Monday, August 11, 2008

This Week at Liberty 08/11/2008

The intake rate might have dropped off somewhat, but there are always animals to assess and care for...




Young Red Tail gets examined
A first year red tailed hawk came in last week presenting the symptoms of an electrical injury. Alison and the Research and Conservation team examined him and confirmed the source of his injuries. He will receive the best care possible and the power company will work with R&C to fix the offending equipment.



Baby Green Heron is growing fast!
The little baby green heron from last week's update is growing fast! He is now free feeding (eating on his own!) and will soon join the other orphans in an outside enclosure. Then he can watch others of his species and learn what he is supposed to be!



Glued Cactus Wren
One of the cruelest tools employed by the public to control "pests" are glue traps. These are larger versions of the old fly-paper used to get rid of insect. This little cactus wren got stuck on one and was totally covered in very sticky glue. Then when he tried to get free, he broke his wing while struggling. A warm bath in special detergent helps remove the glue, and then a splint will help heal the broken wing.







Newly hatched Poor-wills
A couple of brand new baby Poor-wills arrived last week. These little guys were examined, given fluids, and promptly transferred to Gloria at WildWing for her expert care. Experience is a valuable asset in raising birds with special needs like these baby frog-mouths!





Another Pipistrelle!
Rebecca brought in another little pipistrelle bat she rescued. This guy had a broken wing, but with her knowledge and care, his prognosis is good!




Still more baby bunnies!
It appears that the local bunny population is breeding like, well, rabbits! Two more little baby bunnies arrived and are in the capable hands of the wonderful Ruth Scott!




Professional fisherman, nearly done
in by careless amateur.




First hook, in the lower beak




Another lure hooked in his foot
I brought in a Great Blue Heron from Roadrunner Park who had two fishing hooks attached to him, one in his foot, and another in what was left of his lower beak. Lilly, Missi, and Marion all worked quickly and carefully to remove the offending equipment and then treated his injuries, the worst of which was the skin, badly torn from his lower beak. People, don't leave lost or discarded fishing gear around to catch other animals that hunt in or near the water!!





Little box turtle, deformed by an improper diet.


By comparison, the guy on the bottom is what he's supposed to look like.
A little pet box turtle was brought in with a gross shell deformity. It was caused by an improper diet of sugar and milk. OK, if you have a pet other than a dog or a cat, do some research about what they eat!





Spiney Lizard injured by a cat, I think...




Careful hands suturing a small, scaly leg!
A really cool spiney lizard made it to Liberty last week, apparently after having been attacked by a cat. Jan and Rebecca deftly sewed up the wound and he's now recuperating in a reptile enclosure!




The first brown pelican of the season!

Well, we knew there was one (or two...) out there, and last Friday Carl brought in the first brown pelican of the season. Usually by now we have a few of these sea birds blown in to Arizona on the Monsoon, so we knew they'd be showing up. This guy is pretty down, and will be cared for until he's fit enough to make the flight back to the ocean, courtesy of US Airways!

1 comment:

hollyhock135 said...

i need some help. i found a baby bird in the midle of the road just wandering around. it had feathers and tryied to fly acouple of times but it kept falling. there was no other bird in sight and no nest and i saw a fat cat walking twords it so i scooped it up gently and then it started to flap its wings in panic then i noticed there was blood driping from the wing and onto my hand. i brought it to my mom to see if she knew wat to do but then she started to panic and sweat and said i dont know. we put the bird in a small shoe box full of tissue paper but we dont know wat to do next.