Case Stories (page 5)                      

Tripod the Fox

On 20 September 1996, a golfer at the El Dorado Golf Club in Long Beach, accidentally drove a shot off the mark and hit a Red Fox that happened to be on the course. The player noticed the fox limping and reported it to the course Marshall, who relayed the information to the Long Beach Animal Control offices (LBAC). Animal Control tried to capture the injured Fox for many days but the fox managed to evade capture, even after being darted with a tranquilizer. At their wits' end, the LBAC contacted the Long Beach Animal Hospital for a stronger tranquilizer. This worked in slowing the Fox down enough to capture him.

On 24 Sep 96, the Red Fox was brought to us for rehabilitation. Radiographs revealed the front leg had been shattered into 9 pieces by the golf ball. Due to the fact this was a wild fox, we felt it best to remove the leg completely in order to get the fox back home in the quickest time possible. Foxes are very smart and any excess time spent in captivity would take its' wild edge off, leaving him unable to survive on his own..

The surgery went very smoothly and the rehab time was very short.  This allowed the fox, whom we now called Tripod or NFL (No Front Leg), to be released to once again romp in the grass; overjoyed he was again home.  Another smaller Fox came from the edge of the course and greeted Tripod on his arrival home.. The last time we saw Tripod, he was running off into the distance alongside this other Fox.  Considering the extent of his injuries, Tripod found himself lucky to rescued by caring, concerned people and cared for by skilled and compassionate doctors.

One Eyed Red Tailed Hawk

On the third of February 1998,a park ranger from the El Dorado Nature Center rushed us an emaciated, dehydrated, one-eyed Red Tail Hawk. The Hawk's emaciation and dehydration were the results of the "accident"  which resulted in the loss of the Hawks' left eye (we have no way of telling how this hawk lost its' eye). When presented to us, the eye was completely missing and the socket was full of infected and necrotic tissues. The delicate surgery to remove, clean and debride the eye socket was performed by the eminent Dr. Tia Greenberg of the Long Beach Animal Hospital. Dr. Greenberg's skilled hands cleared the damaged and necrotic orifice, saving this animals life. Her healing hands are truly gifted.

After surgery, it was time for this lucky Red Tail to rest, heal and learn how to hunt with only one eye. The loss of an eye in a Hawk affects the hawks' vision in much the same manner as if the same injury happened to a human; with one eye, we lose our depth perception. Fortunately, a hawk can live and survive in the wild with just one eye, but it needs the opportunity to learn to make the necessary adjustments. In the wild, the poor hawk would starve to death before learning to make these adjustments, but at AWRE, we allow the animal all the training time it needs to learn these new skills before being released.  In time, the hawks' eye healed better than could be expected. We were 100% certain the hawk had learned to adapt to its' handicap and would be able to survive in the wild. It was now time for this magnificent creature to return home.

We released him in the El Dorado Nature Center where he was found. When we opened the carrier, the hawk stepped out, took about 4 steps, stretched and then flew off into the top of a tree about 50 yards from where we stood. While this hawk was perched in the tree another slightly smaller Red Tail Hawk flew by, circled and then landed in the tree with our hawk. Both hawks seemed to greet each other and started to preen one another like good friends that hadn't seen each other in a long time. This left us with such a good feeling, to be able to return an animal that by all rights should have died, to its' home, friend and family.