American Crow Update

This American Crow originally presented with a fractured left metacarpal. The fracture had unfortunately broken through his skin, resulting in what we call an open fracture. His wing was wrapped and he was started on pain medication and antibiotics. He progressed well for a few weeks, but then injured his wing while he was trying to pick through his bandage. Self-injury is a common complication in the WMC, since the stay in the ward can be stressful for wild animals. Some animals cannot survive the stress of being indoors and handled by human beings, while others continually try to pick at themselves or their wounds. This Crow is still improving, with the team now incorporating some physical therapy into his treatments to try to ensure he retains movement in his wing. In these photos, members of Team 10 are changing the bandage that covers the Crow's wound and re-wrapping his wing to continue to stabilize his fracture.

WMC on The Morning Show!

This morning Amber Jenne of WCIA 3 did two live segments from the ward to help promote Doodle for Wildlife. If you missed it, you can check out the videos here! (Scroll down the the Amber Jenne Morning Show Segments and click on Doodle for Wildlife.) Thanks to all the volunteers who were in the ward early for the show and to the managers who did a great job promoting the clinic on air!

Resident Education Events

The resident raptors have been really busy lately. Last week, they had two visits to after-school programs in Mahomet, and this week they visited U of I students at Newman Hall and first graders at Unity East Elementary school. On February 28th, the birds will be at the Krannert Art Museum for their Kids@Krannert family festival. Krannert is displaying prints from the university library's copy of John James Audubon's Birds of America. Stop by and say hello!

Odin, our resident Red-Tailed Hawk

Barred Owl

This barred owl presented to the clinic with neurologic signs. You can see the head tilt in the photos, and we were also unsure if the owl could see. Over the last week, the team has been providing her with supportive care and anti-inflammatory medication. They even had to hand feed her for a few days. Our opthamology department looked at her eye and determined that she is visual. Her other signs have been improving and will hopefully be able to go to a rehabber early next week!

Barred Owl

Hand Feeding the Owl

Barred Owl in Her Cage