Laurens Wildlife Rescue

 
Yeah, right!  They just keep trickling in…Since the last update—in the past five days, in fact—LWR has received  a juvenile flying squirrel, an adult female red tailed hawk and an adult male great horned owl (GHO).

First, a progress report on the pigeon with the broken wing from the last update: we may be able to release this bird, after all!  Her wing does seem now to be healing; she’s been exercising it by flapping it a lot lately.  (Her pen is too small to allow more than that; the idea is to minimize movement while the wing heals.)

 
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The flying squirrel is pretty close to releasable already; he was close to leaving the nest when the tree his nest was in was chopped down. Of the three babies in the nest, he was the only survivor.  As you can see in the photo, he’s still pretty traumatized by the whole experience.  I’ll hang on to him for another couple of weeks, just to be sure that he’s able to fend for himself, and then we’ll offer a soft release, which basically means he’ll be able to leave the “nest” at his own pace, just like he would have in the wild. Some late-fall babies stay with their mothers through the winter, so he’ll have a similar option, as well, with a soft release.
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The red tail came in with what we suspected was a bruised wing and a concussion. Vet Peggy Hobby’s thorough exam revealed no broken bones, so we were pretty happy…until later that day, when the bird began having seizures.  After listening to her thrash around in her box all night, I took her back to Smalley’s Animal Hospital, where it was Peggy’s husband Jim’s turn to see the hawk. I was figuring euthanasia was our only option, but Jim wanted to try one more time to save the bird—and she is SO gorgeous—so I agreed. We have her on an intensive course of fluids and antibiotics, and the seizures have slowed. She had just one today and is on her feet again—wobbly, but standing—so this is good. She’s not out of the woods by a long shot, but she’s drastically improved over 24 hours ago.
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The GHO was hit by a car or, more accurately, a truck. The people who brought me the bird said he hit the grille hard enough to crack it, yet there wasn’t a mark on this gorgeous fellow.  I took him in for a vet exam, and Shelly Baumann could find nothing wrong, either—no broken bones, eyes clear, not a feather out of place. Again, we figured severe concussion and possible imprinting, given the bird’s very calm demeanor.  The jury’s still out on the imprinting, though, as sometimes head trauma can cause a bird to act tame until the lights come back on, figuratively speaking.
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Both these birds will, of course, be transferred to Steve Hicks of Bubba & Friends raptor rehab as soon as we feel the red tail is stable enough to move.  Right now, we’re afraid moving her could cause a severe and possibly fatal setback, so Steve gets several-times-daily progress reports via phone and/or e-mail, along with photos when warranted. Ain’t technology grand!?

Our next update will be after New Year’s Day, so Merry Christmas & Happy New Year to everyone.

 
 
 
Since the last update, Laurens Wildlife Rescue has received four birds and no mammals.  Almost immediately after the 11-17 update, a pigeon with a broken wing came in, followed in short order by a HBC barred owl, and then about a week later, a sharp-shinned hawk and on Nov. 30, a Carolina wren.

Let’s begin with the pigeon—she’s got a broken wing. It’s not badly broken, but it doesn’t look to be healing properly, so she has another couple of weeks before I have to make a call on her.  Sometimes an injury will heal in a less than aesthetically pleasing but still functional manner, so we’re hoping that will be the case with her.

And yes, I’m aware that the prevailing opinion of pigeons is that they’re feathered rats, but even the lowliest animal deserves a second chance at life if we can provide that at LWR. Maybe we can for this lady, but it’s not looking too hopeful at the moment; keep your fingers crossed.

 
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The barred owl was hit by people who then placed the unfortunate bird in a bucket—yes, you read that correctly, a BUCKET—in the back of their truck and left him there for two days. When a neighbor discovered this, she insisted they give her the owl and immediately called me. The owl is imprinted and blind, whether from damage done when he was hit by the vehicle or an improper diet in captivity, we don’t know. Normally a blind bird is euthanized, as it’s nonreleasable, but Steve Hicks of Bubba & Friends raptor rehab is hoping this guy will make a good surrogate parent for the orphaned barred owls he receives. He’s successfully used nonreleasable birds as surrogates before, so maybe this gorgeous fellow will have a second chance at life
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The poor sharpie had flown onto someone’s screened-in back porch in hot pursuit of a songbird, his species’ favorite meal, and couldn’t get back off.  The door was open when he flew on; the family didn’t realize he was there in the midst of the chaos involved in moving, and when they realized they’d closed the door and trapped the bird, they did the responsible thing and called me for advice and assistance. My first instinct was to tell them to open the door and shoo him toward it, but then one of the people there said they could touch him, which is never a good sign with any wild animal,  so I suggested tossing a towel or blanket over him and placing him in a box for transport to me.
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Sharpies are very small raptors, about pigeon-sized—well, maybe a little larger—and they make up in viciousness and insanity what they lack in size. This rascal nailed me every time I touched him, and I handled him twice daily for 2 days, while Steve and I assessed his condition. Now, remember, Steve is a good 100 miles away, so we used those newfangled devices—you know, cell phones, digital cameras and computers—for consultations. I e-mailed him photos with a written description of the bird’s behavior, etc., and then we called back and forth for further details and instructions.  Steve was pretty sure the bird was just stressed, and I agreed, based on the mussed condition of his head feathers where he’d banged his head against the screen trying to get off that porch. Since we were fairly certain that was the only issue the bird had, other than being a sharpie, which is pretty much a curse in itself, Steve advised observation and feeding for 48 hours, followed by release if the bird seemed back to (ab)normal within that time frame. He did indeed, so I was delighted to release him two days after he came in.
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This sharp-shinned hawk was released after 48 hours' observation confirmed that he was as normal as his species can be.
The Carolina wren wasn’t as lucky, poor baby. The person who found her saw her fluttering in a nearby yard, stuck to a glue trap. She and her husband managed to pry her off the glue without damaging any remaining feathers or causing the bird to lose a foot to the glue, and she was such a hyper little thing that I thought maybe she had a chance. I was able to clean the glue off her feathers, but I could look at her and tell that the stress had been too much.  After a while, you just learn to recognize that look that says the animal won’t be with you in the morning. Still, I dried her off, put her on low heat in a quiet enclosure with food, and hoped for the best. She died during the night. Carolina wrens are very stressy, high-strung little birds, but I absolutely adore them; it’s just impossible not to.

Folks, if you need to control pests in your household or garage, use snap traps or no-kill traps or some other method that doesn’t threaten non-pests. That poor bird probably swooped down to pick a tasty-looking insect off that blasted glue trap, and she paid with her little life for trying to grab a meal. Glue traps are inhumane, no matter how you look at it, and too many innocent victims—like birds—get caught in them. Bottom line—use other, safer methods of pest control.

If you’re looking for gift ideas for Christmas, let me suggest bat boxes, owl nesting boxes, bluebird nest boxes (preferably with predator guards), bluebird feeders (which will also entail purchasing mealworms, about the only thing that will entice a bluebird to a feeder), squirrel nesting boxes and even wood duck nest boxes.  All of these will aid our feathered and furred friends in the coming months, especially since owls are looking for nesting sites now, squirrels will soon begin their early mating season (usually Dec./Jan., with late mating season being app. July/Aug.), and by mid-January, bluebirds in Georgia will be looking for potential nesting sites.