Zoie passed away this after noon.... Massive kidney failure and the vet found a large mass.
** UPDATE **
Went down to Dr Moore in southlake ( Dallas Fort Worth ) and had a look at the results my sponsor Steve Armstrong came with me as he was also curios as to what had happened.
Basically a large mass was found in the latest x-rays. The mass was located at the cloaca on initial inspection and looked like an impacted egg. It was confirmed she was a female.
The blood work showed elevated white blood cells and elevated Uric acid, One kidney had shut down and the other was failing. After Dr Moore opened her up, the mass was located in her intestine. ( Photos to follow when he sends them to me) The course of the mass was a buildup of feces because a 4" Inch mesquite thorn has passed through her body, had softened over time and finally lodged. I never hunted her near Mesquite Trees and certainly never caught any game with a thorn in it.
It was decided because of her history and hindsight she probably ingested the thorn before i had her. Every time she passed a mute a small amount of feces attached itself to it causing a blockage and backing everything up.
Because of where it was lodged it was totally inoperable and she would have bled out. Every time she flew she was probably in great pain which i find hard to take or understand but basically she gave her everything to the flights we had and they where some good flights. In the wild i am told she would have never have made it to Christmas.
I weighed her this morning , her total weight was 740 grams. She had been bulking up on water to 1060grams. I'll take her down to one of our hunting grands and bury her near a tree over looking the lake ( more for me than her) bu as a first year bird she was the best .
On the way home steve asked me if i had known she would have lived only 8 months after i trapped the simple answer is yes. I'm a sucker for giving an animal a chance and think that's all we really do considering the number of birds that die
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9 comments:
I've been silently observing your journey, in the hopes that I too may one day tread the same path. Falconers walk a thin line between empathetic attachment to nature and rational respect of the inevitability of death. As you soldier onwards, sometimes, the line blurs.
My condolences. Falconry has the highest of highs and the lowest of lows.
Sorry that happened. Issac had it right with the highest of the high...
I've also been lurking, I'm the friend of Steve's who was trapping peregrines where yall went to trap back in October. As Isaac said falconry is about boucing between the highest and lowest points in your life. How close to the WMA were you when you trapped Zoie? The prairie I trapped out there died in November of cancer...
Terribly sorry to hear this news...
Therese I trapped her 20 miles from the WMA. That day there where no passage hawks in the area apart from one electrocuted male that suprisingly was still alive. It turnes out it wasnt cancer and you can see my explination in the update.
Once again thanks all...Here is to some of those highs we all need a few right now...
June 12, 2010 4:00 PM
You did very well by her. She was a good hawk, but unfortunately dealt a bad blow well before you came along.
She was a gift that stayed long enough to give you years of experience. The things you learned will serve you well in your career.
You never forget your first one.
A glass to Zoie and you.
So sorry about Zoie. Losing a bird is heartbreaking. I hope you get back in the saddle--the best way to honor Zoie is to use the lessons you've learned in your time with her to continue the falconry journey.
Sorry to hear about your bird. It would be terrible to lose V, my first bird. I hope this doesn't mean you will give up on falconry.
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