There have been happy moments since our last posting: We had a wonderful little girl from the International School join us to complete a Project . She was assigned the mouse colony, and quickly fell in love with MICE! At the end of her allotted time she made a presentation to the school which was well received. Some of her pictures are included below. Both screech owls, now fully recovered from their injuries, were released. For a couple of weeks, one returned each night to take a mouse placed on a feeding table on the lawn. This provided him with some nourishment while he figured out how to hunt for himself. The second one was older and had been free before his injury, so it was not difficult for him to adjust. We have heard the Pigmy calling at night but never see it. Then we were able to release the juvi Spectacled owl from Claxton Bay, whose broken humerus had been splinted, most excellently by Dr. Ravi, and healed well. The bird is flying strongly and has been hunting. While we were debating a suitable place to release, him, I heard Spectacled Owls calling close by, possibly from our hillside. Releasing him here, would provide him with hand-outs until he honed his hunting skills. Returning him to the area of his original family was the other option, but there would have been nobody to monitor him, and we had no idea whether his parents would recognise him after such a long absence. For the first few nights I heard him calling at a distance, and the concern then, whether he was getting enough to sustain himself. By the 5th night I heard his call close by and hurried out to call back. The back yard is lit only from other houses. and the neighborhood is planted with plenty trees, so only minimal light percolates into the Rehab area. I stood in the darkness and hooted, and as I got a response I called again. This continued for a while as he came closer. Suddenly, I became aware of lights going on in peoples houses, and there were silhouetted bodies peering out. Embarassed, I slunk into the shadow of my mango tree, and continued to hoot!!!! It paid off. He comes many nights, mostly, I think, for the reassurance. I put out one large mouse. If he needs more he calls and I oblige, then he disappears. He still has his juvinile colour, though it is changing rapidly, but just now he is conspicuous for the beautiful black heart with a white boarder. The Corbeau s still here and practicing its take-offs and landings. Still waiting a veterinary review. The Pawis condition does not improve. The Osteoarthritis in the hips is preventing her form walking and these days I pamper her by hand feeding her. She is getting Meloxicam for pain relief and I am bringing her inside at nights where she really enjoys the heating pad. We tried releasing the racing Pigeon but it is not confident flying and seems to be having trouble with a wing, so it is re-interned in the large owl cage. We have had two losses this week, the last occured on Sunday. I needed to attend a Conference on Saturday and anticipated being away, from very early morning, for most of the day . All five of our volunteers are down with the Chikungunya, but I asked one if she could manage Thavenot the iguana case, anyway, and though struggling with the effects of the virus, and caring for her aged father, she generously accepted. By Sunday morning the news was good, and bad. He had passed a stool, eaten some fruit and greens by himself but had not moved since. I went over immediately to collect him, but he was dead. The necropsy showed a remarkable recovery: the punctured lung and the ribs had healed, but part of the damaged area of the lung had become adherent to the wall of the chest cavity, which may have been the reason she was unable to right herself when she tumbled over onto her side after climbing the walls of the cage. It would have given her some breathing difficulty but over time it would have resolved and she would have adjusted. Other internal damage had repaired. Her death was a very disappointing outcome. The second loss occurred this morning when I came out and found the little Swift dead in his cage. He was the burn case who had over flown the exhaust chimneys of a Power Plant in Central Trinidad. He had struggled bravely with multiple injuries, and was one of those cases where it may have been kinder to have euthanized him on entry, but it was almost impossible to estimate the extent of his damage on entry. This became apparent over time, as his body discarded the burned and dead tissue. This included all his toes, the scales on his legs,and finally the hard chitinous material of his beak, which left him without the hook and therefore a shorter upper mandible. The top mandible was also too soft to easily pick up insects, his primary diet and the chitin showed no sign of regenerating. This case has been an interesting learning experience but at what price and we must ask Is it right ? .
Posted on: Sat, 25 Oct 2014 14:33:13 +0000
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