Harmon did a lot of
catching up yesterday - sleeping and eating ALL day long! Dad brought
more food than one little chick could possibly eat and Mom fed the
little eaglet as much as she could. Now that things have stabilized a
bit, we thought we would share a bit more about Harmon’s visit to
The Raptor Center (TRC).
Harmon arrived at
TRC very depressed, slightly dehydrated and exhausted. The wing that
had been entrapped was swollen and bruised and there were puncture
wounds on the eaglet’s back. Perhaps the most important step we
took was to stage our treatment and diagnostics so as not to cause
excessive stress.
We tended to the most critical things immediately
–rehydration and wound care. The puncture wounds were infested with
maggots, which were removed immediately as they can do tremendous
tissue destruction in a very short time. Over the next 24 hours,
Harmon’s wounds were treated and retreated, medications for pain
and inflammation were given as well as food, and further diagnostics
were done. Blood was drawn to check for infection and he was also
checked for parasites.
Radiographs taken on Saturday showed no
fractures, although the wing was still a bit swollen (note arrows on
radiograph showing right wing with increased white areas). Harmon was
eating well, although we never fed him when he could see human faces
due to the risk of imprinting.
Imprinting is a critical development
time in which the chick “learns who it is” and bonds to its
parent, developing lifelong behavior patterns.
A very interesting
thing to note on Harmon’s radiographs - like all very young chicks,
his bones are only partially formed. The radiographs show that the
joints are not formed yet (compare to radiographs of an eagle chick
that is 1 month older). At this stage, normal chick bones are very
soft, almost rubbery. This might have saved him from being hurt even
worse while struggling.
Another
characteristic of young animals is their amazing capacity to build
new tissue (ie – growth). When injured, this capacity is turned
towards healing, which accounts for our ability to get Harmon back to
the nest so quickly. With his wounds sealed over, the swelling in his
wing gone and his energy returned, we knew the best place for him was
back with his parents.
I love reading this semi-technical stuff! Thanks so much for sharing your findings and explaining them for us! Harmon is one lucky little eaglet. Hope he goes on to have a very successful life even against the many odds that he will encounter growing up.
ReplyDeleteThank you for the medical information. Harmon was lucky that his bones were not fully formed, and probably made him more pliable to conform to the hole he was in! We are all told not to humanize nature's wildlife, but I think it goes against our grain as humans not to care for every living thing - and you did such a great job. Many, many eagle hugs.
ReplyDeletePeople on MNBound ustream chat keep saying that a blood test was done with the results that Harmon is a 'he'. In this post you refer to Harmon 9 times as a male. I can't find any confirmation by someone who knows that Harmon is male. Dr. Ponder referred to Harmon as male in her interview. So, has there been a confirmation or does everyone refer to Harmon as male simply because of the name?
ReplyDeleteInteresting - thank you. What was the likely cause of the puncture wounds?
ReplyDeleteThank you also for saving this little guy's life.