A sharp little girl

I got a call about nine o'clock last night from a Worland officer stating they'd found a hawk under a car there in town. The bird flew off about 50' where she landed and they were able to catch her. This is COPPER, a 10 month old female Sharp-shinned Hawk. She is starving to death and had she not been captured probably wouldn't live out the week.

Thanks to Officer Sean Duffy for caring enough to catch her and call me. The weight for female sharpies varies from 5-8 ounces, COPPER comes in at 4.5 ounces. I don't find anything else wrong with her so it's a matter of putting weight back on her and then training her for release.

UPDATE: This beautiful young bird is now flying free. Because they eat birds, and because I have bazillion sparrows and some starlings living all around my place, I released her here. She took off without a backward glance or thank you.

For Robin's dad...

Here's an update on BUDDY, the great horned owl I received a few days ago. He's now in a much bigger mew so he can get some exercise for his injured right wing. The wound is still bad but his attitude is getting better by leaps and bounds. He's eating all his food which includes a mouse with his pain medication and antibiotic pill hidden inside.

It's going to take a long time for that bad wound to heal and only then will I know if he'll be strong enough for flight. In the meantime, he's getting feisty which is a good sign.

Critical patient

His name is PILOT and he came from off the Gooseberry Creek Rd, south of Meeteetse. I'm sure he was hit by a vehicle and has suffered very bad head trauma. Both his eyes were swollen shut altho his right eye is improving. His left eye may or may not recover. Xrays show no fractures in his skull or anywhere on his body. That's the good news, the bad news is just how much brain trauma he's suffered.

For now he's in a warm place, is on pain medication and I'm tubing him with fluids for a couple days. After that I'll start him on a critical care diet until he's strong enough for solid food.

Thanks to Tim Upton for rescuing this 10 month old male red-tailed hawk. Hopefully he will make it back to the wild.

UPDATE: Sad to say but PILOT died this morning. I believe that he suffered from more internal injuries than showed when he first came in. His xrays were clear but soft tissue doesn't show on film. He tried but it just wasn't to be.

New home

I just got this photo of DUNCAN in his new home at Utopia Wildlife Rehabilitators in Hope, IN. He's only been there a few weeks and John already has him on his fist. That's amazing. I knew he would make an excellent school bird and he's proving me right. Thanks to Kathy Hershey for giving this splendid baby bald eagle a super forever home.

Very sore today

I have a new patient as of yesterday afternoon. His name is BUDDY, a Great Horned Owl who came from Casper and found on the Albertson's property near town. Robin called me about finding him just standing with one droopy wing. It took some doing to get him here as one of the game wardens told her she wasn't allowed to bring the bird to meet me in Shoshoni, he would do it himself. Then his boss said he couldn't so Daniel relented and told Robin she would be able to do that.

I met her around two o'clock and brought the bird home. I originally thought his wing was broken and was amazed that the xrays proved otherwise. His bicep muscle, between his elbow and shoulder, is damaged, don't know the cause. He has a wound on the wing but I didn't do anything other than give him fluids last night as he was traumatized enough. I also left him two mice in his cage.

This morning BUDDY is on his perch, ate his two mice during the night, and is much more alert. This afternoon Nathan is coming over so we can get his wing cleaned up. Then it's time that will tell me if he'll be okay and fly again.

As you can see in the photo taken by Robin before she called me, BUDDY is not a happy camper.

HERSHEY high

No, not the chocolate but this stunning immature male Red-tailed Hawk. He's what's known as a Western Dark phase and will have his red tail when he molts this year.

HERSHEY came in with a bad wound to his right chest but it's all healed now except for a very small scab. You can see the partially bare spot on his chest. He's in the flight barn and doing great and will be released soon down on a ranch south of Meeteetse.

SIDNEY update

I just wanted to let everyone know that SIDNEY is now in her forever home. She was spayed, which according to Dr. Prior, has not been done before to a porcupine, and is now living at the Yellowstone Wildlife Sanctuary in Red Lodge. Dr. Prior researched the procedure on ppines and could not find any record of it occurring. This is the photo I got from the YWS for Valentines Day. She will join their adult male, ROCKY, as soon as she's all healed up.

She's gone :(

MISS TENNER died today. She's an extraordinary cavy who is about 4 years old. When most sows have 2-4 babies as a usual litter size, MISS TENNER's first litter was 10. Eight of them survived their birth and seven survived to adulthood. Over the past few years she's produced over 25 babies;, an awesome record for any cavy.

For unknown reasons, she got a tumor in her left ear and altho I tried to treat it, nothing would work. Because of her age, and not wanting her to go through the surgery to remove it, I had her euthanized this morning. It is a very sad day for me as she's so special.

She's finally away

It took two tries to release SHERRY. The first time she only flew about 100' and came down. When I approached her to make her leave she again flew only a short distance. After doing that a couple more times I just tossed my jacket over her and brought her home.

This time it worked. Nathan and I drove her out to Whistle Creek Road east of Cody and found a perfect release site. We tried off of Eagle Pass but the winds were howling and I didn't want them to push her the wrong way.

When she left the crate, she flew off, made one big circle, and landed on the ground about a quarter mile away. She stood looking at her surroundings probably wondering where the wall was. She roused once and a few minutes later took off again and flew out of our sight behind a hill.

She's been here for many months having come from Sheridan almost starved to death. She'd gained confidence, strength and proved she would make live kills so it was time. I have no idea why she wouldn't fly off the first time a few weeks ago but today it was perfect. As you can tell by my smiling face.

PS: I'm wearing Nathan's GoPro camera so there may be some film of the momentous occasion.

Her Majesty

She thinks she's a queen and she's now on her throne. MADDIE loves to sleep on a pillow so when I got a new one for myself I tossed the old one on the couch. She immediately settled her royal fanny on it.

He's visiting

CLARK, aka. KRYPTON, came here on September 18th with a wound to his back. I think he hit a barbwire fence while chasing a bird. He went to my subpermitte and master falconer, Chris Pfister, for training to see if he's strong enough for release. He's now almost ready for that big step, we're just waiting for the migration back of small and medium songbirds, the main diet for a Peregrine Falcon. He's only here for a couple days as the Pfister's are on a skiing weekend in MT. Isn't he just so handsome!

Freedom

Today I took FISHER back to where he was found caught in a barbwire fence and released him. I didn't get a photo, forgot to take my camera, but he flew off strong and never looked back. This is why I do what I do, to watch the rear end of a bird leaving as quickly as they can.