A barred owl that had been brought to a Virginia rescue center by a homeless man who found it severely injured on the side of a road has died, and experts are closely monitoring a bald eagle that was also being treated after it was hurt.
Jennifer Riley — a veterinarian at Blue Ridge — said the owl was probably attacked by a predator because it had several puncture wounds and three fractures, including on its beak, wing and leg. She said the quickness with which the owl was brought in for care helped the wildlife center get a jump-start on healing its bones.
Riley said she had been hopeful after a four-hour surgery because the owl was standing on its hurt leg.
But a few days ago, the owl’s condition changed.
“It looked depressed,” Riley said. She said it didn’t want to eat mice, so rescuers force-fed it. The owl couldn’t keep the mice down, so experts thought medications could be causing sickness and stopped administering them. Several rounds of bloodwork and tests showed that the owl had an infection, probably from its leg fracture, and sepsis, which probably caused the gastrointestinal problems.
“Once you’re septic, it’s very difficult to recover,” Riley said. They tried to treat the owl, but it was already suffering from organ failure.
A necropsy of the owl confirmed that “there was dead tissue in the heart and kidneys which explained why he was looking so bad these last few days,” Riley said.
The bald eagle is still in a critical state, Riley said. She said the eagle goes “back and forth between looking brighter and better, but she’s still acting out of sorts.” Riley suspects the bird has brain damage after possibly being hit by a vehicle or perhaps was electrocuted by a transformer, suffering brain damage and a skull fracture. The eagle had also suffered from lead poisoning, and Riley said she considers its condition critical.
The eagle was found by a farmer on his property, and animal control officials in Prince William County brought it to Riley’s facility Feb. 5.
What’s most concerning about the eagle’s condition, Riley said, is that they are typically strong animals and fearful of humans, but the injured eagle doesn’t react when she approaches. While eagles will usually try to bite or use their talons when a human comes close because that is their natural defense mechanism, this one hasn’t had “the appropriate reactions,” Riley said.
“We’re not giving up on anything yet, but she hasn’t made the progress in her mental status,” Riley said. “We’re going to give her time.”