Photos of the Week - Week 51
Critique Group Challenge:
Week 51, Its a Gift
Photo by Gail Garber
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Gail says:
The Gift of Life! Little did any of us know what was in store on Friday, December 22. When a New Mexico birder, Leslie Harrington Duffey, used the outhouse at the Ladd S. Gordon Waterfowl Complex. Something in the pit of the toilet caused her to look downward, where she saw an owl, trapped in the toxic excrement below. She sounded the alert, posting on the Birding New Mexico Facebook page, and frantically trying to find someone at the refuge who could help free the trapped owl (still of unknown species). It wasn't long before our Raptor Rescue hotline got the call and began working to solve the problem of the owl trapped in toxic toilet water. Management went out to inspect the toilet and reported that the stall was empty, upon which our dispatcher went ballistic and informed them that the owl was in the pit below, not the toilet! They returned and managed to free the owl from it's toxic grave. Covered in excrement, cold and wet, Chellye Porter set out to retrieve the owl the instant they told her they had captured it.
With the owl, now identified as a Barn Owl, probably male, now in her care, we could not put him into the incubator, because the air circulation could cause him to inhale toxins from the bacterial soup in which he had been trapped for an unknown time. Extremely thin, extremely cold, and in critical condition, his survival was tremulous. We administered subcutaneous fluids, antibiotics, pain meds, and put him in the warmest, sunniest room in her house. He was not stable enough to endure anything more. However, we had to get the crap off of him before he began feeling well enough to try to clean his feathers himself and ingested the toxins.
Yesterday afternoon, little owl was a little stronger and we made the plan to try to wash him using standard protocol for cleaning oiled birds, using Dawn Dishwashing Liquid (the go to detergent for cleaning oiled birds and wildlife). With multiple tubs and human hands he was passed from tub to tub, each one cleaner than previous. It was quick work as excrement is easier to remove than oil!
Then, the drying began, hence this photo of him in a chamber with warm air blowing on him, much like an old-fashioned hair dryer. Still his body temperature dropped so low that it did not register on the thermometer. Finally, we packed him in a smallish box, wrapped in warm towels and placed on a portable pet heating pad for the drive home.
Today, all dried off, and beginning to look and feel like the Barn Owl that he formerly was, he's beginning to show threat displays toward Chellye, his angel in waiting and nurse extraordinaire!
Our next hurdle will happen tomorrow when we attempt to offer him his first solid food after days of liquid diet.
I've been posting about this on my Facebook and Instagram pages, including multiple photos from his first arrival.
It is a Christmas Miracle
That someone found him in the pit
That management was able to free him
That he is a a fighter, denying death every step of the way
That we have an amazng network of veterinarians and animal hospitals that donate their time, expertise and equipment.
That we established the Raptor Rescue hotline back in 2013, so that there is a phone number to call!
I was thinking that I wouldn't have a submission this week. I've missed many lately due to too much travel and too much work.
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