COLD, TOO MUCH SNOW and we're still busy!

Hello everyone.
I think this year's snow is going to beat last years. My husband has had to shovel pathways to the outside enclosures and make sure the doors are not blocked as well. I'm sure our turkey vulture is thinking "I'd rather be in Mexico" which is where he should normally be this time of year. Poor Walter!
Well, the eagle I spoke about last post that died (we named him Aries), did die from multiple problems, including lead toxicity. The test results came in last Friday. This poor bird suffered greatly. Hind site tells me euthanasia would have prevented prolonged suffering, but we always hope we can overcome some of these situations.
The newest eagle, who's name is now Shu which is the Egyptian name for the god of the air, is
struggling to stay alive. It's been 1 step forward and 2 steps back. He's still getting medications for pain and infection. The apparatus in his wing where the break was is sobering. At this point it's sort of a" Frankenbird" look. I've included some photo's of Shu and I will have photo's on the next post of the surgery. Keep him in your prayers as he needs all the help he can get! This guy is a 1-2 year old bald eagle, here on vacation from way up north, he is not a resident. Debbie

Don't forget the wildlife this Christmas......

With all there is to be thankful for this Christmas season, don't forget those around you that are as needy as any child. Support your local animal shelters, rescue groups and wildlife rehabilitators. As a friend and fellow wildlife rehabilitator once said to me, "we never have happy customers". That's true a great deal of the time, my scars prove it, as do my volunteer Connie's scar's. But I believe these creatures do know that we are trying to help, at least the most critical of animals do. You see that pain, suffering and yes, sometimes the gratitude. Their souls reach out to connect on a deeper level. We suffer with them and when they win their fight, we rejoice with them. Help us to help them.
Now an update,
Glory, the adult female golden eagle, had her repeat blood work and things are much better. We have been giving her fluids every evening. We did this orally with a feeding tube. I have included a picture of us doing this one evening. She is non-releasable, and will be going to the Zuni tribe in Zuni, New Mexico. I believe she will be the 5th or 6th eagle they have of mine. They have a huge facility, one of only 2 in the U.S. for non-releasable eagles. Their permits are for education and they gather the feathers for their ceremonies.

Merle, the male adult golden eagle is ready to be released. We are just waiting for a day where the weather is good for release.

We released Vidor, our female Great Horned owl. My volunteer in Moab conditioned her for flight and we let her go Friday, December the 19th about 25 miles from here near East Carbon. An angry raven appeared just after Vidor landed in a tree. Poor Vidor was harassed by the raven for quite some time but it was a successful release!
Butters, our male Great Horned owl, is now in Moab. He is getting conditioned for his release. Normally, I would do this in my flight, but it is currently holding the 2 golden eagles, so Dave has been good to do this for me. Butters will be there for a few weeks.

We also have a new red-tail hawk in our care. He came in with a broken right leg, however, the leg had already healed, not perfectly aligned, but good enough. This meant that he had not been able to hunt for a while, so was very thin and dehydrated. He's coming along well and gaining weight finally. Today, we put him outside for a while, getting him used to the outside temperatures again. I brought him in tonight and we will adhere to this routine for a few days and then he'll be outside all the time, working on his strength to fly. His name is Lefty and there are a couple of pictures included with this post. He is a second year red-tail.

Walter, the turkey vulture is still looking for a home. I was hoping to have him somewhere before the end of the year, but it appears that will not be the case.
He's a cutie!

We did get in another young golden eagle, from near Blanding, Utah. This bird died and at this point, it appears to be lead poisoning. This poor eagle suffered greatly, but it's over now. I'll find out more tomorrow at my vet's office when I go to pick up our newest patient, a young bald eagle.
He is a sub-adult bald eagle. This means he is around 2 years old. Unfortunately, he will not be released. He came from the Green River area of Utah. He was shot twice, once in his right wing and the other in the abdomen. He has already had surgery and will be a patient for quite some time. Yes people, idiots still do exist and still shoot at eagles. Raptors are an unfortunate target for the smallest of minds amongst us of which there are plenty of in our area.
I'll keep everyone posted on his recovery. There is an open felony case for this bird, so hopefully, someday, this idiot is found and prosecuted.
Merry Christmas everyone......

Well now we know...........

Well, we were able to get the new eagle (Glory) up to our regular wildlife vet in Payson, Utah. His name is Jay Ipsen at the Family Pet Hospital in Payson. He's great! He took x-rays and I asked him to take some blood for some testing. Connie went up there with me, so she did all the holding.
Since then, we now know what's going on with Glory. First of all, her feet are as bad as they look. The left one is the worst and you can visually see that. The problem stems from an injury about 1 month old. There are a lot of bone spurs as a result of that injury and healing around it. The foot cannot be "fixed" so we need to get the sores healed on her feet and that's the best we can do for them.
He blood work showed other problems including liver and kidney problems and infection. We don't know if the infection is related to the foot or something separate, but she has been on antibiotics since we took possession of her and she will remain on them for possibly 2 more weeks. We're also giving her a lot of fluids orally every evening through a stainless steal tube called a gavage needle. Hopefully this will help her kidneys work better.
I've actually seen a lot of patients with no obvious problems, just in"terrible shape", have these same problems when we get their blood work back.
We will take her back to the vets in a couple of weeks and have the tests repeated, just to see if she is improving. Hopefully she will improve and her behavior should be a good indicator of that before we take her back for that appointment.
Merle got his "bling" a few days ago (his federal leg band) and is now ready. I need to present live food to him and have him successfully kill that before his release, but he is much stronger and feeling much better. Oddly enough, his blood work that was taken right after he came into rehab looked very similar to Glorys' results, so there is hope!
Debbie

Finally, an update...........

Well, the meetings in Salt Lake regarding the lack of coverage in that area for wildlife rehabilitation are progressing. There is still not a clear cut answer to the problem, however, there is a new possibility for future rehab in that area. The Utah Career College in West Jordan apparently has a vet tech program that is interested in wildlife rehabilitation. Now, being a vet tech certainly doesn't qualify one to do wildlife rehab, but it's a start and they are willing and in the process of applying for all permits and licenses required. I believe they will be working hand-in-hand with the Ogden Nature Center's wildlife rehab center. We're looking at next summer for them to start assisting in this adventure. The vet that is part of the vet tech program is very supportive of this endeavor and assisting the rest of us in the future. They will be building a new facility with this in mind.

We have a few new patients with us. We also had an immature Coopers hawk come in, unfortunately he died after a great deal of effort in trying to save his life. He was so thin and weak and our efforts in tubing him still couldn't turn him around. The first year of life is always the most difficult for all of wildlife. They are not experienced like their parents in obtaining their food and often this results in death. Finding food and killing it, (if you're a predator) burns a lot of calories and that in turn means a big demand for food.

We also now have a little Western Screech owl. He came in with head trauma that has resulted in detached retinas so he cannot be released. He is partially sited so I made the decision to place him into an education program at the Hogle Zoo in Salt Lake City. I hope he'll do well there.

Goshen, the Barn owl was transfered and those pictures are here in this post. Carmen Smith, from Best Friends Animal Society in Kanab, Utah is the one holding him and placing him in the carrier while I took the photo's.




Our trip to the vet specialist for Merle, the golden eagle, went well. The clouding on his lenses are not cataracts, but a normal process to do aging. We are going to test his killing ability (sight wise) and if that goes well, then he will be released.
He has been hanging out with our newest golden eagle. She came from San Juan county. Her name is Glory. She has a foot condition known as pododematitis. The left foot is particularly bad. She saw a vet in Salt Lake for the foot and we're doing everything she suggested. This condition takes a long time to resolve. Tomorrow, she will go to my regular vet in Payson and get her foot x-rayed and possibly some blood work will be done. She also had a heavy case of lice, typical for being down on the ground for some time. We have been treating her for that as well. Today is her last dose of medication for that. I feel there is more to her problems than just her feet, although they are bad enough.
I had a hunter come by a few weeks ago with a great deal of elk meat. This sure has been helpful with 2 eagles to feed.
Everyone else is doing well.
Thanks for checking in. Please leave your comments as this let's me know people are still interested in our work.
Debbie