The “inn’s” filling up… 05/25/2010
It’s been another insanely busy couple of weeks, with some 22 additional intakes since the May 9 update and another one on the way tomorrow AM by way of the game warden. I’ve been threatening to change my name, run away and join the circus, and become a lion tamer, as it would have to be a calmer, saner life than I’m currently leading!  This will be another photo-heavy update, as there are lots of neat pix to share. Let’s start with the squirrels who, if you recall from the last update, were doing well except for the solid food thing. They now have that down pat—oh boy, do they! Their nicknames are Helletseat and Tubolard (oh, come on, people; it’s a play on Heloise & Abelard!).  The wood ducks are growing by leaps and bounds and will need a flight pen soon.   One of the two possums from the last update keeled over for no apparent reason, but the other is doing well and is rapidly approaching release size—possums aren’t released based on age but on physical size. They begin to self-feed fairly soon after their eyes open and from then on it’s just a matter of keeping them properly nourished until they’re big enough to send on their way.  Two additional possums arrived recently, too, and are growing nicely. One of them had pretty severe ant bites and I really felt like he was a bit “iffy” but meds and fluids did the trick and he and his sister are just cute little rascals!  Only one of the bluebirds ended up surviving; she’s in the flight pen with the cardinal now and both are slated for release tomorrow as long as it’s not too windy.  Female bluebirds have slightly less brilliant feathers than males; the spots on this little girl identify her as a juvenile.  While juvenile cardinals of both sexes resemble the mature female, this little guy's feathers seem to be taking on the distinctive red that will mark him as a young male.  These fledgling Carolina wrens were rescued from dogs. Two mockers and seven Carolina wrens are also currently in the flight pen. I adore Carolina wrens; they’re just irrepressibly cheerful little birds. You just have to smile when you see ‘em! Two of the seven came in as fledglings (at right); the other five were recent hatches when their mother flew into a window near her nest and broke her neck. The female can care for her babies alone; the male cannot, so the human family who’d been watching this little avian family’s progress stepped in to save the hatchlings. Below are photos of their progress from the day they arrived until yesterday—their first day in the flight pen!  On intake, May 14  May 16  May 18  May 20  May 22  May 24 Amazing how quickly the little rascals grow, isn’t it? (Only 4 of the 7 total are shown here; the others were on another perch.)  LWR also has a young turkey in residence at the moment. Turkeys are notorious for dying in rehab; the leading bird rehab manual actually states (paraphrasing slightly), “Rehabbers across the nation report little success with turkeys; please consider having yours necropsied.” (A necropsy is the animal version of a human autopsy.) So far this little guy’s holding his own, and I’m holding my breath (it’s a figure of speech, people; I’d be dead if I were really holding my breath!).  This fawn was attacked by dogs. He was small enough to fit neatly in the circular laundry basket the couple who rescued him placed him in for transport. Unfortunately, there was too much damage: his jaw and nose were both broken, he had puncture wounds to his skull, and see that bloody trail leading from his eye? That’s the front of his eyeball. The dogs apparently grabbed him by the face. Obviously, this poor baby was euthanized. Normally, the vets at Smalley’s & I discuss possible treatment options before euthanizing, but vet Shelley Baumann took one look at this little one and retrieved the euthanasia solution. Sometimes all we can do is end their suffering. And why throw this horrific image in the midst of all the cuteness? To remind y’all that wildlife rehab isn’t all cute and cuddly—it’s frequently bloody, heartbreaking and frustrating.  The young hawks are also starting to show up; these two red shoulder babies came in the same afternoon. As you can see, the younger of the two is still quite downy—definitely cute but NOT cuddly. His talons and beak are already capable of, as the old folks say, puttin’ a hurtin’ on you!  Both the hawks are now with Steve Hicks of Bubba & Friends raptor rehab; he reports that they’re bottomless pits. (There's nothing wrong with his left eye; it's a flash reflection!)  And finally, we have this fledgling blue jay, who came in just yesterday. I adore blue jays, too—as the smallest members of the crow family, they’re extremely smart birds. This little guy’s still sizing up his new situation, but I can see the wheels turning as he cocks his head and looks me over, already trying to figure out just what he can get away with! Normally, I advise people to leave uninjured fledglings alone, as their parents are still feeding them while they learn to forage for themselves and develop their flight abilities. If, however, the fledgling is in imminent danger (from a dog, a cat or some other predator) then it’s best to intervene. In the cases of the two fledgling wrens and the fledgling blue jay, dogs and cats were the reasons people intervened—the birds’ lives were threatened, so removing them from danger was the proper thing to do. And now, if you’ll excuse me, this is only the second night in over two months that it looks as if I’ll be able to stagger to bed before 1 AM…only to resume feedings five hours later… Add Comment “The season” kicks into high gear 05/10/2010
LWR ended April with 52 intakes, and there have been 11 intakes for May as of last night. I have no idea how many that makes for the year; the last total I remember is 89, but that was in late April. This update has been 10 days in the making, as there’s just not enough time during the day—one round of feedings barely ends before the next begins—and I edit all night to support those frivolous little habits I have like keeping a roof over my head. That said, there are a lot of photos in this update, so I’ll keep text to a minimum. My “sermons” don’t do any good anyway, as the collection plate stays empty!  Lost one of the former pinky squirrels to unknown causes; the other two are looking great, if they’ll ever figure out the solid food thing…  The three mockers from last update were euthanized after they began massive failure to thrive. Sometimes there’s no logical reason for failure to thrive. These poor babies went downhill fast and it was kinder to call it and end their suffering. The Eurasian collareds have been released and are still hanging around; I see them every couple of days.  The brown thrasher whose chances looked poor was also released last week, after spending a week in the flight pen. Yep, he recovered from the loss of function in both legs and showed no sign that he’d ever had a problem—sometimes we DO have miracles in rehab! Mr. Thrasher had pen-mates prior to his release: another brown thrasher and 3 mockers, transferred to LWR from another rehabber in extreme South GA who’s not licensed for birds. They have also been released.   She also sent 3 wood ducks.  LWR has received 2 additional possums, both of whom are doing great. I also found out that the weight issue was the source of my woes with all the possums I Iost: according to a leading rehab manual, possums under 20 grams have little chance of survival and should they make it, their immune systems will be compromised. This manual recommends euthanasia for possums under 20 grams, and all of the ones I lost were under that baseline weight. I was fighting a losing battle from the get-go. That’s me: queen of lost causes…  This cardinal is adorable. I love their bulgy eyes when they’re young! He wasn’t too happy to be brought to LWR, but after a couple of feedings, he decided I was his new bestest friend and is happily awaiting his turn in the flight pen.   Currently, a mourning dove occupies the flight pen; I won’t put smaller birds in with doves. Despite their iconic status as birds of peace, doves are actually quite aggressive and will sometimes peck holes in the skulls of smaller birds, killing them.  This nestling chickadee didn’t make it, but he was so darned cute! Look at how tiny he was—that’s a quarter he was sitting next to. He’d fallen from the nest and while there was no apparent injury, he did have trouble pooping and after his death, his featherless little belly looked like something had ruptured, possibly from the straining to poop.  This little fawn was kidnapped and treated like a family pet for a week before being brought to LWR. He’s being “deprogrammed” now so maybe he’ll have a chance at the wild life he was intended to live. For the record, people, unless you see the doe dead, LEAVE HER BABY ALONE! A doe will nestle her fawns in a safe place while she grazes nearby. She’s probably less than 100 yards away, hidden in the brush and watching helplessly as you kidnap that baby, and she’ll continue to return to where she left her wee one for a week, calling the baby you kidnapped. DON’T KIDNAP HER BABY!!!  Finally, we have a nest of baby Eastern bluebirds. Feral cats killed both their parents (see last update for my rant on that), and the couple who found the remains of the parents still waited to make sure that both dead adult birds were in fact the parents of these babies. Once they were positive the parents weren’t returning, they contacted LWR. This was absolutely the right thing to do, and I wish more people would follow their lead. Here are the “blues” on April 29, a day after intake…  …Two days later, on May 1…  May 3…  May 5…  May 8…  And here’s one of the babies using my finger for a perch yesterday, May 9. Sadly, I also lost 2 of the “blues” yesterday. There was no real warning: one was checking out that morning and the other was packing his bags and had checked out by nightfall. This is one of those frustrating instances where the birds seem perfectly healthy and happy at their last feeding one night and are dead or dying by the next morning. I’ve had it happen before, and it never gets any easier to deal with, because there’s no rhyme or reason behind it. Also had a mallard duckling come in last night with injuries from a dog attack; he didn’t survive the night, poor baby. Special thanks to new LWR volunteer Christian Lee, who stepped in and picked up a couple of birds for me Saturday; he and his wife Jennifer have offered their services as needed, and I do appreciate the help this time of year! Could someone plug the dike?? 04/18/2010
It’s only April 18, and LWR has already received 33 animals for the month. Yep, you read that right—33. This doesn’t bode well for the rehab load—or my sanity—for the remainder of baby season. The five older squirrels from the April 4 update are now pretty much on their own; I see them once or twice a day but they’re increasingly skittish, which is good. That, after all, is the goal of wildlife rehab: to put these animals back into their natural environment with the skills they need to survive…and unfortunately, because of the high levels of idiocy, cruelty and apathy in the human race, fear of humans is a necessary survival skill for wildlife.  The “fragile” squirrel is no longer the least bit fragile but is still shy. He’s in pre-release now.  The three pinkies are, as you can see, no longer pink. They’re a bit dehydrated in this photo; the unusually low humidity, combined with their need for supplemental heat, caused some issues for them but they’re looking less wizened now.  The “mourning doves” turned out to be Eurasian collared doves, and they’re now in the flight pen. Their name comes from a faint “collar” around the back of their neck—you can’t see it in these photos, and it’s actually pretty faint on these birds. Some have more pronounced collars, though. These two are sweet and quite gorgeous and have about another two weeks before they’re ready to leave the flight pen.  Of the 33 animals I’ve received thus far this month, 21 of them were possums. Of course, 6 of them came in Easter Sunday, in time for the April 4 update. Another 9 came in that Monday, in two groups, and on April 12, yet another 6 came in. In a bizarre case of “what the…?” all 21 possums died, most within 12 hours of coming in. Seven were just too young; their mouths weren’t even fully formed and they should have still been vacuum-sealed to Mama’s nipples in the pouch. The remainder were severely underweight (half their normal weight and size) for their developmental stage. I consulted with other rehabbers, and the best explanation we can come up with for the widespread underweight issue and sudden deaths is that the recently-ended winter was unusually harsh, meaning Mama Possum had nutritional deficiencies that led to more severe issues for her babies. I’m still a bit shell-shocked by the sheer number of possums received in such a short time, and their unexplained deaths have done nothing to improve my overall mood. Possums normally do quite well in rehab, so I’m not real happy to’ve lost so many so quickly, for no apparent reason. As I’ve said before, that’s one of the frustrating things about wildlife rehab—sometimes when you’re doing everything right, it still doesn’t matter and the animals die. LWR also received a turkey vulture who’d been shot; X-rays clearly showed the lead pellets (see above ref. high levels of human idiocy, cruelty and apathy). He was slowly dying of lead poisoning, and the pellets had broken his wing, so we euthanized and I reported his shooting to DNR and FWS, as both the state and feds must be notified of suspected illegal activity.  A young rabbit whose sibs were killed by a dog spent a few days at LWR before being released. Despite his small size, he is independent. For future reference, any young rabbit who’s at least 2/3 the length of a dollar bill is out of the nest and own its own, requiring no interference from humans unless it’s injured or ill.  We’ve also had two GHOs come in: a female with a broken wing that couldn’t be mended and a runt male who’d hit a barbed wire fence. The female probably had babies in the nest, which is heartbreaking, since without their mother they will most likely starve to death. The male’s wing is pretty nasty-looking but nothing is broken, so he should be good for release in a few days. Since he’s an adult with an established territory, he’ll be released near where he was found.  Just as the doves were reaching flight pen readiness, three nestling mockers came in. Their eyes were just beginning to open, so they were less than a week old at intake. They’re doing just fine, growing by leaps and bounds.  This fledgling brown thrasher wasn’t as lucky. He was attacked by a cat, probably on his first flight out of the nest, and we thought his right leg had sustained only bruising, as it wasn’t broken. Within 12 hours, though, he’d also lost the use of his left leg, leading us to suspect a busted hip, which won’t show in x-rays of birds. His chances don’t look good at the moment, which is another heartbreaker. He’s sweet, alert, eating well and he’d like to fly, but he can’t perch since his legs are currently useless. If it is a busted hip, rest is the only treatment while the fracture mends—and that still might not resolve the issue. He may still have to be euthanized. Which leads me to another rant: people, control your cats and dogs! I love the cats who share my life. But they don’t go outside, because they’re predators and will prey on the very wildlife I rehab. Same thing with dogs—they see an unnested bird or squirrel, and it’s instinct to go pick up the live squeaky toy and chomp down on it. Obviously, some dogs are just too large to be inside-only, but they can be trained to leave wildlife alone—if you don’t have time for that, here are two suggestions: 1) maybe you just don’t have time for the dogs, period; 2) provide them with a spacious pen that gives them room to run and play but keeps them from harassing the resident wildlife when you’re not able to supervise them. Keep your domestic animals away from wildlife, for the safety of all concerned. On an “up” note, those of you on the LWR mailing list received a message last week about the Green Choice Campaign that LWR was recently invited to participate in. For those who didn’t get the e-mail, here’s the important stuff again: You have an exciting opportunity to help us make even more of a difference in our community. GreatNonprofits – a site like Yelp – is conducting a campaign to find the top-rated environmental nonprofits and has invited LWR to participate. Won’t you help us participate in the campaign by posting a review of your experience with us? All reviews will be visible to potential donors and volunteers. It’s easy and only takes 3 minutes! Go to: www.greatnonprofits.org/reviews/laurens-wildlife-rescue-inc (You may have to copy and paste this link.) Be sure to choose "Green Choice Campaign" from the drop down menu of campaigns when writing your review. AND…LWR is now listed with GoodSearch, a useful and painless way to donate to our efforts! Here’s how that works: Just download the GoodSearch – Laurens Wildlife Rescue toolbar at http://www.goodsearch.com/toolbar/mode/ (Again, you may need to copy and paste the link.) Each time you search the web with GoodSearch's Yahoo-powered search engine, about a penny will go your charity or school. Also, every time you shop online at 1,000 participating stores including Amazon, eBay, Target, Apple, Staples, Expedia, etc., a percentage of your purchase will be donated for free! The site also has thousands of money-saving coupons! To give you a sense of how the money can add up, the ASPCA has already earned more than $30,000! And yes, I’ve been working on this update all day, between feedings. Around here this time of year, somebody always needs feeding… The trickle becomes a steady flow… 04/04/2010
 Since the March 17 update, LWR has received 18 animals—yep, the busy season has definitely begun! We’ve had six more squirrels come in: 2 sibs, an “only” and 3 more sibs. Add that to the three we’d already received, and I have nine squirrels now: the original 3 and the 2 sibs are now in pre-pre-release caging; one fragile baby I didn’t expect to make it through his first weekend with me is now in a small indoor cage as he continues to improve, and the latest three sibs are just past pinky stage, about 10-14 days old. See below for more pix.  We're active little rascals these days!  These pinkies are about 14 days old.  The fragile baby was found with his dead sister and wasn’t in real good shape himself when I got him. His breathing was very labored, and his right back leg dangled limply: I was sure it was broken. A trip to Smalley’s Animal Hospital and x-rays proved otherwise, however; in fact, we could find no medical reason for his labored breathing or the dangling leg. Soon-to-be licensed vet Richie Hatcher (who will be returning to Smalley’s this fall when he graduates!) suggested severe bruising to his lungs and leg, so we opted to give him some time to recover. The poor fellow debated whether he wanted to live for several days, but he finally decided life was worthwhile and is doing great now. Since he’s too young to be with the other five and too old for the “baby” babies, he has to remain an “only,” which makes him a little shy, though.  Thanks to Sarah at Smalley's for the photo. I also received an adult least flycatcher, a small and quite beautiful insectivore, with what appeared to be a small puncture wound to the side of her head. She also appeared to be beak-breathing, which is never good, so once again we made the trip to Smalley’s where, while waiting to be seen, I discovered that the bird’s tongue had nearly been severed. A thorough exam by vet Shelley Baumann revealed that the tongue was not fixable and the head wound was severe enough that the brain was exposed. Our best guess is that she nearly became some Cooper’s or sharp-shinned hawk’s next meal, escaping after the hawk’s talons had punctured the skull and nearly ripped the tongue out. Obviously, the least flycatcher was euthanized.  When I received a call about a red-shouldered hawk with a possible broken wing, the vet clinic was closed for the day, so I picked up the hawk with plans to take him in first thing the next morning. An initial exam revealed no breaks, so I was guessing window-strike and concussion. However, shortly after I got home with the hawk, a first year male, he began having seizures of increasing intensity, screaming through each seizure. I called Steve Hicks of Bubba & Friends raptor rehab for advice, and upon hearing the symptoms, he said I was doing everything that could be done, which was basically try to make him comfortable. He died at 1:15am, after a long night of suffering. When I picked him up to dispose of his body once it was daylight, very watery blood was draining from his beak, leading me to assume he’d eaten a prey animal that had consumed rat poison. I called Steve and described the blood, and he agreed, but suggested I call Smalley’s to confirm. Vet Peggy Hobby agreed with us; it sounded like the poor red shoulder had eaten a mouse that had been into rat poison.  Folks, rat poison and its kin are nasty, nasty ways to kill any animal, as they basically bleed out slowly. As the rat, mouse, pigeon—whatever—that has eaten the poison begins to bleed to death and slows down, it becomes easy prey for raptors, who then die from secondary exposure to the poison. Bottom line—there are much better ways to rid yourself of rats and mice, ways that won’t endanger the raptor population. A hit-by-car turtle also came in, with extensive damage to its shell. Most of the shell damage looked to be treatable, but the turtle kept bleeding profusely, indicating severe injuries under the shell. Contrary to popular cartoons, turtles cannot leave their shells, so there was no way to treat the internal damage and the turtle was euthanized.  Doves on March 29 Two young mourning doves are at LWR after a young boy stole them from their nest and a concerned neighbor took them from the child and called me. Folks, nesting season is in full swing now, so please be reminded—and remind your friends and neighbors and their children—that disturbing a nest with eggs or young is a violation of federal law. You can attempt to prevent the birds from nesting in a particular location, but once the nest is built, LEAVE IT ALONE. And for goodness’ sake, don’t assume because you don’t see parents that they’ve abandoned their nestlings. I assure you, 90% of the time, the parents are nearby and waiting for you to leave before feeding their babies—and those babies need feeding as often as every 15 minutes, so the longer you stand there delaying the parents’ feeding, the more likely those babies will miss a meal…or several meals. If you’re really worried that the parents have met an untimely end, hide and watch the nest. Everyone I’ve recommended this to has called back within half an hour to report that the parents are indeed feeding their wee ones.  Doves on April 1  This fox kit weighed just 12 oz. LWR also received a fox kit that was found mixed in with puppies. Apparently Mama Fox was moving her babies and something startled her, causing her to drop this baby—he was certainly too young to be trotting along behind her. Because foxes are rabies vector species (RVS), this little one was transferred to Bonnie Walker of M&W Wildlife Rehabilitation, who is RVS-licensed.  His eyes hadn't been open too terribly long.  The young screech that LWR sent to Steve Hicks last month made his way back to us for release. When possible, Steve sends the raptors that came from this area back here for release, and he sent this little guy back last week. He very obligingly posed for one final shot before flitting silently off into the night.  And just today, the Easter possum visited a family and left them with six very young possums. These babies were probably on their first venture outside the pouch when something startled Mama Possum and she skedaddled, strewing babies all over the caller’s back yard. Unfortunately, there’s no way to reunite possums with Mama—ain’t gonna happen. Possums are such oblivious little critters that I’m not even sure she knew she had babies, much less that she left them behind! Those babies are now at LWR, as well, bless their clueless little hearts. If the past two weeks are any indication of what the remainder of baby season’s gonna be like, I may be in a straitjacket by fall! And so it begins… 03/17/2010
…with a trickle rather than a torrent, which is just fine by me! In case you’re scratching your head in confusion, let me clarify: orphan (or baby) season has begun, but thankfully not with a bang.  There are still adults coming in, as well. Last week LWR received a robin who’d more than likely been cat-attacked. He was alert and active, despite not being able to fly and having a nasty wound near his cloaca (his butt, people, his butt!), so after a quick trip to Smalley’s, where we x-rayed to make sure the wound wasn’t from a BB or pellet gun and started antibiotics, I took the poor bird back home. Vet Shelley Baumann and I were cautiously optimistic that the robin would survive; unfortunately, he didn’t make it through the night. Soft tissue damage doesn’t show on an x-ray, so there must have been internal injuries that proved fatal, although we saw no signs of this. That’s one of the frustrating things about wildlife rehab—sometimes animals that look as if they have an excellent chance of survival just keel over, and we don’t know why because we don’t know the history of the animal before it was found and brought to us.  A few days after the robin’s untimely demise, I got a call from a local school about a cardinal who’d hit a window. Normally a window strike, if it doesn’t break the bird’s neck, just calls for several hours’ rest in a quiet, darkened room, which I usually recommend. Something told me to go pick this bird up, though, and I’ve learned to trust my instincts. I’m glad I did, because she’d whacked the window hard enough to bloody and bruise her eye. This female cardinal would need a couple of days’ confinement, until the swelling went down in her eye. She has since been released and was a happy little bird when she was able to fly away.  Then the babies started coming…three gray squirrels, siblings, about 5 weeks old. The two females were eager eaters from the get-go; their runty brother was a little more reluctant at first but has since made up for lost time. Their eyes opened yesterday, but I generally give them a few days to adjust to their new vision before I start blinding them with the camera flash!  LWR also recently received a young screech owl—according to Steve Hicks of Bubba & Friends raptor rehab, Young Screech is probably about 6 weeks old. He has no baby down but still engages in baby behavior, including puffing up his feathers, bobbing his head around and hissing menacingly…the poor little fellow hasn’t figured out yet that he’s not a great horned owl! (Adult screeches respond to perceived threats by elongating their bodies, scrunching their eyes tightly shut and assuming that since their eyes are closed, they’re invisible.) A fourth squirrel came in this week, after being mauled by a dog. The finder actually saw the dog attack the squirrel but didn’t bother to go outside to see what her dog was after until several hours later. Folks, humane issues for wildlife aside, just for the safety of your domestic animals, it’s best to see what they’re worrying and discourage their behavior—what if they go after a rabid coon or a rattlesnake? At any rate, this poor squirrel’s spine was snapped; there was no hope for him. After our harsher than usual winter, it’s nice to see the weather starting to warm up and hear the birds in full chorus as they compete for mates, nesting sites and food. If you haven’t done so already, now’s a good time to begin keeping your hummingbird feeders full, as these adorably aggressive little birds need the supplemental food until more flowers, etc., are blooming. March winds have arrived… 03/04/2010
 …but no babies have been blown in with those chilly gusts, thank goodness! Orphans will probably start arriving mid- to late-month. In fact, LWR had just one intake since the Feb. 18 update, a HBC screech owl that came in this week. Based on size, he’s probably male—remember, male raptors are generally smaller than females. This little guy was very lucky: the driver of the truck that hit him wasn’t sure what had collided with his vehicle, so he stopped to investigate and found our little screech dazed and confused. By the time he got him to me, little Screech was still woozy and definitely concussed, but regaining some of his feistiness. A further exam when I got him home revealed that his left eye was sluggish in responding to light and the right eye didn’t respond at all. This isn’t uncommon with concussed birds, but Screech made a quick vet visit the next morning to make sure I hadn’t missed anything critical, like a detached retina.  Peggy Hobby of Smalley’s Animal Hospital confirmed that Screech’s only injuries seemed to be his eyes, and she also confirmed that this could be from his nasty concussion. Of course, the treatment for concussions is quiet, dark and rest, which Screech had with me for a couple of days, along with mice to eat when his head stopped hurting enough for him to realize that he was hungry. After his first day of recuperation, he was opening his eyes more and was able to find a white mouse on a white paper towel, so his vision was obviously not impaired. After conferring with Steve Hicks of Bubba & Friends raptor rehab, I gave Screech another couple of days to recuperate fully and pack in the food before I released him. This winter’s been hard on wildlife and Screech, while healthy, was on the skinny side. I wanted to send him on his way with a little extra padding. Returning to the subject of babies, LWR received a call just today about an “orphaned” baby cottontail. When I questioned the caller as to the rabbit’s size, I was told that he was about the size of an adult hand. Folks, for the record—and please commit this to memory and spread the gospel—any rabbit over 5 inches long is out of the nest and on its own. Unless it’s injured or ill, it does NOT need human intervention. In fact, human intervention could cause the poor thing to inflict serious bodily injury on itself in an attempt to escape: remember, if you will, that rabbits are uniquely gifted with the ability to snap their own spines when struggling with a predator—and in a wild rabbit’s eyes, a human is a predator! To wrap up this update and for your bi-weekly Zen, here’s a shot of a really pretty sunrise from near the end of last month.  From soggy to snowy 02/18/2010
 Yep, last weekend, my area of Georgia got a rare and short-lived dusting of snow—beautiful and fun for those of us who generally have to travel to Parts North to see the white stuff. And what does the weather have to do with wildlife rehab? Only everything—the nastier the weather, the harder it is for wildlife to forage for food, the more desperate they get, and the greater the risks they’ll take for food. Take, for instance, these sparrows and cardinals on my walkway, where I scatter food for them year-round: they were quite literally flocking to the walkway in the rain, sleet and snow, because they knew there would be food there. These are the few that didn’t fly away when I started snapping photos, but as soon as the camera disappeared the cold, hungry birds came back in force.  For insectivores like bluebirds and robins, winter is hard enough; ice and snow make finding food even more difficult.  Robins eat ice-crusted berries.  Close-up of robin in icy tree  And it’s even harder for raptors like red-tailed hawks. Laurens Wildlife Rescue had an adult male red tail come in recently with a broken wing—he’d hit a vehicle antenna in hot pursuit of prey. On the heels of last update’s great horned owl escaping serious injury from an encounter with a barbed wire fence and, after treatment, being released back in the area where she was found, this poor red tail was a definite downer. His wing had a nasty open fracture, with about an inch each of two bones exposed. There was nothing we could do for this fellow except end his suffering humanely.   And just this week, I got a 911 call about a barred owl found in the middle of the road. Since I met the finders in a parking lot, a full exam had to wait until I got home with the small male. It was obvious once he was under decent light that his left wing was broken, and he was bleeding from the beak, as well. When I turned him over to check his chest and legs, his right leg flopped awkwardly out to the side. Neither fracture was open, though, so I held out some slim hope that maybe the breaks were “fixable.” He’d come in at night, so I had to wait until the next day to get him to Smalley’s for a thorough exam. Vet Shelley Baumann confirmed that the left wing was broken in two places, at the shoulder and wrist, and the right leg was broken above and below the knee. Additionally, the bird was still bleeding from the roof of his mouth and had not pooped at all since he’d come in the previous night, which is a sign of spinal injury. Basically, he was “unfixable;” once again, all we could do was end his suffering. If this trend continues, I may have to change my last name to Kevorkian… Greetings from the soggy South! 02/04/2010
And soggy it is—it rained so much a few days ago that my deer pen was briefly a deer pond. I’ve got to get some edging/flashing up to divert these incessant deluges… The red tailed hawk from the 1-21 update took a decided turn for the worse the very afternoon I worked on the website, beginning to have seizures and rip at her wing, so after a phone discussion with Steve Hicks of Bubba & Friends raptor rehab, we opted for that final vet trip. There were obviously issues we couldn’t see and I hated to euthanize, but I hated more watching her suffer. The same week that she came in, LWR received yet another red screech owl, a male this time, and a barred owl. The screech was in fairly good shape aside from a concussion and an eye injury, so he’s with Steve now; the barred owl had severe head trauma that resulted in massive seizures, complete with piteous moans. Again, after consulting Steve, I had the barred owl euthanized. As I said in the last update, this is not a pleasant time of year. Steve swears, only half-jokingly, there will be no orphaned raptors this year because he has all the adults in rehab—and there are days I think he’s right. The cold, wet weather has made it difficult for raptors and songbirds alike to find food, and the raptors are getting so desperate that they’re taking chances they wouldn’t normally take. It’s that or starve. Unfortunately, those chances frequently end in disaster, with the bird brought to rehabbers so severely injured that euthanasia is the only option.  An exception to this rule is the first intake for February, an adult great horned owl (GHO). He was found hung in a barbed wire fence and brought to me by DNR, after hanging from the fence all night in a cold rain. At first glance, his injuries looked pretty serious, but once we got him dried off and vet Peggy Hobby examined him, we discovered that his injuries weren’t as severe as we’d thought.  This was one more lucky bird—instead of having his wing broken or horribly slashed by the barbed wire, he escaped with massive feather loss and lots of raw, irritated skin. This is not the norm: usually GHOs who hit barbed wire fences are not savable. This guy is on his way to Steve, where he’ll finish out a round of antibiotics and be tested for flight-readiness. Once he’s deemed capable of flight, he’ll come back to me for DNR to release where he was found. Why put him back in an area where he might not be so lucky the next time? He’s an adult, which means he has an established territory that he needs to be returned to; also, he more than likely has a mate who may be on the nest now and will soon be needing his help with babies.  While this has been a harsh winter for wildlife, spring is on the way. For those who doubt it, look at the buds on the red maple in these photos of an Eastern bluebird, taken yesterday. Bluebirds are year-round residents in Georgia, as are robins, the fabled harbingers of spring.   Finally, a reminder that the Great Backyard Bird Count (GBBC) is next weekend, Feb. 12-15. This is a fun, easy way to become a “citizen-scientist” while spending as little or as much time as you like counting the birds in your area. It gives researchers a real-time snapshot of where birds are, and you don’t have to be an expert birder to participate: you can list only the birds you recognize. For more information, click on the GBBC button at right or visit www.birdcount.org . Shortly after the Jan. 3 update, animals began trickling in. I really hate this time of year, as most of what I see are adults who’re injured too badly to save. Add to that the polar temps Georgia experienced for nearly two solid weeks, and it didn’t bode well for the five animals I’ve had come in thus far this year. The first intake of the year was an adult chipping sparrow with an open wing fracture. Hot on the heels of getting the call on this sweet little bird, I received a call about a great blue heron in a culvert in Dublin. The sparrow was in another county, but we’d arranged a halfway point to meet, so I picked up the sparrow and headed to town with my waders to get the heron out of the icy water in the culvert. The poor heron was a victim of old age and cold weather. He was starving to death, with a breastbone so rail-thin it was almost like a razor blade. With the unusually cold temps we’d been having, he’d not been able to find enough food and was too weak to get out of the frigid water—not a good combo. Birds need much, much more food when the mercury drops, because they burn off so much energy staying warm. The great blue’s chances didn’t look good. Both birds obviously went to Smalley’s immediately for a thorough vet exam. Vet Peggy Hobby confirmed the open facture on the chipping sparrow, which meant our only option was euthanasia. We discussed the great blue’s options and decided to give him 24 hours—maybe warmth and food would start him on the path to recovery. I picked up some shiners (small fish) on the way home to feed him, but he was too weak to eat on his own. I force-fed him a few small fish—too much food too quickly will kill a starving animal—and hoped for the best, but he died during the night.  Five days later LWR received an adult screech owl, probably female, based on her size (remember, female raptors are generally larger than males). She had been hit by a car and was in pretty bad shape. It was again Peggy Hobby who saw this bird. The lens of her right eye was torn loose and her beak was cracked along the left side. Adding to her general misery, she had a massive headache from a severe concussion and just sat hunched over in pain. Despite the severity of the injuries, we thought she had a chance, so I took her home and made her comfortable in a warm, dark room for the remainder of the day.  By the next morning she was looking much better and was alert enough that I felt safe attempting to feed her very tiny, soft bits of food, which she ate eagerly. She was transferred to Steve Hicks of Bubba & Friends raptor rehab shortly thereafter, and at last report, she’s doing quite well. Fast forward another five days, and an early morning call resulted in the intake of a Canada goose. One wing was pretty obviously broken, so we headed to Smalley’s, where vet Jim Hobby & I discovered that in fact, both wings were broken. There was nothing to be done for the goose but end his suffering humanely.  Photo courtesy of Tommy Martin And just two days ago, I got a late afternoon call about a downed red-tailed hawk. Based on the caller’s description, the bird wasn’t in good shape: he said she was on her back in his yard. When I got there, she hadn’t moved from that position, so I scooped her up and headed to Smalley’s again.  Photo courtesy of Tommy Martin  X-rays showed no fractures and her reflexes seemed normal, but the confusion in her eyes was heartbreaking. Vet Shelley Baumann showed me the bird’s cloudy lungs on the x-ray and said that indicated pulmonary bruising—in other words, her chest and lungs were bruised. Shelley drained excess air and blood from the hawk’s chest cavity, which seemed to ease her breathing considerably.  As of today, she’s eating well and pooping normally, although she’s still not attempting to use her legs or wings. At this point, though, we’re still too close to when the injury occurred to expect really drastic improvement. I’ve talked with Steve Hicks and we’ve agreed to delay transfer until she’s a little more stable—after all, our goal is to assist the bird in returning to the wild, not stress her into further injury or death. And on an “up” note, now’s the time to put out bluebird boxes if you want these lovely cavity nesters to hang around your yard. The best location is facing a meadow or lawn, but with trees or shrubs nearby so fledging babies later this spring have somewhere safe to make their first clumsy flight to—and remember, no chemicals in the wood of the box or on the lawn! That goes for all birds: chemicals, pesticides, rat poisons, etc., are deadly to all birds, including birds of prey. A slightly weedy lawn is well worth the extra wildlife it will attract. 2009 wrap-up 01/03/2010
 Hope everyone had a great Christmas and a good start to 2010. I was able to release the pigeon whose wing had been broken; she flies well but is hanging around the house still. That’s funny, because her favorite perch is the peak of the roof, where one of last year’s mockers also likes to sit and swear at me. So far, we have an impasse—they glare at each other but no feathers have flown. In a showdown, though, my money’s on the mocker!   The flying squirrel will be offered the option of soft release within the next week and a half or so, and I suspect he’ll take leave of his rehab digs. Before being moved into a pre-release pen, he managed to escape from his indoor cage every single night, as well as one morning while I was attempting to secure the cage. Now THAT was hysterical: I’m working away on rigging the cage door so he can’t unlatch it (something no other flyer has ever done), and the next thing I know, he’s on my arm, watching me “escape-proof” his cage. Obviously, it was time for a move outdoors… The red tail who was having seizures had a major seizure the day after I uploaded the last update and began tearing the flesh from his own wing, down to the bone. I conferred with Steve Hicks of Bubba & Friends raptor rehab, and we decided to call it and end the bird’s suffering. The GHO is with Steve now, and our initial assessment of imprinting seems to have been on target. The bird acts more like a feathered cat, according to Steve, and this level of imprinting is probably irreversible. He’s slated to become an educational bird, as he’s not releasable. This is the time of year I start working on the state and federal year-end reports, so I figured I’d give y’all a brief rundown of numbers, etc. If that sort of stuff bores you, well, sorry. Some people like to see random facts and figures! Laurens Wildlife Rescue received a total of 209 intakes in 2009, with an additional 3 held over from 2008, for a total of 212 critters. I’ve not broken that down into mammals and birds yet—haven’t gotten that far on the state and federal paperwork! I can, however, give you a breakdown of final outcomes for those 212 animals: · 1(the flyer) is still pending · 20 were transferred · 40 were euthanized · 23 died in care · 22 were DOA (dead on arrival) · 106 were released Taking the transfers, DOAs, pending and euthanized out of play, that means that my release rate for the year was 82%. That amazes even me! (Leaving the euthanasias in, I still have a release rate of 63%, which is above the national average of 50%.) I received 94 calls that didn’t result in an intake; many of these were from the Atlanta area and were referred to rehabbers closer to their homes, and several were from out of state. The others were cases where I was able to advise the caller so that mama and babies were reunited or never separated in the first place. There were also 18 e-mails seeking advice, one from Ireland! I racked up 7260 miles picking up, transferring and running animals to the vet, which at the federal mileage allowance of $.50/mile, equates to $3630 in gas expenses. Food, bedding and other supplies totaled $3914, while professional memberships and registrations and such came to $127. Of the $2000 facilities grant LWR received, $1971 was used to build a new flight pen and to purchase mammal caging and carriers that serve as pre-fledgling bird “nests.” Leaving the improvements funded by the grant out of the final expenses, it took a total of $7671 (that includes the mileage allowance) to “give Nature’s children a second chance” in 2009. Donations totaled $940, only 12% of LWR’s total operating costs. Where did the remainder come from? My own paltry coffers. This is why I stress that praise is nice but cash is better. Providing for these animals and giving them a second chance at life isn’t cheap, and everyone seems to assume that someone else will step up and help cover the costs. That leaves me making up the rather substantial difference. Sadly, this is true for most rehabbers: we are among those few who can honestly say that we put blood, sweat and tears into our work, along with vast amounts of our own limited funds. Both intakes and expenses increased in 2009, and they will probably increase again in 2010. Please keep in mind that YOU are the “somebody else” whose tax-deductible donations can help us continue to compensate for general human stupidity (which, oddly enough, I’m not allowed to list as a reason for the animal’s need for rehab) and return these animals to the wild. (Hint, hint: there are PayPal links at the bottom of every page on this site except this one!) | ArchivesMay 2012 CategoriesAll |
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