Not a good day

This might have been a Monday it's turning out so bad. This morning I found one of my golden eagles dead in her cage. RIO came to me a few weeks ago from Green River with undiagnosed problems. She's a three year old female that was very thin and wouldn't fly. We took x-rays and did blood tests but nothing showed up as abnormal. She wouldn't eat on her own but did not fight me when I gathered her up to give her fluids and hand feed her meat and mice. She even went from 8.5# when I got her to 9.25# today. Her body will go to the state lab for an autopsy and further tests of the tissue.

The second bad thing today is that I have to euthanize two of my great horned owls. BEAKER had his lower beak repaired after being hit by a car and having it split in two. That was a complete success. The bad thing is he came to me blind. Altho he now has some sight, can see my movements if I'm in front of his cage, he can't see well enough to find his food by himself. Having to force feed him twice a day is very stressful and doesn't make for a good quality of life. The second to be put down is the most hurtful. It's BOUNCE, the baby owl that came in not able to stand. He too has made some progress but it stopped a week ago and there is no improvement at all. He too has to be force fed as he can't stand well enough to find food. Force feeding sounds harsh but it means I have to open their beak, put the food in the back of their mouth and wait for them to swallow. And that is for every piece of food they take in.

The bright spot today is taking my new adult bald eagle (see below) in for x-rays to see if his left wing is broken and how best to repair the damage. He's a very handsome male in feather perfect condition and altho very cranky, as are most all balds, he will hopefully be repaired enough for release back to the wild.