Wild Care in the News
Grueling Ordeal for Raptor in Recovery
EASTHAM — No sushi for you.
That's the revolting development for an osprey found banged up by the side of a road in Wellfleet about a week ago and brought to Wild Care Cape Cod in Eastham for rehabilitation.
Instead of fresh fish plucked from the water, the raptor is being tube-fed rations of "seabird slurry," a thin gruel of fish, vitamins and calcium. But that's the way it has to be as the bird recovers from wing and leg injuries plus a corneal laceration to an eye. Rescuers don't know how the osprey got hurt.
"The bird is extremely underweight and has anemia," Stephanie Ellis, Wild Care's new executive director, said. "We'd like to give it the best shot and see if we can get the eye to heal and heal up the wounds and get some weight on this bird."
So bring on the seabird slurry — watery at first, then thickened to pudding-like consistency as the osprey gets stronger.
And if that goes well, the raptor can look forward to a treat: Wildlife rehabilitator Alexandra Mueller has chopped up herring in a food processor in the somewhat unusual Wild Care kitchen.
It waits in a jar in the refrigerator, looking almost good enough to spread on a cracker.
"It will be several weeks just to fatten up this bird and make sure that the blood work looks OK," said Ellis.
"Then we'll need to put the bird in an aviary."
That's where the noodles come in, but they aren't part of the nutrition program.
To make sure the osprey can see and fly well enough to be released, the Wild Care staff plans to hang those colorful swim-toy "noodles" from the ceiling of the aviary as obstacles for the sea hawk to avoid.
"That will be the ultimate test to see if the bird is on its game," Ellis said.
That's the revolting development for an osprey found banged up by the side of a road in Wellfleet about a week ago and brought to Wild Care Cape Cod in Eastham for rehabilitation.
Instead of fresh fish plucked from the water, the raptor is being tube-fed rations of "seabird slurry," a thin gruel of fish, vitamins and calcium. But that's the way it has to be as the bird recovers from wing and leg injuries plus a corneal laceration to an eye. Rescuers don't know how the osprey got hurt.
"The bird is extremely underweight and has anemia," Stephanie Ellis, Wild Care's new executive director, said. "We'd like to give it the best shot and see if we can get the eye to heal and heal up the wounds and get some weight on this bird."
So bring on the seabird slurry — watery at first, then thickened to pudding-like consistency as the osprey gets stronger.
And if that goes well, the raptor can look forward to a treat: Wildlife rehabilitator Alexandra Mueller has chopped up herring in a food processor in the somewhat unusual Wild Care kitchen.
It waits in a jar in the refrigerator, looking almost good enough to spread on a cracker.
"It will be several weeks just to fatten up this bird and make sure that the blood work looks OK," said Ellis.
"Then we'll need to put the bird in an aviary."
That's where the noodles come in, but they aren't part of the nutrition program.
To make sure the osprey can see and fly well enough to be released, the Wild Care staff plans to hang those colorful swim-toy "noodles" from the ceiling of the aviary as obstacles for the sea hawk to avoid.
"That will be the ultimate test to see if the bird is on its game," Ellis said.