We had some interesting visitors this week! Wildlife care and rehabilitation is one of the things that we have done as a community service. We cannot see everything, because we get no funding and are not a non-profit, but we see birds of prey and some mammals. Normally, this time of year, we see baby animals.
This week we got our tenth baby deer in the hospital. Some of them needed to come into the hospital, because they were hit by a car, mom was killed or they were attacked by dogs. But most of them did not need to come in. There is no daycare in the wild and it is hard to eat while you are keeping track of junior. So, mom will park the fawn out of sight and go eat. A doe will do an amazing job of cleaning the scent off of a fawn so that nothing can smell it. Fawns know by instinct to be very quiet and not to move. A fawn that is laying quietly in the grass is hiding. Mom will be back, when you are not looking, to feed them. Only if the fawn is crying or obviously hurt, should it be brought in. We were trying to explain this to someone on the phone that the quiet fawn in the bushes was really okay, when they started exclaiming that ‘it is raining! What do I do?” Lindsay calmly explained that it was okay. By the way, that is why I pay people to answer my phones! I would have said “God. God does that rain thing. It is okay.”
We do not take in song birds, rabbits or squirrels. The amount of time that it takes to rehab them vs. the release rate is just too small for me to undertake. Except for the very few donations we get, all of the money for wildlife rehabilitation comes from me. When you support us with your pet visits, I can support wildlife rehab. We will teach people to take care of songbirds. I have fixed broken wings on robins, mocking birds and bluejays and sent them home for others to care for them while they heal. (Yes, at no cost.)
Raptors or birds of prey are what we really do. These are hawks, owls, ospreys, vultures, falcons and eagles. Of course, we see a lot more red-tailed hawks and owls than we do eagles. Because of their night hunting along roads, it is not unusual for us to have barred owls or screech owls at any given time.
This week we had a pair of gorgeous great horned owls. Both were hit by a car and were blind. At least, they were found beside the road, so we assume HBC. The owl’s eyes are larger than their brain. Even though they have a boney ring that helps to stabilize the eye, it is vulnerable to trauma. Often trauma will set up a post retinal bleed which results in a detached retina and blind owl. Owls can hear incredibly well (enough to hunt a mouse under snow) and it can be difficult to tell that they are blind. Owls can easily hear the nearly silent rustle of a shirt as a hand moves in front of them. They appear to be seeing, but are really hearing. Unfortunately, to be successfully released they must see.
We also had a beautiful American Kestrel male. The males have a much brighter plumage. This guy was found between two buildings after he broke his collar bone. He probably saw a reflection of the sky and slammed into a large window. (A cutout of a hawk on the glass can scare them away from these windows. These injuries usually do well, but require at least three weeks to heal.
This week, we also got in a bald eagle. It was in Greenup, where it swooped in front of a car. Hunting along the road is not something that a healthy eagle will do, but this one was hunting along 23. Kentucky Fish and Wildlife was called and Officer Preston brought the eagle in. On physical exam, the left leg was turned out almost ninety degrees. After a quick triage, we stabilized him, treated the nasty flying sheep ked sized flies and tube fed some calories and medicines for pain. I assumed the fractured leg was from the car accident, but after we got radiographs, it was obviously an old, improperly healed fracture. He had been hit before and scavenged until the leg was healed at the odd angle.
Although he had a wing span of over six feet and weighed 8.2 pounds, he was too small to be a female. Females can have a wing span of 7.5 feet and weigh in at 14 pounds. Still, he was capable of knocking my head with his wings and was heavy to hold while Austin, Steph, Becky Jo and/or Carly fed him. It was always me holding, but sometimes it would take two to pass a red rubber feeding tube into his craw and feed him. He quickly learned to nip fingers, even when I was holding his head. Holding at the soft commisure of his beak was enough to bruise fingers! But while I am trained and experienced in raptor (and eagle) care, we do not have a flight cage. This meant that this guy got transferred to Louisville to Raptor Rehab of Kentucky. They have donation funding, flight cages and even another eagle for him to be with for his continued care.
We also got a baby bat in this week. These tiny creatures are one of my favorites! They are extremely hard to raise, but I keep trying. Unfortunately, I also cry when I fail. That is the bad thing about wildlife rehabilitation, even the best of rehabbers only release about a third of all the animals they take in. Some release more, but blind owls, foot injuries and other marginal releases just starve to death in the wild. I feel that there are things that are worse than death and sometimes pain free death is the best we can do. In the meantime, sometimes, it is quite interesting around here.
Dr. MJ Wixsom owns and practices at Guardian Animal Medical Center on Bellefonte Road in Flatwoods. 606.928.6566 and online at www.GuardianAnimal.com
