Eagle release tomorrow

We are going to be releasing a Golden eagle tomorrow in Emery county.  This female came to us from the Monticello area.  That area is a haven for eagles; flat, windy and many prairie dogs.  There are large Cottonwood trees, a favorite of eagles, all around for resting.  This gal was on the ground with a full crop, but she was weak as well.  Her crop wasn't emptying out properly and the food in it was rotting.  This can be life threatening.  During this time it was very hot in the Monticello area and this can cause problems for animals of all kinds. 
For educational purposes, the crop is an area just past the mouth and throat where food can be held until a later time.  Not all birds have crops but eagles do.  When they want to move the food out of their crop and down into their 'stomach', they make a series of movements with their neck, moving the food down and down.  When this is done, they can fill the crop up again if they chose to.  Sometimes, the crop will not empty, thus causing problems.  There a several reasons this may happen.  Dehydration, food that is unusually large in size and stuck in the crop and lead poisoning are just a few reasons this happens.  Our job is to determine, which one or ones may be causing the problem and go from there.  One may see a huge crop on a downed bird and think they are just fine and too heavy to get off of the ground, but assuming that may seal a birds fate.  I have seen many birds with enormous crops that are starving to death.

We hydrated her and emptied out her crop and got things working properly again after a few days.  Since then, she has just been hanging out and we have been observing her, making sure her crop is moving normally. 

We had her banded with a federal USFW band and now she is ready to go.  Since she is younger, I will not be taking her back to the Monticello area, but instead, taking her to the Wedge Overlook in Emery county.  Hopefully she will do well in that area.  There are virtually no areas I know of, to release a bird, where their are no humans close by.  Sad, but that's the reality of things.  I'll attempt to get some photo's tomorrow and post them for everyone. 

Debbie

Finally, a minute to catch up with everyone

Things are still busy here, but things have slowed down a bit.  We have a lot of animals that are at the same place, in their rehab process, and that is a bit stressful.  Many are ready to kill-test and some have just finished that process and are ready for release.

Kestrel release near Price, Utah  5

We actually released 5 of our orphaned Kestrels, all at the same time.  None of them were related and the 5 were from various places all over the state.  We released 2 females and 3 males. 

Max, our youngest Kestrel still in rehab.

We still have two more Kestrels, but they are not ready to be released now.  One is older than the other, so I will let the littlest one get a couple of weeks older and then introduce him to the other Kestrel and they can start kill-testing together.  It's always better with more than one during this process.  Right now they can see and hear each other, but are not physically together.

 Screech owl release in Spring Canyon.  2

We also released our little Screech owls.  I turned them out in Spring Canyon, near Helper Utah.  What cuties!  I hope they do well.

Great Horned owl, Honey, with injured wing

Barn owl with trauma to right hand due to fishing line.

We have also taken in another juvenile Great Horned owl.  This female came to us from near the Utah/Colorado border after becoming entangled on a barbed wire fence.  Unfortunately, the land owner that found the owl chose to cut the owl off of the fence instead of cutting the fence.  What a mangled mess.  He healing process will be time consuming, but thankfully, vital tendons and connective tissue were missed in the process.  A good deal of skin and feathers are missing, so time will tell if she will heal well enough to be released.  She is going through cold laser therapy to help with the restoration of blood flow and tissue growth. 

 We also have another new Barn Owl that is also getting cold laser therapy after becoming entangled with fishing line and then being caught in tree, hanging upside down for a period of time, by the tangled wing.  When the bird was captured, the officer that caught her took the time to remove the fishing line, which was wrapped around the wrist portion of her wing 25 times.  Blood flow had been compromised and the hand portion was cold.  With little hope of saving that wing, we decided to try the cold laser therapy.  There is a great deal of swelling in that effected area and I am feeling a little change in the temperature of that area. 

 Baby steps!

Both owls will have their last treatment this coming Monday.  The services have been donated by a local chiropractor, Dr. Kenneth Thayn and his partner and son, Dr. John Thayn. We appreciate their willingness to help these birds return to the wild.  Each owl will have gone through 6 treatments when they are completed this coming Monday.  Each treatment lasts approximately 5-10 minutes and is not painful, but a comforting warmth to the area being treated.  This practice has been using cold laser therapy now for almost 30 years in the practice.  It is becoming common in veterinary medicine as well. 

There is so much more going on, but this will have to do for now.  I wear many 'hats' and this is all I have time for now.  I wish I had a staff of volunteers, but to no avail.................

Debbie

OK, I'm really ready for things to slow down........

Wow, is all I can say.  Things are so busy here, made more so due to all the wildfires burning here in Utah.  They are all around us and have affected one of my volunteers in Utah County.  We were already picking up a good part of the animals in need of our care, but our wildlife officers are out there helping with the wildfires so they are mostly unavailable, which means more traveling, something extremely difficult to do right now since our patients need us here.
I worry so much for the animals that are terrified and confused as to what is happening to their world.  No place to run that humans aren't occupying, so where do they go?  The babies that CAN'T get away, unable to fly yet.....it's so sad.  
We are completely full, but any animal needing our care will get it.  Just don't know where we can put them, but we will work that out as needed. 
Five nestling Great Horned owls, some at the branching stage.  Screech owl juveniles, Barn owl juveniles, 7 Golden eagles, all with various injuries ranging from critical to some that just need some time to get stronger and take a rest.
Baby Sparrows, more Starlings and Robins, some as small as only a couple of days old.  Several Red-Tail hawks and Kestrels.  I think I've made my point!  We are full!
All of this equals a lot of medical supplies, medications and food, of course.  Our food costs alone right now, are around $75.00 per day.  That's just food, not vet care or medications.
We have a PayPal account to help with all of these daily expenses on our blog. 
I will post some pictures showing just some of the angels in our care and that your contributions can help.  Remember, all wildlife rehabilitation is unpaid.  We work for free, 24 hours a days, 7 days a week.  All monies donated go 100% to the wildlife needs in our care.
Thank you,     Enjoy the photo's.

Debbie

I guess I have to repeat myself.......

We are very busy with orphan season and I say this all the time, but I still get people that call regarding orphaned wildlife that think they can 'raise' the baby properly themselves, keeping it wild and teaching it what it needs to know to be successful in the wild.  PEOPLE, quit being selfish.  This isn't a 'fun project' you and your family can 'do'.  This is a life that you know nothing about.  Stop thinking about yourself and put the orphan first.  We didn't learn everything it is we know about our profession from an email asking someone to 'tell us how to do it'.  It takes years and even now, we are still learning as this information we have learned and studied, changes every year, just like human medicine, with updated proceedures and diets.  It's so frustrating, knowing these animals will most likely die at the hands of selfish people; completely preventable.  Wildlife rehabilitation is a true profession, not a hobby!