Update 11/28. Grebe seems healthy and waterproof, enjoying fish, clams, and other grebe food, and Amy and Brian from AFA released the grebe today, on a pond at the Air Force Academy.
Amy shares her picture of the grebe’s happy release.
Amy found a pied billed grebe in an odd spot on the Air Force Academy grounds; sitting on the Santa Fe Trail. She picked the bird up and took it to a veterinarian in Monument, then called Academy wildlife officer, Brian. Brian determined the grebe needed some time and assessment, so Amy took the grebe to Dr. Eggleston, who determined the bird was in good condition and needed just a little bit of rest. The bird came here via volunteer Diana, and indeed is a very spunky water bird who appears to be in good condition.
Catherine found a poor, injured woodpecker in her window well. The bird had been attacked by a cat and had suffered a wing fracture. Dr. Germeroth does an excellent job with broken bones in birds, and knew exactly what to do. She performed a very delicate surgery with pinning on a fragile wing. The flicker came here via volunteer Alison. Let’s keep our fingers crossed for these birds’ success!
Released 12/17/2007.
Update 11/29/2007-Grill is feeling much better and is able to feed herself fabulously! So today she was moved to an outdoor enclosure where we will monitor her progress to ensure that she continues to do well.
I can only imagine what went through veterinarian Dr. Arviso’s mind Saturday night when she had a most unusual request at Animal Emergency Care Center North. A man came into the clinic and said he needed some help outside. When Dr. Arviso and AECCN staff went outside, they just couldn’t have been prepared for the sight that awaited them-an owl plastered across the front of a car grill, head-first. You see, Johnathan had been driving on I-25 when the large bird swooped down and smacked into the front of his car. John pulled over and found the owl had hit with so much force that her head had actually gone through the grill, as had her wings. We’ve had to peel birds off of grills before and usually they’re DOA and if not, have sustained such severe injuries they’ve had to be put down to put them out of their pain. Well, Johnathan called the Colorado Springs Police Department, who referred him to the Division of Wildlife, who referred him to the AECCN. When Dr. Arviso came outside she had a big unpleasant task ahead of her; gently and very, very carefully extracting the bird’s head and wings from the car grill. She accomplished this and amazingly, the bird appeared to have suffered no bone fractures and wasn’t exhibiting the telltale signs of internal bleeding. She treated the owl for pain and then placed her in a dark, quiet holding room so the bird could de-stress. Upon shift change, when Dr. Sides came in, she checked in on the bird to find it standing up and full of attitude! Volunteer Diana picked the owl up for transport here to begin the process of rehab. The owl has obviously sustained a pretty major head trauma and we’ll have to wait and see how she does. Once again, I just have to mention how grateful we are for the caring doctors and staff, and the excellent care given by the Animal Emergency Care Centers to treat wildlife by donating their time and services. We appreciate you!
Former Littleton wildlife rehabber Peggy found herself with this unusual waterbird found in Bailey, finding out it is an Ancient Murrelet. This poor, skinny seabird is on the wrong side of the mountains, belonging on the west coast, where he will go shortly, thanks to a donated airplane ticket to get him there!
This cottontail came all the way from Ridgeway, then to Kathy in Larkspur, and now here, where she is ready for release!
This little chickadee came from Castle Pines, where distraught homeowners gently removed him from a glue trap on the roof of their home. They were very, very unhappy with the advice they were given to place those glue traps, not having been informed of how devastating they can be to birds. This bird was very carefully cared for by the homeowners, and then Kris, who carefully cleaned and trimmed the sticky feathers.
This is the time of year when we rehabbers start looking forward to a little bit of a break from animal care. Now that busy baby season is over we try to get caught up with other things, like paperwork, phone calls, cage maintenance, and other chores. This time last year we’d already survived blizzards. Because of the wild weather last fall and winter we never had a break, because the weather created problems for the wildlife. This fall, although it is sunny and 70s, we’re still not getting any kind of a break. More animals are coming almost every day, and releases are happening almost daily for us as well. So here we are again, wondering when we’re going to get all caught up!
The coyote appeared to have given up on life, lying exposed by the fence.
Phil picked her up and placed her in the kennel.
Dr. Sides gives Scout a very gentle yet detailed exam.
Now she gets x-rays, where a pelvic fracture is found.
Krista prepares the coyote for her IV and then de-louses her before sending her back to rehab.
Update 12/23/2007. Release day for Scout! Volunteer Cheryl took her back to the ranch where Jennifer and family were waiting, then drove to the bluffs, set the kennel down and after a few moments’ hesitation, out bounced Scout, free again!
Update 11/10/2007. Scout appears to be doing okay so far. She has dug every inch of dirt in her enclosure and has rearranged her furniture in there as well as has dismantled her logs. She’s eating well-thank you, Phil and Cheryl C., and Tom O. for the food-and we’ll keep you posted of her progress. PS Cindy-no, she isn’t ferocious or trying to attack us! Maybe it’s luck or the fact they always come to rehab in such bad shape, but I’ve never, ever, ever had an aggressive coyote in rehab. They always do their best to avoid us people while they’re here.
Late yesterday afternoon Ellicott resident Jennifer heard her dogs making a commotion outside. She went to the back door to check and saw a coyote drinking out of the dogs’ water dish. Jennifer has grown up on a ranch and knows to be wary of coyotes, and wondered if she needed to do anything other than observe the animal. She watched as the coyote drank alot of water and expected it to head back toward the bluffs behind the ranch. But instead the animal crawled under the fence, curled up into a ball, and went to sleep. Jennifer knows this isn’t the behavior of a healthy coyote and came inside to call us, knowing we help wild animals because she used to volunteer here. We drove to Jennifer’s and found what she had observed-a coyote curled up by her fence, seemingly oblivious to us and everything else. This isn’t a good sign as it appeared the animal had simply given up. Phil picked up the coyote and placed her in a kennel, then we came home to call the vet and make sure she had time to see the animal, as the vet clinic is a very busy place in the evening. Krista let us know they had time to see her, so into town we went. We arrived at Animal Emergency Care Center South, where Dr. Sides, Beth, and Krista gave the coyote the VIP (Very Injured Predator) treatment. Dr. Sides gave the critter a very gentle yet thorough exam and was concerned that although the coyote could stand, she was knuckling; usually a sign of spinal trauma. So the ladies brought the coyote over to the x-ray area, where they gave her a very complete and detailed set of spinal and pelvic x-rays. They found the problem on x-ray; the coyote had suffered a fractured pelvis. Usually a pelvic fracture in these animals happens after getting hit by a car and almost always the pelvis is completely shattered, and the animal is put down. However, in Scout’s case, the pelvis wasn’t shattered and there wasn’t any joint involvement, and her birthing canal didn’t appear affected-something that must be taken into consideration in a young female. So Dr. Sides decided Scout coyote should come here to rehab and be on rest for several weeks to allow that fracture to heal, and we will see how she does. After the x-rays, the ladies treated the coyote for pain, gave her fluid therapy, and then took care of her fleas. As always, the veterinarian and staff at the Animal Emergency Care Center South gave fantastic care in their donation of time and services, and we appreciate them!
Update 11/08. The divider is mostly down now so the owls are flying the full 100-foot length. The expansion part is almost done now, except for the “furniture” and dividing door need to be built. Then phase 2-the plumbing for the misting system-will begin, hopefully in the next few weeks, if the weather stays warm.
We’re very fortunate to have these mild fall days so we can keep working on the expansion project. The metal support beam is in both sections of the cage, the floors, sides, bottom, and top are secured, the plywood is up, and the door is on. Next we’ll be working on (any Scouts need a project?) building the perches, platforms, and ladders for the enclosure. Hopefully next workday we can take that wall out that currently divides the structure in half, and then the entire enclosure will be open it’s entire 100-foot length! We’re working on the divider doors that will allow the enclosure to be either two 50-foot enclosures or one 100-foot enclosure, depending on who’s in there at any given time. With weather allowing we hope to install the plumbing soon as well.
The gull looked a lot different at release than when he came to rehab after blowing around a Rush field like a tumbleweed! The soft tissue wing injury healed just fine and Sabin became very active, very noisy, and flying beautifully in an outdoor flight. Apparently these birds have been found in Colorado from time to time over the last few years. Thanks to help from Gail, the DOW, and the CoBirds people, we learned where to find these gulls in our state this time of year, on their migration route. So yesterday Phil took the bird out there for release. Sabin’s gull stepped out of his kennel on little webby feet, did a stretch routine, zipped along the water’s edge for a few minutes, and then into the shallows for a while before heading out to deeper waters, where Phil watched him splash and swim until leaving for work.