What's in this issue:
- Rising From the Ashes
- Poor Poor Girl
- Geaux Boudreaux
- It's Baby Season!
- Thank You
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Rising From the Ashes
The juvenile red-tailed hawk was found in Waco, picked up by Animal Control, and transferred to All Things Wild. His feathers were really strange; we had never seen anything like it. Some people thought he was molting, others though he was a young bird and just growing feathers. The ATW staff thought the feathers had been singed by a fire but couldn’t figure out why his feet weren’t burned or how it happened.
Red-tailed hawks are buteos, a group of hawks characterized by broad rounded wings, relatively short tails, and soaring flight. They are the second largest hawks after ferruginous hawks. The distinctive red tail usually doesn’t appear until after the hawk’s second year. They are probably the most common hawks in the United States extending into Canada to the north and Central America to the south. Active in daylight, they like to sit on top of telephone poles and street lights scanning the ground for prey. When prey is detected, they glide downward extending their feet to grab and impale the prey with their talons.
Shortly after the young red-tailed hawk arrived at All Things Wild and before the scorched feather mystery was solved, the staff and several volunteers left for the annual NWRA (National Wildlife Rehabilitators Association) education symposium in Madison, Wisconsin. We took pictures of the hawk on our phones to ask the raptor experts gathered at the symposium what had happened to the feathers. Ironically, after asking various symposium attendees, many from Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan, the person at the symposium who identified the cause of the scorched feathers was the operations manager from Austin Wildlife Rescue. The culprit: a landfill methane burner.
According to an article we found on the Internet entitled, Methane Burner Impact on Raptors:
Many industries use burners to flare off unwanted gasses. For example, solid waste landfills may burn off unwanted methane gas produced by decomposing organic matter.... Methane is typically burned away using either a flare-up or an enclosed flare.... Birds perched on or flying near a stack can be seriously injured or killed when a flare suddenly ignites. In some cases, birds may fly over or even through an almost invisible burner flame.
A methane burner over a landfill makes a great perch for hawks while surveying the area for prey.
We named the red-tailed hawk after the phoenix, the mythical bird that died from a show of flames and combustion and rose again from the ashes. Phoenix is living well at All Things Wild and will be with us for at least 6 months. He has to molt, a process that involves losing old worn feathers (in Phoenix’s case, scorched feathers) and regrowing new, fresh feathers. Most birds molt in the fall. The process is symmetrical, meaning that when a feather on one side falls out, the same feather on the other side does so as well. This process can take several weeks to months because only a few feathers are lost and regrown at a time so that the bird won’t be defenseless during the molting process.
Waiting for him to molt means that Phoenix will spend the summer and part of the fall at All Things Wild. Maybe, once he has been released back to the wild, he will tell the other hawks to watch out for the methane burners at the landfills.
For more information on red-tailed hawks go here.
For more information on feathers and the molting process, go here.
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Poor Poor Girl
The young female coyote was hunting for food in the woods one night when she stepped on a trap that caught her left front foot. We don’t know how long she was caught there, but at some point, she managed to break the tether that held the trap and drag herself and trapped foot away.
Some kind homeowners noticed her dragging her trapped foot while trying to find food and survive and contacted TRAPRS (Trapping, Rescue and Pet Recovery Service). TRAPRS is a 501(c)(3) all-volunteer charity that serves the Greater Austin Area to “humanely trap, rescue and provide strategic consulting to lost or stray pet cases.”
The young female coyote with the trap on her foot.
The wonderful volunteers at TRAPRS were able to capture the coyote. At this point, All Things Wild was called in on the case to provide medical care and rehabilitation. Once at our center, after providing pain relief, the coyote was anesthetized and the trap removed. It was obvious that the trap had been on the coyote’s foot for a very long time cutting off the blood supply, and the foot had to be amputated.
The staff removes the trap while the coyote is under anesthesia.
The foot was almost completely severed by the trap.
The amputation surgery took 3 hours but was successful, and the coyote, whom the TRAPRS volunteers named Miss Wiley, is convalescing at All Things Wild. The staff is happy with Miss Wiley's post-op look. She’s eating and drinking on her own, and her medication goes in her food. So far, the staff has been able to get close to her to clean her cage, and even though she is still nervous and leery of humans, she has never lunged, growled, or tried to attack. She has been vaccinated against distemper and rabies and will be treated for mange. Eventually, when healed, she will go to a sanctuary for coyotes.
Convalescing after surgery to remove her left front foot.
The law in Texas, according to Texas Parks and Wildlife is: It is illegal to take fur bearing animals with snare, foothold, body grip traps, and live or box trap unless such devices are examined at least once every 36 hours and animals are removed.
To quote a friend of ATW who loves coyotes, “Poor poor girl. She looks pretty thin too. I bet she is happy to have a warm dry bed and food brought to her instead of being in pain and trying to hunt with one paw. Thank you for taking care of her.”
For further information on coyotes, go here.
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Geaux Boudreaux
The American white pelican was on his way north flying in a V-formation with his flock when they landed at a pond near Fort Hood to feed on fish. While the other pelicans continued on their migration north, one lone male became entangled in brush on the side of the pond. Trying to free himself, he broke his wing. He was trapped.
The homeowner rescued the injured pelican and called for help. After a few transfers, the pelican made his way to All Things Wild. The left wing was badly damaged, and there was the sickening smell of infection coming from the wound.
At first, the pelican was very snappy and uncooperative. The long beak with a hook on the end can be dangerous. But you couldn’t blame him; he was in a lot of pain. But after we got some pain medication down him and wrapped the wing to stabilize it, he became much more cooperative.
Because the pelican is the state bird of Louisiana, we decided to give him a good Cajun name: Boudreaux (pronounced Boo-droh).
Boudreaux’s first medical procedure was to remove part of the wing and to treat the infection.
Because pelicans are piscivores and only eat fish, we found some whole frozen tilapia at HEB that we thawed to feed him, but the fish were a bit too wide, and Boudreaux had trouble getting them down. We also supplemented his diet with nutritious intensive care food for piscivores.
It was obvious to our veterinarian, Dr. Emily Crews, and the staff that Boudreaux needed additional surgery. Dr. Crews contacted Dr. Jill Villalva, her classmate from Texas A&M, at Westgate Pet and Bird Hospital who agreed to operate on Boudreaux’s wing.
Ultimately, the two veterinarians reviewed the US Fish and Wildlife Service guidelines prohibiting removal of the entire wing and decided that Boudreaux qualified for the exception, which basically requires veterinarian care for the life of the bird. Boudreaux, Dr. Crews, and our Director of Animal Care, Kaela Jones, traveled to Westgate Pet and Bird Hospital for the surgery.
It was a happy day for the staff and volunteers at All Things Wild when Boudreaux returned from surgery to our center. He had lost his damaged, infected wing, and he would never fly again. But he had a bright future as an ambassador at All Things Wild.
We have been buying small whole frozen fish at Asian supermarkets as well as supplementing Boudreaux's diet with vitamins. We need a good source of fish for Boudreaux and understand small fresh-caught whole fish are perfect. We estimate that he eats about three pounds of whole fish a day. If you or you know someone who can help with fish for Boudreaux, please call our center at 512-897-0806 and talk to Kaela (Sunday-Thursday 8 am – 4 pm). Thanks!
Future plans for Boudreaux include building an enclosure for him with a nice pool and working with him so he is comfortable meeting people. Although we have been told that white pelicans can be snappy and difficult, Boudreaux seems happy to be around people. Pelicans make soft grunts when they are among their flock in the wild, and Boudreaux grunts around us. We are his flock now.
For more information on American white pelicans, go here.
Note: During surgery at Westgate Bird and Pet Hospital, blood was drawn to determine Boudreaux’s sex. We still don’t have the results but have decided that the name Boudreaux will remain whether male or female!
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IT’S BABY SEASON!
Orphaned eastern fox squirrels snuggle together to keep warm.
Spring is coming and the orphaned wild babies are starting to arrive at All Things Wild. Our rehabilitators are already busy raising orphaned opossums, squirrels, and cottontail rabbits. In April, orphaned songbirds, skunks, raccoons, and fawns will begin to arrive in rehabilitation. By June we will be flooded with orphaned baby animals!
Beginning April 1, All Things Wild will add additional staff to work with all the animals during Baby Season and change the operating hours to 9 am – 5 pm for answering phone calls and taking in animals. We will also hold our annual Springtime Baby Shower, scheduled to kick-off on April 15 with announcements in the newsletter, Facebook, and Instagram. The Baby Shower will include a raffle, Amazon baby gift registry, and live videos of baby animals on social medial.
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♥ Thank You! ♥
A big thank you to everyone who donated to All Things Wild during the Amplify Austin Giving Day, March 2-3. We brought in $21,405, all of which will be used to help wild birds and animals.
We are very grateful for your generosity and for the generosity of everyone who has donated in any way to All Things Wild!
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