I heard an amazing story.. (bird, turkey, eagle, windows)

[gentlearts]

This weekend, DH and I went to a Raptor Center and saw, upclose, 5 types of owls, an eagle, a buzzard, and several kinds of hawks. How magnificant they are! We really enjoyed it.

They told a story of an eagle they rescued which had had it's leg entangled so severely with fishing line that all the skin on one leg had been stripped off. At first they could see no alternative but to either euthanize it or at least amputate the leg. The vet decided to try something he had heard about.

The vet operated on the eagle, by pulling the affected leg up under the skin across its chest. I don't remember how long the leg was left that way, but when it was removed from under the skin, the skin on the leg had regenerated. The eagle was eventually released. I thought that was amazing.

[FiveHorses]

Originally Posted by gentlearts

This weekend, DH and I went to a Raptor Center and saw, upclose, 5 types of owls, an eagle, a buzzard, and several kinds of hawks.

I'm green with envy. What kind of owls were there?

While I've heard of this type of operation being done on humans, I'd not heard of it being done on any type of animal before. Thanks for sharing.

[Yzette]

Wow! Lucky birdie!

[lifelongMOgal]

Interesting story on the eagle.

I'm thinking of nicknaming my area around the farmhouse as "raptor ridge". This Feb. there were at least 5 bald eagles (first time I'd ever seen them there). Last summer Barn Owles and Great Horned owls were common every night to the point that one could not sleep with the windows open for all the owl hooting in the trees immediately next to the house. I saw one Osprey (probably migrating) . Approx. 7 vultures ( a.k.a turkey buzzards) perch on the barn and surrounding corral fence daily from Spring to late Fall (kind of spooky). Hawks and kestrels are pretty common. Think I saw a Cooper's Hawk in early Spring hunting over a bird feeder.

[FiveHorses]

Originally Posted by lifelongMOgal

. Approx. 7 vultures ( a.k.a turkey buzzards) perch on the barn and surrounding corral fence daily from Spring to late Fall (kind of spooky).

I know people think of them as sort of "harbingers of doom" but I'm very fond of them and my (ok, so they're not really mine...) black vultures. Maybe not the most attractive creatures on the planet, but for a neat freak like me, vultures are the business.

They come along and tidy up - just how brilliant is that?! .

[lifelongMOgal]

Originally Posted by FiveHorses

I know people think of them as sort of "harbingers of doom" but I'm very fond of them and my (ok, so they're not really mine...) black vultures. Maybe not the most attractive creatures on the planet, but for a neat freak like me, vultures are the business.

They come along and tidy up - just how brilliant is that?! .

I enjoy watching them air their wings and bath in the sun but when they swoop down in the yard I sometimes yell at them "I'm not dead yet!" and wave my arms.

[firebll31]

My friend lives on a farm in SW MO and had one of those inflatable swimming pools. She fell asleep in the pool one day and awoke to a group of vultures sitting on the fence posts staring at her....she must have been sleeping really well!
They have a pair of barn owls nesting in their empty silo. Last year there were 2 fledgling owls hopping around. It's pretty neat.
I am always amazed at the number of redtail hawks that get hit on the highways around here. They swoop across in front of cars going after prey. I imagine semi trucks get a lot of them...

[mask of thought]

i once saw a owl the size of a small crow it was white it was the smallest owl ive ever seen before