Rasputin Stink-Eye the Owl
Wed Apr 23 16:47:00 CDT 2008
I was grumpily wrestling hoses in the dark with a flash light to water the dog and the beans in the front yard which are getting nibbled by something. I turned on the hose to the trough having noted it was low, about 2" deep, did a quick flashlight pass to check for trapped possums, squirrels, etc, when whatever was in there rotated its head 180 degrees and looked back at me. "What?! Awwwwwwwwww" (how cute and tragic) followed by "dammit!"
I turned off the water.
I got closer and examined him in the waning light of the dying flash light and saw some wounds. Seemed pretty beat up. Some of these were from trying to get up and out, but others, cuts and wounds on his back and tail, I guessed were from an encounter with something else.
"Aww dammit"
Will he let me lift him out? No, pretty skittish and ready for a fight. Thanks for the warning, Stink-Eye!
Tapped on house window, startling wife, and asked for an old bath towel. big sigh have to rescue another animal "You aren't going to believe it."
As I approached, he made a distinct "knock knock knock" sound that sounds like too large wooden dowels being knocked together. It is a very strange sound, not bird-like at all. I dropped the towel over him, span it together and scooped him out. There was a ball of fury inside. Do NOT do this. It would have been better to get him on the gauntlet right away (as you'll see later on). He was struggling and I knew I did not have a secure hold on him, something very hard to do with a bird of prey, and he could hurt himself more, and I could feel those talons and beak looking for a good purchase through the terry cloth. Gotta move quicker; he's figuring the towel out.
I got him to the kitchen cabinet and unwrapped the owl burrito. "No! That is NOT an OWL!" said wife, expressing disbelief at the reality of the situation.
Pathetic, cute...and furious. "Fightz on, bitch!" said Stink-Eye.
Stink-Eye spent the first 15 minutes in the house expressing the sentiment "I haz wounds 4 yor armz!" as he gripped his/her talons onto the gauntlet and repeated bit the gauntlet with beak. I spent most of this time trying to pry claws off the gauntlet.
Eventually, I just took my arm out of the gauntlet and let him sit there. I tried feeding it a little something. Do NOT do that either. The raptor rescue website in Austin says NO, but we hadn't gotten that far. I called my mother (who I could count on to know some things) and she said definitely no canadian bacon, try raw fresh meat in a blender. Wife just happened to have prepped burgers for dinner and had some ground sirloin and buffalo blend. Stink-Eye ate maybe 1/4 to 1/2 tsp in tiny nibbles if I twitched it in front of him.
So if you do find a wounded bird of prey, don't pick it up. Find someone who knows what they are doing or at least someone you don't mind being mauled. I was lucky. I can only imagine how much more I would have hurt Stink-Eye flailing around trying to get him off my arm.
Drove down to Last Chance Forever and Rex had me fill out some easy paper work. Rex told me his band number and said I could call in a week and check on him. They sent me off on my way pretty quick and started wworking on him. I hope he is ok, but I have my doubts.
Spent more time than I should have researching owl calls and now know what the neighbor kid was a fox tittle is actually eastern screech owl.
