INDY
#02012016 barred owl
DEKALB COUNTY, Ind. (WANE) An Indiana Department of Transportation crew on Monday found a disabled owl in the median of Interstate 69 in DeKalb County.
Workers repairing a cable barrier in the median of the interstate near the rest park in southern DeKalb County found the owl, stranded and possibly blind. The crew called in the Indiana Department of Natural Resources, who connected them with Soarin’ Hawk Raptor Rehab in Fort Wayne.
Update 2/2/2016
Upon examination, the barred owl appears to be blind. His left eye has lesions inside the eye that indicate he may have been blind in this eye for awhile. His right eye does have some response to light, so perhaps he can regain vision in this eye. If he is blind in only one eye we attempt to place him as an education bird.
Update 2/17/2016
Just a report that I no longer have to force feed them, they are both eating food at night on their own. And healthy appetites they have! I'm thinking that the one rescued from 69 might be getting sight back.
Update 2/14/2016
Barred 02012016-BAOW (INDOT) He will be placed in a flight pen tomorrow and watched very closely. With his very limited vision it is a great concern if he will be able to move around and find his food. If he cannot find his food, we will put him back in a small hospital cage and give him more time for his vision to recover.
Update 2/12/2016
He was reevaluated today by our veterinarian. Unfortunately there has been no change in his vision. There is no response to light in his left eye and very little light response in his right eye. He has been able to find his food in a small cage, so hopefully he will able to gain enough sight to be placed as an education bird. Next week he will be put in an outdoor flight pen to make sure he is able to navigate well in the pen and find his food. If he does well in the flight pen we will attempt to place him in an education facility with the proper permits to keep him. If he does not do well, we will bring him back inside to a small cage and give him more time to see if his vision improves.
Update 2/17/2016
Unfortunately this guy is not doing well in the flight pen. He has not gone up the ramp or flown to a perch and he has not found his food unless it is put on his foot. He will be brought back inside to a small cage where we will give him more time to see if his vision recovers.
Update 02/212016
He could not find his food in the outside flight pen, so he was brought back inside to a small cage. Unfortunately there does not seem to be any progress made in his vision. He finds his food in the small cafe but has appears to have no vision in either eye. We will give him more time.
Update 03/01/2016
No change
Update 02/24/2016
Unfortunately he has still shown no signs of being able to see anything. In his cage he uses his feet to find his food but does not appear to see anything. We will continue to give him more time.
Update 3/03/2016
02102016- Barred Owl. Unfortunately there seems to be no evidence that he has any vision. He seems to find his food in his cage by feeling with his feet. So he can eat on his own, but only if kept on a small cage. We will still give him more time.
Update 03/07/2016
02012016-BAOW He can see! He will now follow a hand in front of him! We are not sure how much vision he has, but at least he has a little sight coming back!
Update 03/10/2016
02012016-BAOW. Since he seems to have some vision returning, he will be taken from his small ICU cage and put on a small outdoor flight pen. Hopefully he has enough vision to move around his pen and to find his food!
Update 03/21/2016
02012016-BAOW He is typically able to find his food in a larger flight pen, but we have been putting it close to him. Now we will move it further away and see if he can still find it. We need to know his limitations before we try and place him as an education bird.
Update 03/29/2016
02012016-BAOW He was moved to a different flight pen and has not been eating well. We need to know his limitations before we try and place him in a approved facility.