“Barbed wire fencing can be extremely dangerous for many species and it is raptors that we see injured by this type of fencing most commonly.”
“When the barbs catch on a piece of skin, the animal fights to get away, often tangling the wing and feathers further or even breaking bones. If the finder were to pull the animal off the barbed wire (something we see frequently), the skin would have been too severely damaged to attempt treatment. Luckily, this finder called for help and removed the animal properly so that we could provide care.
“If you find an animal stuck in fencing like this, cover the animal with a towel and avoid speaking to reduce stress. Wearing thick leather gloves, bundle the bird in the towel and cut the fencing on both sides to free the bird with the wire still attached to their wing/body. Transport in a box small enough to prevent flapping and further damage and get that animal to a permitted rehabilitator right away.
“This owl had wounds on both sides of the wing and there were injuries to the underlying muscle as well. The prognosis for a full recovery is guarded at this time, but we are hopeful as the wounds are healing well so far.
“Thank you to the amazing finders who acted promptly and appropriately so that this owl could have the best chance of recovery!”
UPDATE – 07 Nov 2022:
“This Barred Owl that we posted about previously, who had been stuck on barbed wire, is doing well! Check out the photo collage of his healed wing wound!”
“This owl required surgery to cover exposed muscle and tendons torn open by the sharp barbs on the barbed wire fence. Thankfully, the finders did exactly as they were supposed to – they cut either side of the fence to free the owl, and did NOT try to “rip” the owl off the fence themselves. This allowed us to carefully remove the wire under anesthesia with minimal additional damage to the surrounding tissues.
“This bird has recovered well and the wound is looking beautiful, with feathers beginning to grow back in. They’ve been moved to one of our outdoor flight enclosures to start working on flight conditioning, and hopefully will be released in the coming weeks!”
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