SPARKY update

Here's a recent photo of SPARKY, an immature male Golden Eagle that came in on December 5th with what I thought were electrocution wounds to both wrists. Not the case but I have no idea what happened to him. He's lost all of his primary feathers (the long ones at the tips of his wings) and altho they're trying to grow back, some have broken off while only halfway in.

Only time will tell if he'll be releasable but I will give him as much time as that takes. He's only a year old and has a long life ahead of him.

Goodbye Stew

This morning I lost a valued friend, Stew McMillen. He and his wife Mimi were living in Wapiti when I met them but had moved down to Kerrville, TX some years ago. They have been avid supporters of IBR over the years and we've kept in touch via email and a couple of visits.

I will remember Stew with such fondness and will miss his quirky humor and the fun emails he sent almost every day. Goodbye old friend.

At just about the time Stew died I heard my first Meadowlark of the year. Perhaps it was celebrating this wonderful mans life in song.

She's back

I was amazed when I got a call last Friday about a golden eagle with a broken wing down near Lovell. I met James Hobbs, the WGF warden near Garland for the handoff and found out it was not a golden but a baby bald eagle. And the most astounding thing was which baby bald eagle. It's PRISCILLA, the one I released back on January 12th about three miles from where she was just found.

PRISCILLA is the one that had the very high mercury count altho we never found out the cause and why she wasn't dead from it. If you remember, she was originally found about 20 miles out the Southfork Road on Thanksgiving Day. Because she was in excellent condition and was flying very strong I made the decision to release her. That went well and it's on a video.

She also has/had a very large growth on the bottom of her right foot. I say had because today she underwent surgery to remove whatever it is. Both her blood and the tumor are on their way to the state lab for testing. Because the chance of ever getting a bird back to repeat a test is unheard of I'm having her blood tested for mercury.

Now it's a matter of time to see if her foot heals enough for re-release. The mercury level may determine her outcome.

NOTE: The results of her mercury test show that the level has gone down by half but is still high. She is also not eating nearly as much as I would like, possibly because she doesn't like having her foot bandaged. Mercury poisoning affects the brain which is what I think has happened to PRISCILLA. Because of that I've made the decision to NOT release her back to the wild. Now it becomes a question of whether she improves enough to live.

My new flock

I now have a total of 116 chickens but these won't be laying until Fall. In the meantime this flock of 50 tiny babies are eating and drinking and looking so cute. There are Rhode Island Red, Partridge Rock, Red Sex Link and Black Astrolorp and will all be laying brown eggs. I wanted to get some more Aracaunas but they didn't come in, perhaps this next week.

Another eagle

So far this year over 50% of the birds arriving at IBR have been eagles and all but one are goldens. This is CORD, an adult male found on a ranch out the Northfork Hiway near Wapiti. When I first saw the bird I was so afraid it was yet another lead poisoning but that's not the case. I believe this bird may have not been paying attention and perhaps came down too hard when chasing a meal.

Nothing shows up as broken in either leg, pelvis or spine but his legs don't work very well and he can't stand up. I hope it's just bruising but for now he's as you see him in this photo. He's sitting on a deep pile of shredded newspaper inside a baby playpen. It's the best way to keep him upright yet not put all his weight on his legs. I'm having to hand feed him and he's started some physical therapy too.

At this time of the year the female is either on the nest or is about to lay eggs. As her mate is now here we have lost the breeding season but if I can get him back to his territory before late summer they can try again for next year.

Thanks to the Cody Enterprise for donating the paper and Nan Curtis and Y-Tex for letting me use their giant shredder.

NOTE: CORD died the morning of March 25th.

Another loss

For those of you who have visited the Beartooth Nature Center you'll surely know of LEWIS, the mountain lion. He has been living there for a long time and sadly he was found dead today, quite unexpectedly. Perhaps the loss of HELEN some months ago had something to do with that. He was a much loved member of the BNC family and will be missed, especially by Don, his friend and caretaker for his entire life.

For everyone who has never been to the nature center in Red Lodge, MT, you must go there, it is a wonderful facility. The bears are still in hibernation altho the young male did come out for a few minutes before going back into his winter den. They have loads of different animals and birds and if you go in the summer you will see an amazing array of flowers and beautiful grounds.

He's away!

Today ROSIE was released back to the wild exactly where he was found. As you can see, he's way up in a tree daring me to catch him again. I warned him to stay away from golden retrievers no matter how friendly they are.

Disappearing DAVE

This morning DAVE was released so he could begin the long migration to his birth place above the Arctic Circle in Northern Canada. He's been here since the end of November after being found by pheasant hunters. His right ulna was broken but in good position and had the intact radius for a splint.

His first flight was a short one and ended on the ground while he scoped out the territory and wide open spaces he found himself in. When I got close to make sure he was okay he jumped into the air and showed me his backside. I watched as he went a long way and then over a hill with strong wingbeats. Sorry it's not all in the frame but I had to quickly click the button as he was leaving in such a hurry so I didn't have a lot of time to frame the shot.

CHIP off the old block

Here's FUZZY's first born and there's no doubt who the dad is. He's only a few days old in this photo (I think it's a boar), one of three in the litter. The other two are red and white, closer to their mom in looks.

Seeing double

Not really but there are now two Saw-whet Owls here at IBR. This is JENNA, an adult female found on the ground hiding behind a bush at a local trailer park. I have no idea what made her go there as they are totally nocturnal and favor coniferous forests. There are some large evergreen trees not too far away so maybe she just zigged when she should have zagged. I can find nothing wrong at this point but will have her examined and xrayed, if necessary, to see if there is some damage.

What else ?????

Wow, probably shouldn't say that. I just got my truck back with new leaf springs, new sparkplug wires and a repaired tailgate. That was on Thursday. Today, as I was heading home from town the gears refused to change. Add the towing bill plus another whopping one for whatever is wrong this time.

Luckily my friend Susan has two vehicles and she is loaning me the use of her Subaru wagon until I get the truck back. Hopefully that will be only a couple days into the new week. Of course the garage doesn't know they have that ahead of them so I doubt they have the parts on hand and will have to order them.

The super young man driving the tow rig took me to the garage and we left the truck to save yet another charge. Then he brought me home and helped unload the grain sacks we'd transferred to his truck. Thanks Eagle Recovery.

BIG brother is watching you !

Well, maybe not BIG brother. Okay, maybe teeny brother. Especially as ROSIE is only four inches tall from the bottom of his feet to the top of his head. This little Saw-whet Owl is making great time in getting stronger so he will be relesable in a few days. He's about seven feet off the ground and glaring at me. His words, "Drop the mouse and no one will get hurt". Okay, I'm outta here all right, all ready.....

Mystery flight

This is an updated photo of RANCHER, an immature male Merlin who arrived here a few weeks ago unable to fly. Xrays showed that he has practically no muscle delineation from his elbow to shoulder in his left wing. That would explain why he couldn't fly when found.

If you'll notice in this photo, he's rather high up in his 8'x 20' mew and this isn't the highest he's flown. He's regularly found at the very top of the mew, about 15+ feet up.

At this point I don't see how he's able to do this but will take him in for further xrays to see just what's happening with that wing. Now I'm hopeful that he'll eventually be strong enough for release.

A lesson learned

As noted in the previous two posts, I've lost two very wonderful eagles to lead poisoning. If there is a lesson in all of this it is to STOP USING LEAD SHOT OR BULLETS when hunting. There is ample proof that copper or steel bullets/shot are just as effective as lead and do no harm to those animals and birds who make meals of the carcasses or gut piles left by hunters.

Please, please do the right thing and make that needed change in your hunting habits and save lives of the wild creatures sharing this planet with us.

She's soaring again

Today was hard as I made the difficult decision to put JOSEPHINE to sleep. In this photo she was up, standing on flat feet and walking. She seemed to be on the road to recovering from the lead in her system. That count had been going down and my hopes were high that this magnificent bird would fly again.

It was not to be. A couple days ago she took a turn for the worse. She was unwilling to stand for very long, her right foot started clenching again, she wasn't able to keep food down and her breathing was becoming labored.

I asked her to try and she did. Unfortunately wanting something and making it so wasn't enough. In my mind and heart she is now soaring in the high clouds and I will always remember her gallant try to become whole again. Goodbye sweet lady.

A loss

Last night BENNY gave up. She died about 8:30pm after a gallant fight to recover from severe lead poisoning. One problem with too much lead is it causes organ failure and she started having trouble breathing. We both tried everything but it just wasn't to be for this beautiful adult female Golden Eagle.

Hit and lay down

Not run or fly, but just lay down. This beautiful female Sharp-shinned Hawk hit a window in a local coffee shop while chasing a meal, a sparrow. Both hit the window, killing the sparrow but not this smallest accipiter. Luckily one of the ladies inside saw it happen and called me right away. She also quickly placed a towel over the bird so it wouldn't try to get away. She's now in a cage here at IBR and has made a meal of the luckless sparrow.

As this beautiful bird is in excellent shape and not injured I will release her tomorrow and let her get on with living.

Test results

And they are good and bad. The one for JOSEPHINE came back at .49 which is lower than the last one but still way too high. The other good news is that she's able to stand and walk around on flat feet if she does it slowly. And the feeding tonight went much better altho I still have to hand deliver the food to her.

The bad news is really bad. BENNY's count is 2.36 which is in the very, extremely, horribly, nasty range. I started her on her chelation meds last night and will continue her twice a day injections until Sunday morning. Then another blood test will tell me how she's doing. She's also not eating all on her own but is readily swallowing the food I put in her mouth.

Teeny patient

From golden eagles to one of the smallest owls. This is ROSIE, an adult saw-whet owl found not far from IBR. A gentle mouthed golden retriever brought him home last night and luckily didn't appear to hurt the bird. Thank goodness the owner spotted the problem and moved him to a small cat crate for the night and called me this morning.

At this time I don't think there was any damage done and as you can see, he's sitting on top of a mouse that he'll hopefully eat this evening. As they are totally nocturnal it may be until I turn out the lights before the meal will be eaten.

What is happening?

As most of you know, I've been rehabbing wild birds for 25 years now and in all that time I've only received what I think was one bird suffering from lead poisoning. Now in the past 21 days I've gotten in two adult female golden eagles with this problem.

JOSEPHINE has gone through three rounds of treatment and at this point she is still unable to open her feet altho she can now stand for longer periods. Her latest blood test results will come in this afternoon so a decision can be made whether or not to continue her fight.

This photo is of BENNY. She came in yesterday after being found near a bentonite mine between Lovell and Greybull. As you can see, she isn't standing and her feet are clenched into fists. That is a classic sign of lead in her system. She started her first round of shots last night. Hopefully both birds will recover but right now only time will tell.

Thanks to Dr. Merl Raisbeck at the U of WY State Vet Lab for all his quick results on the testing and for supportive words when I'm at a loss.

Venison anyone?

Those are not cows in that field, they are all whitetail deer. I used to see nothing but muleys but not anymore. The whitetail are more aggesssive and have apparently taken over this entire area. About the only time I see mule deer is when I drive through town.

SOPHIE goes nuts when she goes outside and sees all these animals in what she considers "her field". I do have them inside my perimeter fence too but they leap out whenever I approach them. Too bad the season is over with now.

Harry

Yes, that's his name as he is just that, hairy. This very handsome adult male cavy came to IBR from a young lady who bought him in Gillette. That means he's not in any way related to those already living here so there will be some new genes in the pool. I also received a beautiful dark blond sow who is already bred to him, the babies will be outstanding.

Hooray, she's gone!

This was a great day as it meant that JANUS has flown free. Susan and I took her to just about the exact place she was found after running into the tail end of a stock trailer as it went past the road kill deer she was feeding on. Luckily this adult female Golden Eagle wasn't broken but it did take a while for her to try flying again.

This photo is hard to make out as adult eagle feather coloration blends in with all the vegetation. Unfortunately she didn't clear the hill so I could get a shot of her in the sky. JANUS made a super flight and now has the rest of her life to live. Hopefully far from any busy highway.

Another visitor

This photo is of an immature Cooper's Hawk I found sitting on top of a tall pole near my chicken house. I don't know if this is the former visitor or a new one but he's certainly scoping out the area. He can't kill one of my hens as they're 10 times his weight but he can wish, can't he?

Another back in the air

About 9:30 this morning Susan and I headed out to a couple miles east of Garland so TRACY could be released where he was found. He has only been here a few days because he was not injured in whatever happened to him alongside the road. Thanks to Tracy & Diane who got him off the yellow line and stood guard until Warden James Hobbs could arrive. I then met him in Powell for the transfer.

Susan did her wonderful taping of the release and can be seen on YouTube and this blog. She sent along a still shot from the video so I could post it. It was a beautiful day, chilly but bright and TRACY flew quite a distance before landing on the edge of a far cliff to scope out the area.