It's a Wild Life at the Wildlife Medical Clinic

Clinic Update

2009-06-27T01:56:00.008-05:00

The ward has been pretty busy for the last few weeks. With only the two managers, interns, occasional help by students on rotation and a handful of additional volunteers, there is a lot to do over the summer! As always there are some pretty interesting cases, including:

Snapping Turtle

Orphaned Groundhog

Juvenile Cooper's Hawk

Turtle with a Shell Fracture

This turtle presented with a significant shell fracture. We've attempted to surgically wire the shell back together. Turtles heal slowly, but these shell fracture repair surgeries are often successful. Turtle shells are made of bone, and if realigned correctly, will heal similar to any other broken bone.

During Surgery

After Surgery

Yankee Ridge Educational Event

2009-06-13T01:14:00.005-05:00

Before school let out for the summer, two of our resident raptors visited the students at Yankee Ridge Elementary school. Nokomis and Odin visited an art class so the students could practice drawing live subjects. It was a really interesting opportunity for both the birds and the artists!

You can read more about the event here. (Scroll down... the story is toward the bottom of the page.)

The raptors will be at the Springer Cultural Center for the Champaign Park District Summer Day Camp on June 19th and at the Rantoul Public Library at 1pm on June 27th. Stop by and say "hello!"

Clinic Update

2009-06-13T01:01:00.003-05:00

Summer is always a busy time in the WMC, and right now there are a few interesting cases in the clinic.

First, there is a Great Blue Heron with a left wing injury.

We also have a very vocal juvenile Red-tailed Hawk.

This turtle needed to have a feeding tube placed to make sure he gets enough nutrients.

As always, there are a lot of juvenile animals in the ward over the summer. Thus far there have been 12 fawns! This one is recovering in an incubator after being hit by a car.

Current Orphans

2009-05-26T12:19:00.003-05:00

Over the summer, the clinic gets in a lot of juvenile animals. Some of them are injured, some are just too young to fend for themselves and their parents have been injured, some are being removed from dangerous situations (like after being dug up from their nest by a dog or cat) and some of them are healthy orphans who would probably do best if left alone. Our recommendations are to call us only when:
1) you know the parents are dead (evidence of a dead adult nearby)
2) the animal is obviously injured, weak, thin, very cold or sick
3) the animal is covered with flies or insects , or
4) the animal is in unavoidable, unnatural danger.

Cygnet (Juvenile Swan)

Cygnet with his surrogate "mom"

Juvenile American Kestral

Two of our volunteers feeding fawns

Fawns

Summer!

2009-05-20T16:13:00.013-05:00

Summer has begun at the wildlife clinic. All of the students have finished finals, and most of the volunteers have left to begin their summer adventures. During break, the clinic is kept running by the two managers, two interns and a couple of super devoted volunteers. There are quite a few cases in the ward right now, including a couple of mallard ducks, a juvenile swan, some squirrels. rabbits and a great horned owl. A garter snake just presented after being closed in a door and is currently down getting radiographs. With fewer volunteers and the continual influx of cases, summer is always exciting in the WMC!

Juvenile Swan

Mallard

Examining the Garter Snake

Garter Snake Radiograph

The arrow points to the spinal fracture. (Click on the picture to enlarge.)

New Cases!

2009-04-20T20:52:00.007-05:00

Two unusual cases have some into the clinic in the last few days. The first is a juvenile barred owl. The owl is uninjured, and we're planning on transferring her to a rehabber as soon as possible. Young owls imprint very easily, so we're trying to transfer her to a rehabber who has another orphaned owl for her to interact with. For now, we have a mirror in her cage, but we would like to get her out of the ward as soon as we can.

Juvenile Barred Owl

This evening, a badger presented to the clinic. The pager team called in some additional help and was able to do a compete physical exam. We'll be able to better assess the condition of the badger tomorrow when we can run more diagnostic tests.

The Pager Team Examines the New Badger

Clinic Update 4/16

2009-04-16T18:47:00.006-05:00

Activity in the clinic has picked up over the last few weeks. Every team has at least one case they are treating, and some of them are pretty interesting. The yellow-bellied sapsucker is still here, and we also have a woodpecker, a goose, a great horned owl, a turkey vulture and a couple of rabbits and squirrels. We also just got a couple of orphaned pigeons. Remember, young animals usually do best with their mothers, so only bring orphaned animals to us if you are sure they have been abandoned. Mother rabbits may only visit their nest twice a day to feed their young!

Team 4 with their Turkey Vulture

Canadian Goose

Great Horned Owl

Team 5 Rabbit Treatments

Orphaned Pigeons

Yellow Bellied Sapsucker

2009-04-06T15:29:00.003-05:00

This is Fletch, Team 2's Male yellow bellied sapsucker. He came into the WMC over the weekend, and today we confirmed that his right radius and ulna are fractured. We are mitigating the pain with some anti-inflammatories and analgesics, and we have stabilized the fracture with a figure eight wing wrap. I think the red matches his feathers nicely. Fractures usually take a little longer to repair, so we expect that Fletch will not be able to enjoy the spring weather anytime soon. It's been rather busy at the clinic, we have actually seen 3 sapsuckers over the weekend, they seem to be out in force!

Vet Med Open House

2009-04-03T17:23:00.006-05:00

Tomorrow is the Illinois College of Veterinary Medicine's Open House. The whole veterinary school will be open to the public from 9am to 4pm. The WMC will be in the anatomy lab on the first floor of the basic science building. There will be a lot of other interesting animals and exhibits, so everyone should come by!

You can find more information about Open House here.

Great Horned Owl

2009-03-22T23:12:00.007-05:00

This Great Horned Owl (GHO), affectionately called "Styles" by her team, came to us with a fractured right humerus. She had an external fixator placed during surgery to stabilize the fracture, which was then removed a few weeks later once the fracture had healed. In these pictures, the team is measuring the extension of her wing. We cannot release a raptor that cannot fly well enough to hunt, and this measurement is one of the criteria we use to asses the recovery of our patients. Styles' fracture healed well, and she has now been sent off to a wildlife rehabber. Hopefully, she'll be back on her own in the wild very soon.

Educational Events!

2009-03-12T20:24:00.002-05:00

Our resident raptors had two great education events this week. On Tuesday evening, Odin, Nokomis, Noel, Penelope and Pistol attended a meeting of the U of I Pre-Vet Club. The future vets got to hear about the medical history of our birds and some other cases at the WMC. This evening, the birds visited Robeson Elementary in Champaign for Robeson's Math and Science Night. The students were great, and we had a lot of fun. If you want more information about booking an event with our residents, look at the online submission form.

Orphan Feedings

2009-03-12T16:56:00.008-05:00

We feed most orphan species 5 times daily. One team is assigned to feed all of the orphans in the clinic everyday, and the responsibility rotates through all of our teams. This afternoon, members of Team 9 fed our young squirrels.

Orphans!

2009-03-11T16:33:00.004-05:00

Our first group of spring orphans came to the clinic this afternoon. Every spring brings an influx of orphaned birds, bunnies and squirrels to the clinic. Unfortunately, many of the orphans we receive would have been better left alone. Parents will often leave their young for long periods during the day, leading people to think the young have been abandoned. Our recommendations are to call us when:
1) you know the parents are dead (evidence of a dead adult nearby)
2) the animal is obviously injured, weak, thin, very cold or sick
3) the animal is covered with flies or insects , or
4) the animal is in unavoidable, unnatural danger.
If the "orphan" is fat, bright eyed and apparently healthy it is probably best left alone. You can return the animal to its nest (if you can find it) or move it out of the way to a safe location. If a baby bunny's eyes are open or a baby bird is completely feathered, they are typically old enough to fend for themselves.

Orphaned Squirrels

Feeding an Orphaned Squirrel

Doodle for Wildlife Photos

2009-03-10T12:33:00.004-05:00

As promised, here are some of the photos from Doodle for Wildlife. I hope everyone had a great time!

Clinic Volunteers at the Bird Table

Auction Guests Looking at Raptor Art

Odin's, our Red Tailed Hawk, "I" Painting

Silent Auction Packages

Doodle for Wildlife

2009-03-08T20:25:00.003-05:00

Thanks to everyone who joined us at ihotel last night for Doodle for Wildlife! The event was a success, and I hope that everyone had a great time. (I know that I did.) Pictures (and possibly video...) of the event will be posted soon. We really appreciate everyone coming out to support the clinic!

Doodle for Wildlife Registration

2009-02-26T08:46:00.001-06:00

Don't forget to make your reservations for Doodle for Wildlife! Our annual fundraiser will be held on March 7th at the I Hotel and Conference Center this year. Technically, all reservations were supposed to be made by Friday, but I hear that the website will still be open at least through tomorrow (March 2nd).

American Crow Update

2009-02-23T17:31:00.001-06:00

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!

2009-02-21T00:38:00.001-06:00

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

2009-02-20T09:39:00.000-06:00

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

2009-02-20T09:17:00.000-06:00

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

Fox Squirrel

2009-02-12T10:55:00.000-06:00

The Wildlife Medical Clinic accepts injured animals 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. To make this possible, all of the clinic volunteers share the responsibility of being on-call. Once we admit an animal, the team on-call does a thorough physical exam and any immediately necessary treatments for the incoming patient. Sometimes, in order to do a complete physical exam, we need to anesthetize the animal. Wild animals are usually not very cooperative and can become dangerously stressed during them exam. Yesterday, the on-call team did a physical exam on this adult Fox Squirrel under anesthesia.

Doodle for Wildlife Website

2009-02-09T14:04:00.000-06:00

The Doodle for Wildlife website is now active! You can look at some of the celebrity doodles we have received and buy tickets for the event. Click here to check it out!

Fox Bandage Change

2009-02-09T13:56:00.001-06:00

This Red Fox was recently hit by a car. She has a fractured front limb and a laceration on one hind limb. Here, the team has anesthetized the fox so they can change the bandage on her hind limb.

Clinic Update

2009-02-04T23:31:00.000-06:00

The wildlife ward is still pretty quiet this week, though we have added a couple of cases. We now have a Canadian Goose with injuries most likely due to trauma. The goose had surgery on her fractured leg this morning to place an external fixator to help stabilize the limb. By this evening, she was back to her feisty self.

Team 2 with their goose.

Team 10 re-wrapping their crow's fractured wing with a figure 8 wing wrap

Clinic Update

2009-01-27T10:33:00.001-06:00

The ward is fairly quiet this week. We tend to see fewer patients when it's cold, and the last week has been no exception. We do have Freida, a red-eared slider who will be spending the rest of the winter in the ward, a great horned owl, a morning dove, and Neil, an American Crow with a fractured left metacarpal.

Our first WMC executive board meeting of the new year is this evening, and the new members will be taking over their positions. The volunteers who will be leaving their executive positions tonight have done a lot of great work for the clinic over the last year, and the board will definitely miss them!

American Crow