Sunday, September 13, 2009

Goodbye Shu, Fremont and Zuma.................







It's been busy again, strange things coming in. We had a Wanderer Garter snake come in that a cat tangled with. He needed to be treated with antibiotics, so I called my friend Carmen at Best Friends in Kanab, Utah, to find out where to inject meds on a snake. She's the only rehabilitator in Utah that does reptiles, so I followed her advice and he made a successful recovery and was released five days later near the Woodside area of Utah. It's pretty desolate there, no pets or people, but there is some water and a lot of cover for him. I know Connie's happy to see him gone; she did her best, as always and didn't complain, but it was obvious she wasn't thrilled working on a snake. She's a trooper!

A little chipmunk was dropped off at the local DWR office. It turned out to be a Least chipmunk. We still have him or her. She was found in a driveway of a home here in Price, up near our college. It looks like a predator of some kind tried to catch her, but she was able to get away, with part of her tail ripped off. We've have been treating her with antibiotics as well and hope to get her back out to her home in a day or two. What a sweetie! She weighs all of 20 grams if that helps you in picturing her size.

There's been a lot of driving these last couple of weeks. From Utah county and Grand county and back and forth. DWR needs to give me one of their vehicles....yeh, like that will ever happen!

We also got in a bat from near Price. Unfortunately, he did not survive. The people that found him (their dog initially brought the bat to them), then kept him in a room where he could see and hear everything which only makes things worse by adding a huge amount of stress to an already stressful situation. I told the lady that he needed to be moved to a quiet, dark room and she responded "but he's so cute". PEOPLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Then while HANDLING him, he got away and her cat then got him. The poor thing was doomed in this particular situation.
He was a Western Pipistrelle. They are a very small species. The public always calls them 'babies'. People, just because something is small, doesn't make it a baby!
I have another bat on his way here from Ogden. Don't know what kind, only that he was found floating in a pool this morning.

I also picked up a first year sharp-shinned hawk. He had a lot of trauma from hitting something and heavy bruising on his body. He also had two broken wings at the shoulder area and he was thin as well. He died this morning. I was sort of surprised, but not. He showed the signs of serious trauma, besides what we could see. He probably had internal bleeding and that's why he died. We had him on pain medication so I hope we made him comfortable at the very least.

The really big news is, the three eagles, Zuma, Shu and Fremont, are now in Oklahoma. Victor and his wife Lisa drove all the way here and picked them up this past Saturday, the 11th.
What wonderful people! While here, he and I did an interview with the local TV station. I'm glad their journey is at it's conclusion. Three birds, with entirely different stories from different areas around Utah, all in Oklahoma, living with other eagles from all over the country with their own stories, but assuredly all human caused.




Well, the bat just showed up so need to go,
Debbie.................

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Feathered brothers and sisters, you came to us broken and as you bled…….we saw you desperate, dehydrated, desiccated, diseased, distressed, emaciated, famished, frayed, frightened, helpless, hungry, ragged, ravenous, shaken, shocked, shot, sickly, stressed, stunned, tattered, thirsty, traumatized, torn, weary and wounded. Defiantly, you stood us off with your last breath as we tried to tend to you. We saw you come in as cute, naked, fuzzy, cuddly youth, as mischievous, defiant adolescents, as fierce, regal rulers of the sky and as cunning, maimed elders whose time on earth was almost done. You endeared yourselves to us, bit us, charmed us, footed us, delighted us, hissed at us, talked to us, mantled at us, and graced us with your presence.

Some of you mended and were able to go on your way, never looking back. Some of you were injured in ways that prevented you from going, so you stayed with us to teach us…….And we came to love you. Others were too far gone, and you went home - where you fly free from pain with the Great One. All of you have touched us, and we are changed because of you.

used with permission by Arlene Powers


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