June 9: Another day's work/play
I got up early this morning because the sun was shining and it promised to be a good day for a cottontail release. The weather called for a 50% chance of thunderstorms, but when a cottontail bunny is ready for freedom it's best not to delay. Cottontails have a reputation for thriving for weeks until about an hour prior to release, when they die. Seriously. It's called "capture myopathy" and is essentially a heart attack caused by the stress of remaining in captivity one minute too long. Some hawks also fall victim to capture myopathy - a wild animal is meant to remain wild and anything less than complete freedom takes a terrible toll. So, when the bunny is old enough, it's best not to delay. I caught the cottontail and put him in a box with a soft t-shirt and drove to a nearby cemetery where I have released cottontails before. Cemeteries are particularly good sites because there are no speeding cars, dogs usually are not allowed, it's quiet (no raucous residents here!), etc. This particular cemetery is several hundred years old and consists of several hundred acres overlooking the rapids on the river, so it's a great spot and a peaceful place to start the day. I said farewell to the little guy and thanked him for blessing me with the opportunity to have him in my life and came back home to feed raccoons, squirrels, the other bunny, etc. This afternoon there was a knock on the door. My next door neighbor was there holding a box that was making a chirping sound. She had found the little bird at the school where she teaches and there was no way to return him to the nest, so I became the proud custodian of a 4 day old Starling. His eyes have just opened, so I will only need to feed him about every 30 minutes from sunup to sundown. Lucky for him, Starlings are a hardy bunch. I will try to place him with someone who has other Starlings or baby birds his age, since all the orphans we take in do better with others of their same age and species. A few hours later I checked my phone messages and returned calls. A friend who is a great supporter of rehabbers had been contacted by her neighbors about a hawk who couldn't seem to fly. She determined that it is a young Red-Shouldered hawk, probably a few weeks out of the nest but still in need of help from its parents. After observing the area for more than an hour, she and her neighbors had seen no sign of adult hawks or a nest in the area. The hawk was becoming weaker and not able to fly or even run away from humans. A wild hawk who can be easily caught by a human is, by definition, a hawk in trouble. As many as 70% - 80% of all birds of prey will starve to death in their first year of life in the wild. Nature can be very unforgiving, and this bird seems to be on the losing end of the fight. So my friend brought the bird to me and held him (I'm thinking it's a male based on the weight - male hawks tend to weigh less than females - but in a bird this young I can't be sure) while I gave him a good exam. Hawks and Owls are especially hard to handle properly with only two hands, so it's always a great help to have someone knowledgeable hold them and make sure their formidable talons don't sink into my arm! Other than being very skinny and very dehydrated, the physical exam was unremarkable (no broken bones, no obvious signs of neurological deficits, etc) so we gave him rehydration fluids subcutaneously (if you've ever been an emergency room patient you've had intravenous fluid therapy) and put him in a small carrier covered with a towel and placed on a heating pad half on and half off heat. The "mantra" of a Wildlife Rehabber is "Warm, Dark and Quiet". Sometimes an animal just needs the time and a safe place to get better on their own. By putting the carrier half on heat, I give him the option for added heat if he needs it (a compromised animal cannot maintain their own body heat). A small container gives the animal a sense of security and doesn't permit them the kind of movement that could cause them injuries. And, of course, the quieter the better for healing. I've had hawks who have come in literally on their back with their legs in the air respond to rehydration therapy by becoming alert and aggressive by the next morning (We actually have a term for that: BARF - Bright, Alert, Responsive, and Feisty). Only time will tell for this guy. So now the day is officially over (just after midnight here) and I have one more tiny cottontail to tube feed and the two infant raccoons to give their last bottle of the night and then it's off to dreamland for me.
I got up early this morning because the sun was shining and it promised to be a good day for a cottontail release. The weather called for a 50% chance of thunderstorms, but when a cottontail bunny is ready for freedom it's best not to delay. Cottontails have a reputation for thriving for weeks until about an hour prior to release, when they die. Seriously. It's called "capture myopathy" and is essentially a heart attack caused by the stress of remaining in captivity one minute too long. Some hawks also fall victim to capture myopathy - a wild animal is meant to remain wild and anything less than complete freedom takes a terrible toll. So, when the bunny is old enough, it's best not to delay. I caught the cottontail and put him in a box with a soft t-shirt and drove to a nearby cemetery where I have released cottontails before. Cemeteries are particularly good sites because there are no speeding cars, dogs usually are not allowed, it's quiet (no raucous residents here!), etc. This particular cemetery is several hundred years old and consists of several hundred acres overlooking the rapids on the river, so it's a great spot and a peaceful place to start the day. I said farewell to the little guy and thanked him for blessing me with the opportunity to have him in my life and came back home to feed raccoons, squirrels, the other bunny, etc. This afternoon there was a knock on the door. My next door neighbor was there holding a box that was making a chirping sound. She had found the little bird at the school where she teaches and there was no way to return him to the nest, so I became the proud custodian of a 4 day old Starling. His eyes have just opened, so I will only need to feed him about every 30 minutes from sunup to sundown. Lucky for him, Starlings are a hardy bunch. I will try to place him with someone who has other Starlings or baby birds his age, since all the orphans we take in do better with others of their same age and species. A few hours later I checked my phone messages and returned calls. A friend who is a great supporter of rehabbers had been contacted by her neighbors about a hawk who couldn't seem to fly. She determined that it is a young Red-Shouldered hawk, probably a few weeks out of the nest but still in need of help from its parents. After observing the area for more than an hour, she and her neighbors had seen no sign of adult hawks or a nest in the area. The hawk was becoming weaker and not able to fly or even run away from humans. A wild hawk who can be easily caught by a human is, by definition, a hawk in trouble. As many as 70% - 80% of all birds of prey will starve to death in their first year of life in the wild. Nature can be very unforgiving, and this bird seems to be on the losing end of the fight. So my friend brought the bird to me and held him (I'm thinking it's a male based on the weight - male hawks tend to weigh less than females - but in a bird this young I can't be sure) while I gave him a good exam. Hawks and Owls are especially hard to handle properly with only two hands, so it's always a great help to have someone knowledgeable hold them and make sure their formidable talons don't sink into my arm! Other than being very skinny and very dehydrated, the physical exam was unremarkable (no broken bones, no obvious signs of neurological deficits, etc) so we gave him rehydration fluids subcutaneously (if you've ever been an emergency room patient you've had intravenous fluid therapy) and put him in a small carrier covered with a towel and placed on a heating pad half on and half off heat. The "mantra" of a Wildlife Rehabber is "Warm, Dark and Quiet". Sometimes an animal just needs the time and a safe place to get better on their own. By putting the carrier half on heat, I give him the option for added heat if he needs it (a compromised animal cannot maintain their own body heat). A small container gives the animal a sense of security and doesn't permit them the kind of movement that could cause them injuries. And, of course, the quieter the better for healing. I've had hawks who have come in literally on their back with their legs in the air respond to rehydration therapy by becoming alert and aggressive by the next morning (We actually have a term for that: BARF - Bright, Alert, Responsive, and Feisty). Only time will tell for this guy. So now the day is officially over (just after midnight here) and I have one more tiny cottontail to tube feed and the two infant raccoons to give their last bottle of the night and then it's off to dreamland for me.
No comments:
Post a Comment