It will be a busy day today at Raptor Education Group, Inc.. We will begin evaluating the Bald Eagles that will be released on January 17 at VFW Park in Sauk Prairie, WI. Today is reserved for intense observation of the eagles as they fly in our conditioning flight. We will check for any missing feathers or even tiny flight abnormalities. Our weather is dropping precipitously this evening with some reports of -30 F. and remaining there for the week. When the weather is this frigid, we do not push the birds to do anything more than what is normal for them. That is why we are doing evaluation now rather than next week. Of course all of the eagles will have complete physicals prior to release as that time comes closer. This is a time when we would not catch up our patients for anything but an emergency. Deep breathing with the frigid air can be detrimental to birds tiny but very efficient lungs. You may notice that wild bird chose to be less active during frigid times and often do not even hunt. We have noticed here at Raptor Education Group, Inc. during our many years of caring for native birds, that they rarely eat even when offered plentiful food. It goes back to my often used statement that it takes calorie to digest calories. When the temperature is frigid, wild birds are in conserving mode and that is exactly what is natural for them. The Barred Owl admitted the other night is doing better. He is standing and eating but his eye is still filled with blood. It is not opaque at this time and we are hopeful it will resolve. His nictitating membrane does work and covers the eye well. Our Ruffed Grouse patients are doing well. They have introduced our staff to the grouse method of burying themselves under the snow to keep warm. We allow our patients as natural an environment as possible so they can continue to have as natural a life as possible while recovering from their injuries. Attached is a short video taken yesterday of the spinal injury Bald eagle patient after her physical therapy. She was tired and while I did not say that in the video, that will be obvious. This was at the end of her treatment time and we were just finishing with wrapping her feet. She is doing well however and the open mouth breathing was just that she was ready for a rest after physical therapy. Yesterdays post had many still photos of this eagle and the procedure if you have questions. Have a great day everyone. We will try our best to stay warm and keep our patients comfortable.
Posted on: Sun, 04 Jan 2015 18:28:18 +0000