The Dog Days of Summer
As we slowly work our way through the summer months, we welcomed a cooling trend toward the end of the week. The predicted high today, Sunday, is 81 degrees!
Earlier in the week a young Golden Eagle was admitted. The eagle was likely struck by a vehicle. He was extremely emaciated and had a dislocated left radius and a fractured ulna. The damage to the eagle's elbow was not repairable and he was euthanized.
Even if the wing had been repairable, I doubt if we could have saved him. The eagle weighed just over 4 pounds. A normal weight would have been 7 or 8 pounds. There is very little visible muscle mass in the radiograph above. Such extreme emaciation is very difficult to overcome.
The week continued to challenge us with birds we could not help:
A Swainson’s Hawk with multiple fractures in its upper beak. There, was so much damage that surgery was not an option.
A Great Horned Owl whose left wing and right leg were broken.
A Red-tailed Hawk with compound fractures in its right metacarpals and compromised circulation in the wingtip.
Fortunately, on Friday, we were able to release two young Crows:
And then 4 American Goldfinches whose nest was blown out of the tree were admitted…
According to the Farmer’s Almanac, the Dog Days of Summer are from July 3 to August 11 each year. The phrase is a reference to Sirius, the Dog Star, part of the constellation Canis Major, the Greater Dog. It is the brightest star visible from any place on earth. The ancient Romans believed it actually gave off heat and added to the Sun’s warmth. They referred to this time as dies canicularres, or dog days.
Enjoy our “cool” weather. It will be back up in the 90’s soon!
