From Doc’s Veterinary Wildlife
The “Goshen Owl” was found last week unable to fly. Upon presentation, he had weakness in his right wing as well as the inability to fully use his left leg. X-rays showed pelvic and spinal trauma most likely from being hit by a car. Treatment included medicine for pain, laser therapy, and plenty of rest and supportive care. Over a week later, he is doing better and is once more able to fly, however needs more time for his leg to improve. These cases can take a long time to heal.
That’s my thoughts. No harm done. We don’t have time or money to waste, so the clinic heads must be seeing something positive. I’m staying open minded about it.
Animals have individual personalities and they all react to us a bit differently. Some can be very chill, and others are very difficult.
In addition to fight and flight, we also now talk about freezing and fawning. Freezing is what it sounds like, just being still, seeing what is going to happen. Fawning is when they seem like they understand what is going on, but they are following your queues and being compliant in the hope that you won’t hurt them. Think like when a hostage obeys their captor.
They are also intelligent and learn our routines for feeding them, treating them, and other things and some learn what is expected of them. Foxes will run up to the pen door and stand up and wag their tales just like regular dogs, but any other time we walk by they will hide.
If the owl wanted to fight, it could nip or claw or try to fly away and hit them with its wings. Usually once you get a solid grip and they learn they can’t fly, they freeze.
I like their experience to if we were abducted by aliens. We’d be freaked out, and even if they were nothing but nice to us, we’d probably be scared the whole time, not understanding anything they say or do to us, and spend the whole time waiting for them to eat us. Even if we found out after they put us back on Earth they cured all our diseases, we’d still probably need some therapy. Animals don’t even typically help each other, so what we do is a pretty alien concept to the . Animals don’t even typically help each other, so what we do is a pretty alien concept to them.