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THE FORUM
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20-Apr-23, 08:01:04 AM
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1861
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Other Nature Related Information / Raptor Web Cams / Re: Potted Plant Owls are back in Johannesburg
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on: 27-Jan-16, 07:01:38 AM
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I'm not keeping up with messages pouring in on face book and email. Thank you to everyone who shared with us the PPO experience. Some good news in amongst this tragedy: We saw Pappa on a rooftop a short while ago, hooting. A minute later, their little owlet chick started 'hissing' / calling for food. We saw both of them fly together into the wetland. PPO's little one is still alive and well, and Pappa is not alone now.
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1869
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Other Nature Related Information / General Nature Discussion / Re: Injured bald eagle rescued from N.J. backyard after 3-day effort
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on: 20-Jan-16, 07:07:21 AM
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EAGLE UPDATE: WEEK 6.
Our patient, Bald Eagle "Lily," remains in our care, 6 weeks later. We have not seen significant improvements to the nerve damage from the gunshot wound in his leg, though we do have some other news. Yesterday and again today, Lily ate on his own. Until now, we have had to hand feed (actually force feed) the eagle every day. This is a very stressful procedure for the bird, requiring us to capture and handle the bird daily and quite literally shove some food into him. Over the last week, Lily also vomited up the food he had been fed on several occasions. This concerned us greatly, as it could indicate the beginnings of some sort of failure.
We don't know exactly WHY Lily hasn't been eating, but there are a number of possible reasons. No doubt he feels generally awful from a combination of things - lead poisoning among them. In addition to that, he has been on a variety of medications, including antibiotics. While these meds have been completely necessary, they may have also contributed to what we might call a tummy ache.
Lily's lead levels are down and we have discontinued to treatment for that, so he may be feeling a bit better. And he is gradually needing fewer and fewer other medications, so maybe his stomach just feels better and he's finally hungry and willing to do something about it on so own.
We also moved Lily to a larger outside enclosure last week, outside of our infirmary, further away from people, where he has some room to stretch his wings, perch on large branches, etc. It's a slightly more natural looking environment and perhaps that has made him feel more comfortable.
So yesterday, Lily had a big meal on his own and kept it all down overnight. And this morning he ate again. He has expensive taste! Fresh caught whole trout and huge salmon fillets. But we are happy to see him eating.
This is only a small step forward - Lily has been here 6 weeks and has only eaten on his own a handful of times, and not at all very recently - but we know that many people have been following this story, so we thought we would provide this update. And this is not at all a prediction of any final outcome because Lily still has serious nerve damage to his leg and is unable to use the leg much at all.
A large, top predator like this eagle needs to be able to hunt and if Lily cannot regain almost all of the use of the injured leg, he will not be able to be released. If he is unable to use the leg even a little bit - just to balance, shift weight, hold food - he won't even be a viable candidate for life in captivity. There are still a lot of unknowns.
We will be scheduling a consult with a veterinary neurologist soon. We are actually holding off on that for a little bit right now since Lily has begun to eat on his own and we want to give him some time to get back into the swing of acting and eating like an eagle without being handled, stressed and subjected to further medical procedures.
That's all we have for now. Still fingers crossed and good news/bad news on our end.
We appreciate all of your support!
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