We ♥️ Mice
The hay stack these three fuzzy Barn Owls were living in was moved, making them homeless. The well-meaning hay grower didn’t want to leave the owls on the ground where they would likely get eaten by other predators, so he took them home. He reportedly fed them an “occasional” mouse, but the majority of their diet consisted of hamburger. Meat is a terrible diet for a young, rapidly growing raptor. It has no calcium in it. Whole animals like mice, gophers, voles or ground squirrels provide a healthy diet.
The consequence of a calcium deficient diet is metabolic bone disease. When calcium is not present in the diet it is pulled out of the bones to be used by the body for normal metabolism. As the animal grows, the bones become weaker and weaker, resulting in pathological fractures - fractures caused by disease.
These birds were fed hamburger for a week-and-a-half. They have no broken bones, but radiographs show decreased bone density. They are receiving a calcium supplement twice a day for a week. At the end of a week we will re-evaluate and see what our options are for getting them into a foster family.
Hoary Bat Update
A followup radiograph of the Hoary Bat one week after admission shows improvement in the left lung. If there is similar improvement at the end of two weeks we will do a test flight. An increase in density in the right wrist is of some concern. He still seems to have good range of motion
Tieton Kestrel
Some months ago, Dr. Kennie Rives sent a journal article that describes how to take an “H view” of the shoulder girdle. It is very helpful in evaluating shoulder injuries. The first radiograph below is a Ventral Dorsal view (VD): the bird is on her back and the x-ray beam is perpendicular to the Kestrel’s body. The two shoulders are not symmetrical, but it is difficult to see what the problem is.
The second radiograph is the H view. The x-ray beam is at a 45 degree angle to the kestrel’s body. The view is an oblique. It separates the bones in the shoulder girdle making it easier to evaluate an injury. The arrows below point to the coracoids. They are not symmetrical. The horizontal line above the shoulders shows how uneven they are.
Swainson’s Hawk Number Three
Sadly, the third adult Swainson’s Hawk of the season was also the second gunshot Swainson’s Hawk of the year.
