We received a very exciting piece of news: Our Executive Director Phil Jenni has received the 2011 UMN College of Veterinary Medicine’s Outstanding Service Award.

The award recognizes “individuals from the community for their accomplishments, service and contributions to veterinary medicine.”

Specifically, Phil is being honored for providing leadership that, in the UMN College of Veterinary Medicine Dean Trevor Ames’ words: “has enhanced the wonderful work of the Center and its national reputation” while “strengthening the collaboration between the Center and the College.”

The ceremony will be Friday, April 15th at the UMN.

Congratulations, Phil!

We’ve admitted a couple cool patients the last couple weeks: frogs. No, they didn’t come in from icebound lakes, but rather they’ve been hibernating in people’s plants and are being disturbed as people move their pots around for better sunlight.

This teeny, teeny guy is a Western Chorus Frog.

Chorus Frogs are found throughout Minnesota and are heard early in the spring, especially after rains.  They are Minnesota’s smallest frog measuring in from .75″-1.25.”

This much larger frog is a Green Frog and it’s the second largest frog found in Minnesota (bullfrog is the largest).

Green Frogs live in lakes and rivers in the eastern half of Minnesota. While the Chorus Frog will lay its eggs in March, the Green Frog waits until May or June to lay thousands of eggs.

Minnesota’s DNR has a fabulous section on their site for more information on frogs and toads.

There was one other interesting frog that arrived last week, but it’s not from Minnesota.  In fact, it’s not even from the U.S.:

Isn’t it cool looking?  This is a Cuban Tree Frog and Bachman’s Floral brought it to us.  It arrived in a shipment of plants from Florida. Cuban Tree Frogs are native to well, Cuba, and much of the Carribbean.

Unfortunately, no matter how cute it is, this non-native species is decimating native populations of tree frogs in Florida and the USFWS is working to eliminate them. So, since we cannot release this frog, it has been placed in a nice new home.  You can learn more about the Cuban Tree Frog here.

It is with great sadness to report that 88F, the Trumpeter Swan who was shot in Grantsburg, Wis., last October, released back to his home in mid-November, and was famously reunited with his mate in Hudson, Wis., a couple of weeks later, has died of lead poisoning.

88F, who tested negative for lead upon release from WRC in mid-November, was spotted by Barry Wallace (who first reported the reunification of the swan with his mate) in distress and stuck on thin ice about a week ago. Based on the swan’s behavior, lead poisoning was highly suspected. After several attempts to rescue 88F in icy waters, Barry was successful and 88F was brought to WRC for care.

Bloodwork revealed a lead level that was off the charts, which deems a grave prognosis for any swan. 88F seemed to improve initially after a few days of fluid therapy, tube feedings and chelation therapy (to help rid the lead in his blood) but his prognosis was still grim.

After a week of treatment, 88F began showing signs of a serious decline. He became very weak, was having difficulty breathing, and did not have the strength to stand or walk. Bloodwork revealed a severe deficit in white blood cells, along with some changes to the cells that were indicative that the immune system was trying hard to fight off an infection. He was severely immunocompromised from the lead poisoning, was likely in organ failure, and was obviously dying. Therefore, I made the decision to humanely euthanize him and end his suffering.

88F’s fate is sadly the fate of many swans that come through our doors every year. The swans accidentally ingest lead fragments from sinkers and spent ammunition that are degrading at the bottom of lakes and ponds. The lead then seeps out of the swan’s stomachs and into the bloodstream, where it poisons the organs and body systems, such as the nervous system.

Despite our best treatments, swans that arrive at WRC with high lead levels rarely, if ever, survive. Swans with lower lead levels may have a fighting chance, but if the lead has already taken effect on their organs and nervous system, their prognosis worsens greatly. It does not take much lead at all to make an animal very sick, and the negative effects can occur quickly, as 88F proved (since 2 months ago he was lead negative).

I hope, if anything, that people who hear 88F’s story are made aware of the horrific effects of lead poisoning in birds. Not only swans are affected; eagles, ducks, geese, loons, and vultures are affected as well. Even though lead will always be a problem since there is so much at the bottoms of lakes and ponds, hopefully people will make the personal decision to never use it for hunting or fishing.

We are all so sorry and heartbroken to lose 88F after such a wonderful release and reunification with his mate, but we are grateful that we were able to give him a safe, warm place during his final days, and a peaceful death. We are also so grateful to the many wonderful people who have monitored 88F’s health, and assisted in his rescues. He will never be forgotten, and can hopefully be an advocate for lead poisoned birds across the nation.

Below is a photo of 88F receiving subcutaneous fluids to help with rehydration.

How quickly time flies.  Remember that oil spill from last summer?  The concern over how our Minnesota loons would fare over the winter?  Well the DNR has been tracking the loons since last summer thanks to transmitters implanted in the loons.

Not only are the transmitters giving us valuable data about the actual migration patterns of loons, the data is being presented visually on a Web site.  You can even see where the loons currently are in the Gulf and along the Eastern Atlantic.

Here’s the full story from MPR’s site.

This young swallow was raised in our Avian Nursery this year.  Unfortunately, he/she became sick and needed a long course of treatment.  By the time the swallow recovered, the Minnesota swallows had already migrated and it was too cold outside to fly (in an airplane) to warmer weather.

Luckily, one of our volunteers happened to be driving down to Florida for the holidays!  So earlier this week, our almost full grown swallow began a 3-day road trip to Florida.  It’s not an ideal situation, having a wild bird in a car for 3 days with people; however, since this bird was raised in our nursery he didn’t become as stressed out by the sight of people as other wild birds are.  He’s not tame or habituated by any means, but he could tolerate the trip.

The volunteer commented that the swallow hadn’t vocalized during the trip–until they crossed the Florida state line–then he began chirping away like he knew he was supposed to be there.  Thanks much to the Suncoast Seabird Sanctuary (a rehabilitation center in Florida) for finishing his rehabilitation!

We ended out 2010 with a record-breaking 8,632 animals! Ironically, our last patient of 2010 and first patient of 2011 were both Big Brown Bats!

WRC admits many bats this time of year, most of which are found in people’s homes trying to hibernate. Bats prepare for hibernation by eating large quantities of insects and putting on fat during the summer and fall to last through the cold winter.

When a bat hibernates, its body temperature drops to almost air temperature, and respiration and heartbeat become very slow. Throughout the winter, bats eat nothing, surviving by slowly burning fat accumulated during the summer and fall months. Bats can be roused from hibernation fairly easily and may fly around for 15 minutes after being disturbed (this is usually when people notice them in their homes), thereby using up fat reserves needed to survive long winters.

Here at WRC, we provide the bat with food and water as they build back their fat and energy stores. Once they have reached a certain weight and body condition, they are released back into the wild at a cave in St. Paul where thousands of bats reside year round. They then resume hibernation.

In 2010, WRC admitted 120 bats, 93 of which were Big Browns! If you find a bat in your home this winter, very carefully place it in a bucket or other container that seals tightly (bats can sneak through very small slits! If you use a box, make sure to tape it up well!) Because bats are a rabies vector species, always protect yourself and wear gloves or use a towel or other object to move the bat; never pick up or touch a bat with bare hands.

Below is a picture of the Big Brown Bat that was our 1st patient admitted New Years Day 2011!

Yes, we’re open today!  Caring for animals is a 365 day/year job.  We choose to be open for admission on holidays so we can be available for animals in need.

On this white Christmas day, we received a House Finch.  This male adult House Finch has a common ailment, conjunctivitis.  The conjunctivitis that House Finches get is a contagious eye infection that can spread through flocks of finches.  Prior to last year, we had no treatment for this disease and had to euthanize these guys on admit due to the risk that IF they survived, they would asymptomatic carriers and spread it to other house finches in the wild.

However, last year a study came out with a treatment that eliminates the risk of the carrier state.  We can now treat these birds, and most do very well!  This finch will likely be released in 3 weeks.

This year has been a great one and incredibly busy!  Last week, we broke our all time record for number of animals admitted in one year.  The record was 8,585 animals admitted in 2006.  Currently, we are at 8,607!!  If we broke that down evenly, that’s 23 animals each day!  However, during the winter we’re only getting 2-10 animals per day–which leaves us on some summer days admitting >100 animals! But we have 5 more days of 2010, so we’ll see how many animals we admit this year. Happy Holidays from WRC!

A male beaver was admitted today.  He is lethargic, has a piece of his tail missing and has some mild abrasions on his feet.  He could have been attacked by an animal, had his tail caught in a trap, or simply experienced some other kind of trauma.

The question is whether he has a disease that caused him to first be lethargic then, because he was lethargic, he was more easily attacked by an animal, caught in a trap, etc.  Or, is the trauma causing his lethargy?  It’s a very common “chicken or egg” question we ask on a daily basis.

We’re providing various treatments to him and hopefully we’ll see him perk up in the next few weeks.

On Halloween eve, we received an adult male Trumpeter Swan from Fish Lake Wildlife Area in Grantsburg, Wis.  He had been illegally shot twice on the right side, once into his wing and once into his body. Luckily, no bone fractures resulted and the only injuries were soft tissue trauma (bleeding, bruising and swelling) to the right wing and abdomen. The above photo is from the day of his rescue. You can see that there is blood on the underside of his right wing.

The swan was very weak, dehydrated and likely in a lot of pain. We got him started on subcutaneous fluid therapy, antibiotics, pain medications, and a prophylactic antifungal drug, and set him up for the evening in one of our larger rooms.

The swan continued to improve and gain strength daily, and the swelling and bruising were resolving quickly in his right wing. We learned from the DNR that he was a 7-year old male swan, had a mate, and has fathered several cygnets over the past few years (see picture below; he is on the left). We knew we had to hope for a speedy recovery and release him ASAP!

On November 9th, 10 days after his admission to WRC, the swan was ready to go home!! His wing looked great, his bloodwork was normal and he was as strong as ever! I had the honor of driving him back to his home, where several of his rescuers were waiting to watch this wonderful event!

The swan was re-banded since his DNR leg bands had fallen off sometime earlier and then he was ready to go! The second his feet hit the water, he took off for the skies, flying strongly across the lake before landing to preen. His mate was not located on the lake at that time; she may have been elsewhere on the lake, or may have already migrated down to Hudson, Wis., where this pair overwinters. Nonetheless, the two will more than likely find each other and have a wonderful reunion.

Watch his release on our YouTube Channel.

What a great topic for Halloween! No, this isn’t going to be a violent post about demons and it even includes some cool video.  Read on!

We had a small murder of crows (a flock of crows is called a “murder”) who all had broken tail and wing feathers, such that they couldn’t fly.

It was getting cold out and we wanted to release them before winter hit.  Since it can take up to a year for crows to grow new feathers, we needed another option.

So we decided to imp them!  Imping is a technique borrowed from falconers, in which a similar feather is taken and a piece of wood (toothpick or bamboo skewer) is glued into its shaft, then that new feather is glued into the bird’s broken feather shaft.   (Falconers save feathers from the bird’s natural molt; we don’t have that option so we obtain feathers from similar sized crows who are deceased.  It’s important for us to keep a library of feathers since they must be closely matched to the existing bird’s feathers.)

Imping typically is done for only 1 or 2 broken feathers–not entire wings/tails like our birds needed!  Since this turned out to be a very long procedure, we used gas anesthesia to reduce the birds’ stress.

Here’s the video on the first stage of imping.

In the next stage we actually glue in the donor feathers. Watch the video of this process.

The results are visually stunning and it’s incredibly rewarding to watch these guys fly off.  They were released a few days after the feathers were imped.  During the next natural molt, the crow’s imped feather will simply fall out.

Note the missing feathers in the “before” photo. You can even watch the imping process on our You Tube Channel.

Here’s the final result: