Last weekend a very nice man brought me an injured Barred Owl. Honestly, I didn’t think it would survive. The left wing was almost removed at the shoulder. The bones of the shoulder were exposed and bloody, but the area looked clean. I knew I couldn’t set that kind of fracture so I headed to Blackland Prairie Raptor Center in Lavon, Collin County, Texas.
The owl had be picked up and it took the rescuer an hour to reach me and another hour to drive the bird to me, then I drove for another hour and a half, to get to Blackland. All this time the owl sat calmly , quietly and in terrible pain.
Upon arrive at Blackland, the bird as medicated for pain, given preventive antibiotics and had surgery to pin and rebuild the shoulder. The consensus of opinion is that the bird will recover and after much physical therapy will be release. While at Blackland the Barred owl will be fed healthy appropriate nutrition and stay on antibiotics to prevent infection.
I can’t express how impressed I am by the expertise of the staff and volunteers at Blackland.
