Great Horned Owl Update 9/2/2009...

Caught-up Lefty, the rehab GHO, for its second physical. The catching-up was certainly more difficult than last time, but not near as difficult as I'd hoped. I was hoping to see more ferocity. At this point, I'm declaring him to be a her. She's almost 4 pounds now, which is almost double her time-of-admittance weight. Males usually top out at 3.5 pounds with females being approximately 1/3 larger overall. I was in hopes she would be ready for release this week, before my vacation, but she's still way too skinny and with very little breast muscle. She's eating anywhere between 150 and 350 grams (5.3 - 12.3 oz) of food each day. You have to feed them as much as possible when they're in rehab. Their bodies are burning the normal, stay-alive calories, plus the healing calories as well. We opened the second enclosure to give her a greater workout/flight area. Over the next couple of weeks, she'll continue to eat her fill and strengthen her muscles and later this month, or early next month she'll be flying in her own territory once again. Photo: Feeling the keel. When feeling the keel bone, the rehabber needs to place the bone between the fore and middle fingers and gently roll from side to side. Healthy would be indicated by a gentle dip to each side. A rise would indicate an obese bird. At Lefty's time-of-admittance, I could place each finger completely down into the sides of the keel. She was the most-hydrated, completely-emaciated bird I've ever seen. As it stands now, there remains a serious dip in the muscle and until that changes, she'll be flying with us.

Photo: Notice the extra leather gear. No body piercings today!