All better

Just to let everyone know I'm back to normal. Well, whatever that is. My heart problems have stabilized and altho there is a chance of the a-fib to hit again the percentage is low. I'm back to all my usual chores which includes toting 50 pound bags of grain and feed.

Very unexpected happening

I had a very interesting two days after I got the call for a downed hawk in Lovell on Wednesday night (see below post).

Now comes the interesting, unexpected part. When Malcolm was through with xrays and an exam of the hawk I asked him to listen to my heart as it seemed a bit off. He did and immediately said “you should go somewhere”. You should always listen to your veterinarian. Okay, I stopped at Cody Urgent Care Clinic and saw my friend, Dr. Harvey, who did a EKG and said “go to the ER”. I still had the hawk in my truck so brought him back home and got him settled in. Then I drove to the ER.

That was on Thursday morning. I got home Friday evening about 6:30 after spending the intervening time in ICU hooked up to lots of wires, oxygen, bags of fluids, etc. And wore those lovely thigh high pressure stockings plus automatic squeezing things on my calves to prevent clots. The medicine the ER doctor gave me to slow my heart worked immediately but not completely hence the two day stay.

My heart still wasn’t completely back to normal rhythm so they took me downstairs on Friday and shocked my heart. You know the routine, grease the paddles, yell CLEAR! and then hit the switch. I was out as they also put a tube down my throat to check the back of my heart to see if there were any clots hiding there. And found out one of my valves is a bit thick making a bit smaller opening than normal but the cardiologist said it shouldn’t cause any problem at this time. They will keep a watch on it.

Amazingly I was sent home about five hours after all that was done with a perfectly normal heartbeat. Unfortunately I now have to take blood thinners (not Coumadin) for about six weeks and probably the anti-arrhythmia meds forever. I don’t know what the charges will be for the two days but in ICU ????? Probably tens of thousands. Thank goodness for Medicare.

Also thank goodness for the following:

Kimber for driving the two dogs to Lifetime Small Animal Hospital to board til I came home. That resulted in massive amounts of Corgi hair in her car and she's probably still picking it off her clothes.

Liz for quickly going to my place to take care of all the mice, cavies, bunnies and cats. She's my regular help if I'm on vacation so stepped in and knew just what to do.

Sara, my volunteer, for dropping everything and taking care of the birds which included the new roughie (see below post). That meant wrapping him in a towel and handing him mice as he was pretty thin and I wasn't sure he'd eat on his own. She called me on Friday morning to say he was scarfing down whole mice on his own so she didn't have to go through hand feeding him.

And to Lisa Harvey plus all the doctors and nurses at West Park Hospital in the ER and ICU. They were super and obviously I needed their expertise and caring to make everything come out okay.

As I didn't sleep at all Thursday night it was so great to be home, showered, fed and warm. One of my cats never let me out of her sight from the time I walked in the door til we climbed into bed at 8:30. Ahhhhh heaven to be in my own bed again.

First, first

I received a call on January 1st from the Lovell PD about a hawk they'd rescued after being hit by a truck. He called Bill Robertson, the Greybull WGF warden who was coming to Cody the next day and would bring the bird here. As it's a 50 mile drive to Lovell that was a great help.

I got the bird who turned out to be the first Rough-legged Hawk of the new year. He has a fractured right wing that should be repairable, we'll find out on Monday when he goes in for surgery.

SPENCER update

A desperate emergency happened with SPENCER today just before noon. I was checking on the birds and went into his mew to see if he'd eaten yesterdays rat. He was up on his low tower and when I looked, it was covered with blood.

He came here on December 5th with a very small wound on the inside of his right wing near his wrist. I suspected electrocution and that was confirmed a week ago when I treated the wound and it was larger. It was dry and scabbed over so I moved him into an outside mew. Today that wound was 2-3 inches across and wouldn't stop bleeding. I quickly gathered him up and rushed him to Dr. Blessing who put about a half dozen sutures in the wound to stop the bleeding. The tendons are now exposed and skin missing. I hate electrocutions as they kill from within. I hope this won't go any farther and cause even more tissue damage. He's back inside under a heat lamp and will be treated with meds every day.

As you can see in the above photos, there is extensive damage to his wing tissue. The sutures are in the center of the open spot, the yellow is medicine as well as the moist area. He is an amazingly tolerant bird to put up with my holding his wing out while spraying the liquid antibiotic on the wound. And he's been eating his meals so he apparently has decided to make the best of a bad situation.

At this point I don't know if we can save the majority of his wing. The damage will continue until it runs its course, I don't know the final outcome. He is an adult so if he has a mate the pair will be broken up. Hopefully she will agree to take on another partner and continue to raise these awesome birds of prey.

Special accomodations

This is TANK, a beautiful adult male Rough-legged Hawk. He was right near the town of Meeteetse on the 23rd when he was hit by a car. Unfortunately the driver never stopped. Fortunately another driver, right behind him, and her family who were on their way to Colorado for Christmas did stop, gathered up the bird and called me. I asked them to take the hawk to the gas station in Meeteetse, and ask for a box to put him in until I could get there. The lady behind the counter was super so when I got there he was safely in a box and waiting inside where it was warm.

As you can see from this photo TANK is not in a usual pose for a raptor. The damage is apparently to his spine altho nothing appears to be broken in the xrays we took a couple hours later. He has full use of his legs, wings and feet but can't stand up. Scoots backwards just fine so I put him in this sling to keep him in a normal position. Hopefully this is just some spinal bruising and it will soon repair itself.

Until that time I have to hand feed him which is not his favorite thing altho he does swallow all the mouse pieces when I put them in his mouth. Hopefully he'll be up and feeding himself very soon so he can be on his way.

UPDATE: Sad news. His head injury worsened during the night and he started having seizures. He was euthanized on Saturday morning.

Great news times two

Today some really good news for two birds. The top photo is of MONROE flying off after his wing repaired itself with cage rest. Altho it was another 300 mile round trip to Riverton for the release, it was worth it. He only weighs 4.3 ounces but is still a mighty little bird.

The bottom photo is handsome HIGGINS, the baby redtail who arrived with an unexpected broken leg. He's gone through surgery with external pins applied to keep the bone ends in alignment. It took many weeks and spaced out removal of the six pins but he finally was able to stretch out his leg in a normal position. Unfortunately he wasn't able to hold his foot flat so had to wear a shoe for most of the time. Just last Monday I removed the shoe and voila! he's standing normally on his left foot. Now he just has to get strength back in that leg and a good grip with the foot and he'll be ready for release. That won't be until this Spring so he'll have the best chance for survival.

Christmas morning

At least two of us were just relaxing. This is SOPHIE and SISTER soaking up the rays on my unmade bed after enjoying a leisurely breakfast. It's a brilliantly blue sky outside, the wind is calm and all is right with our world. I got the chores done early and then came in to open my presents. My volunteer, Sara, is coming over for dinner, this will be a wonderful day. It is so far.

Fun new rug

This is something I got for the fun of it. There's a company that makes personalized merchandise and I picked this rug. It's called a Tweet Heart rug and it has the names of most of the dogs, cats and a horse who have lived with me over the past 45 years starting with my first dog, GYPSY and including the two dogs and two cats now here. Their names are on each of the little bird houses.

Now I need to buy another one to include those names I missed.

Strange visitors

I know, these aren't wild birds but they are now staying here for an undetermined time. Their person had to move out of state with not much notice so I'm babysitting them until she gets settled.

The top bird is a Rose Breasted Cockatoo, her name is CRAZY GIRL and she's nine years old. She is also looking for a home with someone who is very knowledgeable about psittacines, or parrot like birds. They are very like an intelligent perpetual two year old and need interaction with their person. She was hand raised and does have a few words and sounds in her vocalization.

The other bird is a hybrid Amazon Parrot, ANNIE, and she is 12 years old. She was also hand raised and will be going to her person as soon as it's possible. She sings opera, says words and is quite entertaining.

Wounded youngster

Today I was lucky thanks to WGF Warden Dan Thiele of Buffalo and BLM person Bob Barr. Dan picked up this young male Bald Eagle in the Buffalo Wetland Habitat Area unable to fly after he was luckily spotted before he spent too much time on the ground. I believe he'll be two years old in about April. As Buffalo is across the mountains to the east of Cody, it would have been a trip for me over what may have been some bad roads. That's were more luck came in. Bob was coming over to Worland for some shopping and agreed to bring the bird with him. That made it only a 192 mile round trip for me. I had already made arrangements for x-rays on LOKI which proved he does have a fractured ulna in his left wing. The radius is just fine so it will act as a splint if surgery is not deemed necessary. He goes in on Monday to see if that's the case or if it will only take some support bandaging for a few weeks.

UPDATE: Surgery had to be done but so far so good. He's being very quiet in his mew, eating his meals and perching. I did put a red heat lamp in there as it's still not the warmest of times altho today, Wednesday, it's supposed to be in the upper 50s. That will end with possible snow and in the 20s tomorrow.

Yum ! ! ! !

Tonight is the annual Christmas party at the Stone Soup Studio in Cody. Linda Raynolds and Elijah Cobb put this on to celebrate the season and it's a wonderful time. Everyone brings a dish to share which means there is a huge variety from soup to nuts. Actually I don't think I've ever seen soup but that's about the only thing not offered. My contribution is two apple pies as shown above. I know, it's cake icing but it's the only thing I could think of to make it festive. What's a little more sugar in your diet, right!

New eagle patient

I don't know what caused this beautiful adult male eagle to be grounded but he isn't able to fly. SPENCER was found in a Lovell oil field and the fear is that he was electrocuted. Only time will tell if the small wounds on his right wing will develop into a non-repairable situation. In the meantime, he's finally eating and is doing well. Not happy being inside but for the moment it's the best place for him. Our extremely cold weather would be hard on him in his present condition.

Great improvement

TUNDRA has made great strides since he came in unable to stand or walk. As you can see, he's not only standing but up on a floor perch in his cage. He's been filling up on a diet of mouse pieces but just recently he's been able to do some ripping and tearing on his own. He's gone from 22 ounces to 31 ounces, quite a gain in 10 days. If he continues to make such progress he will be ready for release in March when they head north.

Another first

Some amazing news and some sad news. This past week I drove to between Cody and Powell to pick up a bird that had hit a window. When I got there and saw the bird I first thought it was a very small Prairie Falcon. I was wrong, it is a big adult female Merlin. The difference is that she is called a Prairie Merlin. It's a different color phase of the species. She suffered some head trauma and wasn't able to stand altho she could move her legs, feet and wings.

The sad news is that she just died. I had very high hopes for her recovery as she ate wonderfully this morning. I had to cut up her quail and hand the small pieces to her but she readily ate them.

We're covered

Yesterday, Monday, it was 53 degrees here in Cody, the sun was out most of the day and the sky was blue. That ended in the evening and this is what I woke up to this morning. The temperature at 6 o'clock, before sunrise, was 10 and we're only supposed to be in the mid teens. The wind blew so hard last night that there are drifts not quite to my knees. Amazingly the chickens water buckets weren't frozen, nor is a good deal of Beck Lake.

I also found out late yesterday afternoon that my new truck doesn't have a block heater. It started this morning when I headed out to mail Christmas packages so I stopped by the Ford garage to see what it would take to get one installed. It will take $200, they have to order the part and probably won't be installing it until next week. About the time our predicted -16 at night temperatures go back to above freezing. I believe I have a good battery, at least there hasn't been any hesitation in starting so far.

Another Northern visitor

The second injured Rough-legged Hawk came down within a few hundred feet of the first one received at IBR this season. His name is TUNDRA and he's a baby of this year, probably about 6-7 months old. He made the long, difficult migration from above the Arctic Circle only to come across something he's never seen, a vehicle on the road.

At this point his feet, legs and wings work but he can't stand. He's being propped up by a folded towel for now. And, as you might be able to see, the tip of his upper beak is missing. It appears as if he hit the road and it was abraded off. Because he can't stand, and can't tear his food without the beak tip, I've done his work and am now feeding him mouse parts.

He has a good attitude and will go in tomorrow for xrays to pinpoint the damage, probably to his pelvis. That will heal but takes time. Hopefully way before his need to migrate back north in March.

UPDATE: This amazing young bird is coming along. Xrays showed no fractures. He can't quite stand but is eating each mouse piece I hand him. He is a bit thin so probably will slack off a bit when he's full. He's gaining strength every day so the future may be bright for him.

Pretty lady

She certainly is. MONTY is the immature Sharp-shinned Hawk who came to IBR with a fractured bone in her leftt wing. Only one of the two bones were broken so she didn't require surgical repair, just a support bandage for a few weeks. She is now in the 8x20' flight area for smaller raptors and flying all over the place. This isn't the best photo as I wanted to get her sitting still and in the sun. That required my taking the photo from outside the mew through the jail bars and netting. You can still see how striking she is. Hopefully she'll be releasable around the Christmas holiday, weather permitting.

Happy Turkey Day

To everyone. Thanksgiving is one of my favorite days. This is a repeat photo from an earlier post but just couldn't share my wishes without a photo of some turkeys that were spotted alongside the Northfork Highway west of Cody. We saw these on the way back from releasing an owl. Just the other day there were three turkeys walking in the road just outside of town but with a little persuasion they left the dangerous roadway for the safety of the bushes. Naturally I didn't have my camera with me that day.

My turkey is in the oven along with a big apple pie. My mom taught me how to make cinnamon/sugar rollups with the leftover pie dough so those will go in when the pie comes out. My volunteer, Sara and her son Loki are coming for a big feast at noon. They are also bringing goodies so none of us will go hungry today.

Again, Happy Thanksgiving, I hope your day is a happy one with friends and family in abundance at your house.

Sharp as a.........

Sharpie! This outstandingly beautiful adult male Sharp-shinned Hawk, named MONROE, came from Riverton. After a 292 mile round trip he arrived here at IBR for some TLC. It's not known just what happened to make his left wing a bit weak but you can see he isn't holding it exactly right. I think it's possible he hit a window while chasing his favorite meal, a small songbird. Xrays didn't show any broken bones but he'll go in on Monday for another exam to see if his coracoid bone may be fractured. That's one which makes it hard for a bird to fly altho it will heal. Just takes time. He'll go back to where he was found in case he has a mate wondering just where he's gone off to.

Happy Birthday!

back: Margaret, Frank, Wally and Mary.
front: Dorothy and Tommy

Today is my mother's birthday. Dorothy Davidson Stanton was born 102 years ago, the second youngest of six children. The Stanton family grew up on a very large farm where they raised Shorthorn cattle, Berkshire hogs, Shropshire sheep and horses. I never knew the original farm, that was sold before I was born, but had a wonderful childhood playing at their second home on a smaller farm a couple miles farther down the road.

My mom died in Februry 2003 at the age of 91. I still miss her terribly, especially our regular Sunday evening chats. She lived for 52 years in the house I grew up in on a quiet street in Downers Grove, IL. Love you mother, Happy Birthday.

Rodent poison ban plea

I received this email from a friend in IL but the words could fit anywhere. Please, read them carefully.

"I died today. I was found by a kind, sweet woman who does wildlife rescue. I was so sick, I could barely open my eyes. She took me inside, cradling me in her warm arms, and made me warm and comfortable. I opened my eyes and looked at her and thanked her for making my last few minutes as comfortable as possible. But I was too sick to keep fighting anymore. I had eaten a mouse that was poisoned, and it made me very sick. I closed my yellow eyes for the last time and went somewhere else. Please, all I ask is never use poison to kill the mice. poison kills owls, like me. All I wanted was a mouse for dinner. I died today . . ."

Please SHARE this for poison awareness. Stop the use of poison for rats or mice. Please. Save a precious life today; it only takes one share to spread the word.

Never before...

Something happened yesterday that is new to IBR bird releases. My volunteer, Sara, and I took one of the GHOs I'd received from the retired rehabber in Gillette out the Northfork Hiway for release at an excellent habitat. I opened the crate door, the bird dashed off as you can see from the above photo. He didn't fly far and landed on the ground up the gravel road. Just to make sure all was okay we walked his direction so he took off again.

Here's where the strange part came in. He again landed up the road but this time it was in a tangle of small branches. It puzzled me so I decided to gather him up and did so after crawling under bushes to get to him.

He is now back here but in the large hawk flight barn. When I opened his crate he immediately took off and flew, with great strength and direction, to the highest wall perch. There was no hesitation or weakness, just a strong flight. At this point he'll be in there until I feel he's ready for another try at freedom.

UPDATE: Success the second time around. Sara and I drove north of Cody about 20 miles and re-released this owl. He took off and kept going and going. I have no idea why the first release didn't work but this time it went as it should have. The only difference is that it was ravens following him and not magpies. He easily got away from them so has now begun the rest of his life as a wild bird.

Nothing but sky

I got in this amazing Red-tailed Hawk just a week ago after probably being hit by a car. Luckily he suffered no damage other than his spirit. He quickly recovered and after being in the hawk flight barn he proved he was ready for release. I added 186+ miles to my truck because this is an adult and therefore had to go back to where he was found in case he has a mate. That was just south of Laurel, MT.

I found what I think is the exact spot where he was hit. The people on that ranch were thrilled to get him back as they say redtails have nested in the large cottonwoods on their lane for years. His first stop after leaving the crate was in one of those trees. Then he took off so I could get this photo, I never saw him land.

Heavyweight

I know, it's an odd photo to make out. The only thing in focus is her tail, wings were flapping so fast they're just a blur. This is the only release photo I got of ELVIRA right after I opened the crate door. Weighing in at just over four pounds, this is the heaviest GHO I've ever had. She got into a territorial fight with a visiting owl and came out with a wound on her left wing. It healed without any problems so when she was ready for release I returned her to the Two Dot ranch about 25 miles north of Cody.

First roughie

Yes, Rough-legged Hawks have arrived from above the Arctic Circle. To them this is the south of Florida, they spend winters in the US to escape the bad weather so far north. Unfortunately for this amazingly beautiful adult it means the end of the road. He appears to have either had his right leg caught in a trap or perhaps in a fence. He got free but the bone in his lower leg had been exposed which caused his foot to die. There is nothing that can be done to save him, and this is Saturday, so on Monday he will be euthanized. In the meantime I've fed him some cut up mice so he at least won't spend his last moments hungry.