Hey ya’ll,

No, this first photo isn’t a newly discovered planet...it’s the cause of a downed Red-shouldered hawk. It’s a first for me in 26 years to care for a bird who is egg bound. Thanks to David of Cartersville for going out of his way to meet me over half way to get the bird to me. And thanks to another David (as in Dr. Martinez) over at Loving Hands Animal hospital for lending a hand for the surgical delivery. Unfortunately, the stress was too great for her and this beautiful bird passed away during the night.





Thanks to Jimmy, Loretta and Lauren for peeling this Barred owl from their chimney and driving him to me on a rainy day. Here is Lauren holding him while I get ready to administer some oral fluids. (I take advantage of extra hands while I have the opportunity) (Photo by Loretta)



My hope in this photo is not to gross you out with the meat being proffered, but to illustrate the third eyelid, the nictitating membrane, that is used for protection, sweeping debris off the front of the eye and lubricating the cornea… My guess is he thinks I’m going to poke his eyes out with the forceps… I had him for about a week while he regained his strength…



Our little friend is ready to go! (Photo by Loretta)



What a nice feeling to be able to help him go back into the wild, with a little help from my friends!



Thanks to Sid and Becky for coming out in the rain to help this Screech owl that had been hit by a car. They saw the poor thing standing on the side of the road, wet as all get-out. They turned around and scooped him up, went home and started to work trying to find him some help.



The left eye was completely shot, but in the hopes of placing him somewhere as a program bird, I started working on the right eye with steroid drops to reduce inflammation and dosing him with an NSAID in an effort to stop the brain swelling. Sometimes when the brain swells, pressure is put on the optic nerve causing blindness. Unfortunately, he lost the sight in his right eye, too and so I had to put him down.



To all the Good Samaritans who go out of their way to provide some assistance to our most vulnerable members of the planet…whether it’s scooping them out of the road, or providing transport, or donating a little Mouse Money to help me help, THANK YOU. I couldn’t do it without you.





Monteen McCord

770-720-1847

www.hawktalk.org

www.myspace.com/monteenmccord

http://home.fotocommunity.com/monteen

www.linkedin.com/in/monteenmccord