The Week That Was
There were 20 new admissions in the past week ranging in size from a Little Brown Bat and a fledgling Black-chinned Hummingbird, both weighing 4 grams, to a 1.55 kilogram Great Blue Heron. In between there were 10 raptors representing six species.
The hummingbird took to the red-tipped, nectar filled, syringe right away. This weekend, it began practicing hovering and making short flights.
The bat did not fair as well. In addition to the large hole in her left wing, half of the 5th metacarpal in the left wing was crushed. She was humanely euthanized.
Golden Eagle 19-406 Update
We were not able to save the eagle. His packed cell volume (PCV) on intake was 23. After two days of hydration, the PCV was 14. We continued rehydrating for another two days and the PCV dropped to 10. This is typical pf extremely emaciated birds. The initial PCV is artificially elevated due to dehydration. The thick buffy coat was caused by a high white blood cell count of 30,000 (10,000 or below is normal) and a heavy infestation of the blood parasite leukocytozoon.
