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

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..........

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

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