Oh man Jewill that's awful about the Golden! ratzzz but I'm glad he doesn't have to suffer, I can't imagine the pain a shattered wing would cause him.

But wooooohooooooo to Horton and you being the one!! eweee he looks great and nice and fat now. Oh that's going to be so much fun. Don't tell anybody but I hope you get to do it alone...hehe. I can't wait for those pics. Oh....on second thought you can't release and take pics so maybe we do need a call back from that person.

So what kind of brain damage does the wee Peanut have? I mean behavior wise. Yupper that's a cutie alright and hard to believe it's a raptor after us watching eagles for so long. Well she'll have a happy life with you guys I'm sure

awww poor Winchester, that's a bad ouchie there for sure! I too hope it heals over, it should right?

Yes please do keep us posted and yes you will need another body there at the release. I never thought about it either till I typed it out. Thanks so much for the great report my friend

Lori...how are you feeling?
You were asking about Peanut...the biggest indicator of brain damage is the type of accident the bird was in. Peanut was hit by a car or smacked into a building. She had a broken wing and being such a small bird it's probable that she also hit her head. When she first came in she was dazed, her eyes were not focussing on anything and she could not hold her head up by herself. She's regained some of her composure and strength but she's clearly not afraid of humans and that's the biggest obstacle she has. Once a wild animal becomes habituated to humans it's over as far as ever being wild again. We try very hard to keep human contact to a minimum with our rehabbing birds to prevent them from becoming used to us - they see us only once a day usually, and then only for a few minutes. However when it became evident that Peanut's wing did not heal properly and prevented her from flying the choices were to keep her for educational and fostering purposes, or to euthanize her. So now we are doing the exact opposite - we're deliberately trying to get her used to humans by handling her frequently.
As for Winchester, skin will eventually grow over the exposed stump, either naturally or with a graft. Then the feathers will cover it so when she's sitting with her wings folded in it will be difficult to tell that anything is wrong with her. Obviously when she stretches her wings out you will be able to see that one is only half there. She too is doing amazingly well being handled and getting used to people being around her.
I didn't hear from Rob today so I don't know if the person who found Horton called back or not. I'll definitely find out what's up on Wednesday, so I'm thinking that probably either Friday or Saturday will be Horton's release day, but I promise to let everyone know. Even if it is only me there I will try to get at least a few pics of him/her flying away.
Until Wednesday....

ohhh so very sore today Jewill! thanks for asking though. I go Feb 7 to surgeon, talons crossed it's something he can operate on

Thanks so much for explaining Peanut to me. Funny how fast she took to human contact huh? I guess it was all just meant to be that's why and I sure wish it was me she was getting use to. Also great to read that Winchester will heal up good and have a happy, safe home.

I've mixed feelings about the person calling back for Horton and I bet you do too. In one way I'd like you to do it alone but for selfish reasons I want somebody there for the taking pics part...hehe

See you Wednesday my friend

The day started out with my taking a juvie to the airport. It was found in Port Hardy, which is on the northern tip of Vancouver Island, apparently having been electrocuted. Fortunately the injury was not that bad and it's all better now so he's now back in Port Hardy where he belongs.
After that I was looking after the Front Education birds - nothing out of the ordinary to report there; they are all doing just fine.
Then it was helping Rob with several birds that needed medication, feeding or just a check-up. Now here's a question for you: Have you ever wondered if eagles fart? Neither had I, that is until 1 laid one on us in the medical room. Diane had grabbed the bird so Rob could examine it and while she was holding it she suddenly moved to one side because she thought it was about to deliver a poop shot right at her. Well nothing came out, but within a few seconds the paint almost started peeling off the wall! It immediately cleared the room, except for poor Diane who was stuck holding on to the bird. Thanks Diane...you took one for the team.
The fellow who found Horton finally called back. He is currently in Alberta and won't be back until the weekend, so Monday is going to be Horton's release day . I really hope the weather forecast holds true because it's supposed to be sunny and mild that day.
The day ended with feeding several of the education birds - I did Nelson (Peregrine), Sarah (Barn Owl) and Katie (Kestrel). I also watched as Winchester and Peanut were brought out for some people time. They are not yet ready to be hand fed so it was just getting them used to being on the glove.
Both OWL and HWF are all about education and if you learned something about the digestive systems of eagles then I'm glad I could make that contribution.
I'm thinking about you Lori...be well.

Hi Jewill! I'm still here cause I have the Lily and Hope cam fired up and it's hard to turn off those sweet cub sounds. (not so sweet right this minute, screaming his face off!!) woooooooooohooooooooo I'm glad I was cause I sure needed a good laugh today and you came through in spades! What a scream and poor Diane in there suffocating alone. Who'd a thunk that and it's funny we've never heard one on the cams. Maybe we did and didn't know what it was.

Well there we go huh, so the guy is coming to the release and that means for sure some great pics for us. Boy I hope the weather holds true for you.

Thanks for the great and funny report my friend, see you Sunday and thanks for thinking about me

Oh Jewill.... That is just too much!!. Another nugget of eagle information to be tucked into this old brain. I have to wonder with all the eagle lore that he has dispensed that Dsvid has never told us about that!! Now...if we just knew if they had tonsils.....(forum joke from our dear Wendy)!!

Judy, I'm still laughing.rofl: My hubby just came up and read your post and he was laughing too I had to read back a few posts because I spent 3 entire days at the arena here in Victoria watchng the Canadian Figure Skating Championships and wasn't on the computer much at all

I'm so glad to hear you will be meeting the fellow for Horton/Hortense's release, and so glad you are doing the honours What big beautiful eyes Horton has My sister had a budgie for years and was told it was a male so she called it Timothy. It was a real shock when Timothy laid an egg

That's too bad about the golden eagle; it isn't nice when a bird or animal has to be euthanised but it's the best thing to do rather than have them suffer

Peanut is so cute and very fortunate to have a wonderful home now with such wonderful people to look after her

Winchester is a beauty and I sure hope her wing heals nicely with no infection

Thanks for your great reports. Please say hi to Bev for me and thank her for giving you permission to post the pix.

Hi all...sorry I'm late, but yesterday was just so busy at OWL that I came home, had dinner, watched a little TV and then went to bed early. We got completely hammered with tours - one after the other, and they kept on coming. Now don't get me wrong - that's good that so many people are interested and many of them left a donation, but it sure makes it hard to get anything else done.
I was looking after my usual Sunday bunch - the Barn owls, chickens and Barred owls. Several of the Barred owls have been released just since last Wednesday. Of course Horton is in that section too - not the same cage, he has one all to himself. And then there's Ladyhawke. Actually everyone is doing well and I gave Horton a whole rat since that was his last free meal.
What little time we had was spent assembling the latest edition of the newsletter. If you are on the mailing list you should be getting yours in the next week or so.
Horton is now home! I took him up to Hope in the Fraser Valley today and let him go around 2 pm. The guy that found him was unable to make the release so it was just me which made it very difficult to get any pictures. The ones that I did get are not worth posting. Just imagine a lake, surrounded by snow covered mountains, with lots of trees and just a few houses. I opened the door of the kennel, he looked at me for a split second and then took off and never looked back. His weight this morning was 2025 grams and he felt good and fat, so he's got enough meat on him to last several days, or until he realizes that he has to hunt for his own food now.
That's about it for now...until next time