Things have been busy at WTS over the holidays!
Meet Ophelia, a young Eastern Screech Owl. Ophelia was hit by a truck shortly before Christmas and if it wasn't for the quick action of her rescuers who took her off the road and kept her safe & warm & called WTS, she might not have survived . Amazingly no bones were broken, but she sustained injuries to both eyes. This is a common injury in Screech Owls when they collide with objects. She has been on various anti-inflammatory medication and eye-drops with the hope that they will recover. Many species of owls, such as Screech owls, rely so much on their hearing when they hunt that even with the loss of an eye they are still able to be released and hunt successfully.
She was clearly doing well on her own and was nice and plump and very strong. She arrived here still with evidence of a recently eaten meal- so she was probably hit mid-hunt.
But as you can see in this picture to the left, when she arrived, her eyes were very sore and she was keeping them closed. But they are doing so much better as you can see in the above picture, but she does NOT like her eye drops (below)!
And this is a young male Virginia Opossum. He was brought to another rehabilitator but came to me so the vets could take a look at him at Cornell. He too had been hit by a car and sustained injuries to one eye (a corneal ulcer) which will probably leave him blind in that eye. He also had some intestinal issues similar to hemorrhoids, but is now well on his way to recovery. He is very gentle and loves to sleep all day in his blanket...but at night he is super active.
And when I get a good picture of Jose teh blind squirrel, another car victim who came to WTS at the end of 2008, I will post that too.
Biut for now we are all sending you a big Happy New Year and many great wishes for 2009!!
