A short post.......

Hello everyone. It's been a very busy 10 days or so. The release went well with Lefty, the red-tail hawk. I've included a couple of pictures of his release in Moab. The gentleman releasing him is TJ Robertson with the Division of Wildlife Resources in Moab. He caught the hawk and brought him to us. Dave (my sub-permittee) went with him on the release.
Another satisfied patient!
Sadly, we have another severely injured eagle in our care. This is a 3-4 year old golden female from Sevier county Utah. I'll go into more about this bird in my next post since this one has to be short. Her name is Ivy.
I'll also have more pic's of Shu and an update on how he is progressing.
This sure has been a strange winter. Normally they are pretty slow. Maybe this means this Spring will be slow (yeah, right!).
Debbie

Another cold day...........

Time to update everyone. First off, the red-tail hawk that came in from Moab with the broken leg that had already healed (we named him Lefty) will be transferred tomorrow (Monday) to Moab and he should be released Tuesday morning the 6th of January. He's be doing well and his weight is up so it's time for him to go. We got rid of all those nasty lice as well.
As for Glory, the non-releasable golden eagle, I'll be speaking with the Zuni people this week and find out the status of her transfer. There is a great deal of paperwork on both ends so this takes some time. I hope for her sake we are close.
In this post I am including the photo's my vet took of Shu's surgery. He seems to be doing better. All of his meds have been discontinued. He is getting some meat during the day and so far, has kept it all down. He is still getting tubed with a specialized diet called Carnivore Care so between the two he seems to be digesting things better. Once he is eating completely on his own a 'wild' diet we can move him outside to a holding mew. They are not very large and the idea is to minimize movement. We use these for a number of reasons and needs. Shu needs to be kept still as to not burn off any calories he can't afford to burn and also to keep that pinned wing still so it heals properly. If he has too much movement, the surgery will have been for nothing!
His abdominal wound feels and looks much better as well.

I've included a picture of a holding mew. It is the smaller one in front of the the larger mew. Below is a picture of all that was removed from Shu in his surgery. He lost pieces of pancreas and liver due to the damage internally. There are some wing images and one abdominal. Notice on the wing shots, if you look close, you can see the broken humerus sticking out.

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......