Thursday, September 24, 2009

Prairieland Feeds

The resident raptors will be at Prairieland Feeds this weekend from 9-4 on Saturday and 11-3 on Sunday. Prairieland Feeds is at 303 S Dunlap Ave in Savoy. (From campus, just head out to Neil St and go south. You can't miss it.) Stop by and see us!

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Howl at the Moon!

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Howl at the Moon, our fall fund-raiser, will be on Saturday, September 26th. Come out to Harvest Moon Drive-In Theatre in Gibson City to see Disney's G-Force! (secret agent guinea pigs on a government mission)

Bring the whole family (pets included!) $5 per person, kids under 5 and pets free! Gates open at 6:20pm, movie starts at 7:20pm. We'll have door prizes and tons of fun!

Harvest Moon Drive-In is on Route 47, 21 miles north of I-74. Questions? Feel free to email us or call the clinic (217-244-1195) for more information.

Tuesday, September 8, 2009

Barred Owl

This owl presented on August 10th. She was lethargic and had blood in both of her eyes. The summer team started fluid therapy and gave her antibiotics to prevent any secondary infections and anti-inflammatory drugs to minimize inflammation. We took a blood sample, and she had a drastically low white blood cell count (leukopenia), as well as electrolyte imbalances. At first, we were unsure whether she would be able to recover. Since then she has gradually grown stronger and more active. The ophthalmology department has also been monitoring her improvement. Two weeks ago, we discontinued all of her medication and she continued to improve. She is definitely visual and her ophthalmologic exam is more normal. Her white blood cell count has risen to within the normal range, and she is more aggressive and eating normally. At the end of last week, we decided she had improved enough to go to a wildlife rehabber, and on Saturday, members of Team 1 drove her up to the Illinois Raptor Center. She was released to a transitional cage with another Barred Owl and will hopefully be back in the wild very soon.

Barred Owl in the Ward
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Barred Owl at the Illinois Raptor Center
Rafiki Barred Owl @ IRC
Rafiki @ IRC

Illinois Raptor Center photos courtesy of Amanda on Team 1 ; )

Wednesday, September 2, 2009

Bald Eagle Release!

Yesterday, we were able to release the juvenile bald eagle!

According to one of the leaders on the team in charge of her case: "She was in good body condition, blood work was all normal and she was eating well. We wanted to release her quickly so she didn't need to be reconditioned for flight. A staff member from the Illinois Raptor Center came out, jessed her up and flew her outside of the teaching hospital so he could assess her flight. He gave her a good assessment and told us we could release her. We took her to back to Danville and met with a biologist for the conservation service in Danville. He took us to the location where she was found. We released her away from the sanitation plant right by a river. We could hear eagles calling while we released her. This sanitation plant takes up 50 acres of a 600 acre forest preserve, so we are hoping she stays away from the plant and uses the other natural areas of the habitat that surrounds her. The release was a huge success and the eagle didn't even touch the ground. She swooped down, flew up over the river, turned right and was out of sight within seconds."

You can read an article about the release in the Commercial News here.

Bald Eagle Flight Test
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