It's Down to the Wire

It's all about the wire. Barbed wire, that is. This evil, torturing killer, has claimed yet another victim.

A juvenile Great Horned Owl was found tangled in barbed wire late yesterday afternoon by a land surveyor working in Hackett. Her struggle was evident as she had extensive blood loss and bilateral damage to her wings. The surveyor carefully removed her exhausted and weak body from the fence and quickly transported her to our volunteer in Fort Smith, who met me in Ozark. Straight to the clinic we went, for Dr. Davis to do an evaluation.

His exam revealed a shredded patagial tendon on the left wing and a deep laceration on the right wing. Extremely weak, we provided antibiotics and fluids. A total of four hours had passed since she was found and the whole ordeal had to be overwhelming for such a young bird. We provided her with the best care possible, but she gave up the fight a mere three hours later, somewhere around eleven p.m..

When Dr. Davis called me this morning with the sad news of her passing, it gave me a lump in my throat. This young life destroyed for what?! I can't fathom how many animals are severely maimed by barbed wire and never found. Rather, they die an awful death. I am consoled by only the fact that our bird was at least in a safe, warm, quiet place when she passed from this world. Everything else about her death was senseless.