Tuesday, March 6, 2012

Spring is here...according to the animals!

A lot has been happening these past couple of weeks.
Miracle, the Great Horned owl mention in the last post, is doing well and will have her pins removed this coming Friday.
We got another Great Horned owl brought to us from Green River Utah that had been struck on the highway where the speed is 75 MPH. She didn't fare as well. Her injuries were devastating and she had to be euthanized. I've attached photo's of that injury. Both her Radius and Ulna were compounded right at the joint and much of the connecting tissue was gone. Poor thing suffered terribly. That's the part that bothers me the most is what they are aware of. It troubles me a great deal.
We got in an adult male Sharp-shinned hawk. Kind of unusual. Usually, with this species, you get the young ones in. This poor little guy has a fractured skull that has displaced his right eye. The swelling is going down and his eye lids have finally opened, really making the displacement apparent, but it's getting better everyday. The big problem is he won't eat.....heck if my head looked like his, I'd be in some serious pain and wouldn't want to eat either. Baby steps everyday. I've included a pic of him as well. We are doing a lot of force feeding on this guy as his weight is dropping like crazy. Their metabolism is very fast and they burn a lot of calories, even just sitting.
Nadia, the Great Blue Heron is doing very well. We're just about ready to send her off to Southern Utah for more testing of her flight capabilities.
What a handful that girl is! So much attitude.
We also have a Red-Tail hawk that came in with a small fracture in the finger part of her right wing. She had been electrocuted and also had an injury to her body where the surge shot out of her, entering from her feet, which were burnt. She was very thin and anemic and critical, but has made a huge come back and will be banded tomorrow, anticipating release. We are calling her Electra. She is an adult and we will put her back into the area she came from, as we're sure there is a mate involved with her.
There is more, but I'll save that for the next post......
Thanks for checking in,
Debbie
Oh, clean your bird feeders. It's that time of year to start getting them cleaned up for the birds that will be needing them that are migrating as we speak.

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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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