's not as aggressive as her male companion was. If you'll recall, he was a non-releasable bird that we were keeping with the female for companionship. He has now been transferred to the Cosley Zoo in Wheaton, Il, where he will be an education ambassador for their education program. I hope he does well. He will also have a female companion there.
His non-releasability was due to an injury and his finders, thinking they knew what was best for him, decided to 'raise' him, not getting him to a rehabilitator so that we could assess what was wrong and get him the help he needed to recover in the time frame he needed. Instead, his broken bones healed incorrectly and made it impossible for him to return to the wild and be a free bird. Sad......

Our Peregrine falcon that was also non-releasable went to Georgia. He will be involved in propagation. His new sweetie, Bonnie, was waiting for him to join her. I've attached a picture of them together sent by John, his new human. Our male is on the left. I hope they make many babies in the future; all of which will be set free to boost the population of wild Anatum Peregrine falcons.

We also were able to get Teasdale, our non-releasable Great Horned owl, to his new home in Cody, Wyoming, where he too, will be an education ambassador. I guess he has won the hearts of many there already, who have been able to see him in all his glory. I'm so happy this placement finally happened. Thanks to Melissa who, on her end, worked to make this happen as well. We have been following his progress on his blog through the museum where he is now residing. Sweet!

On a sad note, we received another Golden eagle from the Monticello airport area. This one had been shot, not with a shotgun, but a gun that shoots bullets. It almost severed this birds left leg, leaving this bird to suffer. Bone was exposed, tissue was missing as well as bone. This bird became weak and thin, coming to us probably on his last day. There was nothing for us to fix, literally. The bullet hit his joint and most of it was gone. We decided, the best thing for HIM, was to end this suffering as a one-legged raptor could never live in the wild and in captivity, is impossible as well. It's all about the quality of life for them, not for us. Disgusting. I'd like to find his perpetrators and meet them in a dark ally, just me and them. It's sickening that this sort of thing still happens, frequently. I start seeing these sort of cases just before hunting season starts, in the Fall. So called hunters, (these aren't hunters at all) out there shooting at anything that moves. Idiots!
I'm posting some stark photo's of the reality of what we do and what we see all too frequently. Deal with it!

Last, for now, we have two Ravens from different situations. One came in from Moab with an injury to a wing, which may or may not make him releasable. The other Raven was supposedly found by some people in Utah county and was 'very friendly'. Well, this very friendly Raven had a homemade band around his ankle, indicating someone had caught him at some point in his life and made him a pet. Wrong and illegal. He somehow got away and went to another house, even though his feathers on his wings had been clipped. He started to hang out with these other people, who now, did not want to turn him over but also wanted to keep him. Had to get law enforcement involved. Idiots! I put the two together, hoping to 'wild up' the confiscated Raven. I believe it is working and with time, hopefully they both can be released, together. I needed more room, so here just a few days ago, I transferred the two to another rehabilitator with some room for them. As soon as the one Raven's feathers have grown out then that bird can be released if he is no longer 'friendly'. Hopefully the Moab Raven will be able to regain strength and movement in his one wing and can be released at the same time.

Debbie..................

Try to keep up...............

2011-08-29T20:01:00.008-06:00

So much has been going on so I'll try to catch up on some of the key stories.
They won't necessarily be in chronological order, but oh well.
We still are receiving young nestlings of many kinds. Western Tanagers, English Sparrows, House finches and so on. I've included a picture of a young Western Kingbird that we raised and released. What a little cutie.
We also got in a nestling Red-Tail hawk that was blown out of his nest just a few weeks prior to when he should have flown away. There were some terrible storms in the area he came from and this is when he was found on the ground. It worked out well since we had just taken two young Red-Tail hawks for Best Friends Animal Society. They needed to learn how to kill and so did our little Red-Tail. He was just a little younger than the other two, which were siblings, but they learned together. The two sibling Red-Tail hawks were released together near Price. We had two locals, Dave and Shauna O'Brien release them.

While all of this was going on, the Ferruginous hawks were growing fast and they needed to learn to kill at the same time the Red-Tails were learning, so they all went into the large flight together. The Red-Tails were the quickest to learn and then the Ferruginous. Once the Red-Tails were all released, including our little one found after the storm, then the Ferruginous were the only ones in the flight, so we gave them a couple of weeks longer to master that skill and then they too were released, almost at the same spot where the two Red-Tails had been released. We asked Jim and Kathy Fowers to do the honors. Jim has been instrumental in a number of cases, having picked them up in areas we are very far from. He has also dropped off many patients to me, meeting me in the canyon that runs between Utah county and Carbon county. He too is very committed to getting these creatures what they need at any time, day or night. A true kindred soul. I'll post those release pictures later.

Sadly, there have been some deaths, as it is with this kind of work. I got a call one night that an owl had been hit by the local college. I drove up there and the lady that saw him in the road was still there, making sure he got the help he needed. It was a Great Horned owl with substantial trauma. The next day we took him to our vets and had x-rays, which showed injuries that could not be repaired. So sad as this was just a fledgling owl and had to be euthanized. A sad, sad day.

Teasdale, our Great Horned owl that came in from central Utah on New Years day, was finally placed in an educational facility in Cody, Wyoming. He was non-releasable due to trauma in one of his wings, which made perfect flight impossible. We determined he was a good candidate for education so once a place was found and approved, the transfer was made. I'm glad this opportunity opened up for him and now, he can settle into his new life. I hope he will be happy during his new life as that is our only priority, the animal.

Finally, we got in a new Golden Eagle. This one was hatched this year in Seviere county and was found in a coal mine in the area. They notified the wildlife department and they, in turn, caught her and we picked her up. With no injuries, she was in horrible condition. Very dehydrated and thin, causing her weakness which allowed her to be picked up without a fight. Not good.
Sufco Mine out of Salina, Utah stepped up to the plate immediately and asked if they could help with the cost of her care. Wow, that never happens! She needed several weeks of slowly hydrating and feeding various foods, starting out with simple formulas and then working her way to and eagles normal food. She is now getting stronger and learning to get up onto high perches and flying. Her next step is learning to kill. She is housed with Fury, our other Golden Eagle. I think this is good for the both of them. Fury is still unable to get up onto high perches, suggesting there is a balance issue still going on, probably the result of the lead poisoning.
Well, that's good for now. Remember to click on the pictures to see them at their best.

Debbie

A few updates............

2011-08-07T22:26:00.005-06:00

The chipmunks are finally released. All three went at the same time and my grandson helped. I released them in an area called Swede's Pond. I hope they do well.

Two of our orphaned Kestrels are now kill testing. They will need several days of successful killing and then will be banded and released. One of the orphans is not releasable. I have two groups interested in him for educational purposes so I believe this will be a good option for him.

We had another young male Kestrel come in that wasn't so fortunate. He was terribly thin and dehydrated. I figure, by the weight and what it SHOULD be, he hadn't had any food for at least a week. We immediately went to work, tubing a formula for critical carnivores, but he was too far gone and died after several hours. What a short little life, I hope we made his final hours more comfortable.

Our milk fed Kestrel is doing well. Her tail is finally growing back and she is eating well, in spite of all that her finders did to her.

We have a young hummingbird we have been caring for, now for about 5 weeks. Another stupid human story. The people were feeding her the hummingbird food you buy at the store, exclusively. So now, we have another angel that is malnourished during a critical time in their young lives for an extensive amount of time. She isn't doing well, but I keep hoping. She is being fed every half hour throughout the day and until my bedtime.

And last, we have a new Raven with us that had been being kept as a pet, which is illegal, so he really doesn't know he's a Raven. He is hanging out with another Raven that came in from Moab with an injured wing. So far, so good.

That's going to be it for now. Enjoy the pictures.
Debbie

Another different type of post...........

2011-07-27T14:57:00.006-06:00

Well, if you've ever read the title page of this blog, you'll notice that it says I also discuss wildlife issues, particularly pertaining to Utah. Today, this is what I want to do. I have tried to educate those reading this blog that wildlife rehabilitators are NOT employees of their states wildlife agency or the USFW. We work with these groups and have to have permits issued by these agencies, but they do not employ us or financially support us in any way. In fact, in Utah, the state wildlife agency, the Division of Wildlife Resources (DWR) is a 'thorn in our sides' and most of it's personnel have let us know they do not value our work, having come right out and said that to many of us personally and through their actions, or should I say lack thereof. The following is an example of just that.

A few weeks ago, I got a call from our wildlife people telling me that down at Lake Powell, in southern Utah, the reservoir was rising so fast that two nests with Great Blue Heron chicks were about to go underwater. They were going out on a boat to get the nestlings and wanted to know if I would take them. Of course, I told them yes. They brought me 5 nestlings the next day, late in the day. There had been 6, but for some reason, one had died. The heat down that way was terrible, way over the 100's so maybe that contributed to the death; I didn't see the body, so I'm just guessing.
By the time I got them, they were dehydrated so we started fluids and started giving them cut up fish, pushed into their mouths and down their throats. I kept them in a small 'holding' mew, sort of resembling a nest, with some privacy. This also would provide them with some sort of security, lowering their anxiety. We continued to feed them twice daily, pulling them one by one to ensure each got their fare share. After a couple of days, then we started giving them time outside to roam and look around with a netted ceiling so they couldn't get out accidentally.
When it was time, they moved into a larger enclosure with perches resembling the trees which their nest would have been built in. We tried to make it look as natural as possible. They loved it and by this time, they needed to 'branch' and move around, but still have the security of the nest to return to. They also were eating on their own by this time. All we had to do is provide several different bowls of fish for them and a good water source to wade. It was perfect.
We made the enclosure extra private and put up a type of burlap that was made to look like camouflage to give them more privacy through the open areas.
Now, keep in mind, we are feeding 5 very large birds, growing bigger every day. At this point, I have been sending my husband and grandson down to a local pond to fish everyday to feed these guys. I have also bought various types of seafood at the grocery store for them and large pieces of salmon. I need a steady supply of whole trout for these guys quick. I checked with the local DWR office and they could only give me about 3 pounds of chub one time. Well, that wasn't going to help and we couldn't catch enough fish daily to provide for them, so I checked with another rehabilitator in northern Utah. She rehabs a lot of water birds as she is near the Great Salt Lake. She told me I could buy fish from her and she would order enough for me. This was great, but there was only 1 problem. She is about 150 miles from me and although she could order me as much as I needed, I had no where to store many boxes of fish, so I could only take 3-4 #20 boxes at a time. That would mean running back and forth every few days 300 miles round trip. That wasn't going to work either, especially since it's baby season and I need to be here feeding around the clock. We worked it out a couple of times to do this, with volunteers shuttling things to me, but I had to come up with something else fast. Then I spoke with the new curator for Tracey Aviary in Salt Lake and he helped us out a couple of times as well, but that still meant going up to Salt Lake, or having one of my SL volunteers driving up to me, again, not really workable for the amount of time this rehab was going to take. I called the fish wholesaler who supplies both Tracy Aviary and the other rehabilitator up north and he was willing to sell me fish as well, but would not send it as far south as I am in Utah. I would still have to drive up to SL, solving nothing.
My volunteer Connie made a suggestion that at our local little pond might be a place to get more fish from people fishing but who didn't want to keep their fish. She suggested making a poster and putting it down there with our information, telling people what we needed the fish for and how to get in touch with us. This may help us for a little while, so I told her to make the poster and I would call DWR, letting them know what we were going to try to help with the fish problem.

So I call over to DWR. The first person I speak with, I know quite well. He tells me after awhile, he doesn't think I can do this. When I ask him why, he says he believe the 'rules' in the proclamation say that these fish cannot be donated by the people that catch them, but them must be consumed by the catcher. You've got to be kidding? So everyone out there reading this, tell all your fishing friends, according to DWR, once you catch your fish, you cannot do what you want with them.
He suggested I talked with some of the fisheries people, to which I told him, this was a law enforcement issue and I was 100% sure would vary to who you spoke with from day to day as with all DWR issues I have had to get answers for during the last 17 years. They can't agree from office to office.....sad.
So I call a law enforcement officer I know and he tells me, well, you know it's about who you ask. Yes, I do know this.
But he said as far as he was concerned, I should be able to take fish from anyone obtaining them legally to feed our states wildlife. But, he suggested I call the head law enforcement person in our region and check with him. Ok, so I did.
This guy tells me right up NO. He says" these fish are to be consumed by the catchers". But wait a minute, once they catch them, it's their right to use them how they wish. Again, he tells me I am wrong. So I cannot put a sign down at the fishing pond and I cannot ask these people to donate any fish for the Great Blue Herons. Now, these birds, had they not been orphaned, would be flying to lakes, catching these fish on their own, but I can't catch them myself or ask any people that fish but don't keep their fish, to feed these guys. You figure out how that makes any sense.
He said," well, these are Utah's fish", to which I responded," so are the birds and the fish is what they eat in the wild". Still, the answer is no. I can't believe this. The state, who doesn't help us in any way with rehab, won't even allow fish, legally caught, to be donated to feed it's own wildlife in rehab. IDIOTS!

Now, up north, not only have they allowed this, they actually collected the fish at one of their booths checking on fishing licenses and fish caught, turning everything over to another rehabilitator, which is the way it should be, but not in our region!
Then the guy tells me, well, maybe you shouldn't have taken them if you couldn't feed them. OMG, I just about lost it. I have no problem feeding them, I never said that. The problem is these idiots won't let me have access to the fish I need to feed them. The very agency everyone THINKS is suppose to take care of wildlife, refuses to allow me, the rehabilitator to obtain fish, through fishermen and women with valid licenses.
Then this same guy tells me, well you know Deb, you may have to euthanize them." OK, now I do loose it! "Like Hell", I tell him. That will NEVER happen! This will just continue to be a difficult situation, with no support from DWR, as usual, just to make this a little easier.

So folks, now you see what things are like in Utah as far as DWR and wildlife rehabilitation. It's a joke. Since then, I have been told, by someone I need to protect their identity, with the division, that the proclamation says no such thing about what needs to be done with the fish one catches. Surprise, surprise. There are a few good people with wildlife resources, but I tell you, I can count them on two hands and still have fingers left over.
These policies can be changed and the public HAS managed to have things changed throughout the years through public outcry and public meetings (RAC) in Utah. People need to educate themselves and then act. But the public is ignorant when it comes to wildlife and how injured wildlife gets the help they need or orphaned wildlife get the help they need as well. The public thinks the wildlife department takes care of this and although I have tried myself to educate people everywhere, as do all wildlife rehabilitators across the country, for it's this way in every state, people let it go in one ear and out the other. I just don't understand why.
You can help change things! Yes YOU.

Ok, so there you go and now you know. I've included some pictures so enjoy them and remember if you click on the picture you will get the bigger view.

Debbie

A day in the life of wildlife rehabilitation..............

2011-07-17T18:49:00.004-06:00

Yesterday was another crazy day. I planned on going into Utah county with my husband. I had some transfers that needed to be done, so I thought I may be able to slip everything into the day. The night before, a DWR biologist down in the four-corners area of Utah called me about an injured owl he had. So I went to bed and spent most of the night trying to figure out how I was going to get this owl from him tomorrow, while I was going to be in another part of the state. Connie had just got back from that area, sort of, (it's a pretty big area, Grand and San Juan counties) to pick up a Raven, so I wasn't about to ask her to do that again, plus, I needed her here to feed the numerous babies we have......how frustrating.

In the morning, yesterday, the DWR biologist called me to tell me the owl died during the night. That obviously changed things back to the original plan, sadly enough.

So, after taking care of the house and the wildlife in the morning, I loaded up the hummingbird baby in our care and her food. I also loaded the Pigeon that one of my volunteers brought me from Salt Lake that she found need her work and it wouldn't fly. Now, it flies well and although when it first came in, was horribly thin, now it's weight is good so back to Salt Lake she goes. We also loaded up our Magpie and Robin to transfer to DaLyn in Ogden. The Magpie is an orphan and although he's grown and doing well, he needs to go hang out with other Magpies to help him learn what he needs to learn. I only had him, but DaLyn has several in his situation, so that was perfect. The Robin, turned out to be non-releasable due to a shoulder injury, so she too went to DaLyn to become a foster parent for next years orphans.
We load up the van and head to Provo to meet one of my volunteers. We wait and wait at the coffee shop we agreed to meet. No volunteer, so we went and had lunch. She calls me just as we're finishing up, saying she was parked outside. We sat and visited for a bit and then headed out for the transfer.
I turned over the pigeon and she was going to release it the next day (today). I fed our little hummingbird while out there. I also handed over the Magpie and the robin and off she went, headed to Northern Utah.
Now, in turn, I took 3 Kestrel chicks so ours would have some to hang out with. This is so important as those idiots that fed her bread and milk, also socialized her to them. She needed to be with other Kestrels and that was the plan, so now, we needed to wait for the volunteer to get to Ogden and also pick up those Kestrels before heading back to Price. I also got a call from some people in Utah county that had another Kestrel they said was a baby and couldn't fly. So while waiting, I called them and they brought me the bird. Wasn't a baby at all, but an adult male and very thin. Finally, I get a call from the volunteer and 3 hours later, she just got to Ogden. I can't believe it. I can't wait around for another 3 hours!
I called another volunteer in Utah county and he agreed to meet her, the first volunteer in Utah county after she had the Kestrels and meet me in Spanish Fork canyon, the canyon that separates Utah county and Carbon county, where Price is. The canyon alone is about 60 miles.

So we head home, with the one Kestrel and hummer. I get back, start taking care of the night time wildlife responsibilities with Connie and then get the call that my volunteer Jim, now has the Kestrels, so I finish up and put everyone to bed and then got a friend to drive with me into the canyon to meet Jim. I have night blindness, so any night wildlife business has to have a second person involved. We got home about midnight. Then we had to start separating the new birds as the two little female Kestrels were trying to kill the little male. Not really uncommon but I didn't suspect that so quickly.

So now, we have 4 more new Kestrels and Connie got in another Robin while I was gone.
We sure put on the miles doing what we do with just 2-3 people helping with driving once in a while. I remember the good ol' days when I only worked 8 hours a day. What a woos.......

This is a bit different type of posting I normally do, but I just want to remind people of the hard work we do helping wildlife, unpaid, all volunteer and we respond 24/7, no days off, something a lot of people take for granted.

Debbie

Well let's try this again..........................

2011-07-07T14:53:00.005-06:00

This will be the third time I've done this post, so let's hope this one will work and won't disappear when I hit "publish".

There has been a lot going on...............

Maybe I'll do a couple of small posts as to not make this too daunting.

First an update on the Ferruginous hawk nestlings. They are exercising their wings and moving around just like 'big hawks'. I'll post a few pictures of the changes as they have grown.

The oldest is a male and the other a female. Their nest and part of the tree it was on collapsed during a severe wind/rain storm. One adult was found dead several yards from the nest and the other has not been seen. This is very suspicious.

The babies will soon be out in our flight, practicing the flying and learning to kill.
I''m proud of the work we've done. They want NOTHING to do with us and have all their wildness to them.

Moving on, we released our little Screech owl that came to us from Moab. Cute little guy. He did well and kill tested well, so we released him in an area near here. We never did come up with what had happened to him. He seemed a little 'off' for a day or two, but nothing major and no real signs of a concussion. Sometimes we just don't know the story since they aren't talking and usually there are no humans around in these remote areas our patients generally come from, so no witnesses either. I guess this one will remain a mystery.

We are also caring for a litter of three Least Chipmunks. Cute little guys. Feedings every couple of hours. They are just opening their eyes now and their ears are opening as well. I just love the little mammals. SMOOCH! Of course, they are named Simon, Theodore and Alvin. (What did you expect)?! And YOU try to get clear pictures of little Chipmunks.....yeh right!

And finally, Jupiter, our Red-Tail hawk was released. He was found in Sevier county on the
ground and again, no real reason for being down.

We gave him supportive care and once he was a little stronger, started kill testing him and when that went well, sent him on his way in Spanish Fork Canyon. A friend released him. That is Chase holding Jupiter in the picture.

Well, that's all I've got time for right now. I'll try to do another short post here in a few days.

Debbie

What's up in San Juan county?

2011-06-03T21:26:00.006-06:00

Here we go again....two more birds in from San Juan county, Monticello again. These two are orphaned due to the death of a parent and then the nest went down with part of a tree during a wind storm. We don't know why the parent hawk is dead. Hopefully we can determine the cause. These are Ferruginous hawk chicks. I've attached pictures. They are a level 2 on Utah's Sensitive Species list.

The chicks are in pretty good shape and about 20 days old. What cuties! There will be a lot of time involved with these little guys and the food, well, that's going to be a big expense for the next several weeks. I'll be posting photo's as they grow so keep checking in.

Fury, our Golden eagle that survived secondary lead poisoning, is now out in our large flight. She is having some minor issues with balance, due to the lead poisoning. Hopefully this will resolve in time. We had to move Hershel, our Turkey Vulture, out of the flight so Fury could go in. He lost some critical feathers on the wing where his surgery took place. These are already growing back, but more time is needed before he can fly, so out of the flight he went. Fury needs to work on getting stronger so the large area is critical for her right now. Don't worry, Hershel isn't confined in a horribly small enclosure; he went from the flight, which is like the luxury suit at a hotel, to the economy room.

We also took in a young Western Scrub Jay that left the nest just a bit early. He's about ready to be released. All of our Starling babies are now released. They are literally spread over several counties. Spreading the DNA around!

Jupiter, our young Red-Tail hawk from San Pete county, is doing a great deal better. Still, not 100% sure why he went down, but I still suspect electrocution. He is eating well on his own and today, mice were added to his diet, again and this time he ate them. Go Jupiter! He's becoming stronger and more aggressive. Remember his feathers were in bad shape so some of them have broken off. Hopefully that is over.

We also have a mystery nestling in our care. He's growing like a weed. Having come in at 6 grams, he is now over 20 grams. Eyes are still closed and only a little down. I'm truely amazed that he survived and is thriving.

It will be wonderful to see what he is but that is still several days (10-15) away. He was found on a sidewalk in Price.

Last, but not least, we have 2 little Robin orphans. Not related, they came from different areas. They're both about the same age so they enjoy each other very much. Cute, cute, cute!

Thanks for checking in........

Debbie

Ugh! Where to begin......

2011-05-24T22:24:00.004-06:00

Well I finally have my laptop back. Looks like some of my files are gone forever. Lovely!

It's been a melancholy few days. I stepped out my front door yesterday morning to find a cat had been hit and killed right in front of my house that I had been feeding. There is a cat hoarder two doors down and many of her angels come here looking for food. He was my next neuter project.

The night before, I received a call about another Golden eagle from Monticello. This one had been hit by a vehicle. We met our Moab DWR office, TJ Robertson in Green River, Utah to pick up the bird. I made arrangements for our vet to x-ray the eagle the next morning, so off we went. We also took Fury, the lead poisoning eagle with us for another x-ray.

At this point, she has just finished up two rounds of chelation therapy for the lead remaining in her body. We have had many problems along the way, including her crop stopping as well as the rest of her gastrointestinal tract. We just kept plugging along and we have seen progress, ever so gradually. Yesterdays x-ray showed no more lead! Yay!

There still may be residual lead in her brain or other tissues, so we are not out of the woods yet, but the pieces in her body are now gone. This is HUGE! She has also started eating on her own. Another major hurdle.

The newer eagle, a male was in horrific shape. There was so much trauma that I couldn't do a complete exam. He needed to be put under so as to not feel the pain that a complete exam would have caused him. Once under, the complete picture of the damage was apparent. This magnificent creature had broken bones and a great deal of tissue missing surrounding the broken bones, which would make repair impossible. Nerves, tendons and muscle; all gone.

With a great deal of saddness, we ended his suffering. These times are very emotional, taking even more from us, but no where near was he has lost. It's still difficult thinking about it.

I've included his intake pictures and a couple of shots of the broken bones and pieces from that break. Not only had he been hit, but it was very apparent that he was dragged for some distance. The good samaritan that found Fury out in the alphalfa field in Monticello also found this guy. Thank goodness for Keith and his wife Dee.

We also have released all but one of our orphaned Starling babies. Connie released two today.

Another new patient, a male Red-Tail hawk, is sure puzzling. He came in, found in a field on the ground. His feathers are in bad shape but he has no injuries. His feet have some markings on them that lead me to believe he may have been electrocuted. We're giving him supportive care and force feeding him. He was well fleshed when he came in, indicating he had not been down for long. Mystery.

This work has many rewards and then there are those days when it's very sad and difficult.

They kind of equal themselves out over time.

Debbie

Sad and trying time................

2011-05-18T20:31:00.004-06:00

You know, it's so frustrating when you see needless suffering day in and day out. We now have another lead poisoning patient, this time it's an adult female Golden eagle. What a magnificent creature she is. She is an older bird, of course I don't know her exact age, but there are tale-tale indicators that she is older. She's lived through countless situations only to be close to death due to some idiots shooting innocent prairie dogs because they enjoy killing them and then they leave their little bodies lying on the ground, loaded with lead. Numerous predators see this as an easy meal, which it is, but it is also certain death.
I'm so sick of this lead problem. We as a society have known about the problems with lead ingestion for many years. The government forced it's removal from paint in the 60's and yes, there was a fight from the paint industries saying "the paint won't stick to walls without the lead"; well we know that's a load of crap, don't we.
The sports groups along with the NRA, through misinformation and fear are trying to convince (and doing a fine job at it) the regular hunter that the lead issue in hunting, shooting or whatever they want to do, is really about ending the 'rights' to use these weapons. Hogwash. This is no more about stopping hunting than the removal of lead in paint was about ending the rights of painters! We have proof from many studies all over the world that this is a problem and regardless, we all know lead is a problem, when ingested by kids, why wouldn't it be the same in animals as well. IT IS!
I'm also sick of the comments that the copper ammunition is 'too expensive'. Give me a break! It's mere pennies and money isn't the issue here when you're spending thousands of dollars on weapons, equipment and the latest and greatest gadgets for the 'hunt'. Or better yet, that new truck to get you into more remote areas where the animals hide.
To watch an animal die from lead poisoning is absolutely heartbreaking. There is only so much that can be done for these victims and if they are found many days after the ingestion, it's probably too late, but we have to try. The treatment is also very hard on their bodies which are already under assault due to the lead.
Stop using lead ammunition! I just want to scream!

I have no pictures to upload at this time since I'm having to use my husbands computer since mine is at the shop and that is where all my wildlife photo's are.
There are other things, patient wise, going on right now, but this is our main focus.
The Starling babies are all doing well and growing up fast. We have been able to release 4 of them at this point. There are 5 remaining.

Well that's it for now.
Debbie

Good bye Crash........

2011-04-26T22:12:00.004-06:00

Well it's been a little busy and what HAS been going on has required a lot of traveling. I hope the van continues to hold out.

Shortly after the Eared Grebe situation, a Common Loon was also grounded. We took her out to Desert Lake as well. Diane, a volunteer we have mentioned in the past,
went with me and released her.

She was the only Loon out there at that time.
Diane and I stayed and watched the birds for awhile.
Something I forget to do much anymore; sit and enjoy the birds!

We also had a Red Tail Hawk come in from Moab.
This poor little guy had ate something large in one gulp and it became stuck in his crop.
As a result of it not moving out of there, it became rotten and he became septic and very thin.
We fixed him right up and got that critter to move out of his crop and then gradually began to feed him cleaned red meat, with no bones or fur to make it easier to digest.
He finally started to get stronger and along with some antibiotics and subcutaneous fluids every day, started to put on weight. After several days, we moved him into the flight and got him strong again and he was released yesterday. I don't have pictures since Tony Wright, a Wildlife biologist that bands our birds, did the honors as he was headed that way. I hope the Red-Tail remembers to take little bites in the future!

We also released Crash, our Bald Eagle. What a spectacular event.
The last post was of the television coverage of the event.

There is a video attached to that link.

Crash flew like a champ!
The weather was perfect.

I don't know if he'll hang around Utah or chose to move north. Either way, I hope he does well and I'm sure he will as he is already a teenager and knows how to hunt and what he's suppose to do with himself.
I hope he avoids
roads in the future.

I think we have placement for the two non-releasable owls, Teasdale and Aretha. If all goes as planned, Aretha will be heading to North Carolina to live as a foster mom for orphaned babies.
Teasdale will be going to an education facility in Wyoming. Let's keep our fingers crossed.
We still need to have Willow's eye removed. I am going to have her looked at by our vet's in Salt Lake that take care of our eye problems and confirm that she still needs it removed and then work on getting that taken care of.

Well, there are more stories of new patients, but they will have to wait for another post. Sorry,
time for sleep!

Debbie........
Remember to go to our Face Book page at Second Chance Wildlife Rehabilitation!

Injured ranger and eagle share second chance at life - ksl.com

2011-04-23T10:53:00.000-06:00

Injured ranger and eagle share second chance at life - ksl.com

Eared Grebe release....

2011-04-14T11:13:00.004-06:00

Just a quick post with the pictures of the little Eared Grebes' release. I took him out to Desert Lake, just south of Price. It was wonderful; many, many ducks were there and lots of other water birds, including the Tundra swans. What a great way to spend a couple of hours.

Remember, click on the pictures to take a better look.
Debbie.....

A cold windy update.....

2011-04-08T18:26:00.004-06:00

Well, so far all the comments regarding the new look of the blog are positive. I'm not that computer savvy, so I think I did well, considering.

Crash is doing well. We moved him out into the large flight and he's getting around wonderfully. At this point, it looks like release is eminent and I hope to get him banded this coming Monday. I will be taking him back to San Juan county for the release, near a body of water called Recapture Reservoir. There is still plenty of time to head North should that be his desire, but if he chooses to stay in Utah, that would be a great area for him. This photo is him ignoring us in the flight. He does this frequently.

We also had an adult Golden come in from Grand county along I-70 that went through the windshield of a Walmart semi. Rendered the semi undrivable, but sadly, those injuries killed the eagle, not immediately, but within a few hours after being picked up near Moab. He was an adult and I'm sure has a mate wondering what happened to him. There is always a bigger picture in these situations; it's very heartbreaking.

The owls are all still doing well. Still trying to find placement for 2 of them that cannot go back into the wild, due to their injuries. It will take some time as Great Horned owls are numerous in the wild and in educational programs. I'm keeping my fingers crossed!

We also now have an adult male Turkey Vulture in rehab. He came in after being found on the ground in Huntington, Utah. He had 2 horrible fractures, compounded in his humerus. I took some photo's of the x-ray, so I'll include those in this update. We were able to repair those since the fractures were spaced just enough that they didn't involve the nearby joints. His pins and apparatus should be removed here in about 6 weeks.
Poor little guy; migrates back home only to make it here and then be injured. He's been far south for the winter, probably in Central America if not further south. I've named him Hershel. He's a sweetie!

Connie also picked up an adult Eared Grebe, also near Huntington that became downed during a storm there a few days ago. Grebes are completely helpless on the ground. They need water to take off and land. Sometimes, during storms or nights (that's when they fly) when there is a full moon or close to it, wet road look like bodies of water and they land, thinking they're landing on water. When they hit the ground, they're grounded. They occasionally can become injured during these landings as well. Thank goodness, this little one was not.
We released him the next day on a lake near here where the ice has cleared.

Well, that's everything for now.
Keep us in mind as Spring is here and baby season will start any day and all donations are greatly appreciated and needed. We've made it easy by clicking on the donating button on our home page. It takes you right to Paypal, HOW EASY! Share your tax return with the wildlife we all love!
Any amount helps, $5, 10, 20 or whatever you can afford, it all goes to a wonderful cause.

Debbie.........

Are you watching the skies?

2011-03-23T19:51:00.003-06:00

I love Spring. All living things are moving to the planets new season, waking and changing are everywhere.

Well our little Merlin is now in New York with Dr. John Parks at Cornell University. He will be a part of their raptor propagation program, raising future generations of Merlin's to be released back into the wild. We're sad that we could not return him to the life he previously had due to his injuries, but we're hoping this new life will suit him, as he is a young bird and should adjust just fine.

Our possible placement of one of our non-releasable Great Horned owls has fallen through. Very sad as these Great Horn's are difficult to place in permanent facilities as their are so many needing placement. We have 2 that are in this situation, so we have long term patients here that truly don't need our help any longer, they just need a home that suits their needs. Frustrating!

We finally got to release our little female Sharp-shinned hawk. She was ready and so were we! Connie took her down to her place and let her go. She said she took off like a bullet, just the way she should have. I hope she does well and learns from her accident.

Spring migration is going on, so clean out your bird baths and feeders and go for a drive! Places near bodies of water are always a good place to start. I ALWAYS have at least one pair of binoculars in my van at all times and 1 good field guide. Yes, I still use a field guide. They are invaluable, no matter how long you've been watching birds. I think the Audubon field guides are my favorite.

I hope everyone likes the new changes to the blogs' appearance. The next thing coming is a Fundraising/Auction page. We hope to have donations of items related to wildlife of various types, then to auction these off every few weeks. Please be watching for this new page and we will also Tweet about it and notify everyone on our Facebook page as soon as it's up and going.
On Facebook go to Second Chance Wildlife Rehabilitation for more info.

Debbie..............

We are now on Facebook!

2011-03-08T16:52:00.002-07:00

Hey everyone,

We are now also on Facebook. Just look for us under our name, Second Chance Wildlife Rehabilitation..........
and also check out the link I just posted. What a wonderful story.

http://www.usgs.gov/newsroom/article.asp?ID=2722

This is an amazing story.....Enjoy!

Debbie

Will it ever warm up?

2011-02-13T19:47:00.004-07:00

I know that most of the country is freezing right now, but this is ridiculous. When you have animals to care for, meaning water needs to be running, not frozen, it's very difficult to do your job. We are suppose to be getting more snow and colder weather in the next few days, just about the time I will be taking Crash in to have his pins removed in his leg...great timing.

The little Sharp-shinned hawk had her pins removed last week, so she is out in a large mew, moving around and getting up on high perches, which is wonderful. She is also outside full-time now. We will be working with that wing, making sure it has it's full capabilities and then hopefully, she can be released sometime in March maybe.

Miss Moon was released this past Monday. Pam Riddle with the BLM assisted us getting her down to Moab and then onto Bill Sloan with the Parks Department. He was heading towards the area she needed to be released so he found her a nice spot and did the honors. I hope she finds her mate and all will get back to normal. We took a picture of her before I headed out to meet Pam in Green River. What a sweetie!

We've been called out several times the last week or so for downed eagles, that weren't really down. Connie went out and checked on two of them along with another volunteer of ours, but all eagles in the vicinity flew away, so they obviously were OK. You never know so it's best to check. This time of year, eagles tend to eat at road kill, putting them in extreme danger for being hit as well. They don't move off of the road kill easily, like a Crow would, but it takes some effort and large semi-trucks going by at high speeds create a wind force that can actually pull them into the truck as it's going by. It's a scary situation.

We moved Teasdale out into a large mew now. His wing is healed as it's going to get. Here in a few more days, I may chose to put him out into the large flight with the other two Great Horned owls. I sure hope he can pass the flight test in time as his personality is that of a bird that really needs to be free and away from people. He was so bored in his enclosure that he started destroying his surroundings. This is a perch that he ripped the carpeting from. These are such intelligent birds and in captivity, although it's for their own recuperation, they resist and want desperately to leave.

Crash is still being his normal self. Still not wanting to eat on his own. We are going to try giving him some large food that he should recognize and hopefully, he will want to tear at it and then eat. His leg has healed enough that this shouldn't be a problem at this point.

Migration should be started shortly, so keep your eyes and binoculars to the skies.

Debbie

We need a new van with good gas mileage!

2011-01-31T21:44:00.007-07:00

Well Catalyst magazine did a nice little blurb about us in their January 2011 issue. The author is part of a new move to include animal stories and the groups that spend their lives trying to help these angels. They call it "Animal Angels". I was honored to have Second Chance Wildlife Rehabilitation be their first "Angels" article. Go online and check it out. The author is Carol Koleman and I appreciate her searching us out and bestowing such an honor on us.

Well our Sharp-shinned hawk broke off her fixator device, so we had to get her back into the vet to repair it as she is not ready to have it removed. She believes she is, but the bone has only been held in place for 3 weeks, not quite enough time. The x-ray showed everything looks good, positioning wise, so we still have hope for her release sometime in the next several weeks.

Our little cat caught dove did so well, we released her. I'll include photo's of feather growth in this post so you can appreciate the loss she had. The shorter feathers, up next to longer feathers are all new. She really wanted out of here, so I released her in my yard as I have quite a population of Ring-neck doves that feed here throughout the day.

Also, here are Boo Boo's release pictures I promised, from Sanpete county. What a happy day that was for us and him. I hope he finds Sienna and mates with her and they make LOT's of Great Horned owl babies for many years! The gentleman releasing him is the finder, Morris Caldwell. Very nice man.

Moon, our little Screech owl was banded today, in anticipation for release. I'm hoping to do that in the next week or two. She will be going back to where she was found in San Juan county, quite a long way away. But she potentially has a mate waiting for her, so she really needs to be released there. If anyone wants to donate a gas card.....we sure could use a couple. I asked DWR if they would help us with gas once, a couple of years ago. What a joke.

After Crashes last appointment at the vets, we changed his antibiotic. He started doing so much better and is standing again. Tonight was his last dose (10 days) of it and the pain medication. So hopefully he will start eating on his own and we won't have to handle him much. We will ALL be happy about that! I may have to 'tough love' him for a day or two regarding the food. It's hard to get an animal with an attitude to eat when they're not hungry.

Teasdale is still doing well and his wound is still healing. His finders came and visited with us this past Sunday. Giles and Julie, thank-you again for your concern and support. I was able to purchase more mice today, so I can breath a sigh of relief thanks to the both of you!

The last pictures I'm posting here are of a semi that hit a Golden eagle. Now, this happens all too often around here and elsewhere in my territory, but I never see photo's. I always ask the officers involved, "Did you take pictures?" They never do, they just tell me this horrible story, so when this call came in last week, Connie and I headed out to look for the eagle involved as she didn't stick around once she regained her senses. We had to find out if she was injured or not. When an impact like this happens, the outcome can be minor as far as injuries to of course, death. This bird, once struck, didn't go through the windshield, but shattered it and was caught up in the mirror apparatus on the driver side and RODE with the driver for about a half mile. Amazing. He was able to take a picture with his cell phone with her by his side as he didn't want to slam on the brakes and cause her to fall to the ground. Notice the drivers side of the windshield. Connie got up into the cab and took a picture from inside as well. There was glass pieces inside the cab. How frightening for all involved. We found an eagle we believe was the one hit and she was flying low, but her wings moved perfectly. We followed her and once we found her, she flew up to a power pole and I looked at her through my binoculars and she looked good. She then took off and flew very high, spiraling the whole time, watching us. We soon realized she had a dead deer there on the size of the road where we found her, so we moved it way off the road to avoid further problems. What a day! Snow to our hips, and mud mixed with coal dust all over us, our clothes, my van, everywhere! Just LOVE our work! Just a regular day in the life of a wildlife rehabilitator, well, at least some of us.

Debbie

Boo Boo is finally free..........

2011-01-22T18:54:00.006-07:00

Things are starting to pick up around here. It's still pretty cold and things are thawing out a little bit, so MUD is everywhere. The ducks are loving it, but WE don't!

One of the Great Horned owls, Boo Boo was finally released the other night. We drove back to his old 'neighborhood' and released him. He flew for quite a distance and then landed on the ground. He spent about 20 minutes looking around and then without anyone noticing, he took off. I hope he does well. On the next post I'll include those pictures.

We are still waiting to have Willow's eye surgery done; it's just a matter of raising enough money. As soon as that happens, we will take her into Salt Lake to have it done. The eye is still getting smaller, so it has to come out. Donations can be made on this site to help get that done. If everyone just donated a little we could accomplish this for her. She's eating well and has a mew all to herself.

We moved the little Merlin outside until he goes to New Mexico. I hate these transfers as they can take a ridiculous amount of time. I'm sure he will enjoy the change of scenery for awhile.

Well, Crash went back to the vets office yesterday. The surgery site was concerning me a bit and he started keeping weight OFF that leg, which of course isn't good. Part of the leg is looking very good, but the distal portion still has inflammation and now, some heat. The vet took some more x-rays and switched his antibiotics. We also put him back on his pain meds. Hopefully we will see some improvement in the next week or so. I sure would like him to start eating on his own; this force feeding is getting old, for both of us! In most cases, a patient going through what he is would already be eating on their own, but pain medications and pain itself can cause one not to want to eat.

Our little Sharp-shinned hawk is doing very well. We need a name for her, so if anyone reading this has a suggestion, by all means, email me and we will chose from the submissions. I just can't think of one that fits. Here's your chance to name one of our patients!
She is eating on her own and is full of fight!

Miss Moon, our little Screech owl was moved to a larger and taller enclosure to see if she could reach the high perches and sure enough, she's up there and loving it. I'm thinking she is going to be our next release. She came from the Moab area in Grand county, so she will need to go back there, possibly next month.

And our little dove is progressing wonderfully after the cat attack. Feathers are growing back and her tail is now about two inches long. At this rate, she can be free in a matter of three or four weeks. She was in terrible shape and I wasn't sure if she was going to survive, but she pulled through and the drugs did their job as well, preventing infection from spreading and killing her. What a sweetie!

Teasdale, the newest Great Horned owl is doing well. I'm including close ups of his injury and the wound around it.

It is healing slowly, but at least it's healing. He's not thrilled with either Connie or me.

Usually, after they 'get the routine', they enjoy a head scratch here and there. Not this guy! Maybe we should change his name to Oscar the Grouch! You ought to see the mess he makes in his enclosure. You would think he was part parrot. He chews EVERYTHING in site.

We have given him pinecones to keep his amused and busy, but no, he'd rather chew on his perch and the carpeting lining his enclosure.
ARGH!

Thanks for checking in, oh, and THANK YOU to Katheryn for another donation. You're one of OUR angels.

Remember, clicking on any of the pictures will allowing you to see them much larger and in more detail AND it's warming up so get those bird baths cleaned!
Debbie

So since this is MY blog.....

2011-01-08T16:18:00.007-07:00

You know, as a rehabber not employed by some huge medical facility (which by the way, are few and far between), I have a lot of freedoms that some do not. I have friends that rehab under the umbrella, so to say, of large conservation groups so they must hold their tongues. We speak often, and frequently vent to each other, seeing things that no other people can possibly relate to. And since it's wildlife, the other frustrating side of which are the laws, or lack there of, protecting and prosecuting. You just want to scream. Thank God we have other rehabilitators or animal welfare workers to vent to. But as I was saying, since I'm not "employed" by an entity, I can speak my mind and say things that others may not have the freedom to do openly. So today, I'm going to update everyone as usual, but also speak about a few personal things.

An issue I'm very passionate about, is the still legal use in Utah of leg-hold traps. They are horrific, mid-evil devices that are still used in some state legally. I've always vowed if I ever 'retire' from rehabilitation, I would spend most of my time at our states capital, fighting, trying to change this law. For the last month, a large 'hunting' group has rallied it's members into changing the already horrible law of checking their 'set' traps at every 48 hours, wanting to extend that to 7 days. Now, for humane reasons alone, this should never happen. This group is focusing on coyotes, blaming them for the supposed drop in our deer populations. Rubbish.
Selling too many permits, trying to raise more money for the state is the reason our deer population is in potential trouble. But you see, the numbers are cyclical, meaning they follow a pattern. Based on natural predator numbers and other factors, such as hard winters. But in Utah, their answer is to target the predators, doing their natural things. And coyotes are NOT the main predators of deer. This 'hunting' group just wants all coyotes gone, period. There is no justification for this, so they put out this crap and hope the public buys into it. It just isn't so.
I've been attending meetings, when possible, around the state in hopes the Wildlife Board in Utah isn't swayed by this group, but they are powerful in numbers and money.
The final meeting regarding this issue (for this year) was last week and we prevailed, but it was a close call. At a time when people are realizing that yes, animals feel pain and suffer, to want to extend their suffering when many states are ending the barbaric practice permanently, is insane and shows just how backward Utah is in this respect. Now we need to gear up for next years battle as I'm sure, they are as well. At least many of Utah's citizens have been made aware through these events, that this practice is still going on.

The other thing that has been an issue, stress wise during this last month or so, is lack of donations. I know things are hard for many non-profits, but when we don't have funding, lives are truly on the line. If little 'Johnny' doesn't get a bike at Christmas, he will still be alive. Yet every year, there are millions of kids "needing help". I know last year alone in Utah, there was a news story about a warehouse in North Salt Lake filled with bikes and toys that "weren't needed" as there were so many donations. God! Why can't animals get that kind of help. I know huge organizations such as the Humane Society get great support, but there are so many local groups doing the same work with nothing! Some times I get so depressed, I just want to quit, but who will help the wildlife. I've dedicated everything I have and am to them. And all we ask for is some support and it's like pulling teeth.
This last two weeks has been especially hard, so when two large boxes we dropped off by UPS, I started to cheer up a little. My friend and fellow rehabber, Carmen Smith, from Best Friends Animal Society in Kanab, Utah, sent us a "care package". She knows what I do, hell, she does the same thing. We do it without paid employees however and no paychecks.
I opened up those boxes and the tears started to come. Thank God for Carmen!
IV fluids, gauze, syringes, needles, swabs and latex gloves, just to name a few things. All very important and things we go through like crazy. These are ongoing needs. Patients come in, supplies get used. It's that simple!
This is the reality of rehab. It's very stressful and trying, even without all of the financial issues, so when those aren't good, it's almost unbearable.

Ok, so let's get started on the patients.

Our Bald eagle "Crash" has had surgery on his leg. It's amazing the complexity of these orthopedic surgeries, rivaling human surgeries similar in nature. We held off on the fracture we believe is in the pelvic area as this is so risky, that we would only want to go forward with it if the eagle is not progressing in standing, so we will hold off for now.
I'm including pictures of his leg in this post. He is still not wanting to eat on his own, so when we pull him to give him his medications, twice a day, we feed him as well. He is also plotting Connie's demise!

We also got in a female Sharp-shinned hawk with a closed fracture of both the radius and ulna in her right wing. She had surgery to repair these and hopefully, she can return to her normal life in a few weeks. Once the pins and device holding those pins is removed, then we will need to rehabilitate that wing and hopefully she will have full use of it once again. I don't have any photo's of her at this point, but I'll take some and post them next time.
The Merlin is doing wonderfully and almost ready for transfer. We are working on his paperwork anticipating a week or two before he can go! Yeah, Peggy!

We also have a dove in our care that a cat tangled with. My God, there are punctures and bruises everywhere and most of his body feathers are gone and he only has one tail feather left. He will be with us for awhile as many feathers have to grow back before he can be released. He is also currently on antibiotics for the cat attack. Without those he would certainly die. Sorry, no pictures of him yet either.

And last, another new Great Horned owl. Looks like this year is going to be a repeat of last year. This guy has a fracture to the hand portion of his right wing. The bones cannot be repaired due to the state of healing already in place. There is still a chance of release, but only time will tell. He came from the Teasdale area of Utah in Wayne county. Some wonderful people found him while out hiking. It took an extra day to get him to us as an avalanche had blocked the road between me and them, so the following day, a friend of mine who lives there in Teasdale, drove him the long way into Green River and we met her there. Thanks to all involved in that rescue; Ronni, Giles, Ben, Rick and Laurie!
The owl is now eating on his own, so we have been taking him outside for the daytime and bringing him in at night. Soon, we can let him stay outdoors full time, but still, under confined space so he doesn't disrupt those already healing broken bones any further.

Well, that's it for now,
Enjoy the photo's.
Debbie

Neither rain or snow, sleet or hail.....at least mail people get a day off

2010-12-26T15:29:00.003-07:00

So the phone rings on Christmas Eve and it's DWR with an injured eagle way down in San Juan county, so Connie and I head out to Green River to meet officer Jay Shirley. Poor bird was hit by a car, coming off a dead deer in the road. The whole windshield was shattered and the only reason the bird didn't end up in the vehicle with the people was because of the tempering of the glass. So many of these things happen on a holiday or weekend when my vet isn't in the office...it's very frustrating. I asked the officer if he had taken any pictures of the car, but he did not. I always hear about the horrible damage and they wonder how the bird survived, but I never see the aftermath, other than the bird and they don't always survive.

He has damage to his left leg and some road rash. Hopefully we can get into our vets office tomorrow, Monday. He'll need an x-ray at the very least and I suspect surgery. I have him on very strong pain medication right now.
This eagle is a three year old Bald eagle and I suspect a visitor to our state. Utah has several permanent Bald eagles, but most Balds that are here in the Winter are visiting from somewhere further North. They will return to their other home around April sometime while our resident Balds stay here. I'll let you know how tomorrows appointment turns out.
Today I started him on subcutaneous fluids as he appears dehydrated as well.

We also have a first year Merlin in our care, also a Winter visitor. This is only the second Merlin we have ever had come in to our facility. Merlin's are small falcons, similar to Kestrels, but their behavior, in my opinion, is much more like the true hawks of the Accipiter family. This little guy won't be going back into the wild however. His injuries determined that. I already have several places very interested in him, so since he is young, I believe he will adapt and do well in captivity. He is just beginning to eat by himself which makes everyone happy! When we get him out of the kennel he needs to be in right now, it's like "Everybody was kung-fu fighting!" He's rolling and twisting trying to 'get us'. All the while yelling the little falcon call, pretty impressive for a little guy!
He is on medications twice daily, requiring us to capture and hold him. I'll be glad when that's over, as I'm sure he will be as well.

Well, that's it for now. Enjoy the pictures.
Debbie

A wonderful release and some sadness.......

2010-12-20T16:15:00.006-07:00

It's cold, wet and gray here today....yuck! I think I'd like to migrate south.

Our three Great Horned owls, Willow, Boo Boo and Aretha are all doing well. I've included photo updates on Willow, who will need her eye removed and Boo Boo who is also blind in one eye, but that eye can stay in place since it is not deteriorating at this time. As soon as he kills successfully, he can go, but it's just to wet to attempt that right now. Hopefully very soon, however.

Boo Boo is the one with the cloudy looking eye. Aretha just needs time maneuvering in the flight.

We recently got in another Great Horned owl, this one from Lake Powell down in southern Utah. He had been electrocuted and was found floating in the lake. How he survived the initial electrocution is just amazing. Unfortunately, what an electrocution does to ones insides is usually fatal and he died two days later. I hope we provided him with some peace and comfort for his final hours.

A few weeks ago we picked up a Western Grebe. Amazing creatures, those Grebes. This little guy, like most of my Grebe cases, went down while migrating.
They migrate at night and cannot stand and walk on land, they need water, so if they see a wet road or parking lot at night, with the moons light or street lights, this can appear to be a body of water and they come down and BANG...hard pavement. Then they are stuck. Sometimes they can become injured hitting the ground, but usually they need and exam and a day or two just to monitor their behavior and then put back onto a large body of water.
They need around a hundred feet of water to take off, running along until take off. It's wonderful to watch. We released this little guy out on Utah Lake, just in the nick of time. The lake was freezing over quickly. I took him there because others of his kind had been spotted the day before by a local birder, so that was the best choice for him. Here Connie is putting him in the water at a boat ramp.

When I get calls for these types of birds, the finders always say the bird has a broken leg (since they can't move on the ground). They are built to dive and float for the most part!

The last post I had mentioned a new Red-Tail hawk coming in. She had a compound fracture in her left wing that was two weeks old, yes, two weeks....idiot people. When she finally arrived, I made plans right away for surgery. Just as I knew would be, the bones had already started to fuse together. My vet was able to re-break them and spread them back into their correct position, in spite of all the calcification already building up around the broken areas. This took more time than a normal surgery of this type that didn't have all of the "healing" already taking place. This was just too much for the bird and she died after the surgery. She never came out of her anesthesia. The people who found her didn't do right by her. They fed her, but this could have been prevented. This is why there are laws prohibiting what they did. She needed to get medical help immediately, not two weeks later!

I need to take a moment to yell...............idiots!

Last, but not least,
Keep your bird feeders full and remember, during the cold months, water is just as important as the rest of the year, so provide a clean, shallow source of water for your backyard birds. They'll appreciate it!

Debbie

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

2010-12-10T17:47:00.005-07:00

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

Owls, Owls, Owls.....

2010-11-26T16:46:00.006-07:00

It's bitter cold here. I hope all migrating things are where they need to be. I'd like to be somewhere warmer as well, but I don't migrate well, so here I am!

I mentioned a new little Screech owl on the last post. We've named her Miss Moon.
She came in from Moab. We sure get a lot of birds from Grand and San Juan counties. Moab is about a 2 hour drive, one way, so as you can see, we cover a lot of miles doing this work.

It looks like she had been hit by a vehicle as most of our patients are. We included her in the trip last Friday to the vet's office in Salt Lake for the eye appointments. That's a 2 1/2 hour drive one way. She obviously had head trauma and one of the eye's wasn't 'progressing' like I had hoped. The pupil was not getting any smaller but staying dilated and fixed. Not good. The other eye had been that way, but was now reacting normally, still, both eyes needed examined as with head trauma, there may be a detached retina in a 'normal looking' eye.

She does have a closed fracture in her left wing, but now that the swelling has come down, it feels like it is lined up pretty well. I still want it x-rayed just to get a good visual on it.
The vet at Eye Care for Animals in Salt Lake feels that there is no longer vision in the left eye and I would have to agree. She doesn't follow you with that eye and movement on that side of her head doesn't get a reaction. She still may be releasable, but time will tell. We currently have her on pain medication but that should end shortly. We are still force feeding her as she doesn't want to eat on her own. That could be the result of several things, including the pain medication.

So we also took in two other owls to the Eye vet for a follow-up visit. One owl had come in from Moab, but had been hit in Sevier county. The finder picked him up and took him (the owl) back to his home in Moab and then called the wildlife agency here in Utah. He too had been hit by a vehicle and had trauma to his left eye. He also is blind in that eye and we are hoping that it stays limited to that one eye. His scenario was identical to the little Screech's. His other eye was effected, but quickly returned to almost normal, but is still in danger of detaching, so we are holding on to him for a bit longer, hoping he will get past the point of serious concern. He sure is full of fight and doesn't like his 'visit' any longer! I'll look to see if I have any photo's of him and if so, I'll post them. We have been calling him Boo-Boo. Oh, I guess I should mention he is a Great Horned owl.

The other owl is also a Great Horned owl, but a female. She came from Sevier county as well and was also hit by a vehicle. She too had eye problems. This has been the year of eye problems for us! Man of man. Just about everyone has had some sort of eye injury, but if you were smacked around by a truck or something, your eyes would probably show some problems as well.
Good for this owl and the other Great Horn that they neither had any broken bones.
This owls continuing problem is in her right eye and it's obvious, she is blind in it. The eyeball itself is also shrinking, meaning that it is probably going to have to be removed. I'm not sure if I will try to find an educational facility for her or not. There is a lot of differing of opinions, when it comes to owls and their survivability in the wild with a missing eye for a lot of good reasons. Their eyes, in comparison to other raptors are huge, taking up a good portion of their skulls, so this can throw their balance off terribly. There is also concern over how it effects their hearing as the two (eyes and ears) are placed right behind the other, so this is not going to be a quick decision, but it never is. We take each patient on a case-by-case basis. We named her Willow as she came from an area near there is a creek called Willow creek. I will be posting her on our sponsorship page as she will be with us for a while and at great expense.

I am going to save the update on the new Red-Tail hawk for the next posting. She went to the eye vet Friday, along with the three owls. She is going to be a special project as well, requiring time and money.

If you are someone that donates during the holidays to projects or causes close to your heart, then please consider us in your donations. We are 100% funded by donations. Our patients are wildlife, not pets, so there is no one to send the bill to. The wildlife agencies merely drop them off to us and THAT is rare in and of itself. More often we get a call to 'go pick them up', whether they are being held somewhere or were simply spotted by a passerby and we need to go and find them. This requires a reliable vehicle, gas, time, volunteers, kennels and so on, just for that portion alone. Help us help them.

Thank you,
Debbie

Moving right along......

2010-11-17T10:55:00.004-07:00

This has probably been the slowest we have been in a couple of years. Don't get me wrong, there is still plenty to do, but most of our patients have been released and there are just a few requiring more time until we can determine the best situation for them.

Leonard, our female Great Horned owl that had been electrocuted was finally released. I would have liked to released her further south, but the reality was, I wasn't sure when that would or could happen and every day in captivity when she didn't need to be here wasn't benefiting her.

We released her in Moab, just south of town.

I'm also including photo's of a release of a Red-Tail hawk we did. This female came in as a mystery bird from Moab. Very thin, near death, and no visible signs of trauma. Her feathers were in horrible condition and we could clearly see feather lice had been feasting on them and her as well. We started with supportive care and then I took her in to my vet's office in Payson, Utah and got some blood work done and an x-ray.

We were surprised to find lead shot in her. She had been shot some time ago, however. The wounds were completely healed over and not visible in her intake exam. Once we knew it was there, we felt around the area's where the x-ray showed the shot and we couldn't even feel it, that's how healed it was.
One of the tests I wanted performed was a West Nile Virus test and it came back positive. So I suspect that is what brought her down.

The decision was made not to remove the shot as it was not a part of the digestive system and this is where the lead poisoning takes place. Where the shot was in her body posed no long term threat to her life, so we left it there and focused on the West Nile.
Once she started making progress, she took off, health wise, in leaps and bounds.

She became strong and aggressive quickly. I did have her vision checked since West Nile can cause significant visual damage and even blindness but she had no problems in that area, so once she was strong enough, we released her. Yeah! She was an amazing bird!

We recently got in another Red-Tail hawk with trauma to her right eye. She was very thin when we picked her up and we weren't sure she would survive the night, but she's gaining weight nicely and becoming very strong and feisty. I suspect her injuries were due to her prey fighting back or another predator trying to catch her. This does not appear to have been caused by an impact with a vehicle as are most of our cases. She sees the eye vet this Friday, but we are confident that the eye will have to be removed. I'll keep you posted on her. I've included a couple of her intake pictures.

We also got in a little Screech owl from Moab. She appears to have been hit by a vehicle with trauma to her left wing and head. She is suffering from a concussion, so we have been treating her for that and she is progressing nicely.

Enjoy the photo's....
Debbie

Fall is my favorite time of year........

2010-10-19T22:42:00.006-06:00

Boy there has been a lot of animals coming in........some, the most, in serious shape and a few, well, not so bad!
Connie has been sick, so I'd love to be able to give her some time off and just when I think that can happen, well, wrong again. I wish I could find some reliable people who really want to help animals and aren't caught up in the own daily soap opera's.

I'd love to find someone to help fundraise, whether by computer or in person....we need a real go-getter! Anyone interested?

Finally, Horizon, the Golden eagle that hit a semi (yes, she hit IT) last February was finally released. She has been through so much. Surgery to repair a major broken bone in her wing and the subsequent surgery to remove all of the pins to hold those bones together. Then, the removal of an eye. We were so hoping we could save her vision, but the damage to the eye was extensive, forcing the removal of the eye itself. Yet after all of that, she was released, back into the wild. She killed successfully here at our facility, showing she could still do what she needed to do to survive.
She caused injuries to both Connie and myself during her stay and I hold no bad feelings toward her for that, in fact, quite the opposite. I'm glad she had and still has the fight and will to be free. As rehabilitators, we don't want 'pets', we want wild creatures who despise us and want to get the hell away from us!

She flew away, during some spectacular Fall background shots. We hope she does well and has found her mate, once again.

Click on these release pictures to get the full effect
of these shots. They are breathtaking!

We had a Magpie that came in, found in a car,
with nothing really wrong with it, other than it related people to food. I suspect this bird had some contact with people as a nestling or fledgling and learned not to be afraid of people.
He wasn't what I would call tame or even truly habituated, but just a little too comfortable with people for my liking. His feathers were pretty dull also. We watched him and fed him and when we were sure all was well, took him for a LONG drive, away from people and near other Magpies and let him go. I hope he chooses to stay where he's not at and not return to 'civilization'. What a hoot he was! I just love those members of the Corvid family.

Well, I'll get the pictures added and head to bed. Going to the vets tomorrow with a new patient and that's a long drive to and from.
Debbie

A beautiful eagle release...............

2010-09-26T17:53:00.004-06:00

One of the golden eagles that had come in from around Moab, Utah earlier this year was finally released. We took her back that way, to the Arches National Park where we had released another eagle several weeks ago. This female actually came from an area called LaSall, but as far as an eagle flies, it was close enough and it gave a lot of people, who would never see something like this, an opportunity to witness and eagle close-up and to see her fly free again.
A gentleman that I met during the other release there, was the one who let this female go.

His name is Bill Sloan and he works for the Parks Department as a biologist, I believe. Very nice and knowledgeable man. Thanks to Nick Eason for some of the pictures and I did manage to take some myself. It was a beautiful day for a release. The eagle flew and flew, just perfect around those beautiful red cliffs that Arches is known worldwide for. The ravens, now known from the previous release, did show up again, but that didn't stop the eagle, she just kept circling and flying.

I got a phone call from one of the Parks people there for the release, and I guess she had hung around longer than we did. She said about an hour later, the female came back, but this time, she had a friend with her, a male, just a year or two older than her! How wonderful.
This is what makes our work worthwhile.

We also took in, from the vet's office, an Eared Grebe. Cute little bird, found in a parking lot of a high school about 75 miles from Price. Some kids were chasing her and kicking her......rotten little brats! A lady saw this and came to her aid.
These types of birds are helpless on land, appearing to have a broken leg, but the truth is, they cannot function on land well at all. They are make soley for water. They move (migrate) at night and at times, will 'land' on pavement, usually after a rain storm when it's wet and lights from above, or even a bright moon, may make the wet ground look like water. They will land and then they are in trouble. Usually, if they have received no injury from hitting the hard ground, which they need to be examined to determine that, they can be put on a large body of water and then, they can take off when they are ready. They need between 100-150 feet to do this, much like an airplane taking off.
We are fortunate to see a few species of Grebe's here in Utah and their courtship dance rivals the Cranes in beauty. They are a very secretive bird, ususally diving when they see or hear people or danger of any kind.
After I picked her up from my vet's office and determined she was not injured, I drove her to a nearby pond and released her. I've included those pictures. During the examination, she did what Grebes do, and darted that long neck at me and bit my nose. I couldn't help but giggle, but it did hurt. This is how they protect themselves, darting with that sharp beak at their attackers face. Here I was examining her with no extra hands to help and trying to control that wiggly body and look through that heavy plumage that seabirds have and ZAP....she got me and I still have the mark to prove it!

And still, a little bit more.............

2010-09-16T18:11:00.004-06:00

Our two red-tail hawks were finally released after kill-testing successfully. I will have to post their photo's later as I couldn't find my digital camera and had to purchase one of those disposable types on the way to release them. It was wonderful. I went to Sanpete county at the top of Skyline Drive and let them go. I hope they stay together and are successful in their lives.

We also released the two cottontails together. They played in the tall grasses where I took them and I left them there, enjoying the smells and sounds of freedom. I love those little mammals!

Leonard, the electrocution owl went back to the vet's office in Salt Lake. This was for a check-up on her eye's as she developed cataracts after being electrocuted. The specialists feel her eyes are improving, which is wonderful of course, so we started her "mouse school" as well.

We currently have 4 Great Horned owls learning to kill. The other two, have already been released. The pictures of that release are at a place called Consumers, here near Price.
Cherokee Sartori is helping with the release. She helps out quite a bit with our fund-raisers and other projects and I really appreciate her help.

She sort of got carried away with the release,

look at her owl.....he's probably thinking " what the heck"?

Ok, that's going to be it for now....I'm almost caught up!

Debbie

Another short update....still trying to catch up!

2010-09-10T12:47:00.003-06:00

Ok,

Hole in the Rock, the first year male eagle that came to us from San Juan county did very well and was released. We took him to an area in Carbon county called Winter Quarter's Ridge. My sub-permittee Connie's son, Cody, did the release.

We also released the other juvenile male golden eagle that came in from just out of Moab. He came in with the same presentation. Just a couple of unrelated fledgling eagles that were not doing well.
This time in an animals life is very difficult and many don't make it. We call this 'failure to thrive' and it can happen for many reasons, but mainly the bird is young and hasn't learned what it needs to from it's parents to be successful and thrive. If they are found, like these two were, then we can help.
There are never any guarantees, but we try to give them the extra time they need and more practice finding food and obtaining that successfully. The second release took place at the Wedge in Emery county.

We still have the juvenile female eagle, also ready for release that also came in from San Juan county for the same reasons. We will be taking her back that direction for her release sometime next week.

That's the short update for now...............

Debbie

Just a quick mini update....more later

2010-09-07T21:51:00.003-06:00

Sorry all, but it's been busy, so I'm just going to update a few things and then hopefully within the next few days, will update more.

So the Barn owls were released, all together near Price. I hope they will find plenty of food and make their own territories. There was one female and three males and were not related to each other. We set up a box for them to come and go from until they feel confident enough to strike out on their own. We put them in the box and waiting a few hours until dusk and then removed the temporary 'door'.

Ivie was also transferred to the Zuni's. They drove to Price and picked her up. We miss her already as she was with us for quite some time, hoping for a release, but the calcification on her healed bones made that impossible by affecting the nearby joints.

Our little finch was also released. We have one more in rehab that came from a late nest. He should be ready to go soon as well.

Our two doves and one pigeon orphans were also successfully released. The pigeon took a little more than initially thought as when we released her, she just turned around and walked back toward me. I took her to a volunteers' home and left her there. She comes and goes but likes hanging out with a turkey my volunteer has, so she now has a buddy. Can you picture it!

Well, that's going to be all for now. I'll look for pictures to post with this update......

Debbie

Moving right along.................

2010-08-06T18:41:00.007-06:00

Still busy and full with critters ready to test the waters. Just about all of our current patients are babies so they are pretty much all at the same stage in their development, which if you're a raptor, means learning to kill what you eat. Not a pleasant part of our work, but a necessary part.

Ivie, a Golden eagle we have had now for a year and a half, through several surgeries is going to be transferred to the Zuni nation down in New Mexico. She cannot go back to the wild since the repair to her "hand" portion of her wing did not heal as we had hoped. We obtained a health certificate this week, necessary to cross state lines with her, so now it's just a scheduling thing with Nelson Luna with the Zuni tribe. This is Sue and Connie at Dr Thayn's office here in Price where we took Ivie for her health certificate. Hopefully within the next week or two we can transfer Ivie. Nelson runs the program there in Zuni, New Mexico for these eagles that cannot go back into the wild. It's a wonderful option and we have offered them several of our eagles in the past. I hope Ivie does well there but we will surely miss her.

Well, all of the Robins have been released as well as the Starlings. We are currently feeding baby sparrows, yes, another group of babies! If weather and food allow, parents will produce multiple nests (clutches) per year. These latest little ones were disturbed at our local hospital when their maintenance department was doing something to a vent. Mom flew away and there the nest was. I think they will only need a couple of weeks before they are on their own.

The Kestrels from Salt Lake, have also been released. Boy, I was really concerned for the youngest of the two as he wasn't doing well at all, but after a few days of special care and diet, he snapped out of it and thrived as well as his brother. They both learned quickly what their foods looked like and killed successfully. I released them together here in Price.

The little dove babies are not eating on their own. I've sent them to a friend who lives with doves, to learn how to eat on their own. Birds learn from watching one another, so this stage can be difficult and time consuming. Now they are practicing their flying skills and then release is shortly coming! These species of doves fall under no protection, unfortunately, but this was how I was able to send them to another person, otherwise, they could have only gone to another licensed rehabilitator like myself.

We also have a baby pigeon we are taking care of. Some idiots dropped her off at our local landfill. She's a sweetie and is finally eating really well on her own, but of course, still wants Mom to feed her, so I do.

On the last post, I mentioned a new eagle that wasn't quite ready to come off the nest, but had for some reason. Well, that little guy is now in the flight and has become extremely aggressive, which of course, we want! When we feed in the mornings, he watches everything (I think he can count as well) and he claims his food first. I'm very happy with the turn around. We still don't have any idea as to why he was on the ground, but that's how it goes sometimes.
We refer to him as Hole in the Rock since that is the area from which he came.
Then, we got in a young female Golden eagle, not far from where Hole in the Rock came from. She was found on the ground near a small watering pond for cattle, in a very remote area in San Juan county. No broken bones or other trauma was found. It was during a very hot spell at that area gets even hotter because of it's topography. She may have had heat exhaustion and went down. She too is in the flight now. She needed rehydration and a little time to relax and will soon be learning to kill.

We also got in an adult male Golden eagle from the Moab area that had been hit by a car. The car didn't even hit his brakes or slow down. The vehicle behind the car stopped and picked the bird up, and brought the bird to Arches National Park which was nearby. He has some internal bleeding and minor trauma, considering he had just been hit, but no broken bones! We gave him some time and supportive care and he was quickly released. We took him back to the Arches area and released him. These creatures never cease to amaze me. Less than two weeks after being hit by a car, he's back in the air. Now, they all don't go that easy, but still, enough of them do that it is just amazing.

We have two orphan Desert cottontails we are caring for. They too, came in from the Moab area. A dog had ripped into their nest and killed their siblings and mom was nowhere to be found. She may have been killed as well, we just don't know. These little ones are doing very well and soon will go out on their own. They will need another week or two to continue to put on weight before that can happen. They are still getting one feeding a day from us of formula as you can see by the picture.

The Barn owls are ready for release. We have a potential spot for that, but the specifics still need to be worked out. Hopefully in the next few days they will be out there, doing what Barn owls do!

The electrocution owl is doing wonderful. She is now in the mew with the other Great Horned owls. We still need to have Dr MacLaren check her eyes out one more time before a release is considered. She now has cataracts as a result of the electrocution and these, most likely will progress as they do in humans. The first owl pic of this group is her, the others are some of her room mate, the other babies.

We also got in a Big Brown bat with terrible injuries from a cat attack. Poor thing had her wing ripped from her body in a critical area. We started antibiotics and then I contact a lady in Texas who is an expert in bat rehabilitation. I sent her some photo's of the injuries and she believes they can be repaired. I contacted Carman at Best Friends in Kanab, Utah to take this patient. She has more rehab time with bats than I do, so her best chances will be there. I hope they are able to repair her wing well enough for flight.

The two Red-Tail hawks are both doing very well. It's difficult to tell them apart right now. They are waiting to get the space the Barn owls are currently in, to start their killing process. Once that has happened, then they will get time in the flight, working on their flight muscles before release.

We also got in a Cedar Waxwing nestling. A cat had brought this little guy home and then the next day, went and got another and killed it before he brought it home. Naughty kitty!
This little one caught on quickly and then was released. We did give him antibiotics because of the kitty, but that was all he needed from us, other than supportive care and being taught his food sources. Connie released him near Price.

Last, Horizon is doing very well since her surgery to remove her left eye. She is doing things she hasn't done before, like hanging out with the other eagles, getting up on the high perches and you can clearly see, she is enjoying herself. That eye must has been causing her a great deal of pain. She will have the opportunity to kill test with the other eagles. Missing an eye is not necessarily a reason for an eagle to not be released back into the wild but she does have to prove her ability to kill and survive once again.

Well, I believe that is everyone, for now. Please support our work if you can. It takes a great deal of time and money to do what we do for our patients and since I haven't found that elusive money tree, I rely on people that care for wildlife and what we do, to help us in our efforts.

Thanks,
Debbie................

I don't know where to start.............

2010-07-15T19:06:00.010-06:00

Boy, it's really been busy. I have a lot of wonderful photo's I'd love to share so I'll try to get them all in on this posting.

We have a lot of new patients and have done some releases as well.

Horizon finally got her eye surgery. Many thanks to Dr Jay Ipsen of Payson Family Pet Hospital in Payson, Utah and Dr Nicole MacLaren of the Eye Care for Animals in Salt Lake City, Utah for all they have done for Horizon. Dr MacLaren even drove down from Salt Lake to Payson, which is about 65 miles, one way, to perform the surgery while Dr Ipsen oversaw the anesthesia during the operation.

Horizon is still on pain medication and will be for another day or so. We have had to start force feeding her as she would not eat anything presented to her. Her weight was such that a couple of days without food wasn't an issue, but today, we started forcing deer meat down her. I'm sure she is in some pain and that probably has a lot to do with her lack of desire to eat since there hasn't been a problem with that prior to now. Her appetite should return gradually over the next few days. She still has PLENTY of fight in her!

I'll re post a picture of her eye, after the swelling of the impact went away to remind everyone what we were dealing with; the 'death' of the eye. Then I'll post a photo from yesterday to show the changes in her appearance. Once she heals from all of this, we can start to kill test her to see if she will be releasable. The loss of one eye in an eagle does not necessarily mean they cannot go back to the wild, we just have to be sure she is still capable of killing successfully.

Our little Screech owls have all been released. The photo's of them in this posting are from the beginning of their stay with us, up until their banding and release.
Tony Wright with the Division of Wildlife Resources (our states' wildlife department) gave me the name of a lady with access to some privately owned lands and with her help, we released them in a WONDERFUL area where there is VERY LITTLE human access. We allowed her (Vicky) and another co-worker (Amanda) to release 2 of them and have included those pictures. We hope they have long and wonderful lives and make many Screech owl babies!
See the smiles on their faces; I love seeing that. It reminds me of how special and lucky we are to do what we do. Their faces say it all!

We
took in 2 new Barn owls from DaLyn in Ogden, Utah. So we now have 4 of her Barn owl babies. We have been kill testing them off and on. These two new owls are both males. I hope to release them in my area if I can find an appropriate place with appropriate habitat.

We have 5 Great Horned owls total now and they are eating me out of house and home! They will be the next ones kill tested, but in sub-groups as some are separated in age by as much as a couple of weeks and that really makes a difference. None of them are related just as none of the Barn owls are either.

We also got in a new Great Horned owl from Emery county. She is a young owl, this years for sure. She was electrocuted and has trauma from that. Her skin around her left ear is melted and her ear is deformed as well. There is a lot of bruising and feather loss in that area as well. She has some brain injury from the electrocution but only time will tell if it's permanent or not. She is very 'rigid' when we handle her and she doesn't move around a lot. She also has cataracts in both eyes, confirmed by Dr MacLaren.
I took this owl up to Payson the day of Horizon's surgery so that Dr MacLaren could look at her eyes as we were seeing some problems with both eyes and needed to find out what damage was done to them. Now cataracts can progress slowly or rapidly. What hers will do, well, we just don't know. I'm going to have her checked again in a few weeks to see what, if anything, has changed.
She does not eat on her own, I'm sure due to the brain trauma, so Connie and I have to force feed her 2-3 times per day.

We also have her on pain medication and are giving her sub-cutaneous fluids at least once a day. The belief is that electrocution depletes a great deal of fluids in it's victims.

We are down to 2 remaining Robins. One is a juvenile and the other an adult that a cat ripped the tail out of. They are hanging out together outside. The other Robins were all released in small groups. Watch out night crawlers!

We have taken in 2 Kestrel nestlings found in Utah county on the road. Kestrels are falcons and are common in Utah. They are often seen perched on power lines along the road. They love grasshoppers and mice, so they are also a benefit to farmers in rural areas. They are the smallest falcons in North America. These two are both nest mates and males.
One is a lot stronger than the other.
The younger of the two is having some difficulties, but we are MAKING him eat and giving him fluids as well. It's good they have each other right now.
The oldest of the two is doing very well and eating everything we give him.

We also released our female Mallard that came to us after being hit near the golf course here in Price. All of her babies were killed and she was unable to move. I can't imagine seeing your babies killed right before your eyes and you can't move to get out of the way yourself or to help them.
She had a slight concussion so we kept her on pain medication and then moved her out to a lake nearby to hang out while regrowing a couple of important feathers. There are plenty places for her to hide, if need be and her stress level will be MUCH lower out where she belongs. I hope she finds her another sweetie and has more babies soon.

All Magpie's are also released. Yeah! The last group went to the cemetery in Helper where it's quiet and few people. I hope they all do well and have lives full of wonder and mischief!

We are also feeding 2 nestling Ring-neck dove babies or as Connie calls them, Bobble-heads. Cute as can be and very time consuming. They eat many times throughout the day and need their bed cleaned at least 3 times a day as well; poop and eat!

We also took in a nestling Red Tail hawk from the San Juan county area. This bird was found alone, no other siblings or parents. Weird! DaLyn also got a nestling RTHA in just after our little male came to us, so instead of them being by themselves (not good), I took her little female in and now the two are hanging out together. They are just adorable together.
The day they met each other, the female leaned forward and started talking to him in this cute, quiet little chatter sound. At first her ignored her, but he's come around and now they are sitting side-by-side most of the time. She wasn't self feeding but ours was, so he has been teaching her what to do. Red-Tail hawks are common in Utah and don't get their traditional 'red-tails' until their 2-3 year. By year three, the tail is red, but this is only in the most common mutations (or phases as they are called).
Red-Tail hawks spend a great deal of their time perched on poles, watching for pray and then launching an attack. Their call is so desirable, that most programs showing hawks and or eagles, use the Red-Tail call for ANY raptor call in the show. Drives me NUTS!

Diane is back in town after going back to school in Phoenix. She won't be here for long, but she has taken on all of the starling babies we started getting again. Round two for the parents!
What a trooper Diane is! Or she's crazy, we just don't know which!

Two new eagle babies are also with us.

One from just out of Moab. No broken anything, just failing to thrive. He was very weak, thin and dehydrated, but with a lot of supportive care, is doing very well now.He's now in the flight with the three girls. DaLyn's eagle that we now have, is 'mothering' him and he is letting her.

The other baby should have still been in the nest. He came from just out of Moab at a tourist area called Hole in the Rock. Wildlife Resources told me there is an active nest in the cliffs around that area. He probably was exercising his wings and caught a gust of wind and out he went. They are also quite clumsy at his particular age, so that may also have something to do with his being out of the nest prematurely. At this age they don't so much fall out of the nest, but more so, glide or flutter.

His wings are fully feathered, although some were still in shafts at the time, but there was enough there that he didn't hurt himself on the way down. He was very weak and thin, but very lucky it wasn't any worse than that. He is now feisty and well enough that today, we moved him out in the flight as well.

It has been very hot here, so I'm glad my yard has several large shade trees as the wildlife definitely benefits from them on these hot days, as do we!

Well, I think that's actually it!
Thanks to everyone that follows this blog. Please pass it around to everyone you think would enjoy it as well. People need to understand just who cares for these creatures when things happen in the wild since most people don't know and just assume it's their states wildlife department, and it's not, NOT in any state.

Debbie................

Get ready, get set, GO...............

2010-06-24T18:42:00.009-06:00

Wow, we are really busy here. Babies everywhere.

We took in a bunch of new patients for DaLyn Erickson, another rehabilitator in northern Utah. She will be getting in some of the oiled birds from our Chevron disaster in Salt Lake. To help her make room for all of these new patients, we offered to take several of hers.
We added another 2 more Great Horned owls, now totaling 5 babies. The two new ones have injuries; one is healing from sutures and the other looks more serious, with a couple of broken bones.

We also took in 3 nestling Screech owls. What cuties! I'll post pic's of them next time.

We took in 2 more Barn owls, that's a total of 4, all of which came from DaLyn's facility. They are learning to kill at this time.

We took in 17 baby Robins, all in various stages of needing supplemental feedings. We finally
have been able to release 3 of those and expect another 2 or 3 to be ready in a couple more days.
I've included a picture of Connie feeding the babies outside with her 'burka' so they can't escape.

We also took in 7 Magpie babies, which was great since we had only 1 and she needed to hang out with her own kind. They are all outside and learning to eat on their own, some were a little older than others and 5 of them have been released-2 of them just released today. I've included one photo of our Magpie baby when she first came in and of some of the others playing outside in their mew.

We also took in another Golden Eagle. She has some injuries to one of her wings that don't look good for release, but there is still plenty of time to determine this.

We are still waiting on the surgery for Horizon and Ivie will most likely be going to the Zuni Tribe down in New Mexico as she is non-releasable. We have sent several eagles to them as they are one of only 2 tribes in the United States that take non-releasable eagles. They have a HUGE facility where they can live out the rest of their lives with other eagles, which I believe in this case is what is best for her. She is younger and she'll adapt well I believe.

We have had several other Robin babies brought in and some Sparrow babies as well. Just today, we got in 2 Robins and a new Starling chick, completely naked and cold. I've included a cute picture of starling fledglings learning to fly in one of the outdoor enclosures.

We also had brought to us, a Northern Flicker male that was covered in coal dust. He was found in a cabin near an area where there is an active coal mine. We started the normal protocol of washing and drying and sub-que fluids, but he died shortly after arriving. A stressful situation to begin with and then adding all of the handling from washing was just too much. You can see how dirty the rinse water is in the one photo and that was AFTER two baths. Terrible. Who knows how much of that stuff he had ingested trying to get it off of his feathers.

We also had a new mew built by Dedicated Hunters here in the area.

This is where all the Great Horned owls are living right now. Connie and Don made it look like a tree inside with a nest, where they could started "branching" when it came time, which they all are doing now, but occasionally like to return to the "nest" for security.

Feeding, feeding, feeding; that's all I'm doing right now, OH, and cleaning up poop! Well, I think that's all the newbies. I'll add a few photo's and then I'm off to feed again!

Debbie

I love baby animals......it's all about napping, eating and pooping!

2010-05-19T21:50:00.004-06:00

Just about time for bed and everyone is fed and warm, so I'll fit in a quick post.

We have had several new patients. Some have already come and gone and I didn't get pic's, but I'll fill everyone in anyway.

Some people dropped off some finches, two different ones from different people, at my vet's office in Payson. One, a House finch, had some eye crusties and was missing his tail. My vet gave him some eye drops and started antibiotics. We finished with those and waited a few more days until his tail had a good start and he flew away today.
The other little guy didn't fare so well. He was found on the ground in Utah county not acting right. He never did act "right", but despite our efforts, died. He was a little Pine Siskin and was very young.

Horizon, the golden eagle we have posted about several times now, will be having surgery to remove her left eye. Our "eye" vet and my wildlife vet will coordinate their schedules and the surgery will take place at our vet's office in Payson, Utah. I'm so grateful to them both for this opportunity. She is staying low in the flight, not getting up on perches and that is concerning. I know she is still adjusting to this and there is more to come for her. We will take care of her and hope this is the best thing for HER. Her wing looks perfect and at this point, you can't tell there was ever a compound fracture.

She is hanging out with Ivie. We finally were able to hook up with Best Friends and we brought Ivie home. They don't seem to really care for each other, nothing aggressive, they just sort of ignore each other. Unfortunately, it looks as though Ivie is not going to be releasable. She just couldn't pull off getting to the high perches in the flight at Best Friends. I was hoping, but it has to be perfect or she will not survive out there. So now we are trying to work out placement, which won't be a problem. She has the desire and fight that needs to be free, like they all should, but in the situation she will be placed, she will do well, living with other flighted eagles like herself.

We also had an adult Peregrine falcon come in with horrible injuries and very bloody as a result. Thankfully, that day, I was headed into Salt Lake anyway, so I called my vet and brought the bird up immediately. Unfortunately, he died during surgery. My heart aches for him and I'm sure he has a mate and a nest at this time. Depending on the nest, if just eggs or even small babies, his mate will probably abandon without his help. If there are babies and they are older, I don't know if she would continue to care or should I say, could continue to care for them.

The little sharp-shinned hawk, we determined could not be released, however, a strange and wonderful opportunity came up, just perfect for him. He is now in New York at Cornell University as part of their breeding program for sharp-shinned hawks and all future babies he and his new mate raise will be released back into the wild. YEAH!!! It's not perfect, but close enough, considering the other option! All of this transpired very quickly and the approval was given in record time. I'm very happy for him and his new mate. That's 3 birds of ours now living in New York.

We are also hand feeding two nestling starling chicks that fell from their nests. They are not related, but are now nest mates. I'm glad they have each other!

Last, we have two new baby Great Horned owls.

They came from different areas and one is slightly older than the other which means bigger, but it's all working out well. In a few days, they will be moved outside and given a 'false' nest and branches, sort of mimicking a tree. They are both so darn cute!

OK, now I need to get to the pictures and go to bed, so that's all for now.

Debbie

It's been a busy few weeks..............

2010-04-20T15:50:00.004-06:00

Hello everyone.

Although our patient load isn't bad at all, there has been a lot of traveling to our vet's office, which is 75 miles one-way, with those patients. Horizon finally was able to get her pins removed from her right wing. She's now in the large flight cage. Her eye, however, is looking very bad. We take her to Salt Lake tomorrow to the eye specialist. I'm pretty sure she will be eventually, if not now, completely blind in that one eye and may possibly lose the whole eye, either from surgery or due to the injury sustained by the semi.

I'll keep everyone posted as we learn more. I've included new pictures of her today, both wing and eye. The wing looks rough, but that's because of the large device that had been in her bone, holding it together while it mended.

Once the feathers grow back in, which they are starting to do as visible in the photo, you won't even know that she had once had that device there at all.

We also got in a young pigeon that needed just a little help before he could be sent on his way, back to his flock's area. We hand fed him for a couple of days and he was ready to eat on his own by then. He was found on the ground being attacked by a Raven. Now, I love Ravens, but they are naughty birds! That's part of the reason I love them. The pigeon also had a hole on his side where the skin was ripped open by the Ravens' beak. With that healed and him eating on his own, we let him go, I'm sure a bit more wiser about Ravens.

The new eagle that I mentioned in the last post, turned out to be a female. I've included photo's of her out in the eagle flight and of her release. Her rehabilitation time was minimal since she had no broken bones. We were concerned about her continued droop in one wing and took her back up to the vet's office to have her x-rayed again, just to make sure. It was determined that there was some soft tissue damage there and that is what caused the wing to droop, but her flight was perfect! So when all tests were completed and antibiotics were as well, we took her to the Dog Valley area near highway 10 and I-70 here in Utah and released her. She was an adult, so I hope she went immediately and found her mate. The gentleman releasing her is Gary Denhalter. His daughter Tonia keeps us alert to wildlife problems in the area she works driving a semi-tractor trailer. We value her help tremendously.

We're trying to get Ivie, our other golden eagle back up here from Kanab. She's been hanging out in Best Friends eagle flight for observation. Unfortunately, she is not behaving as she should, flight wise. So our last option, is to have a falconer who specializes in eagles to fly her, creance, to be exact. This was we should be able to determine if the slight turn-out on her wing is going to ground her permanatly or not. We obviously hope for the latter. We are just waiting for him to drive down from Idaho to do this. What a nice guy!

And last, we picked up a second year male Sharp-shinned hawk. He came in from Moab, Utah. Officer T.J.Robertson met me in Green River, Utah with him. He has significant trauma to one side of his body. Not sure of the source. Usually these guys get in trouble hitting windows in houses where birdfeeders are nearby. When the little birds are getting chased, sometimes they head to the windows since it looks like a passage way into the house and they think they can get away through them. Once they realise that they can't, most of them turn, very fast, and with a hawk in pursuit that's keeping their eye on the bird, sometimes they end up hitting the window. This can leave them unconscience and vulnerable to other predators or even dead, breaking their necks or other trauma. He has a dislocation in his right wing at the elbow. Time will tell if he can be returned back into the wild. These guys DO NOT make good educational bird candidates. They are just too high strung.

Well, I think that covers it all for now. It's been beautiful weather here, other than a bit windy. Pollen here is having a hay-day, no pun intended. I think I'll buy some stock in Claritin!

Debbie............

2010-03-23T19:02:00.000-06:00

2010-03-23T19:01:00.000-06:00

2010-03-23T19:00:00.000-06:00

Just back from Seattle..............

2010-03-23T18:01:00.007-06:00

Yes, I'm finally getting some time to update the blog.

Connie and I just returned from the National Wildlife Rehabilitators Association conference in Seattle, Washington. After about the third day, my brain starts to say, 'I'm full, can we go home?' From early morning to the evening, we were in classes, of our choice, listening to lectures, taking notes and so on. I do this almost every year. This was Connie's first year. It makes us better rehabilitators, getting us the most update information and answering our questions with the same. There is usually 500+ rehabilitators at these things from all over the world. They are just wonderful and yes, we pay for this out of our own pockets as well.

Now onto the patient updates.

Aquila, the female golden eagle was finally released. It was a wonderful release that took place in Emery county, Utah, near where she was found. I hope she will find her mate and maybe, just maybe they can get a late start to nest making and egg laying. I've included her release pictures. The release was done by Don Russell, a young man in the army, that just got home from duty in Korea and soon will be leaving for Afghanistan. We appreciate all that he and his family has sacrificed while serving his country.

I finally got the pictures of Horizon's capture, our other female golden eagle. If you'll recall from the last post, my friend Laurie went down the mountain with Connie to capture her and Laurie, like a true photographer, had her camera with her, which I didn't know. So enjoy these pictures as well.

Connie's son Cody has been helping me a little with the blog site, so I'm finally getting things back, somewhat, to the way I'd like them.

I'll be going up to my vet's office tomorrow with Kachina, the red-tail hawk that came in a few months ago from Eagle Mountain, Utah. She is non-releasable and I think we may have found placement for her, but she has developed a problem with one of her legs so our vet needs to do some x-rays. She has been in Moab, Utah with my apprentice Dave while we have been searching for a suitable permanent home for her.

We did get another new eagle in. Not sure if this one is a male or female. I initially thought male as this bird appeared smaller than a female, but now, after a few days, I'm not sure and when we took him/her to the vet's for x-ray's, we all forgot to weigh him/her.
The birds was found near I-70 and Highway 10 in Sevier county, Utah. You know, normally when they are found right off a road, especially with broken bones, you assume hit-by-vehicle as the reason they are down. But this bird has no broken bones and is covered with puncture marks, like bite marks. Now, what would cause an eagle to be down and approachable by another large predator. I guarantee you that an experienced predator KNOWS to stay away from an eagle, even on the ground, so it makes me wonder if the eagle was unconscious for some reason and then was grabbed and came-to during the assault. A lot of this is detective work and at times, can make a difference in how we render treatment, or what kind of treatment we proceed with. At other times, it doesn't make a bit of difference, it's just interesting!
I'll get some pictures of this new bird and post them next time.

Enjoy,
Debbie

The pictures of Horizon's capture are posted above. Since I'm so computer illiterate, they somehow refused to be a part of this post and chose to be posted separately before this post.
Sorry................

Just another manic Monday (except it's Tuesday)

2010-02-23T18:31:00.008-07:00

Yes, we've been a bit busy. Could be worse, but between the cold weather and just when it warms up enough to start melting things a bit, then it freezes hard again! We can't wash anything and the big flight has an ice rink in the center. Everyone in the state is going through the same problems, even my friend Carmen with Best Friends in Kanab. Southern Utah for God's sake has had more snow and freezing temperatures that central Utah for two years in a row. Weird!!!

OK, now for the patients with us.

The one robin is just about ready for release. We never had a definitive answer for what his problem was. We treated him with antibiotics, assuming he may be ill since we could find no injuries to explain why he was down. He's doing fine now, so in a few days, he'll be back to his stomping grounds and hopefully finding his sweetie.

Ari, the male Prairie falcon was released today in Utah county. Connie and I drove up there and met up with the people that had initially found him, and released him. He flew perfect and flew far away until we lost sight of him. Of course, I forgot my camera, so hopefully, the people will share their photo's with us and I will share them with you if they do! He was also banded a few days ago.

Aquila, the eagle mention as a new patient in the last blog update is doing very well. We've moved her out to the large flight cage and she is moving around nicely. Besides her foot injury, she also had some trauma to her left wing. We were quite worried as the skin went black. This could mean the tissue was dying, but it has resolved itself and has pinked up nicely and we just need to make sure there are no long term effects of the trauma in that area that may hinder her flight. She should be able to be released here in the next couple of weeks if all is good!

Ivy, the other female golden eagle, is hanging out in Kanab for a few weeks. We were conditioning her for release when we noticed the wing where she had the six surgeries was looking a little bit odd. The "hand" portion of the wing is beginning to turn out, which is not good. I asked Carmen to take her and put her in their very large and tall flight cage to see if she could get up to higher perches than mine. So far, she isn't, but we are still hopeful.
Say a prayer for Ivy. She's been through a great deal and deserves to be free again. (They all do)!

No, that's not Carmen with Connie, that is Erin, another WildFriends employee from Kanab. She was kind enough to meet us in Richfield, Utah to drive Ivy half the distance, back to Kanab. Yeah Erin!

We've had two more golden eagles come in lately. A sub-adult male that we named Zen.

He was hit by a car and sustained trauma to the left portion of his body, mainly the foot and eye area.

He resolved that quickly and has already been released! Yeah Zen!!! He went home with his new "bling" on his ankle.
Tony Wright with DWR banded him for us prior to release.

The other golden is a female that we've named Horizon as she came from an area near a coal mine called the Horizon mine. Her injuries are very traumatic. Her left eye sustained horrible injuries as did her right wing. The ulna in the right wing was completely compounded. The capture that took place was incredible. A friend of mine happened to be in town visiting with me and Connie that day and being a professional wildlife photographer, had all of her equipment with her. When the call came in, I told her "Well, you said you wanted to see us go on a call, well here we go." When we got to the site, we waited for Connie who was shortly behind us. God, the snow was deep and had that hard crust on top. The bird had already went down a steep hill and was caught up in a tree. Connie and Laurie (the photographer) jumped down there, camera and all and the pursuit was on.

We have wonderful photo's, but they will be included in the next blog. They clearly show a day in the life of a wildlife rehabilitator. The semi truck driver that hit her stopped and spoke with us and explained how he hit her. He was very concerned as was the company he drove for. One of their representatives was there the whole time we were. Another truck driver was good enough to stop and tie bandanna's to the delineater post where she was at. That was a HUGE help!

I've included some pictures of her at the vet's office the day before her surgery and some others I have taken. Her swelling in the left eye is almost completely gone now, however, there is still trauma there. The eyeball itself has blood in it. In a few weeks, I will be taking her into Salt Lake to see the vet there who is an eye specialist so we can find out what the prognosis is for her vision.
She will also need another surgery here in six weeks or so, to remove all of the hardware now a part of her wing. She is very strong and has a great deal of fight. She is finished with all of her antibiotics, but is still on some pain medication. We are currently acclimating her back to the outside temperatures. Hopefully she will be outside full time here soon. We are and will be holding her in smaller enclosures while she has all of the devices in her wing as to not damage that area. Once the pins and stabilizing device are gone, then she can move around more, but not until then.

Well, now to start adding the photo's.
Debbie...........................

Another cold, gray day but Spring is around the corner!

2010-01-30T17:36:00.003-07:00

Time to get everyone caught up. The new eagle, Aquila, is doing very well. She has improved so well, that here in a few days, she will be going out into the flight. We are still caring for her injured foot and it will be harder catching her in the flight, so for a few more days, we will leave her be. The foot is healing well. We just need to make sure that it's healing from the inside-out. It appears that the toe with the most trauma will not function as it previously did, however, it does work somewhat which is better than not at all!

Ari, the Prairie falcon is still doing well. I fear that the feathers on the traumatized area won't grow back, however. The skin is actually missing from that area, so the original feather follicles are gone. I'm going to talk with some other rehabilitators that may have seen this sort of injury and find out what they think his prognosis might be. With other opinions, I should be able to decide what we can and can't do for Ari and go from there.
He sure has a lot of fight in him. When either Connie or I go out to feed him, instead of moving away from us, he flies right to our faces and heads. It can be intimidating, to say the least. We always have to be careful when going into his enclosure.

The little robin passed away, but not before another robin came in. The first robin had difficulty maintaining her weight, regardless of how much she ate, she just kept losing much needed weight. What ever it was that brought her down in the first place is responsible for her difficulties I'm sure. We had her on antibiotics and pain medication from the Raven attack that left her scalped clear to the skull. The second robin is doing well and eats 3 containers of night crawlers a day! Who ever came up with the saying, "she eats like a bird" knows nothing about birds! What ever caused this bird to be down on the ground and picked up by people isn't obvious. There are no broken bones or head trauma, so we have her on antibiotics as a precaution.

Well, that's all for now. Enjoy the pictures!
Debbie....................

Goodbye bunny..........

2010-01-18T17:02:00.006-07:00

Greetings on this wet, cold snowy day. At least it did something rather than be just cold and dreary. My kitty cats are hating it however, as are the chickens!

Well the Prairie falcon, Arie, is doing well and has been moved outside full-time now. His weight is staying up nicely. We're just waiting to see if that traumatized area regrows new feathers. Those feathers are crucial for his survival in the wild. So in the meantime, he's just hanging out and happy we are not having to catch him everyday to move him outside and inside (and so are we)!
Remember, falcons bite!

As for the bunny situation, I met Carmen from Best Friends in Green River, Utah as she was driving back from Wisconsin, visiting her family over the holidays, on her way back to Kanab, Utah, and sent the bunny with her to hang out with their bunny in the same situation. I think their going to be just fine and then get a chance at being free and wild sometime in the spring. YEAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Another reminder, PEOPLE, don't bring home wildlife and make them pets! If you find something orphaned, call you wildlife department if you don't know of a licensed wildlife rehabilitator yourself. DON'T take something to the 'lady down the street who LOVES animals' either, ONLY a licensed wildlife rehabilitator has the skills and training to keep it wild while helping it! There, I've said my piece, once again! I hate fixing screw ups that are preventable!

Now, for the new stuff.

We got in a female Northern Flicker about a week ago. These guys are just beautiful. They are a woodpecker. We have several species of woodpeckers here in Utah. This poor little girl tangled with something big, as her injuries were just horrible. Her left wing and leg were broken beyond repair, with bones sticking out. The decision was make to euthanize her since these injuries were all major and unrepairable. I've included pictures, both alive and one, after her death to show (it's difficult to make out the details) the extent of the injuries under her left wing. I hope she's now flying free beyond this life she knew. We stayed with her until she passed.

We also got in a new eagle. She is an adult Golden that came out of Emery county, not far from where I live. She was found in the County dump. She has several different injuries. The injury to her left foot appears to be from a jaw trap. A trap was not seen, but the injury suggests that one was on her foot at some point. Law enforcement is now involved. My experience with these disgusting traps (and the people that use them) is when they catch something other than what was intended, they take whatever it is, out and then just leave it there, regardless of what it is or it's condition. I'm sure in most cases, death results, but some, like this eagle, was seen 'running' around in the dump and was easily caught because of the injury. There appears to be some head trauma and trauma to the left wing as well. I'm not sure how this occurred as the dump is on a dirt road, far away from the main highway, according to some folks I've spoken with about the dumps' location.
We started her on medications for infection and pain. We also took her into my vet's office to have that foot x-rayed. There are no broken bones in that foot, but there is soft tissue damage. Now, do we have tendons or ligaments involved? Only time will tell as the foot and a couple of the toes are swollen. Today, we moved her outside for the daytime. She is not eating willingly either. This could be for a number of reasons, so I'm not too concerned at this point. We will just keep pushing the food down her until she takes it willingly.

We also got in a new robin today. This bird was found by a gal in Provo, Utah while taking a drive up Provo canyon. She noticed something and pulled over to see a Raven attacking this robin. The Raven flew off as she pulled over and she picked up the robin and realised she was in bad shape. She made contact with me last night and despite a terrible snow storm in the canyon between her and me, she drove here this morning so the bird could get the medical attention she greatly needed. The robin has head injuries and was scalped by the Raven. I love Ravens, but they can be very naughty. Hopefully we can save her. Our thanks to Christa for taking the time to drive her to me in a very dangerous snowy canyon.

Enjoy the pictures included with today's post!

Thanks everyone,
Debbie..........................

I can't believe how cold it's been..............

2010-01-03T21:57:00.005-07:00

Hello everyone. Well here in Utah things are all frozen. I don't remember the last time I saw the sun and anything above 31* seems down right balmy!

Well, the new Prairie falcon is doing well. I am concerned, however, that he isn't putting on and holding the weight like he should. He may possibly have more internal parasites that the medications didn't take care of. I plan on getting a fecal sample from him and having that checked.

His wounds are healing nicely. We'll have to wait and see if feathers regrow over the injured area. Of course, that will determine his releasability.

DWR also brought us a cottontail that was
confiscated from some people that had been keeping it as a pet for the last two years. Idiots! The officer actually 'thanked them' for taking 'care' of it!
I could choke some of these guys. They CREATED the problem, you don't THANK them, you prosecute them! UGH!!!!! Connie and Don have been caring for the little guy. We're going to send him to Best Friends as they have one with the same history. Hopefully, they can remind each other that they are rabbits and people aren't all that wonderful!

We also had a Belted Kingfisher come in a few weeks ago. What a beautiful bird. She had been fishing in a contaminated body of water owned by PacifiCorp and becamed oiled with this gunk.
She was drowning in freezing water when we got her. We focused on getting her body temperature up and hydrating her with warm fluids; this will also get the kidneys working harder to flush the body of the contaminants that are now absorbing into her skin.
She lasted two days, but finally died. She tried so hard, but the huge onslaught was just too much.

Things are slower as they should be this time of year. Last year at this time, it was crazy!
I have a meeting this Tuesday with the state DWR . Their policies regarding what they will and won't do to support us has become so insane that it requires a face-to-face meeting. They should be ashamed of themselves. They lie and contradict themselves over and over and when they are confronted by someone, well, you're the bad guy. But since I can speak a little more freely than most other rehabilitators, I will. I hope I accomplish something, but if history has anything to say about it, well, things will stay the same, maybe with one or two less rehabilitators however.

Keep you fingers crossed for all of us,
Debbie.....................

Some wonderful news...and some sad news.....

2009-12-06T19:45:00.010-07:00

Time to get everyone caught up.
I've included in this post the release pictures of Rojo, the golden eagle. The release was at Horse Canyon in the Emery county area of Utah. The
gentleman releasing Rojo is Joe Tryon, and Iraq war vet that served 2 tours. What an honor to have him do this release. Rojo flew around, over us and around us, then lit down, taking in his new home. I hope he will do well and make beautiful eagle babies when he's older.

The second release was Cleo, and for everyone following her dilemma, it was sure wonderful to see her in the air. Her's was one of those releases you never forget. She flew in circles, climbing higher and higher over the Dead Horse Point area of Grand county. For those who don't know what this is, Google it. It's like the Grand Canyon on a smaller scale. She finally flew so high, we could not see her any longer. Wonderful!

We had one of the vet's involved in her care, Dr. Nicole MacLaren, do the release.

Since then, we've had a red-tail hawk come in from Grand county. The poor thing didn't survive the drive to get him here. He was so thin. It appeared he was down due to illness and not injury as no broken bones were found on his exam. I'm glad his suffering is over but I wish we had the oppertunity to help and possibly save him.

We also have a cottontail that was brought to us after wildlife officers confiscated it from some people that had raised it illegally. Now thanks to these 'people', this bunny is not afraid of people or house pets. UGH!!!!!
I'm hoping, (it'll be a long shot) we can teach it these things by hanging out with another cottontail. Best Friends has one in the same predicament, so maybe they can help each other out.
Hopefully we can get the transfer done before Christmas.

We also had a new eagle come in and a new Great Horned owl. They came in the same day. Of course it was a day I left town with my husband, so Connie and Don had to go get them both. The Great Horned owl had a traumatic wing injury. It appeared to have been caused due to electrocution. The entire wing was "dead" so he had to be euthanized. Unfortunately, due to the extent of his injury, surgery could not have been performed to remove such a large portion of
that wing, so this is why euthanizing him was the only option.

The eagle was also in very bad shape. When Connie and Don found her, she was covered with frost. She would have surely died that night had not some deer hunters in the area come across her and notified the Sheriff's department. There were so many things wrong with her, it wasn't apparent what the primary problem was. She really wasn't thin, but her feet were balled up tight and she couldn't move them. She could move her legs somewhat, but not her feet. This can be caused by several things, so we started antibiotics, pain medication and gave her some SQ fluids to warm her up and tube fed her. We then noticed she seemed to have something bothering her airway. We could not see anything, so got her into my vets in Payson for a bunch of testing.
We drew blood for several things including heavy metal poisoning, which could cause the feet to be like this. We also tested for infections and West Nile Virus and metabolic problems. With the x-rays, the bill is close to $1,000 just for all of that.
The x-rays showed nothing obstructing her airway and her lungs were clean. Once the other
tests started coming in, we were still in the dark. Everything was ok. Some of the chemistries were a little off, but nothing life threatening. We continued her supportive care and bathing her three times a day since she couldn't deficate properly. But even after a brief period where she got her appetite back, things quickly got worse. We got her back into the vets at she was in respiratory distress and he looked again for foreign matter in her airway and took more x-rays, which again showed nothing. She died two days later. She fought so hard, but whatever this was, finally won.........
I took her back up to the vets for a necropsy, which didn't tell us what we were looking for, so we sent off many tissue samples to be examined and some cultures of internal organs. I'll keep you posted as to their results. We named her Hera; she isn't suffering anymore. I hope she's flying high and pain free where she's at. I just wish we could have found the answer and saved her.

Finally, we just got in an adult male Prairie falcon. He looks to have tangled with a barbed wire fence. He has some trauma to his right wing and came in with a concussion as well. Right now, we're trying to get some food down him, which is no-small-feat for these falcons. They are vicious! We're treating him with antibiotics for his wound and pain meds. He also had lice when he came in, so we're treating him for that as well. We've named him Ari. I don't have pic's of him at this time, but will take some and post them next time.

Thanks for checking in...........
and remember the wildlife this holiday. Donations are always needed for the work we do. Our medical supplies are not donated, we have to purchase everything, the vet work as well. Surgeries,-x-rays and other supplies all cost us like they would cost you at your doctors. It's an ongoing need, 365 days a year. Help us help them!

Debbie.......................

Second Chance Wildlife Rehabilitation
725 North Carbonville Road
Price, Utah 84501
435-650-3441

Finally.....a new posting

2009-11-10T14:31:00.006-07:00

Well, I'm sure you've all noticed the change of the blog template. I'm not happy about it, but it's entirely my fault. In trying to change something, I completely deleted the old 'look'. I don't know how it happened since I was just looking around at a possible tab addition and voila! I had this template saved from a while ago and although I like it, it's not at all the old one and since I'm not computer savvy at all, well, until someone with amazing talent volunteers to help with some computer work, it will have to do, but it's only temporary.
So I'm mad, but only at myself!
A lot to update you on.
First, Rojo, the young golden eagle was finally released! We tossed him at an area in Emery county called Horse Canyon. A local Iraq vet, Joe Tryon, did the honors. The next blog will show those pictures as the other updates listed will contain pic's and I don't want to crowd this post.

The 3 robins are FINALLY in Florida. Yes, the paperwork came through (thank you Federal people) so at 6 AM one morning, they were put on a flight to Florida. I'm so happy they can have this new life and didn't have to be put down. My volunteer Diane paid for their travel expenses since Lori, their new caregiver, was not able to cover them as custom usually dictates.

We had a ring-neck dove come in that a cat had tangled with. I wasn't sure if the bird could survive, but with time and a lot of medication, she sure did and was released at Connie's house. She also had a broken leg and we let it heal without surgery as the feet do not have to be perfect as for a raptor. Once the pain subsided, she was putting weight on it and we could clearly see, she would be just fine.

More Mexican Free-Tailed bats have come in. We were able to release all of them. When I was in Salt Lake getting the robins on their way, another MFT bat came in so I just had Marc, my new sub-permittee take over with that one since it was there in Salt Lake and he released it the next day. Thank goodness, most of these bat calls require hydration 1 or 2 times and can be on their way. I hope they all are in a much warmer climate enjoying themselves.

Cleo, the golden eagle that went through a windshield here in Carbon county has been to the optical vets and my regular vets to repeat blood work. She will be headed to the optical vets again this Friday. Hopefully, we'll get the OK on her eye condition and then she will shortly be released. Her blood work looked great.

Kachina is doing very well. We still need at least one sponser for her so if you can help with this, you won't be sorry. We'll send you personal updates and a photo of her. Right now, she's in Moab with my volunteer Dave. He's working with her, getting her used to being handled by people. She's an amazing bird and has been through a great deal. Please contact me at secondchancewildliferehab@yahoo.com if you can help with her expenses with a donation.

Well, I'd better get to posting pictures, so thanks for being so patient. If anyone out there can help with computer (web-site) design, please let me know. Of course, we run soley on donations and are non-profit.

Debbie...........

Here a bat, there a bat, everywhere a bat, bat.....

2009-10-14T22:46:00.007-06:00

Yes, migration is still taking place. Some species move sooner than others, while some don't migrate at all. And then there are the exceptions, like, yes, this species normally migrates, but in certain geographic areas, doesn't. Another one of those things that wildlife rehabilitators need to know.
It's been mildly busy around here. Just about every patient has been due to migratory issues in one way or the other.
I picked up an adult sparrow at a local nursing home that was completely covered in some sort of oil or grease. Poor thing was extremely thin and several feathers were missing. I suspect once he because soiled, since he could not fly, this made him an easy target for a predator and that's how he lost the feathers. I gave him his first Dawn bath, but he did not survive the night. I'm sure the toxins in the substance on his feathers had entered his body and that's why he was found and was easily caught and this also caused his death.
People, don't leave things laying around your yard or open garage that may harm something else. Besides being careless, it can contaminate indiscriminately.

We also got in a ring-neck dove that tangled with a cat. Boy he sure looked rough, but he's beginning to look much better. We treated him with antibiotics as well because of the cat. He has new feathers growing in, but he does have a broken right leg. With time and rest, we're hoping that he can be released.

We also had an Eared Grebe come in. This little guy had been migrating through Utah and apparently just became exhausted. He was found on someones porch in Moab, so we gave him some time to rest and sent him on his way.
They need water to take off, so we took him out to Desert Lake in Emery county and put him on the water. Those Grebe's are so cute!
The picture shows how interesting their feet are. They are in a group all to themselves. Their feet are referred to as 'lobed'. This, and the fact that their legs are set far to the back of their bodies makes them excellent divers and swimmers, but completely helpless on land. When found on land, people always call me telling me the 'duck' has broken legs. There are several species of Grebe's and they are all just wonderful! This little guy was in his winter plumage, so he doesn't look like the pictures in a lot of reference materials, unless they show the different plumage's.

We also have had two more bats come in. Both of them are Mexican Free-Tail bats. One is doing much better than the other. I don't have pictures of them for this posting, but I will for the next.
We're calling them, Bruce Wayne (I didn't name him) and Sid Vicious (what an attitude).

Last, but not least, we are looking for people to sponsor the newest Red-Tail hawk, Kachina. She will be with us for awhile and this will get expensive. If you're interested, click on the questions tab or go to the donate tab. For each $50 donation, I will send you and sponsorship certificate with her picture. This would also make a great gift for someone that loves animals/wildlife. I'll post a couple of pictures of her. She is the hawk that was found in Eagle Mountain, Utah, almost dead. She's doing great now!
Thanks everyone,
Debbie................
Mark your correspondence titled Kachina for the sponsorships.

A sad note.........

2009-09-30T21:53:00.002-06:00

Today is a sad day here. Iris the Ibis, fought the good fight, but lost her battle today and died. She hung in there, so we did as well, hoping all along that the little bits of 'gain' we were seeing meant she would survive, but with all the fluids and food we put down her, (enough for a bird 3X her size), it just wasn't enough.
We'll miss her and we know she's better off wherever she is at (hopefully Ibis heaven).
Debbie..............

Where are all these bats coming from...............

2009-09-25T17:40:00.007-06:00

I actually know the answer to that question....it's migration and just about everything is on the move preparing for winter. The new bat, the silver haired bat was released successfully and another Western Pipistrelle bat came in and he has since been released as well. Usually, they just need a few days of hydration and food and they can be sent on their way. Thank goodness that is all these two required. Unfortunately there are no pictures of the releases as they were released at nighttime.
I've included a picture of the chipmunks' release here in Price. Hopefully he'll remember this valuable lesson and be more watchful, now that he's been given a second chance.

We have two new patients with us; a first year red-tail hawk from Eagle Mountain, Utah and a first year White-faced Ibis from Santaquin, Utah.
The red-tail, named Kachina by her finder, has an injury to her left humerus that has already healed. I had an x-ray taken to verify what I felt during her intake exam and she's been healing at least 8 weeks at this point. There is no way to fix it, so she is a non-releasable hawk. She was also VERY thin and weak, but is slowly coming up in weight with supportive care. She is actually showing some fight now, which we love and has been tolerating the foods we have been feeding her as she progresses. She needed hydration as well, for several days.
She's like a different hawk! We are working on placement for her once she is healthy enough for that, which will still be a few weeks away.

The Ibis, named Iris by Connie, is a different story. No injuries, but something is seriously wrong. She shows behavior of a neuro nature, whether it is a head injury, which I don't believe is the problem, but more likely something toxic, like a chemical or some natural toxin, like Botulism. Without running many expensive tests, which may or may not give us the answer, the care is pretty much the same. Fluids, fluids and more fluids. We have to get those kidneys flushing out all that they can and hope, the damage isn't permanent. She's so sweet and trusting, it's really hard watching her struggle and I'm sure she is aware of everything that is happening to her which only increases her anxiety level. She is also very thin because of being like this, therefore, not being able to stand and walk to find her food, let alone fly.
I hope we can get her through this.
Debbie.....................

A quick post............

2009-09-16T19:00:00.005-06:00

Well the new bat is a Silver-haired bat. He is absolutely adorable. He's black with his back fur being tipped with silver, sort of like a silver-backed gorilla. What an attitude! Every picture we have has his mouth opened and showing us how scary he is.
We have been giving him sub-cutaneous fluids and feeding him a formula. No broken bones or anything like that.
We also released the chipmunk. I'll have those pictures on the next post.
That's all for now,
Debbie....................

Goodbye Shu, Fremont and Zuma.................

2009-09-13T14:45:00.009-06:00

It's been busy again, strange things coming in. We had a Wanderer Garter snake come in that a cat tangled with. He needed to be treated with antibiotics, so I called my friend Carmen at Best Friends in Kanab, Utah, to find out where to inject meds on a snake. She's the only rehabilitator in Utah that does reptiles, so I followed her advice and he made a successful recovery and was released five days later near the Woodside area of Utah. It's pretty desolate there, no pets or people, but there is some water and a lot of cover for him. I know Connie's happy to see him gone; she did her best, as always and didn't complain, but it was obvious she wasn't thrilled working on a snake. She's a trooper!

A little chipmunk was dropped off at the local DWR office. It turned out to be a Least chipmunk. We still have him or her. She was found in a driveway of a home here in Price, up near our college. It looks like a predator of some kind tried to catch her, but she was able to get away, with part of her tail ripped off. We've have been treating her with antibiotics as well and hope to get her back out to her home in a day or two. What a sweetie! She weighs all of 20 grams if that helps you in picturing her size.

There's been a lot of driving these last couple of weeks. From Utah county and Grand county and back and forth. DWR needs to give me one of their vehicles....yeh, like that will ever happen!

We also got in a bat from near Price. Unfortunately, he did not survive. The people that found him (their dog initially brought the bat to them), then kept him in a room where he could see and hear everything which only makes things worse by adding a huge amount of stress to an already stressful situation. I told the lady that he needed to be moved to a quiet, dark room and she responded "but he's so cute". PEOPLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Then while HANDLING him, he got away and her cat then got him. The poor thing was doomed in this particular situation.
He was a Western Pipistrelle. They are a very small species. The public always calls them 'babies'. People, just because something is small, doesn't make it a baby!
I have another bat on his way here from Ogden. Don't know what kind, only that he was found floating in a pool this morning.

I also picked up a first year sharp-shinned hawk. He had a lot of trauma from hitting something and heavy bruising on his body. He also had two broken wings at the shoulder area and he was thin as well. He died this morning. I was sort of surprised, but not. He showed the signs of serious trauma, besides what we could see. He probably had internal bleeding and that's why he died. We had him on pain medication so I hope we made him comfortable at the very least.

The really big news is, the three eagles, Zuma, Shu and Fremont, are now in Oklahoma. Victor and his wife Lisa drove all the way here and picked them up this past Saturday, the 11th.
What wonderful people! While here, he and I did an interview with the local TV station. I'm glad their journey is at it's conclusion. Three birds, with entirely different stories from different areas around Utah, all in Oklahoma, living with other eagles from all over the country with their own stories, but assuredly all human caused.

Well, the bat just showed up so need to go,
Debbie.................

Yep, Fall migration has started here in the mountain west...

2009-09-05T20:30:00.004-06:00

Yes, it's that time of year. Fall migration! Chances to see things we normally don't the rest of the year. Take the opportunity to look up and see the splendor. Hummingbirds are already coming through so get your feeders cleaned and full. This is also the time of year that we may see the young and older critters having some difficulty, so be alert and should you find an animal that doesn't appear to be injured but is obviously in trouble, call your local wildlife department right away. Don't try to help it yourself, remember, good intentions often kill! If you know of a licensed wildlife rehabilitator, or where the local wildlife department is, and you can transport the animal yourself immediately without jeopardizing yourself or others, then go ahead. Don't try to feed the animal, just secure it and get it to help and when I say help, I don't mean taking it to 'that lady down the street that takes in all kinds of animals', this is wildlife and there are laws protecting them from that sort of thing. They need a "licensed" wildlife rehabilitator with experience with that particular species.

Well, Jasper, the Harris hawk is now in Phoenix and in this post I have the last picture taken the day Diane came to pick him up on her way back to Phoenix. What a wonderful experience it was to have him with us.

We released our last releasable robin a couple of weeks ago. Again at Connie's house, and this time my grandson was able to do the release. It happened so quickly that the only picture I got was of him opening the container. Once that happened, the robin took off and that was it! A great release.

We have had several new patients come in. We had 2 nighthawks come in with terrible injuries and the decision was made to euthanize them. It's a difficult thing, but is sometimes necessary for the animals sake. They are not suffering any longer.
We also picked up a crow that had come from Moab. He was found on the ground and pretty near death. We met a volunteer in Green River, Utah who drove from Moab with the bird and picked him up, but he was dead by the time we got back. It's a very strange case. He was extremely thin and dehydrated, but his right foot had several enormous 'balls' of tissue on the foot and toes. They smelled horrible as did the bird itself. There was no pus or anything like that in the growths, just an odd looking tissue. I removed one of them and I'm going to have our vet take a look at it. These obviously played a roll in his death. He couldn't stand or use that foot for anything and I'm sure he was in a great deal of pain.

Good news! The approval came in for the transfer of the two golden eagles and the bald eagle to the Iowa Tribe in Oklahoma! It sounds like the transfer will take place on the 11th of this month. I'm so glad for the eagles as they need to start their lives in the place they will call home for the rest of their natural lives. The transfer involves Shu, Fremont and Zuma.
More good news; Ivy had her final surgery to remove this last set of pins in her wing. Just prior to the surgery, she started getting up on the high perches, so she was READY to get those out of there! Once the 3 eagles are transferred, we will start working with her wing.
We are still waiting on the OK for the robins to be transferred as well.

Keep your eyes to the skies and enjoy; I know I will!
Debbie...........................

Fly robin, fly.....................

2009-08-25T22:08:00.005-06:00

Just a short update before I hit the pillow.
My computer (both the laptop and PC) have been giving me a headache these last few days so I'm sorry for the delay. We released another robin the other day. Connie released him at her house.
That leaves us with two robins.
Saturday, Diane drove to Phoenix with the Harris hawk AND she (Diane) won't be returning. She's moving back to go to school. She's been very helpful to us and will be missed. Hopefully she can find a group there to volunteer with.
So Jasper, the Harris hawk is now at Adobe Mountain Wildlife Center in Phoenix. He'll be hanging out with other Harris hawks and hopefully will "wild up" so he can go live as a hawk should, in the wild.
Tomorrow, I will be meeting up with Best Friends again. This time, I'll be picking up a couple of their robins that need to hang out with other robins for a little while.
Still waiting on the eagle transfer to Oklahoma and Ivy, the juvenile golden eagle with the pins still in her wing, will be going up to my vet's next week to have surgery to remove those pins.
The pictures in this post are of the robin release.
Debbie................

Goodbye Lionus, robin, Acorn and Berry........

2009-08-09T17:43:00.010-06:00

Well what a week it's been!
We released one of our robins at Connie's house. She has lot's of robins that hang out there so that should be a good place for her.
The last two rock squirrels were also released the same day. We put them in the same area as the others. They were acting so independent prior to the release yet when we let them go, they froze and didn't want to move. We had to coax them and reassure them. I could have just as easily have picked them back up and brought them home again, but that would have been selfish and that is not why we do this. Releases can be very difficult and these little rock squirrel releases definitely were. Goodbye my babies. Remember all that we talked about.

Also, that same day, we released the Peregrine falcon. The trip to the vet's office on Tuesday showed no broken bones or dislocation.

I've included the picture of the x-ray and us at the vet's office. Connie and Dr. Ipsen are working with the bird just before the x-ray. We let him go the next day, close to the area where we picked him up. We first had Tony Wright with DWR come and band him for us.
We band all of our raptors prior to release. They are banded with federally issued bands. We are lucky Tony helped us fight that battle to do this. At first, it was only the eagles, then, they wanted to stop banding entirely, but when it was all over, we were granted banding of ALL our raptors. Yeah!!! So Lionus went back out with some 'bling'.

It was a great release and since I'm NO photographer, I'm lucky I got him in the shot of the toss. Those falcons are little bullets with feathers! There was a short burst of intense flapping, followed by a long soar with a lot of lift and then he was out of sight.

I'm still working on the paperwork for the two golden eagles to be transferred to the Iowa tribe in Oklahoma. Right now it's just a waiting game on my part.

Jasper, the Harris hawk has been approved to go to Arizona. I spoke with the lady at the center where he will be going and they are thrilled to have him. Should he not 'wild up' like we hope, they are definitely interested in him as an educational bird, so either way, he'll have a wonderful life, something he is definitely deserving of and not been used to. I'll keep you posted as things progress for him. I've included some new photo's of him on this post.
We're still feeding several orphan passerines of different species and they are progressing nicely.
Connie has been busy cleaning out the living facilities (mews) that are now empty. It's an ongoing job as soon they'll be housing someone else who needs our help.
Time to go feed the feathered babies again...............

Moving right along.................

2009-08-03T18:20:00.003-06:00

Well the transfer of the Prairie falcon to Best Friends went as planned. I drove to Richfield, Utah and met Erin, one of their WildFriends employees'. She will be there until her new feathers come in and then be released down there, somewhere in southern Utah. I'm happy for her that she'll be able to finally be a free falcon and be exactly what she is meant to be and won't be hanging out with people for their own 'selfish' reasons. I'm not a fan of falconry and make no apologies for it!

I also made contact with Arizona Game and Fish regarding the transfer of the other bird involved in the seizure by our state wildlife officials. That bird, a Harris hawk, will hopefully be going to Phoenix at a facility there where it can hang out with other Harris hawks temporarily. We're working on the paperwork end of that, but hopefully we can get this transfer done in a couple of weeks. Then he'll be closer to the life he deserves as well.

We will be releasing the last 2 squirrels this week. I'll be sure to take lots of photo's and the Peregrine will be going into the vet's tomorrow for his x-rays. Hopefully they will show nothing is broken, just swelling and bruising.
That's all for now.
Debbie.............

So there's this squirrel that walks into a bar.........

2009-07-29T15:47:00.005-06:00

Things are hopping around here. The last 2 squirrel orphans are about a week until they are released. I haven't decided where to release these 2 but they will be released together.
The Peregrine is also doing very well. He is going into the vet's office in Payson next Tuesday. We will get some x-rays and then we'll know more about the severity of his injury. I hope there is nothing broken as he is an adult and more than likely has a mate waiting for him somewhere nearby.
Tomorrow (Thursday), Connie and I will be driving to Richfield to meet up with one of Best Friends volunteers. They will be taking possession of the Prairie falcon that was seized from a falconer here in Price. The bird will be hanging out there, growing in new feathers to replace the old broken ones on her right wing. When they are finished growing in, then she will be checked for her ability to kill successfully and then released there, in southern Utah.
My facility is smaller than Best Friends but we see pretty much the same number of patients in rehab each year, so since the Prairie falcon doesn't need anything medically, just time, they have more space to allow that to happen. We have a good working relationship and help each other out whenever possible. Their head rehabilitator (my equivalent) is Carmen Smith. What a sharp gal! When Utah changed their protocol for those wanting to be rehabilitators and not just a sub-permittee any longer, I was the first one to take the test (and pass) and Carmen was the second. That's how we became acquainted and I thank Suzanne McMullin for that!

We released the ring-neck dove we had in rehab this week. Something, I think a cat, had got ahold of the poor thing and it was in terrible shape; missing a lot of important flight feathers and puncture wounds and tears. With some antibiotics and time, she's now out flying around, being a dove!
Yeah!!!

We're still working on the transfers for our bald eagle Shu to New York and the 2 American robins to Florida. I hate this part of rehab! Paperwork, yuk!

We also got in a little mystery bird, that has now been identified as a Willow flycatcher. What a sweet little thing. It was found, orphaned, in the desert on an ATV trail. The people that found him/her are from St George, Utah, but know me from a few years back when they brought me a hummingbird. Lucky for this little bird that they were the ones that found her and contacted me and where able to get the bird out of there right away. I've included a picture of her compared to a quarter to give you an idea of her size. That's full grown! She shouldn't be with us for long. I just need to introduce her to bugs any day now.
All of the eagles are doing great, eating us out of house and home. We had a local man donate some game meat to us the other day. It's not a lot, but it will sure help out and we can space out the quail feedings a little bit for a week or so until that meat is gone. The quail are $25 per bag of 10, without shipping and we go through 1 1/2 bags a day. Eagles are big birds and they eat a LOT of meat! That's why we're constantly looking for donations. We're not sitting around eating bon-bon's that we buy with the donations- we're buying food necessary for our patients and medicines that they require to heal. No one GIVES this stuff to us, unfortunately, but we have to buy it and the same goes for everything we use and need to do this job.
Well, I think that covers all of the patients that are currently with us.
I'll get pictures tomorrow of the transfer and include them in the next post.
Debbie..................

And on it goes and where did this heat come from?

2009-07-19T23:11:00.004-06:00

Hey everyone,
It's been pretty steady here, releases and new patients.
I'll update first.
All the original rock squirrels are now released. We loved them and kissed them and gave them lot's of reassurance. Still, it was hard. I hope they'll make lots of little baby squirrels.

The other two rock squirrels from Salt Lake are doing great. My grandson named them Berry and Acorn. They are down to 3 feedings of squirrel formula a day and eating well on their own the rest of the time. Their teeth and jaws are finally mature enough to crack hard shells on nuts. Aren't they cute! They get a variety of food every day, just like the others did.
We're still caring for 2 non-releasable robins. I'm hoping to send them to Florida, but it's not a sure thing. It's getting very expensive feeding them. Both have wing injuries that prevent perfect flight so therefore cannot go back to the wild.
Unfortunately the transfer for Shu to Pennsylvania was denied. There was something about the persons permits there that my region in Denver disapproved of. Very frustrating. Now we start at square one all over!
The newest Eagle, Rojo, is doing very well. He is very aggressive and holds his own in the flight with the other four eagles.
Ivy will go up to the vets here in a couple of weeks and I hope, the pins in her wing can finally be removed. Remember, this is the third set of pins.
Fremont's amputation is still healing. He's doing well and gets along well with the other eagles.
Zuma still has some swelling below the injury on that one wing. Hopefully this will resolve itself with time, which we have plenty of.
Cleopatra's tests came back. No heavy metal poisoning and the other chemistry's looked good. The skin biopsy also came back and it is some sort of allergic reaction. Odd!
When I take her in to Salt Lake to have her eye's looked at by a specialist, I will also have them look at that area of her skin. The clinic has eye and skin specialists for animals. Great, huh!
Her feathers sure look rough where the skin is irritated and thick. They also have an odd shape to them.
I've included pictures of the two birds seized by wildlife resources here in Price from a scary falconer. The Harris hawk is the dark brown bird and the other is the Prairie falcon. The state agreed with my assessment and has given me permission to carry out my plans for the two birds.
This will take some time as each bird has different needs. I'll keep you posted on their situations.
We also got in an adult male Peregrine falcon two days ago. He has some trauma to his right wing. It's bruised and swollen so it's hard to tell without an x-ray if it's broken, so I'll need to take him to the vet's to get that done. He's a little thin since he couldn't get off the ground to hunt. Right now we are tube feeding him. Tomorrow, I hope to start him on some cleaned meat (no feathers, fur or bones). He's just beautiful. I've included his picture in this post. We've named him Lionus as he is always pulling his blankets out from his kennel when we need to take him out to feed.
Everyone, help us by forwarding this blog site on to your friends and others or even creating a link to your blog sites or web-sites. The more eyes that read this the better for our patients and what they need while in our care.
Thanks everyone,
Debbie.......................

Help us help them..........................

2009-07-03T21:13:00.004-06:00

I hope to include several pictures with today's post. We've continued to stay busy and it's hot and muggy around here.
We managed to get Zuma to the vet's office today in Payson, Utah. I also took up Cleopatra, the golden that went through a windshield with no visible problems. Zuma's wing looks a bit better, but there is still some edema in that wing where the injury took place. The vet said he believes with some time, possibly a year, it will resolve and stabilize. My concern is for Zuma's comfort. We will have to watch him closely for any signs of pain or depression related to his inability to fly up to perches. His desire to stay alive is what I'm most concerned for. As long as he's willing to try, so are we.
Cleo, has several issues as to why we took her to the vets. I wanted to confirm my findings that she has no broken bones and I was right. So this is good. She does have some swelling in one ear canal with bruising, I'm sure related to the collision. She seems to be having some difficulty, not much, but Connie had noticed some balance issues. This could be related to the ear problem. The vet speculated it could also be a residual problem from the West Nile Virus she had 3 years earlier. I don't think that is the case. She showed none of these signs prior to her release back then and believe me, we look for those things with West Nile. He took some blood and x-rays. Part of the blood work is also looking for heavy metal toxicity. This could also explain a 'balance' problem. Better just rule it out from the start. I also had him perform some other tests for overall health issues. She also had a skin scraping done and a skin biopsy sent out for analysis.
She has something going on with her skin. It looks very 'crusty' and uncomfortable. Not sure what it is....but I hope the biopsy will tell us something since the skin scraping did not.
She's eating well and has a lot of fight in her.
Since the last posting we also took in a Big Brown bat. He was weak and couldn't fly. We hydrated him and fed him for a few days and let him go. What a cutie!
Our 5 rock squirrels are much bigger now and almost ready for release. What a rowdy bunch!
We have two new baby rock squirrels. I've included their pictures with this post. They are both little girls. What sweeties. They are currently getting 5 feedings a day of formula and eating a little solid food on their own. When we introduced them to the bigger rock squirrels, well, they (the 2 newest ones) didn't care for those "other guys", so the intro came to an abrupt end.
We've taken in numerous songbirds, mostly cat attack victims but others are orphans due to their nest falling or them falling out OF their nest.
When taking the 2 eagles to the vet's office today, we released the two Magpie's, both together in Spanish Fork Canyon. We (and they) sure pissed off a couple of robins almost immediately.
Well, it looks like we may have found a home for Shu, the bald eagle that is non-releasable. There is a gentleman I have been speaking with about the possible transfer in Philadelphia. It sounds like a great match and hopefully we can work out the specifics fairly soon.
Last, but not least, we took in another golden eagle last week. This one came from the 'Needles' area of eastern Utah. It's a baby, and the nest was somewhere in some high cliffs, so we can't get him back into the nest. I'll most likely get him x-rayed as well, just to confirm he didn't break anything falling out of the nest. He has a wonderful disposition. He thinks he's big and bad and tries to convince us of that all the time. He has a lot of that red dirt from that area in his feathers and ground into his skin. It looks like rust, so we're calling him Rojo. I've included his picture as well in this post.
Folks, remember, everything we do for these creatures takes money so any help would be greatly appreciated and thanks to Jimmy and Eva for your support. You guys are great!
Debbie

A slow Sunday means time to update..............

2009-06-21T15:00:00.004-06:00

What a gray dreary day. It's been raining like crazy for the last week. I hear this is the wettest June in a LONG time. Feels like Seattle....
Well, today I've included release photo's of the Red tree squirrels. I took a lot of pic's but trying to take a picture of a living squirrel is, well, like trying to keep up with any other rodent on the move!
We also took in 2 more orphaned rock squirrels, but these little guys are so much smaller than the others, so they can't be together. We were not sure if they were going to make it. They are in bad shape, but just last night, they started eating much better and are becoming more active. They came in at about 57 grams in weight. The others were 68 grams when they came in and are now around 240 grams. I'm already dreading the day they are to be released. I've become very attached to them. I'll be very happy for them, being free at last, but it's sad when they're gone for good. This is one of the struggles a wildlife rehabilitator has to deal with every day. Still, I'm glad to have been a part of their lives. That experience is mine and will always be with me. I'm very lucky!

Ivy went to the vet's last week and had her pins removed only to have to have others put back in. She has now gone through five surgeries. The two broken ends of the ulna have not yet fused as they should. These new pins should be able to come out in about 8 weeks. This bird is just amazing. All she has been through and to keep fighting.
I'll be taking Zuma back in to the vet's in the next week or two. He has fluid building up in his wing below the break. This edema hasn't eased up like it should have, so we need Jay to look at it and determine what's causing it and if it is anything to be concerned over.
Diane released two of our orphaned robins as they were ready to be on their own. She did a great job with them, teaching them to eat worms, fruit and all kinds of robin favorites. I've also included a photo from our Meadowlark's release at Desert Lake in Emery county.

We got in a new golden eagle this last week. This one went through the windshield of a jeep on highway 10 near Hiawatha, still in Carbon county. Amazingly, this bird appears to have no broken bones. Also, she has one of my bands on her. She has been in rehab before, here with us around 3 years ago from the West Nile virus. The area where she was hit is close to where she was found the first time, back in 2006. This is one tough girl. She's about 4 years old now.
I am going to have her eye's looked at by a specialist in Salt Lake who donates her services to us. With an impact like that, she may have a detached retina or two. That appointment will be later on.
Everyone else is doing great as well.
Until next time,
Debbie......................

FINALLY SOME TIME FOR AN UPDATE..........

2009-06-16T16:57:00.005-06:00

Well, today is a little slower so I have time to post.
Orphan season is still in full swing. We have released several robins, our Meadowlark, the Red tree squirrels, Starlings, House finches and I'm sure I've missed something on the list!
It's pretty much all a blur without looking at records.
We now have 2 new hawks in our care, both of which were seized by the state of Utah, Department of Wildlife Resources. They had belonged to a local falconer that is pretty scary. One is a female Prairie falcon, the other is a male Harris hawk. My job is to evaluate them both and notify the state of my opinion. Hopefully we can get them both back into the wild where they belong!
Ivy, the female golden eagle, goes for surgery tomorrow. Her pins will be removed and then we can truly learn if she will be releasable, which of course, is our goal. This will be her third surgery.
Both the boys, Zuma and Fremont are still doing well, healing and hanging out together.
We now have two Magpie's in rehab. They are getting along great! I believe we have both a male and a female. The smaller of the two, which I believe is female, has an injury to her right hip area. The bones are not involved, but the is a huge hole looking down into her body. We're treating her for infection and trying to get that hole to close up. At least she has a buddy which is very important for any of the corvid family. They do not do well alone.
We also have a litter of orphaned Rock squirrels. They came in at deaths door. In fact, I'd bet the lady that brought them in to us probably thinks they have died. This little guy has no shame. How adorable!
They have done very well and look wonderful. They still have a couple of weeks in rehab to bulk up and then they will be released together, just like the tree squirrels.
I had some people from the states' wildlife department come to meet me and get my thoughts on rehabilitation here in Utah and what my concerns were.
Hopefully it wasn't just lip service, but supposedly things are suppose to get a little better, cooperation wise, between we rehabilitators and the DWR (wildlife department). I'll believe it when I see it. I know how these different offices work. They are all DWR, but you'd never know it. They all do whatever they want, enforce the laws they want, not enforce the laws they want and so on. It's ridiculous.
I'll include some squirrel pics's today, but the release pics, well, I'll save those for next time. I will include Bubble's release pic's today from Desert Lake in Emery County, Utah.
Thanks for checking in,
Debbie