Finally have a moment to update a few things................ Our last two Kestrels are now together in a small flight. I'm having trouble finding smaller mice to kill test them, but it will happen here soon.
Fall migration has already started, so our Swainsons hawk needs to get kill tested quickly since she will need to leave the area and head to Argentina, where Swainsons hawks head for the winter.
She came in from an area in Utah where wildfires were burning and most likely had been separated from her parents during this critical time. She is strong and well-fleshed at this point, so it's time for 'mouse school'.
This has been a very busy year.
A lot of complex cases. It's been hot and everything is running about 6 weeks early all around the country as far as weather and wild animals natural behavior. Courtships and nesting and so on. That makes for several clutches for many species of birds and mammals, (litters). It looks like our area is also going to be in line for a wetter than average winter......
All of our Great Horned owls are out in our flight, strengthening their flight muscles and building endurance. They have also been learning to kill. There are 6 owls that will be leaving us soon. I've included pic's of them in the flight.
Cuties, aren't they?
We had 3 Barn owl orphans this year and they have already been released. We took them to an area in Carbon county called Hiawatha and released them there.
Goodbye my angels...............................
We still have one other Barn owl that came in from Salt Lake County after being caught up in fishing line and stuck upside down in a tree. There is damage from that injury but we were able to restore blood supply to that area with cold laser therapy. She had treatments every other day for 2 weeks. Then, she started chewing on the area.......frustrating. So we have circulation in that area, but now we are having to wrap that area so she will leave it alone while healing from the chewing. Two steps forward and one step back!
We were lucky to have a local chiropractic office donate their time and services to this Barn owl and a Great Horned owl that came in after getting caught on a barbed wire fence near the Colorado/Utah border.
Instead of cutting the barbed wire to get the owl off, the land owner cut the owl off the fence instead. Initially, we were concerned over how much tissue was missing. It was pretty nasty, but no vital tendons or muscles were involved. The outer skin and feathers were gone however. We used the cold laser therapy with this owl as well to help the tissue heal.
Amazingly, with continuous bandage changes and natural treatments, they wing has healed! We are hoping that the vital feathers that were affected by the continues bandage wrappings will grow out unaffected. Time will only tell. We are calling that Great Horned owl, Honey and she is also a first year bird. I'm including a series of pic's of Honeys wing during her treatments.
There is, of course, more, but it will take time loading all the pic's I'd like to include, so that's all I'm going to post for now. Thanks for checking in with us. Remember, we also have a Facebook page that I update frequently. Just go to Second Chance Wildlife Rehabilitation and it will come up.
Thanks,
Debbie
She came in from an area in Utah where wildfires were burning and most likely had been separated from her parents during this critical time. She is strong and well-fleshed at this point, so it's time for 'mouse school'.
This has been a very busy year.
A lot of complex cases. It's been hot and everything is running about 6 weeks early all around the country as far as weather and wild animals natural behavior. Courtships and nesting and so on. That makes for several clutches for many species of birds and mammals, (litters). It looks like our area is also going to be in line for a wetter than average winter......
All of our Great Horned owls are out in our flight, strengthening their flight muscles and building endurance. They have also been learning to kill. There are 6 owls that will be leaving us soon. I've included pic's of them in the flight.
Cuties, aren't they?
We had 3 Barn owl orphans this year and they have already been released. We took them to an area in Carbon county called Hiawatha and released them there.
Goodbye my angels...............................
We still have one other Barn owl that came in from Salt Lake County after being caught up in fishing line and stuck upside down in a tree. There is damage from that injury but we were able to restore blood supply to that area with cold laser therapy. She had treatments every other day for 2 weeks. Then, she started chewing on the area.......frustrating. So we have circulation in that area, but now we are having to wrap that area so she will leave it alone while healing from the chewing. Two steps forward and one step back!
Instead of cutting the barbed wire to get the owl off, the land owner cut the owl off the fence instead. Initially, we were concerned over how much tissue was missing. It was pretty nasty, but no vital tendons or muscles were involved. The outer skin and feathers were gone however. We used the cold laser therapy with this owl as well to help the tissue heal.
There is, of course, more, but it will take time loading all the pic's I'd like to include, so that's all I'm going to post for now. Thanks for checking in with us. Remember, we also have a Facebook page that I update frequently. Just go to Second Chance Wildlife Rehabilitation and it will come up.
Thanks,
Debbie
