Thank you JudyB for that update on the injured juvie!

Donna...I can't wait to see that video....Mom Decorah must have been roosting just off the nest!

Here is another small update on that rescued eaglette:


Evening all,
The injured juvie had a restful and quiet night in ICU. She's not wanting to tear up her own food, not surprising with an ouchy leg, but is taking water-soaked chicken from the forceps. Food is going in and poop is coming out. Both good. Her feistiness may be be due to being "shocky" after the accident. Wouldn't you be a bit out of sorts if you got hit by a car? Juvie has an appointment with the doctor Monday.

Linette
on behalf of SOAR

These two have been very busy at the nest the last few days.

I have tried several times to bring up the video showing Ma Decorah chasing the raccoon. Bev posted it and it worked, but it is not posting for me. It is a youtube called 9-16-11 Raccoon in the Nest. It is posted at Raptor Resource. So I guess I need And I am sorry to mention it and not post it. It is an aggressive and decisive move on the raccoon as it enters the nest.

OK, Donna, I'll give it a try!..........I got it to post on my second try! It's frustrating when these things don't work!! Mom really gave "Rocky" the what for!!! I love the way she folded and refolded her wings after the pest was gone! At the end we hear maybe both parents talking it over!



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fDobUMVHcPY


Here's an scap from the video with Mom telling the world she took care of that rascally racoon!!!

Beautiful picture of Mom!

Update on the juvie from Monday night - I know some of this is already posted here, but this puts it all in one place; link for updates is http://www.soarraptors.org/patients.html, and scroll down to September 16 (date she was admitted)

Juvenile female bald eagle was hit on a road in the Decorah area while "dining" on roadkill raccoon. A passing car called the Raptor Resource Project (and waited for help to arrive) and Bob rescued the eagle (One of the folks from the car drove Bob's). Unfortunately the bird yacked up her last meal and a bit of blood all over Bob and his car. She could have some internal injuries.

After a quick call to SOAR, Bob discovered that Kay was going to be in NE Iowa the next day so could transfer the eagle to her. They agreed she (by size of beak and feet) was likely a two-year-old bird, having gone through one complete molt. She does not have any compound fractures, but is also not putting full weight on her left foot. She is not underweight and is feisty. Her first night at SOAR will be a quiet one with food and fluids offered.

**9/18 Update - This "juvie" does have some vision impairment. This was noticed while feeding her with forceps...the food had to placed in a certain spot for her to see and then snatch.

**9/19 Update - Juvie was not "fussed with" over the weekend, just offered food twice each day. She is near the three education bald eagles at SOAR and can hear them and has been calling back to them. No blood has been seen in her mouth or mutes (fancy word for bird poo). Juvie weighs in at 10.5 lbs - definitely a female. Kay is now leaning toward this bird being three because of the yellow coming on in her eyes and cere.

Visits to the doctor are often good news, bad news. Good news is that she has no fractures, just badly bruised. The not so good news is that her blood lead level (BLL) was at 0.119 ppm or 11.9 µg/dL. This indicates low lead exposure. When, from what? When is easier - sometime in the last 10 days she ate a small amount of lead along with her food. Small meaning not enough to kill her but enough to impair her. Once any animal ingests lead, it takes about two weeks for the body to do something with the toxin - either absorb it into bones and organs and/or excrete it. We'll never know what the lead source was.

Her BLL is not high enough to need chelation therapy. There are side effects to chelation that you have to weigh into the decision and with SOAR's experience with lead-affected eagles, with this BLL her body will rid itself of the toxin without additional therapies.

In response to a followup question on the Raptor Resource forum, they said the lead could be the cause of the vision impairment, and if so, her vision might improve in time.

Here is a later post about the possiblities of this young bird's vision. I thought she looked more like a three year old in her picture. The feather colors are much like Buddy's who was three this year.



Nothing new to report or post on SOAR patient update page, but did want to answer questions about her vision.

"Juvie's" vision issues: Unfortunately we will not definitively know what caused her issues. Lead in the system will cause the brain to swell and that swelling pushes on the optic nerve which causes the vision issue. Also...being hit by a car could also cause the brain to swell and ya-da, ya-da. Maybe because of lead in her system, maybe because of the collision, maybe both. If only we could ask her, "How was your vision before you got smacked by the car?"

There does not appear to be any damage to the eye...there is no blood visible inside the eye and both pupils are equal and reactive (how many of you remember the TV show "Emergency" and Gage and DeSoto?) With supportive care (food and a warm, safe place to recuperate), experience says that her vision should return to normal.

Linette

DO YOU BELIEVE THIS?????




CLICK 2X BIGGER!!!!

That is amazing, Mary!

Here's another update on the injured juvie from http://www.soarraptors.org/patients.html:

**9/23 Update - Juvie is still not eating on her own...but is eating when twice each day. Food in and poo out -- however her mutes are green which indicates she still has lead in her system. When another blood sample is drawn to measure her BLL, don't be alarmed if the level goes up. Think of it like reorganizing and cleaning a room - it gets worse before it gets better.

Her mouth lining is still pale indicating she is likely anemic. Beef heart is on the menu later today. The dark red meat will give her plenty of iron.

Her eyesight appears to be getting better as she is taking food from both sides of her beak and Juvie has become quite interested in a new patient in the ICU, peering through the air vents at this accipiter de-feathering a meal. She is putting more weight on her left leg, but still not an even weight distribution.

The plan today is to move her to the 20'x20' intensive care room. There she can have room to stretch her wings, move from perch to perch, and have a bigger bath pan -- but still be by herself and not be able to move too much.

And you can now watch the Decorah eagles preparing for next season directly from our Live Cams page, with thanks to the Raptor Resource Project!

Cynthia (Iowa) from the Raptor Resource forum visited SOAR on Friday and was allowed to take a couple of pictures of the injured juvie in the 20'x20' intensive care room. Her report and pictures are here - http://raptorresource.org/forum/index.p ... l#msg51217.