No rest for the weary...

Hi kids,

I’m still up to my fetlocks in alligators. I take one to the vet to be put down and come home with two…

Had to drive up to Ellijay yesterday to pick up a RSH from Appalachian AH. He has a fracture in one of the forearm bones. The other bone is intact and will stabilize it so it’s just cage rest for our wacky friend… You can tell which one is the boo-boo wing…


I was able to release the Barred owl last evening that originally I thought came from Lake Allatoona, but I mis-understood (what else is new). He was the one that got tangled up in some fishing line in a tree. This little guy has a missus and cruises a private lake up in Ballground; the coolest compound you’ve ever seen. We had a police escort in the form of a golf cart when we drove in and ALL the relatives who had a hand in the rescue were on hand for the happy day! A hearty THANKS to Alison and her kin for helping this little guy out…


Wally the Crow, whose name I have changed to Carl! is in his new digs. He’s fine physically now and all he needs is some time to grow. I am trying to place him somewhere because if I try to hack him here, he will become LUNCH!


Speaking of lunch…he eats better than I do… cat food, dog food, grapes, cherries, veggie medley… He drops the lima beans in his water dish… I don’t blame him!


Can you find the kitty in this pic?


The baby Cooper’s hawk is growing like a weed and pulled food for the first time yesterday!

I’m doing follow up care on this young Red-tailed hawk who came from the governor’s mansion property. Her name is…”Sonny” (of course) and she had been attacked by something with TEETH. Poked a hole in her skull AND next to her right nare (nose hole). Lots of maggot pulling later and she’ll live. However, for some reason she is not the least bit interested in flying, but she can run like the Hounds of Hell are after her! That cowlick up between her eyes is where bone shards and said maggots were extracted…


…and here is Maxine, just saying ‘hello’…

Thank you for taking the time to read my blog....m.

Monteen McCord
P.O. Box 130
Holly Springs, Ga
30142
www.hawktalk.org

I could save so much money if I didn't have to eat...

I was giving my room mate the run down of the refrigerator contents last night after he returned from spending the weekend in sunny, HOT Florida. I had gone to the grocery yesterday and was cooking spaghetti in the crock pot, little game hens were slowly thawing out in the fridge, keeping the hamburger meat company.

I showed him where the fruit was and he wisely inquired whether it was "human fruit or 'Wally' fruit." ('Wally' is the baby crow I'm caring for right now.) "Human fruit", I replied. (My two wonderful Debbie friends gifted me with the leftovers from our soire Sunday before my Ga. Forestry Commission Summer Camp lecture started)

Oh, the stuff in the clear bowl with the plastic wrap? Uh...it's either leftover re-fried beans or cat food...I couldn't remember which! Don said, "We'll consider it cat food!" He's so smart...it didn't take him long at all to be trained in the subtleties of "The House of HawkTalk Refrigerator Etiquette."

Bottom line is...at this house, don't eat it if you cannot identify it!

Some years back, my house was a stopover point for a few female friends from the north who were making their annual trek to Panama City Beach. On this particular fateful morn, I had to get up and hit the road early so the night before, I told the ladies to make themselves at home. I get home later that day and notice broken eggs in the garbage and I'm thinking to myself, "Uh-oh..." So, I look in the door of the fridge and sure enough, they had scrambled Mina's eggs for brekky. For those of you who are new to my blog, Mina was my incredible Red-tailed hawk that lived with me for more than 16 years and crossed over just before Christmas last year. I used to save her eggs...little grandbird keepsakes, if you will.

Well, I called the girls to check in and asked them if they enjoyed breakfast and yes, it was good and I wondered how the eggs tasted... They immediately knew where this was going and I heard all sorts of shrieking from the other ladies who were probably sticking their fingers down their throats, but my grandbirds were well digested by then!

That was the last time they stayed overnight at my home...

Here is the newest addition and it's so small, I can't tell whether it's a male Cooper's Hawk or a female Sharp-shinned hawk! I'm leaning towards a Sharpy since I see a smattering of tail feathers...

Take care of yourself and each other and thank you for taking the time to read my blog....m.

PS. I’m not very good at self promotion and, when it comes to asking for donations, I just hate it. Unfortunately, it is a necessary part of my life. Being a non-profit organization, I (and all of my birds) depend on folks like you to send donations to help us pay for the thousands of mice that feed and sustain us (well, not me….just the birds).

So….if you can spare a few dollars, please consider sending them to us here at Hawk Talk. For any donation of $12.00 or more, I will send you one of our classic DVD’s to watch and share. They are guaranteed to make you laugh, and most likely, make you cry too.

Make checks payable to: Hawk Talk, Inc. Send to: P.O. Box 130, Holly Springs, Ga. 30142

And so goes the circle of life...

This is the really crappy part of my job... If it's at all possible, I hold them next to me as they are crossing over, hoping that a little of their spirit will enter my life....m.

What a difference a few days can make

The Barred owl that had glided into the tree and got himself tangled up in fishing line is doing very well. I started some physical therapy on him and a few bites and scratches later, he went from this

To this

Sometimes, all they need is a Good Samaritan with the compassion to stop what they're doing and intervene, a doctor who will give of their time, and the rehabber to do the rest. Our little friend will be going back into the wild next week.





Wally is doing well. Dr. David removed the bandage yesterday and so far his foot has remained open. He's in his new digs now and the FIRST thing he did was take a badly needed bath!






There are some days that I am convinced I have boogers for brains. Now I have a VERY young turkey to try to keep alive. The nice people down at Union Hill Animal Hospital help me every now and then and they called this morning to ask if I knew how to care for a turkey. I told them I had dated a few in my distant past, but didn't really have any experience with gobble-gobbles. I thought, what the hell, it probably isn't very different from the baby chicks I've raised. I doubt he'll live through the day because I can't seem to get him warm enough. He's awfully limp and not at all interested in eating. Turkeys are precocial, which means that they are up and moving about right after they hatch and dry off. I imagine mama knew he wasn't viable and left him to be cycled back into the food chain. He sure is cute, tho!


The young Barred owl that was released about two weeks ago is finally coming down to the hackboard for food and boy, do I feel better. It's pretty hard to hack owls since they run on auditory signals and dead things don't move, but I use a portable hackboard in their chamber and I ring, literally, ring the dinner bell as I approcah with food. Here is a pic I took a couple of evenings ago. Not a good shot because it's dusk and he was pretty far up the tree, but I'm glad to know that he figured it out. When I was hacking eagles, I chewed my fingernails to the quick waiting for them to return to the hacking tower. Even a blind pig finds an acorn every now and then.


The young Red-shouldered hawk that was released at the same time as the Barred owl is doing very well, too. She has finally made her way down to the hackboard by the pond, but wouldn't you know that my room mate has started working third shift and CRIMINEY - RSH's are NOISY. So...I'm walking her food back up to the hackboard at the barn so Don won't go crazy trying to sleep. Ugh...

"Let me in, dammit...I know you're in there!"


Take care of yourselves and each other and thanks for taking the time to read my blog...m. www.hawktalk.org

HawkTalkWalk July 11th...

Nancy Giles is the lady who helped me feel better after my car crash. During my treatment with her (which became a part-time job over the last two and a half months) she started taking a leadership course and one of the requirements was to do a community service project for a non-profit organization and so she offered to help us raise some badly needed Mouse Money. She is putting together a fundraiser walk for us over in Boling Park in Canton July 11th, 2009.

www.hawktalk.org has the link for the registration form on the Home Page. You can either PayPal the entry fee or print off the form and mail a check to the address listed on the bottom of the form. The entry fee is 35.00 and 25.00 for seniors and students. Even if you can't make it up to Cherokee County, we would still appreciate the contribution. It has been a cra-zazy baby season and I have been overwhelmed.

It has been a long six weeks for "Hank", the Harris hawk, but we had to euthanize her today. Her infection still raged and the bones didn't knit properly. I try to set a timeline in regards to their treatment because I have only so much room, time AND food. All my chambers had been full and I had 4 in the house at one point recently. I'm lucky my roomie didn't kill us all. He would have been well within his right to do so. I think it's called Close Encounters of the Bird Kind... Don has been a good sport about my goofy lifestyle.








Wally, the crow is doing well and we go in Monday for the last bandage removal to see if he can open his foot properly. He's finally self feeding, except he would love it if I just stood there all day and hand fed him stuff. This bird eats better than I do. I'm spending close to ten dollars a week just on him. Good grief.









The young Red-shouldered hawk is out and doing well. I finally got her to come down to the pond's hackboard Thursday so she can see the pond and all it's goodies. This is to be her dinner table until she migrates. But mainly, she's hanging out on the deck and being her usual loud self!

This was not quite the pond I had in mind, but we're working on it!






This poor Barred owl got tangled up in fishing line in a tree over at Lake Allatoona. He looked pretty pitiful at first, but I've started physical therapy and he's coming along nicely. I feel good about his potential for release...

Ya'll be kind to yourselves and each other and thank you for taking the time to read my blog....m.