[Sky Captain]

I watched it git hit. by a car. So I veered to the side of the road to get him and the stupid people don't see him in the middle of the road. Narrowly missing him. A van stopped right over him as I tried to flag them to stop. I found him under the back of the van.
His right eye seemed to be the only major injury. I thought he might be blind in that eye now.
I called the Director of AWARE here in Georgia and he called the Cahtahochee nature Center and told them they had a patient coming and to expect me.
I told him that my brother and I flew an injured Red Tailed Hawl to Alabama for treatment and he asked if I was a pilot. I said why yes I am. And if I had a plane. I said why yes I do. He asked if I wanted to fill a position.
I am now THE transport pilot for the Chattahochee Nature Center and AWARE.
I'll get to transport animals to other facilities when they need them to go by air.(as a volunteer)


The vet said the eye would heal in about a month as it just had some blood in it.
I got him there in time for the medication to be effective in treating the eye and other swelling. She said I did a very good job in examineing him and stabilizing him. She likes to get the ones that have a chance at going free.

[dcmacdaddy]

Nowadays, not enough people would do something like that. Good on you for saving the bird!

Oh, and congrats on the new job.

[RAILhead]

Glad he's okay. Good job!

[Sky Captain]

I sent the director this e-mail this morning:

Michael,
I want to thank you for your assistance with the injured screech owl.
I am fully confident he/she is in the beast of care now.
Catherine is a fine vet and an invaluable asset to the wildlife community.

And I recieved:

Hi William,

Katherine is one of the good guys. She is knowledgeable and will do what
is best for the bird.

Glad to have made your acquaintance and thanks for your concern for
wildlife.

We need to transport a couple of raptors to the Raptor Center at the Vet School next weekend. Can you take a handler with you?

I'm writing my reply now.
HELL YEAH!

[kick52]

karma, dude.

good job!

[The Godfather]

Good job

On a side note. Is there a good job market for air pilots? (I sometimes dream of being a pilot)

[Sky Captain]

The market is saturated.
I fly charter services.
I'm the chief pilot now. Which means there's days I don't fly so I can do paperwork, arrange schedules.(like the day I found the owl)
And every morning at 6am I go over the flight plans to determine which are legal and which ones are not.

We just lost an ATP. He's going to manage an automobile body repair shop.
Another fella is going to school to get an MBA. And quit flying.

[Skywalkers new Hand]

Aw he makes the same grumpy face as my kitty.

[ghporter]

Of course he's grumpy-he hurts! My cat had a huge cut and puncture wounds around his left ear, and now, because the vet put a drain in, he has an Elizabethan collar on. There is little funnier than a cat with a plastic funnel around his neck, except for one that's coming out of the anesthetic he was under so the vet could work on him-he had NO iris, all PUPIL! It's sad but very funny.

Sky Captain, a few years ago we found a Cooper's Hawk that had been hit by a truck. The folks at Last Chance Forever got him fixed up. His right wrist was badly broken, but after about 8 weeks he was flying again, and a couple weeks after that he was released-away from roads! He was a juvenile, and the vet said that they tend to get REALLY focused on prey and not notice things. Things like big trucks.

Good job, SC!

[tavilach]

Wow. I feel like such a bad person. I wouldn't have saved the owl: I'd be scared of getting a disease. If I saw it moving, maybe I would have made a phone call, but I doubt I'd have done more.

...and here I thought I was a good person. I guess I need to work on that. Thanks for teaching me a lesson .

[Tomchu]

Good for you! It's a nice feeling to know that in a world filled with all the crappy things that go on, there are still some people that would stop in the middle of the street to help an animal.

I figure that since humans have populated the Earth and uprooted natural environments to such an extent, it's our duty to help animals that can't help themselves. For that reason, I'll rescue a ladybug off my windshield at a stop light and keep it on my finger until I can put it on a bush. :-P

[IceEnclosure]

Originally Posted by Tomchu

I'll rescue a ladybug off my windshield at a stop light and keep it on my finger until I can put it on a bush.

I'll do the same.. the world needs more ladybugs, and it's better I start small.

[Mithras]

+5 karma for saving the owl. -2 for the "illegals" crack.

[Sky Captain]

Undocumented border crossers then.

[SpaceMonkey]

Huh. Weird. I work on a college campus and there were some people showing off different birds of prey in the student lounge one day. One of them was also a screech owl that had been hit by a car! And with an injured eye! Only this one had lost the eye completely.

[©öñFü$íóÑ]

As a bird-lover and amateur bird-watcher, i must say, 'Thank God' for kind people like you. As beings of undisputed power over the planet we live on, i think we -all- have a responsibility to protect the weak... man, animal, plant, and the environment.

[11011001]

So, you are volunteering. Will they cover your fuel?

[Tomchu]

Originally Posted by ghporter

There is little funnier than a cat with a plastic funnel around his neck ...

Haha, agreed! My girlfriend's cat got very depressed the week or two she had one on: http://flickr.com/photos/tomkarpik/95204065/

[Sky Captain]

Originally Posted by 11011001

So, you are volunteering. Will they cover your fuel?

100% volunteer.
I suppose I could write it off on taxes.

My brother and I flew an injured red tailed hawk to Auburn Alabama last year.
They were the only facility that could take him "now".

[Albert Pujols]

Originally Posted by IceEnclosure

I'll do the same.. the world needs more ladybugs, and it's better I start small.

One of the things the world doesn't need any more of is lady bugs, I mean biatchbugs.

[DeathToWindows]

Aww... that's bloody cute. Looks like the eviler of my two kitties

[ambush]

O' RLY?!

Joke aside, good job!

[krillbee]

that owl is cute.

but there is a dumb owl by my house that makes noises at 3 am!

[JoshuaZ]

Not enough owls in the world. Poor little guy.

They don't eat enough cats these days.

(J/K. I love cats. Death to owls.)

[imitchellg5]

Way to go and save a bird. Jesus loves you.

[Socially Awkward Solo]

Originally Posted by imitchellg5

Way to go and save a bird. Jesus loves you.

Jesus was the one driving the car that hit the bird to begin with.

[finboy]

Originally Posted by JoshuaZ

Not enough owls in the world. Poor little guy.

They don't eat enough cats these days.

(J/K. I love cats. Death to owls.)

We used to have barn owls that ATE cats. Hunted them down at night and ripped them apart.

Owls can take care of themselves. Once they get big enough.

[Sky Captain]

Originally Posted by imitchellg5

Way to go and save a bird. Jesus loves you.

I'd like to think the Great Spirit smiled upon my actions.
The ones gifted with flight are held in high regard.

[olePigeon]

Sky Captain, have you thought about taking up Falconry? I was going to take up an apprenticeship myself, but it proved to be too expensive for upkeep on the birds. I might try it again after College and a good job.

You can use all sorts of raptors as well as owls. Most of them (at least for California) are birds that were injured and can't go back to the wild, or, orphaned for one reason or another (dead parents, lost chick, whatever.)

So it serves a double purpose: Bird sanctuary and an ancient sport.

P.S. Are you sure that's a Screech Owl? I thought Screech Owls were the smallest owl next to the Pigmy. I saw a couple in person, they weren't much bigger than 2 golf balls.

[olePigeon]

I looked up in Wikipedia. Maybe I saw 2 male Screech owls. I know they were tiny.

[FeLiZeCaT]

Originally Posted by dcmacdaddy

Nowadays, not enough people would do something like that. Good on you for saving the bird!

Oh, and congrats on the new job.

Seconded.

[Sky Captain]

olePigeon:
To become a Falconer, you have to find a sponsor to train you in the handling of the birds and to certify you for the permit.
It's not that hard, you just have to prove you're dedicated.


My twin brother and I are registered wildlife rehabilitators. You don't have to be a vet, you just have to take care of the injured after treatment and have a release plan.

My twin is raising a baby dove right now.
Movie of dove feeding.

[OwlBoy]

Hoot Hoot.

Good Job

-Owl

[ebuddy]

Originally Posted by Tomchu

I figure that since humans have populated the Earth and uprooted natural environments to such an extent, it's our duty to help animals that can't help themselves. For that reason, I'll rescue a ladybug off my windshield at a stop light and keep it on my finger until I can put it on a bush. :-P

Would you rescue a hissing cockroach? I mean, as long as we care about the ugly animals too. I can see saving a screech owl, those are just plain cool to look at plus they take care of the animals we wouldn't go out of our way to protect; mice.

For the ladybug I probably would've tried my windshield wiper first. If that didn't work I'd probably go with a couple of spurts of washer fluid, then the wipers.

[TurboMac]

I tried to save a Robyn's life the other day (I know like we need more of them) but I still felt for the bird. I gave it a nice box with some water, straw, and some worms. The next morning I look in the box and there are the birds feet looking right at me, the poor thing croaked! I felt terrible, but I guess that is just natural selection.

My wife on the other hand is off her rocker when it comes to the well being of wildlife. If she sees a frog (tiny) jumping across the street she puts the brakes on in the middle of the road! No even caring if we get into an accident ourselves. I think that is a little over board.