(post-dated 12/01/11 for when the blog was originally posted.)
Sarvey was great today. I actually got some cross training on some of the inside work. Which was nice, but I would be sad if I hadn't gotten the chance muck out the educational raptors' mews. It's become one of my favorite things to do since I get the chance to interact with them a bit. I definitely wouldn't have traded the experience for what I got to do today, (which is all well and good since I still got to do the Ed flights anyway.) I started off the day with my typical routine of feeding. I fed the permanent crows, and the raven, and by the time I was finished I got roped into helping with a ring-necked dove. We had to catch it first. This particular dove has a tendency to escape every chance it gets, a great sign for the birds health and vitality, but not so much fun for the people trying to help it. In any case, once caught, we relocated the dove to an outside flight where it quickly made itself at home.
I think it's important to stress, here, that even long lived owls, kept in captivity are still at heart wild animals. No number of years of complacency will prevent an animals strong, underlying natural instincts. This is why it's important to be careful when approaching wild animals. In fact, unless you are participating in a specific activity such as banding, or helping an injured animal, you shouldn't approach wildlife at all, for your own safety as well as theirs. If you must approach an injured animal, remember that an injured animal will try to protect itself. It won't realize that you're trying to help. Make sure that you contact a licensed rehabilitation center such as Sarvey if you have concerns over how to help an injured animal. I would also recommend researching what to do ahead of time. Knowing what to do in a situation like this before it happens will greatly aid any, and all who become involved.
Sarvey was great today. I actually got some cross training on some of the inside work. Which was nice, but I would be sad if I hadn't gotten the chance muck out the educational raptors' mews. It's become one of my favorite things to do since I get the chance to interact with them a bit. I definitely wouldn't have traded the experience for what I got to do today, (which is all well and good since I still got to do the Ed flights anyway.) I started off the day with my typical routine of feeding. I fed the permanent crows, and the raven, and by the time I was finished I got roped into helping with a ring-necked dove. We had to catch it first. This particular dove has a tendency to escape every chance it gets, a great sign for the birds health and vitality, but not so much fun for the people trying to help it. In any case, once caught, we relocated the dove to an outside flight where it quickly made itself at home.
From there I was able to begin work on cleaning mews, since most of the mid-day feeding had been done. I was able to get through the entirety of the Educational building, as usual. I believe my studying great horned owl behavior is paying off. Athena didn't pull her usual antics. She was her typical alarmed self on my way in, a behavior I associate with strong, healthy instinct; but I took the approach differently, bowing my head, and hooting to her in a GHOW cadence. I think it caught her off guard because she pretty much stopped hissing immediately and stared at me as if I'd suddenly sprouted an extra arm out of my forehead. I don't think she was expecting it. She was able to settle down after that, though she still remained alert, and watchful. If you ever have the chance to go owling, (Taking a night time hike in an effort to locate owls), I would definitely recommend learning the typical calls of each species native to your area. Sometimes you can get them to hoot back. Now, I've been told that hooting at a human imprinted owl can be taken as a threat, so I'm always careful how, and why I hoot. Rambling aside, back to the general explanation of my day: Athena would hiss if I got too close, but that's only natural, and not something I was terribly worried about. I was able to go about cleaning the entire flight, and making a couple trips in and out. She didn't get overly territorial this time! Where before she would follow me through the flight, and sit on the ledge by the door, pressed into the netting so she could see my every movement. None of that today. After I left her flight she settled right back down, and the rest of her watching the rest of the day was relaxed and curious. Awesome!
I think it's important to stress, here, that even long lived owls, kept in captivity are still at heart wild animals. No number of years of complacency will prevent an animals strong, underlying natural instincts. This is why it's important to be careful when approaching wild animals. In fact, unless you are participating in a specific activity such as banding, or helping an injured animal, you shouldn't approach wildlife at all, for your own safety as well as theirs. If you must approach an injured animal, remember that an injured animal will try to protect itself. It won't realize that you're trying to help. Make sure that you contact a licensed rehabilitation center such as Sarvey if you have concerns over how to help an injured animal. I would also recommend researching what to do ahead of time. Knowing what to do in a situation like this before it happens will greatly aid any, and all who become involved.
I tried hooting at Tadita, the Barred owl today, as well. Once again I found myself catching a bird off guard. She kept peering at me, and turning her head around to get a better look. Maybe I'd turned into another owl for all the attention she paid me. I have to say, the hooting business was rather amusing.
I spent some extra time with Iya the barn owl today, as she's becoming a fast favorite of mine. I enjoy making twittering sounds at her, and having her respond. No hissing screeches from her today, like I usually get. Mostly just chitters and twitters. She only got agitated once while I was in the flight, and that was because I started raking and she didn't like the noise. Once I'd moved on to Skaska's flight next door, she kept screeching, and I would find myself talking to her and twittering to get her to calm down. She's such a vocal bird.
The other flights were fairly uneventful. Hekyll the crow apparently wasn't in the mood to play today like he usually is, so I didn't spend much time extra time in their yurt. Instead I found myself back inside and suddenly charged with the task of learning how to wrangle raptors.
I started with a western screech owl, who was very laid back about the whole process (When presented with stimuli that should be stressful, a calm, or unresponsive bird is generally a sign that the bird needs medical attention. Just something to keep in mind when encountering, or observing wild birds.) He managed to back himself into a corner of his snyder and produce a lot of rapid beak snapping, but otherwise didn't fight back much. I was able to scoop him up in a towel, and grab hold of his little talons so that my lead could tube him. He went back into his snyder wide-eyed, and apparently offended judging by the look he gave me.
Next I got to move on to a slightly more challenging bird. We had to get some fluids into a Barred owl, who had been hit by a car, and was having several issues. She was also fairly easy to wrangle up, as she probably wasn't feeling too great. She had the presence of mind to fight back a little during the tubing though. The first tubing didn't stay down, and I had to turn her upside down and shake her gently to help clear her airways as she vomited it up. This is a perfectly normal procedure, and in no way harms the bird. We tried one more time, and this time she kept it down at first. I could tell she wasn't feel great though. I attempted to get her back in her snyder, and she ended up at the edge with her tail feathers hanging out. I had to readjust her by actually picking her up and physically moving her because she was feeling so rotten. She ended up throwing up again several minutes later, poor thing.
Next I got tasked to clean a Saw-whet cage, which meant catching yet another bird. The saw-whet gave me a run for my money. He was a determined little bird, and he wanted out of the cage by any means necessary. He nearly flew out a couple times before I was able to corner him, and get him all wrapped up in a towel so I could transport him into a plastic tub while I cleaned. He tried to escape yet again on his way back in.
After that it was off to check how a pair of crows were flying to see if they were ready for release. I'm happy to report that they're doing rather well, and there's a good chance they'll be back in the wild soon.
I went on to prepping food for the next day, which is typical toward the end of my shift. I got everybodies meals all bagged up, and at around the point I finished we had some new arrivals show up. A red-tailed hawk, and a domestic bunny. The latter is an unusual arrival for us, since we don't take domestic animals. The bunny was probably bred to look similar to a wild cottontail, thus the easy mistake on the part of the person who found him. Since this particular bunny if definitely domestic, I got to spend extra time cuddling, and feeding it. He such a sweety, and a major cuddler.
That's about all there is to say about how today went. As for me I'm exhausted, and pleasantly satisfied with my progress for the time being.
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