Mid Day Break

I got a call from my friend Theresa yesterday. She wanted me to meet her at a local humane society. She volunteers there, takes care of their phone system. They called her and asked if she wanted to come and see the baby owl they'd rescued so of course she called me! LOL

These folks were so loving with this little owl...I was told that with most rescues they don't touch the animals but the baby birds need the attention. This little one was going to a rehabber today to be with other owls and to be released in a few days.

What a bright and curious little creature! Here it's sitting on a fake plant in the director's office

ETS: This is an Eastern Screech Owl and looks like it will be a red morph

This message was edited Apr 28, 2005 11:54 AM

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Sitting on Theresa's hand

Owl Eyes...

Notice the whiskers around the beak...they move them forward when they're intent on something. The whiskers actually quite expressive.

Eva and the baby owl.

I think this is my favorite...

Sorry, that was a big picture...here's a smaller version...

Maybe not LOL sorry!!

This message was edited Apr 28, 2005 11:58 AM

Can you tell these people love the animals? This is Rick, the executive director of the Humane Society of Pinellas, kissing the baby owl. The kindness and compassion of these people was very evident...and their passion for the safety of all creatures.

Thanks for sharing! :-)

That is the coolest!

I love how screech owls are tiny, widdle, bitty things yet they can make the loudest racket!

Oh how wonderful! What a fantastic experience that must've been for you. Did you get to hold it too? Was he soft? He looks so fearsome in the first pics....then the later pics show just how tiny he is! So CUTE! :-)

-Julie

What an adorable little creature!

Stacey, these are just wonderful. The one of Eva and the owlet is magical. That baby was lucky to be entrusted to such great caregivers. I'm so touched by this series of photos. :) :)

LOL Dogzilla...that's right, startle them and be shocked at the size of the sound from this little bird

Julie, I never did touch the baby...In hindsight I wonder why not but at the time it never crossed my mind.

RUK, definitely adorable!

Kimberley, thanks...I was thrilled with the picture. That baby was so sweet. Eva is about to kiss it...again! LOL

This is Eva and Rick again...mind you this is the executive director and the marketing director...imagine what the staff is like. Everyone I came in contact with was sooo friendly There were 3 large 'office dogs' and a big orange tabby cat that is blind. Merlin the cat was so sweet. It wanted to sit in my lap while I was squatting to take a picture. For some reason it picked me to love on! LOL

I'm sorry some of the pictures are so big. I'll be more careful in the future

Here's Owl Eyes again, a smaller version. I'm embarressed but I really want y'all to see the detail in this face. See the whiskers when it's looking at Eva? They're pointing straight at her in that picture and down in this one...

They sure do look like cats...

Those were amazing, Floridian! As beautiful as that little owlet is, I don't think I would have dared to go so close to it. I had always heard that owls could be cranky (and not very intelligent). But that little baby seemed to be so trusting, and rather enjoying his little adventure.

When I was a kid I used to be able to imitate a screech owl's call. But it's been years since I did it. Owwwwwwwwwww! :)

O.K., that wasn't so good. Here's the real thing: http://www.owlpages.com/species/otus/asio/sounds/e_screech1.mp3

Ahhhh, ya lucky heifer you !!
(*merely luvinly teasin' ya!*) and tree leaf green with jealousy!! ...

Jes AWEsome!! And even more inspirational .. is the obvious love, care and compassion .. that these folks & friends of yours possess and overflow with, Floridian!!!!

On top of it all - your camera has captured the relished moments of this lil feller .. with your photos undeniably relaying the same!!! Simply awesome shots!!

I feel jes as 'lucky' and blessed now, myself!!

Thank YOU .. for your care and sharin' them .. with us!!

(*huggerooners to ya Stace*)

- Magpye

Stacey stop apologizing! I'm just about as excited as you are about this rare opportunity. :-) I soooo love that close up shot of his eyes, but the most heartwarming one is the one of him and Eva together. She obviously loves the animals too :-)

-Julie

Ceceoh..That sounds like it might hurt. LOL It's funny, the owls make the same sound, just very quietly, when they're in the nesting box. A lovely soft trilling sound.

Mags, thanks! This was a wonderful encounter that I was eager to share. We try to surround ourselves with people that care about nature. We even have a women's group, 4 of us that go exploring different places. We're heading for the swamps of south Florida in mid May, sans husbands! But we do have walking sticks, compasses, mosquito nets, 100% DEET (yucky but a must in Florida summer weather swamps) and a snake bite kit, we're ready!

Julie, I find it very frustrating to try to look at a picture and have to scroll around to see it...and I have 21" monitors. I've set most of my pictures at 800x600 for a full screen shot so...SORRY!! Hahahaha

Ohhhhh, but Stacy .. I'm with Julie .. about the size (dimension) of photos. In particular, these super 'spayshall' shots !!!!!

It would have been doing the owlet; along with revealing of some of the sweetest acts of compassion, wonderfully
documented by your pics - - a total INjustice! ... So, I too, for sure - thank you SO much !!!

Matter of fact, I still goes beyond my comprehension of sense/logic .. as to why it seems that many folks alter the dimensions of their pics, so drasticly - before posting them here on DG, and other places ...

Welllll, I do know that dial-up internet, and some folks screen resolutions they use/choose .. can, chunk a monkey wrench into many 'viewing' situations ... But IMHO, if we were still with dial-up, ourselves .. me & the ol coot both, would still feel so strongly .. that so many pics, would be well worth-the-wait !!! .. No doubt, tho' .. that {it} may cause problems for some.

Heck, jes the fact that Dave sees fit to try to maintain the larger display sizes for DG is pretty doggone commendable, in my book!
Matter of fact, compared to many other websites - us DGers' are quite blessed !!!!

Got the ol coot to take a look-peek at the lil screecher .. and he too, even grinned from ear-to-ear .. about such a special opportunity for you guys, and the wonderful shots of your pals there at the center .. that you've provided to us!

And, once again .. we thank you, so much!!

- Magpye

Stacy, you might want to rethink taking a snake bite kit and concentrate on getting to the e. r. Do an internet search.

John

Stacey, I set my pics to 800x600 as well. They fit on "my" screen ;-)

-Julie

How wonderful - a great opportunity to get close. Hope they manage to release him back into the wild.

With the new camera I have to reduce the picture size otherwise even scrolling wouldn't help. The SLR requires more working with the picture than my beloved old Sony...it's a pain sometimes.

John, the snake bite kit is a new addition after my DH almost walked into a cottonmouth. When we're out swamping we're more than 6.5 miles from the nearest building which happens to be the only ranger station in the park. I'm sure we'll be calling 911 and heading out as well as utilising a snake bite kit. I'm also hoping that it will all be moot and we won't need any plan at all...

Galanthophile, the bird was due to be released to the wild within a short time...it was just starting to fly in Rick's office so it won't be long. The rest of its days in captivity were to be spent with other owls awaiting release...

I still suggest asking e.r. personnel about using the kits as a first response, Stacey. They are problematic in themelves.

Fantastic pictures! When I went to Pa. for my Dad's memorial service my sister took me to The Raptor Trust in Millington,N.J. An online friend of mine worked there so we were given an extra special tour. Since the boss had left we even got to visit the infirmary. Way cool...I was bitten by an American Kestral and got to hold a Screech Owl while it was being fed cut up frozen mice. We had such a fun time!!

Okay, I've been researching snake bite kits...Good Grief! Talk about conflicting information. I finally called a paramedic and his info was this. They don't use them, they use a light constriction such as an Ace Bandage and transport. But, as he and I discussed, they are much closer to emergent help then we would be out where we're going. So we decided constriction, immobilization and 911 was the way to go, not to lose time by using a snake bite kit. Thanks for pushing me in the right direction.

We've decided that we'll invest in snake proof gaiters or boots...

Gins, how nice to get the back door tour even under the circumstances. What is the Raptor Trust?

This message was edited May 2, 2005 2:55 PM

John, you're a gem .. !!

Still say (suggest) that you alter your user name a bit tho'!! ..

I too, benefited .. from your urgin' to Stacy .. about the snake bite kits!!

See, there's a bit of conflict-? and misleading info that your user name relays/displays ... (hee) ...
I suggest/nominate and vote .. for jes simply 'ImWay2' valuable !!!

(*huggerooners*)

- Magpye

This message was edited May 2, 2005 2:10 PM

Its kinda like Forrest Gump's "stupid" when his Momma said "stupid is as stupid does." I do some stupid thangs sometimes.

Oh my....what a lucky person you are to have seen this wonder of nature! Great pics! Hope they give it a good home!

M.

OK... I know how precious screech owls are, a few years ago there was a family (6 total) that was hanging around the neighborhood. They would roost in the oak trees beside the house sometimes. In the evening when they would get ready to leave for the night's hunt, we would go out and watch them. We would call to them and they would come down and check us out. I was amazed at how curious they were. One day I got this shot of them roosting in our front yard oak tree! (silverfluter's DH... Tom)

That is so cool, Tom!

John

Ginger, I know it was under difficult circumstances, but I'm so glad you got that rare opportunity! It must've been thrilling to be so close to such magnificent birds :-) I absolutely adore Kestrels. I'd have forgiven him in a heartbeat....perhaps actually felt honored that he'd chosen ME to bite ROTFL.

John, I also learned a lot due to your urging Stacey to check into the snake bite kits more thoroughly. I was considering getting one as well because DH likes to take the kids on hikes that make me a bit nervous (as DH hasn't a CLUE about wildlife....just thinks he can tramp through anywhere). Now I won't be getting one, but I will be going through some first aid steps with them all and will put a written copy of said instructions in the hiking backpack (don't need to worry about the kids not reading as they listen to instruction better than DH .... honestly!). Viper season is upon us now and last year had me way too nervous with them all coming into the cities to lay their eggs...this year I want to feel my family is a little more prepared. And, John, we ALL do stupid things sometimes :-)

Stacey, my neighbor is a paramedic. I'll ask him what the protocol is here with our vipers.

Tom, how lucky you were to have such wonderful guests in your garden that summer! And how COOL that you got so many of them and they let you get close enough for such great photos! What an honor! :-)

-Julie

There may be applications where those kits are useful but, they are rare.

And they must be used in the first 10 minutes. Word is that the suction isn't strong enough in the commercial kits to make much of a difference so why bother??

Julie, It will be interesting to see what your neighbor says too

Tom that's wonderful...Do you have owl boxes up? Last years babies stay with the parents and help with the newest. Theresa's owl boxes are used every year by the same families...

I thought about putting up owl boxes, but didn't pursue it. Do you have any info on how to construct them, where to place them, when, etc??? We have a wood shop so there is no porblem with the construction given the details of how they are sposed to be made. We hear them every now and then so we know they are still in the area some times. We just haven't seen them roosting. Is there competition from squirrels for using the boxes?? Any info would be appreciated... Thanks... Tom

John and Stacey, in my reading up on the snake-bite kit issue, I came across two things. (1) that the horse serum may cause more problems than the snake-bite because many people have serious (sometimes fatal) reactions to the horse-serum....and therefore it should never be administered except for in a fully equipped medical facility. (2) that sucking/drawing the venom may actually cause more of it to go into the system due to stimulating the area and increasing the bloodflow to the area rather than having the desired effect of reducing the amount of venom which enters the bloodstream.

My question is, which of these issues (or perhaps something else altogether) was what you felt made using a snake-bite kit problematic?

-Julie

Infections, ineffectiveness of the procedure. Snakes have extremely dirty mouths. Even non-venemous snakes can give very nasty infections. Those "suction" cups could be used to force the venom into the blood stream if used incorrectly. Easy to do if not experienced and rushed. None of our pit vipers are partcularly deadly. Very few deaths are reported annualy. Sucking the venom out by mouth is definetly a no-no!

Wow John, that's one thing I didn't run across in my search. There were a few sites (discussion list type sites) where some pretty heavy debating was going on. And not once did I see a mention of infection due to the unhygenic state of the snake's mouth. They did definitely have strong opinions on both sides of the suction cup debate....some saying it was necessary to reduce the amount of venom from American pit viper bites....others saying just as vehemently that doing so could very easily result in more harm than good as I said above. I think that Stacey's solution of nice thick and tall boots ... and staying away from snakes if at all possible ;-) ... is a much better option than messing with a snake-bite kit. In any case, just having the information about keeping the bitten limb as immobile as possible from the moment the bite happens (ie, do not try to remove clothing around the bite as it will simply increase blood flow and speed up the rate the venom enters the bloodstream), removing jewelry if relevent as swelling can occur quite rapidly, and putting on a bandage like one would wrap a sprain (and no tourniquets)....all of that information was invaluable and will be forever stored in my memory banks. Thank you so much for starting this discussion John!

-Julie

Thats right! I forgot about tourniquets. There is a catalogue called Forestry Suppliers that we used use at work. They have all that snake protection stuff and a lot of really neat other things, that gardeners can even use. Bet ya'll would get a kick out that catalog. Just ordered two shovels from them awhile back.