crc-rehab-blog:

Patient #15865, barred owl, found in Grundy VA

This patient came in last Friday after being transferred from another rehab facility in Virginia.  He was found on a wire fence and had soft tissue wounds to the right wing, as well as a femur fracture.  He was also severely emaciated.  After waiting a few days to rehydrate and gain some weight, we performed surgery to repair the fracture.

Today’s surgery:  The fracture was unstable but there was a lot of scar tissue that formed a bridge and causing the bone ends to override by about 2 cm.  A significant amount of blunt dissection and physical manipulation was needed to free the ends. We placed the IM pin from the fracture and drove proximally to exit at the hip.  We had to use a lot of force to manipulate and twist the bone ends back into alignment. We then drove the pin across the fracture.  The cross pins were placed and an intraop radiograph was taken.  In the end, the alignment was very good and the surgery was successful.

This bird still has a long road ahead.  The soft tissue damage to the right wing is severe but it should heal with time (and many, many bandage changes).  Good news is that he is a great eater and super feisty.

crc-rehab-blog:

Most of the great horned #owl orphans have now moved out to be parented by their new surrogate mother, Betbait.  Betbait is one of our resident birds that lives on the display trail.  She is an excellent (and very aggressively protective) mother. 

crc-rehab-blog:

We are excited to announce that on October 21st and 22nd of this year, we will be directing a training session to help mid-level rehabbers develop their skills. Topics include: raptor identification, tail wraps and bandaging, basic diet, capture and handling, physical and ocular anatomy and…

crc-rehab-blog:

Not exactly what was reported…this wood duck was stuck in a chimney overnight.  One of our volunteers rescued it and brought it in to get it looked over before release.

crc-rehab-blog:

The last post mentioned the amazing survival skills of vultures. Many times, even with horrific fractures that take away their ability to fly, they are able to find food and shelter. Unfortunately, it does normally catch up to them, as they come into rehab emaciated and with old, healed…

Vultures certainly are AMAZING!

crc-rehab-blog:

Patient #15861, turkey vulture, found in Rowan County NC

Diagnosis: ulna and radius fractures of right wing

Today’s Surgery:

Immediately we realized that the fractures were clearly much more chronic and scarred than we originally thought. But, there was still motion. We made an incision over the radius fracture, bluntly dissected down, and found both bone ends quickly. We placed an IM pin and the resulting alignment of the fracture was very good.
There was a large protruding hard mass along the caudal edge of the ulna near the radius fracture. Dr. Scott thought it was due to the ulna fracture but that fracture was much more distal according to the radiograph. Once we located the ulna fracture site, we found that it was very stable and had a large amount of callus formation.  We decided to leave it alone. Overall, things could have gone better  but, all things considered, we think the bird is much better off.

Injured vultures can be difficult because they are able to scavenge on the ground and therefore can survive much longer than other species of raptors.  Once they are finally captured, their fractures are normally healed improperly and they are not repairable. 

I miss the CRC! What incredible work!