SNN (ScrollingNetworkNews) ✿ ✿ Our Mel and Sydney returned to their nesting box with plenty of bonding occurring..but after 2.5 months of Sydney in the box from Dec 2013 to mid Feb 2014, the lack of prey gifts from Mel ( perhaps due to the severe and historic drought underway in California)and they have forgone the nesting process this year as many other raptors ✿ Compared to other owls of similar size, the Barn Owl has a much higher metabolic rate, requiring relatively more food. Pound for pound, Barn Owls consume more rodents – often regarded as pests by humans – than possibly any other creature. ✿ We remind viewers that sometimes owlets may not survive - the parents will dispose of things in "The Owl Way" -viewer discretion is advised, this is nature and the "Owl way". ✿ ~ ✿ “Animals, like us, are living souls. They are not things. They are not objects. Neither are they human. Yet they mourn. They love. They dance. They suffer. They know the peaks and chasms of being.” ― Gary Kowalski, The Souls of Animals ✿ Each species is a masterpiece, a creation assembled with extreme care and genius." ~ E.O. Wilson

Thursday, November 1, 2012

Bald eagle with gunshot wound found in Hardeman County

MEMPHIS, TN - (WMC-TV)
A bald eagle was found with a gunshot wound this week in Hardeman County, and the organizations that have worked to rebuild eagle populations in this part of the world want help finding out who pulled the trigger.

 Now one Memphis doctor is providing hope by nursing the rare bird back to health. While the bird awaits surgery, U.S. Fish and Wildlife officers are on the hunt for the person who shot the five-year-old bald eagle. It is a federal offense and a felony. "This is our national bird," veterinarian Dr. David Hannon said. "Some idiot with a shotgun blew it out of the sky. That's just appalling there are people who would do that." The bald eagle was shot in Silerton on the Chester/Hardeman County line on highway 125. "The bird was actually found off the side of the road. This guy said he saw it hopping on the side of the road," U.S. Fish and Wildlife officer Matt Canada said. U.S. Fish and Wildlife officers say the man took the bird to a nearby vet's office. Then he was transported to Cordova to Memphis Veterinary Specialists. Dr. David Hannon says the bird named Abe, after Abraham Lincoln, has severe injuries. "He's got several pellets primarily in the right side of his body," said Dr. Hannon. Abe's right wing is broken, and he has a fractured left femur likely, Hannon says, from the fall from the air.

 The bird is not eating or drinking because he is stressed, so he is getting IV fluids. And we were there for a feeding. The eagle is in bad shape. He can't stand up has padding to help prop him up. Usually they perch on something like a tree limb.

Doctors will operate on Abe Friday. "We've got to put a place on his leg," Dr. Hannon said. Hannon isn't sure yet how the wing will be repaired. He says he will have to be 100 percent if he is to be released into the wild. Wildlife officers believe the bird was shot on purpose. "Whoever shot it knew what they were shooting," said Canada. Dr. David Hannon said if Abe cannot be released into the wild, there are plenty of zoos like the Memphis Zoo, or a nature center or even a breeding program. Wildlife officers are working hard to find out who shot the eagle.

"The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and several organizations have chipped in, and the reward is up to about $7,500 now,"

See the video by clicking on the link WSMV Channel 4