So the craziness continues.
We have taken in many more birds and been able to do a few releases. We look forward.to the releases as that is the 'pay off' for our work. We want successful patients BACK where they belong after taking care of their injuries and illnesses and preparing them for their lives in the wild. In order to do this successfully, we have to know WHAT it is that animal does in the wild, what it's niche is. Then we have to be sure they can carry out this life, as intended. There is a great deal to wildlife rehabilitation. Many fields of expertise are required to do this correctly. I love being a part of this profession. It's a life long learning situation, as it should be.
We are currently caring for six Golden Eagles. We have two that we know can never be returned to the wild, due to their injuries. We will hopefully be able to place these two individuals, with one of the Native Eagle Aviaries in the country, permitted to take non-releasable eagles. Our newest Golden will be having surgery this Thursday for a fractured humerus in his right wing.
He is a new fledgling Golden Eagle and should do well in surgery. Obviously, we hope he heals well and can eventually go back into the wild.
We have also taken in two gunshot victims. One, a Swainson's hawk from Salt Lake County and the other, a Red-Tail Hawk from San Juan County. Both have been turned over to our state's wildlife officials in order for cases to be opened up and investigated. The Red-Tail hawk is in poor condition as the initial gunshot happened between 10-14 days ago. The bird has been unable to hunt and therefore is very thin and dehydrated. The wound is also infected. My job with him, at this point, is to get him stronger and take care of that infection and manage his pain.
We are getting ready to release a Ferruginous hawk that came to us from Monticello, Utah with 'failure to thrive' issues.
Since coming to us, this bird has recovered nicely and has kill tested successfully. He is very aggressive, which we love! We had him banded yesterday with his federal band so tomorrow will be the day we take him back to that area of Utah to be released.
He was initially found sitting in a canoe on a womans property. There was a little bit of water that had collected there in the canoe and I'm sure he was there to drink it. He was very thin, dehydrated and weak.
Our Barn owl is about ready to be released as well. She has already been banded. We intend to let her go near here at an area known as Desert Lake. It's a great area for an owl and she should do well. She also kill tested successfully.
We admitted a Long-Eared owl recently. This little guy came to us from the town of Ferron, Utah. He has head trauma, but we can find nothing else.
We are giving him anti-inflammatories to help with the pressure in his brain. He is sure feisty for a head injury guy, but that's good with us! Hopefully, his stay with us won't be a long one, depending on that head injury and any long term effects.
We also took in another Swainson's Hawk, this one from Summit County that appears to have been electrocuted. There is some trauma to one of the feet/toes that we need to be concerned about, but x-rays showed no broken bones.
We have him on antibiotics and pain medication. These hawks will collectively be migrating down to Argentina soon, as they winter there and then return in Spring.
Hopefully, we can get him back into good condition before they start migrating through Utah. If not, he will have to 'winter over' with us until Spring.
Also, we released our little cat caught Robin yesterday. This bird was mangled. I haven't seen many in the shape he was in, survive. He did very well and with new feather growth, happily took off. I'm glad the people brought him to us immediately, instead of minimizing the problem so that we could start antibiotics immediately. This was crucial to saving his life.
We have many more patients, but no more time for blogging. Thanks for checking in.
Debbie.............................................
We have taken in many more birds and been able to do a few releases. We look forward.to the releases as that is the 'pay off' for our work. We want successful patients BACK where they belong after taking care of their injuries and illnesses and preparing them for their lives in the wild. In order to do this successfully, we have to know WHAT it is that animal does in the wild, what it's niche is. Then we have to be sure they can carry out this life, as intended. There is a great deal to wildlife rehabilitation. Many fields of expertise are required to do this correctly. I love being a part of this profession. It's a life long learning situation, as it should be.
We are currently caring for six Golden Eagles. We have two that we know can never be returned to the wild, due to their injuries. We will hopefully be able to place these two individuals, with one of the Native Eagle Aviaries in the country, permitted to take non-releasable eagles. Our newest Golden will be having surgery this Thursday for a fractured humerus in his right wing.
We have also taken in two gunshot victims. One, a Swainson's hawk from Salt Lake County and the other, a Red-Tail Hawk from San Juan County. Both have been turned over to our state's wildlife officials in order for cases to be opened up and investigated. The Red-Tail hawk is in poor condition as the initial gunshot happened between 10-14 days ago. The bird has been unable to hunt and therefore is very thin and dehydrated. The wound is also infected. My job with him, at this point, is to get him stronger and take care of that infection and manage his pain.
We are getting ready to release a Ferruginous hawk that came to us from Monticello, Utah with 'failure to thrive' issues.
Our Barn owl is about ready to be released as well. She has already been banded. We intend to let her go near here at an area known as Desert Lake. It's a great area for an owl and she should do well. She also kill tested successfully.
We admitted a Long-Eared owl recently. This little guy came to us from the town of Ferron, Utah. He has head trauma, but we can find nothing else.
We also took in another Swainson's Hawk, this one from Summit County that appears to have been electrocuted. There is some trauma to one of the feet/toes that we need to be concerned about, but x-rays showed no broken bones.
Also, we released our little cat caught Robin yesterday. This bird was mangled. I haven't seen many in the shape he was in, survive. He did very well and with new feather growth, happily took off. I'm glad the people brought him to us immediately, instead of minimizing the problem so that we could start antibiotics immediately. This was crucial to saving his life.
We have many more patients, but no more time for blogging. Thanks for checking in.
Debbie.............................................
