Free again

This morning little PIP, the screech owl who came in after being hit by a vehicle, flew free. I took him over to Dee and Jim's place off the Powell Hiway and found the perfect release site. When I opened the crate door he just walked to the opening and then scanned the area. He'd look at me and then look away almost as if he couldn't believe he was not surrounded by walls.

This photo is of his first stopping place after making the decision to leave me behind. I hope he does well and catches lots of the mice that Dee says are living around their barns.

Wee screech owl

His eyes don't quite match but only weighing 5.4 ounces isn't much when hit by a large vehicle. He has a concussion and couldn't see a thing when first brought in. This is PIP who was found north of Powell alongside a road where some construction was being done. These teeny owls are nocturnal hunters so he was probably hit during the night.

The bad news is that the head trauma has caused blindness. The good news is that his vision appears to be coming back somewhat. He hasn't eaten a mouse on his own yet so I do have to cut one up and hand feed him. He's not thrilled with that procedure nor am I.

Hopefully he will regain his sight enough for release, only time will answer that question.

UPDATE: Last night he found his mouse and ate most of it. That means he has enough sight coming back that the future is looking brighter.

UPDATED UPDATE: PIP is now out in the front room. It's 8'x 12' with window ledges to sit on. That's just where I put him and that's where he was when I checked before bedtime. He has two walls of widows, seems he just wanted to sit there and look at the world passing by. He also ate his mouse and this morning was up on an overhead beam watching as I came in the mew. Looks better and better for him.

4th Musketeer is flying high

Today I hiked down a wonderful trail right near Cody to release d'ARTAGNAN, the little screech owl that came here after his nest tree had been cut down. I forgot my hat, it is almost 90 degrees outside, and water bottle but didn't think it would take me long. NOT ! It was about a half mile I guess, some downhill, some level, but the bird is tiny and the crate not very heavy. I found the perfect place, lots of tree branches, shade and even a bit of a trickle of water underneath the space. I opened the crate door and whoosh! out he flew, past all those wonderful branches and off to the right. By the time I got in the clear I had no idea where he landed. I wished him well in his coming life and thanked him for being a part of mine. Then came the hike back to the truck. Seems to me a lot of it was uphill and a bit level......

Big kid now

Here's a recent photo of d'ARTAGNAN almost all grown up. He's now in a much larger place so he can practice his flying and strengthen his muscles. As you can see, he's almost all feathered out but his "ears" are still a bit fluffy. He's been a great baby and hopefully when released back to the wild will live a long and prosperous life.

He rides again

d'ARTAGNAN is eating on his own. He ate the mouse in the photo below all by himself, not a whisker was left in the morning. Then last night I gave him another one, bigger this time and he gobbled down all but a few scraps. Tonight he gets another chance to prove he's finally recovering from his horrible fall.

The baby GHO is also greatly improved. He's managing to get up on his floor perch so this evening I'm giving him a chance to find the mice I left on it. I know he's seeing much better and his eyes are more matching in looks so perhaps the trauma to his brain is repairing itself. These babies have come through some really traumatic times but they have turned a corner and hopefully the light is at the end of the tunnel.

The surviving Musketeer

He now has a name....This is d'ARTAGNAN. ATHOS, PORTHOS and ARAMIS didn't make it. He seems to be feeling better altho he's still not eating on his own. You'll notice a mouse on his foot, I'm hoping he'll actually eat it after dark as they are totally nocturnal owls. Think of someone hitting the drivers side of your car. Your head snaps to the left and hits the window very hard. That is what happened to this tiny baby. His nest cavity was about 30' above the ground in the top of an old cottonwood tree. When the logger cut the tree down the top slammed into the hard earth with four of these young birds inside. Because this person waited until the next day to call me about them, and by the time I got to the site, only one little owl, d'ARTAGNAN, was there. The rest were probably taken by marauding cats, dogs or wildlife during the night.

You'll notice that d'ARTAGNAN has his eyes closed, is very thin looking and has his tiny ears standing up. That's so you can't see him. Of course it loses something in the fact that he's not up against the grey bark of a tree but you get the idea.

I was called back to Burlington on Wednesday night because it was thought that maybe there were other babies still alive. Alas when I drove the 37 miles to the site I found it was just the adults calling for their missing babies. I certainly hope this strong little fellow will survive and be able to return to the wild.

Morning after the night before????

Okay, here's a photo of DITCH. Not looking particulary happy at the moment I took the photo but he's a bit better health wise this morning. I managed to get two mice down him last night before bed and again about an hour ago. He's a fiesty little bird so hopefully that will bring him back from whatever bad place he'd been before being found on the road.

Another note: BABY SCREECH is still with me, made it through the night but not in his little tree hole box. He was hiding behind it so that's where I put him after also feeding him two very small cut up mice this morning.

Tiny baby

This is a very young Western Screech Owl, the smallest eared owl we have in these parts. He weighs a whopping 4.125oz. This nestling was one of four that fell out of their nest cavity after the tree they were living in was cut down. After slamming into the ground from about 30' high, the logger then cut the trunck into 6-8' pieces. Not knowing there was a nest in the tree he was very surprised when he made one cut and had four babies tumble out. He said they hurried back into the cavity so he didn't do anything about them. Unfortunately that was yesterday, he didn't call me until this morning. I didn't know the timing so when I got there I expected to just find all four sitting around waiting for help. After a friend who lives in Burlington came over to help look we managed to find just this one baby. Because of the lag time between his cutting into the nest cavity and my arriving on the scene the chances of the other three surviving the night were very poor. My friend said she'd go back tonight to listen and hope to hear the babies begging for food so they can be found. Thanks B.J. for trying. This baby is very depressed so his prognosis is guarded right now.