Attached is a photo of a barred owl that came in on Monday. We also had a third year bald eagle that came in on Wednesday. The reason I mention these two animals in particular is that they were both hit by cars. In the case of the owl, it has a really bad left femoral fracture (bone of the upper leg) and some damage to the left eye. The Raptor Center thinks the eye may be salvageable, and they are hoping that surgery may be doable with the leg even though the bone is in so many pieces. As for the eagle, it has an acute right humeral fracture. When it arrived at Wildwoods, its wing was twisted 180 degrees. Surprisingly and thankfully, it was not a compound fracture (bone exposed). It also has significant internal trauma. For this eagle, TRC has stabilized the fracture and are providing meds and supportive care until they determine its neurological status.

It is painful to witness the status of both of these beautiful birds, most especially because accidents like this are by and large preventable. We all need to slow down on the roads and pay attention to what is happening around us. Speed and distraction on the road kills. As a society, we seem to have deemed that a certain amount of loss (human, animal, environmental) is acceptable so that we can have freedom of movement. It’s time to start rethinking this.

If you do hit an animal or see an animal get hit, please contact us or the closest rehabber right away. There is a better outcome for the animal if they can receive immediate care.

As always, let’s hope for the best for these two! And we thank the folks that did care enough to make sure that the owl and the eagle found their ways to The Raptor Center.

Red Squirrel

This red squirrel was caught in a woodstove, but retrieved before he could suffer too much damage by a very caring and watchful fire tender. We have high hopes for this fella as long as there was not too much smoke inhalation.