Patient progress report

A hummingbird's tale
Here's a perfect example of why your should keep your hummingbird feeders full (especially in this chilly weather) and your cats should remain indoors.

This little guy was attacked by a cat while he tried to feed on some low growing flowers.  It was a near fatal mauling. He suffered a broken/dislocated right shoulder and a few scrapes. It's amazing he wasn't killed. 

After having been rescued from the cat, it was many hours before he brought first to a local vet's office and then finally to me. 

By the time he reached me, he was cold, lethargic, with difficulty breathing, and was completely exhausted from both the ordeal he'd gone through and the fact that it had been so many hours from the last time he'd eaten. 

The first thing  I did was put him in a warming cage to bring his temperature back up.  After that, it was a dose of antibiotics to guard against bacterial infection from the cat's bite.  Then the most important thing- to feed him.  I made a formula of three parts warm water to one part sugar and using an eyedropper with a large opening I inserted his beak into the end.  Bingo!!!! Out came that tiny tongue and he began slurping up the formula as fast as he could.  

It was incredible how quickly he recovered his strength and spirit after just a few meals. By around midnight he was able to perch on his own and quickly learned to drink the formula from the orange and yellow syringe caps that I taped to the sides of his recuperation cage.  By 2 a.m. he was using his good wing to buzz off and on his perching branch  and chirping at me every time I came close to refill his "flowers". 

It's two days later now and he is quite comfortable in his cage in the "nursery" and seems to be tolerating my presence without too much of a fuss. He's eating from his artificial "flowers" quite readily, his breathing has improved, and he's coping with the inability to use his right wing. The injury to his shoulder is severe and the likelihood that he will be able to once again buzz through the air from flower to flower is not good.  Only time will tell.  So for now I will give him lots of loving care, a good diet, a little sunshine, and lots of hope for a successful healing.  Keep your fingers crossed (and your cats inside!). 

Gopher tortoise

Every year I receive gopher tortoises of all ages. Some have been hit by cars trying to cross a busy road. Most, however, have been attacked by dogs.

I shared the company of three tortoises all this winter. The oldest and largest of the three was a female estimated to be about 30 years old. She came to me in the fall, brought by a man who thought she'd been bitten by a dog. It turned out that the bite marks on her back and underside were old bear bites. This old gal had really been around! Her real problem was a very bad respiratory infection. She had thick yellow mucous coming from both nostrils, was cold, and was also dehydrated.

I kept her in a special dog crate with a heating pad in order to keep her warm and increase her metabolism. The "fun" part was giving her antibiotic injections in the butt! It was a 2-person job with my husband, Roger, holding her down with one hand and pulling out a back leg with the other. It was amazing how strong she was. I had the easy part - just a shot to her tush and I was done.

Like many older wild tortoises, I could fine nothing in captivity to interest her in eating. So on warm, sunny days I placed her in a special "grazing" cage in my yard where she would munch on grasses, young oak trees, and other natural vegetation to her heart's content . Twice a week she got a soak in the shallow bathtub to keep her hydrated and encourage her to move her bowels. She was recuperating well and seemed quite content.

Around New Years, I received two smaller, younger tortoises, both the victims of dog attacks. The younger was the size of a golf ball and about a year old. He had two punctures to his back but was otherwise okay. The other was the size of a softball and about three years old. He had one puncture on his back but the front edges of his shell had been completely chewed off and he was infected.

They both received antibiotics and spent the winter in the nursery in a warming cage. Both these little guys were quite willing to eat whatever salad I prepared for them. And boy, what a salad they got! - kale, spinach, red pepper, squash, zucchini, corn, carrots, cabbage, sweet potato, alfalfa sprouts, green beans, bean sprouts, peas, apples, strawberries, dandelion leaves. It all went into the food processor and each morning and afternoon they would get a bowel of fresh "tortoise salad". My husband claims they ate healthier than he did!

Around the end of February, when all three tortoises were healthy and the weather was in the daytime 80s and evening 60s it was time to return my winter guests back to the wild. I knew of a remote area that had been burned two months prior. It was bursting with new vegetation and there were signs of other gopher tortoises in the area. My tortoises would be out of reach of dogs, kids, and cars here and when I put them down in their new home they tromped off into the woods without even looking back . What a good feeling to see them head into a bright future in the wild!