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

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...............

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............

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.................

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...

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...........................