It's a rainy day here in the Appalachians. The rain is a very fitting mood for this particular entry. Though with all things in life there must be balance. How can one appreciate the sun without the rain?
Sadly on Wednesday February 27th Ricky, the Barred Owl that was rescued from being wrapped in a barbed wire fence, died suddenly. It just had a full physical the week before, and no signs of distress were noted. Up until the day before he was eating well, and as feisty as ever. Dr. Jones at UT is having a complete necropsy done on the Barred Owl due to the sudden, and somewhat unexplained death. Initial findings were that Ricky's body was in good condition muscularly, had good weight (body mass), and satisfactory body fat. The wound was healing well, with no necrosis (dead tissue), and the surrounding skin was pink and supple.
Here are the initial findings by UT:
The owl was in great physical condition with a significant amount of abdominal fat. The initial necropsy findings are of visceral gout...which can occur secondary to dehydration, various kidney diseases, toxins (drugs such as meloxicam can affect the kidneys, or bacterial/fungal toxins), other environmental stressors. The results are preliminary, so once we get the final diagnoses we can investigate further into the reason the owl died.
Life is all about balance, and with life must come death. Though we may try with all our might to save all the creatures to which come into our care the truth is we cannot. Ricky was indeed a trooper, and he fought till the end. His departure will bring more joy to those we are blessed with getting to see released.
A note from Natalie:
To my volunteers, Kathryn Cottrell, Dr.Vicki Teubner, Dr. Jones, and Dr. Hill:
Thank you for being there for me that day. Upstate Birds of Prey has been very blessed in that its first two Screech Owls with broken coracoids and ulnar fractures both healed well, and were released. We are also getting ready to release Lucy next weekend, but the reality is that when we get any bird it is because it is injured, and while some injuries are detectable, some are not. We have no way of knowing a wild birds history. We do our very best with each raptor, and learn from each release and each loss.
One of the first things Mathias Engelmann ever taught me was that I will NEVER know it all, and will have NEVER seen it all in the world of raptors.
Keep well,
The grave itself is but a covered bridge,
Leading from light to light, through a brief darkness!
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, The Golden Legend
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