Needing a financial boost right now.

Hey folks,
Everything we do here takes money.  The vet, medications and food are the three main things.  The only way we can do this is with donations.  All wildlife rehabilitation in the country is done through donations.  USFW or the individual states do not financially help any of us at all.  Call your wildlife agency and talk to the director, they will tell you.  Even people within these agencies believe that we are paid something by them, but they just are like the public and assume this.  This is why I say, if you want to check out the facts, ask for the director.  They know the story.  We are still full from the winter and it's already getting busy around here.  Help if you can!  We sure could use it and Thank you in advance.

Enjoy!

http://youtu.be/iSfWz7hhTKM

A cold January day for everyone....................at least it's sunny!

This winter has been odd.  Very cold but hardly any snow.  Down in Utah and Salt Lake counties, the inversions keep everything gray and dirty.  We are high enough in the mountains that we don't see any of that.  We really do need the snow for our water usage however............what a dilemma.  It's also been odd for the wildlife in our care.  Usually, we have just a few patients during the winter months, but this year we have been full.  Much of the critters in our care are here waiting for decisions and paperwork from the feds so they are just waiting on them.  We recently released one of our Coopers Hawks that has been with us for quite a while.  She came in as a first year bird and was extremely thin.  I don't thing she would have lived another 2 days.  She suffered from 2 different blood parasites which caused this problem and for a long time, no matter how much food she ate, she did not thrive and this was a great concern.  Then, months later, she started gaining weight at acting fiesty and things just took a drastic turn for her for the better.  We obviously were hoping at some point we could release her and now, this looked like a possibility.  Earlier in January of this year, we drove her to Moab where the weather is better during winter months and many passerines don't migrate as a result so there will be food year round for her.  We released her near town and she took off, hiding in the dense overgrowth, just like an ambush predator should.  We hope the best for her and possibly a mate and babies in the future.

Connie with the Coopers Hawk on day of release

Coopers Hawk now free in Moab, just after toss

We also released a Golden eagle of ours that had come in last year with West Nile Virus.  She needed time and supportive care and was able to survive that bout and now was strong enough to release.  We kill tested her just to make sure her vision hadn't suffered as many West Nile victims can.  She did well and we decided to put her down near Boulder Mountain in Wayne or Garfield county so that's where we took her.  She flew off very well despite extra weight.  I tend to over feed my patients......must be the Italian in me.  ;o)

Getting her USFW band

We took in a Northern Pintail duck that has a severely fractured right wing wrist joint.  Unfortunately, he cannot be released because of this injury, but once we can that joint stable, Tracy Aviary in Salt Lake City has offered to take him.  He will be living in a huge pond area where he has free range and can do what he wants, when he wants!  It's a great opportunity for him and we are so grateful for their offer to take him.  Hopefully we can make the transfer happen by the first week of February or so.

We are working with a Red-Tail hawk that came in from near the Utah Colorado border after being struck by a car.  This bird has no fractures but did have head trauma.  We have a volunteer in Moab that is a falconer, so he is working with this bird for us to determine if he can now be released.  Hopefully we will have an answer in the next week or so.  At some point, we will be taking him another Red-Tail hawk, this one is a juvenile female.  She came in with a fractured humerus and needed surgery.  She had that surgery and now, it's time to work that wing and see what she can do.  The fracture was mid-shaft so we are anticipating no problems with her range of motion with that wing.  Both of these birds will need to come back to Price to be banded for release should it be determined that's what will happen.  As rehabilitators, that is ALWAYS what we hope for.  This is what is BEST for THEM.

Red-Tail from near Utah Colorado border

Thanks for catching up on things around here.  We are busy as usual, but this winter has been busier than any I've seen before....................don't know what that means.  I hope it's not a trend.
Debbie

Finally!

Well it's been a long while since my last post.  I had a heart attack back in July and had to have by-pass surgery.  Then, I developed complications from a staph infection and had two more surgeries.  I have not been able to do much of anything, so our operations, from day-to-day were run by Connie, my sub-permittee.  That's a lot of work and I'm so grateful for her help.  I am back home now, but not 100% by any means and probably won't be for some time.  I'll catch up a bit for now.
We still have several animals with us and for this time of year, that is unusual.
Our newest patient is an American Crow.  He was found in Utah County with a terrible injury to the hand portion of his left wing.  It had already been healing for at least 10 days, so it looks like the little guy won't be releasable.  This makes 3 Crows we have now, that are non-releasable.  The other two, I paired up as Corvids don't do well by themselves and those two are now bonded so we are looking for an educational opportunity for them where they can go together.  I don't think they would do well being handled, so they will be 'display' birds.  They enjoy each others company very much.

Our Great Blue Heron also found a good placement with Tracy Aviary in Salt Lake City.  He had surgery here due to a grouping of small fractures in the hand of his right wing.  Unfortunately, due to the blood supply being minimized to the rest of the wing after calcification started taking place, he lost that portion of his wing.  We waited for the right opportunity for him and it happened.  This is the Aviaries' only Great Blue Heron.

We had a great deal of Ring Neck doves
 this year.  Fortunately, they have all been released.  Many of these birds come in 'cat caught' and have horrible injuries.  We have had several chicks still in the nest this year so having some older doves helped with the babies and the language they needed to learn.

We've had a lot of Golden eagles as usual and still have 4 in our care now and 1 down at Best Friends in southern Utah, using their 100 foot flight.  Sadly, it was determined, through a lot of watching and time that she cannot go back to the wild.  She had been hit by a car near the Colorado border earlier this year and although she can fly, she just can't fly well enough to be released into the wild and survive.  We are making arrangements for her and hopefully, within the next month, she will be in a facility in Oklahoma with other non-releasable Golden eagles from throughout the country.

This juvenile eagle will be released as soon as we can determine she is ready to go.  She is a West Nile Virus victim.

This juvenile eagle will be ready to go once we get his conditioning complete.  He came in from near Moab shortly after fledging off of his nest.  He was struck by a vehicle on the busy highway but had no broken bones.

I believe 3 of the 4 eagles we are in possession of here at the main facility WILL be releasable.  The one that I believe cannot be released, was hit by a vehicle as well.  This is the most common reason eagles come to us.  They cannot move out of the way quickly as they are large birds.  This makes things hazardous out on fast moving roads for these giants.  So please stop and think when you see one on the side of the road or right on the road and make adjustments for yourself, keeping in mind that they are what they are and cannot move quickly.

A little PoorWhill that came in earlier this year.

Connie has released a lot of birds this summer.  Owls, hawks and many passerines and waterfowl as well.

A Red-Tail hawk that came in earlier this year.  Released by Connie.

A Swainsons hawk that came in after being held by the finder.  This bird had a horrible maggot infestation in her infected wing.  Since she was not able to be released in time for Fall migration, we transferred her to DaLyn Erickson in northern Utah to winter there as she (DaLyn) had other Swainsons she was wintering over.

An adult female Coopers hawk that came in with a severe wing injury.  She will not be able to be released so we are trying to get her placed into a program at Cornell University in New York where she will be allowed to have a mate and make babies.  All offspring will be released back into the wild in that area.

Our cute little Night Hawk nestlings found near the airport here in Price.

On the 1st of December, I will be driving to Logan, Utah to meet a volunteer from Cody, Wyoming and the Buffalo Bill Museum up there.  They have raptors for educational purposes and have one of our past non-releasable Great Horned owls.  They provide education for the general public and schools.  They will be taking possession of an American Kestrel from us that came in with an eye injury that took his sight away.  He can no longer hunt properly so he will also be and educational bird for the group up there.  We are so happy that he will have a wonderful place to live.
Well, so much for now,
Debbie.........................