OUR MONDAY MORNING MISSION OF MERCY

TRYING TO HELP

As soon as we had the doggy guys fed this morning we headed for the pond area where we had seen the Great Horned Owl Sunday morning.  Our neighbor came out saying the crows had been harassing the owl & that this was the 4th day she had seen it on the ground at the far end of the pond.  She had tried to call the MNR (Ministry of National Resources) but had no luck.  Had we known the owl had been on the ground that long we may have tried putting a sheet over it yesterday, bringing it home & finding help for it much sooner.

THIS WAS THE VERY FIRST PHOTO I TOOK OF THE LITTLE OWL SUNDAY MORNING WHEN WE FIRST SPOTTED IT

Walking quickly now & rounding the first corner of the pond I looked to the far end hoping to see the owl but he was not there.  Upon approaching a line of pine trees I saw a crumpled pile of feathers on the ground laying motionless in the grass.  The owl never moved when we approached & I was sure he was dead.  Max walked over & began to sniff the owl & suddenly there was movement as the owl lifted it's head slowly & opened it's big eyes staring at Max.  It was alive, but just barely, & it was too weak to move.  With the recent knowledge that it had been here 4 days I assumed it was dying of starvation.  Our first thought was to try & get some food in him so we raced home & brought back some Tuna.  We found out later this is not the right thing to do.  I sat down beside him & tried to get a small chunk of Tuna in his/her beak but to no avail.  We talked softly to the owl petting him very lightly trying to decide what to do.  Just 24 hours before the little fellow didn't want our help, but this morning the little guy needed our help.

We knew we could not leave him there in that condition so I carefully picked him up & carried him home.  He didn't try to fight or bite me and he was able to sit quietly in my arms with his eyes open looking ahead.  I brought him into the kitchen thinking I could maybe get a little Tuna juice into him with an eye dropper.  He tried to eat & at one point put his beak on my finger but didn't have the strength to bite.  But, he was still strong enough to at least hold his head up & partially keep his eyes open.  There was no movement in his wings, legs, or feet.   Meanwhile, Kelly was working feverishly on the computer & phone trying to find out what we should do & where we could take him. 

A computer site said to keep the owl calm by putting it in a small box with a blanket & place the box in a quiet dark place.  I didn't attempt to feed it anything more because the site also said not to do that.  Rounded up a box  & carefully placed him in it & put the box in our workshop shed outside.  It took Kelly half a dozen phone calls around the Province before she was finally directed to a facility west of London Ontario that could help us.  The people at SALTHAVEN Wildlife Rehabilitation & Education Center asked some questions about the owl's condition over the phone & then said to bring the owl to their facility if we could.  Didn't take us long to make the right decision.

Fifteen minutes after the phone call we were on the road headed for the town of Mount Brydges Ontario about an hour & half drive south of our place.  I didn't have much hope for the poor little fellow in the box behind my seat because he could hardly move & I fully expected he would die before we got there.  Kelly checked him once & got a slight movement but the second time she checked about a half hour later there was no movement.  I pulled over to the side of the road & gently reached in the box to lift him up & see if his head drooped.  He had felt warm when I carried him from the pond area but now he felt cold.  He gave a slight shake so I knew he was still alive & we quickly continued on our mission. 

KELLY'S CHECKING TO SEE IF THE LITTLE GUY IS STILL ALIVE ON OUR WAY TO MOUNT BRIDGES

By the time we were west of London we were in unfamiliar territory & Kelly had to haul out a map to navigate us through a series of left & right highway turns before finally making it to the town of Mount Brydges. With the directions SALTHAVEN had given Kelly over the phone we quickly found the facility.  Staff came to the van immediately as I set the box on the grass beside the van. They began assessing the poor little guy's condition.  It did not look good.  They checked for wing damage etc & quickly got a heating pad under him.  His eyes were open at times & he moved his head in the direction the help was coming from but for the most part he was barely able to respond.  The girls placed him in a carrier taking him inside to begin the process of intravenously getting fluids into him.  We had done all we could & it was now in the hands of the animal rescue staff.  We gave them some more details on where we had found the owl plus our name, phone number, & email address.  It was at this point where they explained about the complex eating & digesting process of owls & how it was important not to try to feed them no matter what.  Of course I immediately felt bad for trying to get the little guy to eat some Tuna.

We left the rescue center & decided to take a different way home.  We were both feeling a bit stressed & in need of a coffee.  Decided to head west on highway 402 & then north up through the little town of Forest where we knew a Tim Horton's existed.  This is the same Tim Horton's that we always first stop at upon returning from the American Southwest every spring.  While motoring through the town of Forest, Kelly spotted a Chrysler/Jeep dealer so we popped in but they didn't have any used Bayfield Bunch Wranglers on the lot for us.  We were back in Bayfield by 1:30 & stopped at Deer Park Lodge to see if Kelly had missed anything by not being there this morning.  Fortunately everything was fine & we were home a few minutes later.

My Uncle Harry's health is deteriorating rapidly & an email was waiting for us from his good friend Grace with some grave concerns.  Kelly was again immediately on the phone & in touch with Harry's care personnel people with inquiries, instructions, & changes.  We feel we quickly have to get him to a nursing home facility for additional care.  That whole process was started about a month ago but now we are thinking time is of the essence.

All & all, despite the sadness & concern over the Great Horned Owl, this was a good day.  No time for my idle mind to grumble about itself.  We were in a position to be of help to an animal in distress & it was just great going somewhere & doing something together just like when we are traveling.  We motored down some new roads, saw some new towns, & briefly met a small group of volunteer people dedicated to the love & care of injured animals.

Late this afternoon we received the following email from Salthaven.......

Hi Kelly & Al 
Unfortunately this little guy died just a few short hours after you got him to us.
Thank you for taking the time to care.
____________________________
Brian C. Salt
Director of Wildlife Rehabilitation
Salthaven Wildlife Rehabilitation & Education Centre Inc.
P.O. Box 601 Mount Brydges ON. Canada, N0L 1W0
See how you can help: www.salthaven.org
B/N 85386 3546 RR0001

Out of respect for our little owl there will be no groaner's corner tonight.

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Tourists see the world, travelers experience it.

"UNTIL ONE HAS LOVED AN ANIMAL, PART OF THEIR SOUL REMAINS UNAWAKENED"

OUR BLOGGER WEBSITE http://thebayfieldbunch.com/

OUR PHOTO ALBUMS http://picasaweb.google.com/stargeezerguy/

AL'S SMUG MUG PHOTO GALLERY http://stargeezer.smugmug.com/ (a work in progress)

The only thing better than right now will someday be the memories of right now...... AL.

A QUIET MORNING ENCOUNTER WITH A GREAT HORNED OWL......ON THE GROUND

  

Saw an object on the trail ahead this morning that looked out of place to me.  As I approached there was a slight movement & I began to suspect a raccoon or large cat.  At the point where whatever it was should have bolted into the tall grass near the trail, it didn't.  As I cautiously drew closer I saw tufted ears & a large head with piercing eyes.  An owl!!  And what was an owl doing on the ground.  A couple steps closer & it spread it's wings & hopped back about 10 feet but did not try to lift itself into the air.  We did not approach any closer because we did not want to traumatize it in case it was injured.  Took some 300mm photos (new lens) & retreated from the area.  I know nothing about owls & don't know how large young owls coming out of a nest might be.  Could this have been a young fledgling owl.  It did not look injured.  Later, according to my bird book, I figured this was a Great Horned Owl.

The day remained cloudy & on the cool side.  Touch of fog & drizzle in the morning air.  Kelly spent a few hours at Deer Park Lodge helping with a new website under construction & I stayed in catching up on computer things at home.  I am beginning to think it is maybe not such a good idea for me to be reading other people's full timing blogs.  It just seems to make my 'at home frustrations' harder to handle.  I see the photos people are taking, I read their travel adventures, I understand only to well where they are, what they are seeing, & most of all......I know how the traveling folks are feeling about the lifestyle they are living.  I know that it is a far healthier lifestyle both mentally & physically they live too.  I also understand that at the age of 65+ time is slowly slipping away on me & like so many other countless people out there the time will come when an expected or unexpected bump in the night will occur & forever end any further traveling days.  I am finding it very difficult to be a totally happy camper these days & no, this is not pessimistic or negative thinking.....it is just a realistic reaction to a realistic situation by a realistic thinking person!!   There, that's my Sunday gripe for today & I am feeling much better now thank you very much...............10-4!!

GROANER'S CORNER:((  Got in a fight with my wife last night and it was totally my fault.  She asked me what was on the TV and I said: "dust."  The rest of the night didn't go too well after that.  And did you know there are 293 ways to make change for a dollar. And while your figuring all that out consider this....There are two words in the English language that have all five vowels in order: 'abstemious' and 'facetious.  And don't say AL didn't tell ya so!!

Tourists see the world, travelers experience it.

"UNTIL ONE HAS LOVED AN ANIMAL, PART OF THEIR SOUL REMAINS UNAWAKENED"

OUR BLOGGER WEBSITE http://thebayfieldbunch.com/

OUR PHOTO ALBUMS http://picasaweb.google.com/stargeezerguy/

AL'S SMUG MUG PHOTO GALLERY http://stargeezer.smugmug.com/ (a work in progress)

The only thing better than right now will someday be the memories of right now...... AL.

AWWW NUTS, HAD TO TONE DOWN A DARN GOOD RANT

SEEMS EVERY TIME I GO OUT IN OUR BACKYARD I GET LOST IN THE JUNGLE (that is our burning barrel in the background)

Am having a miserable time publishing the blog again tonight.  Have backtracked & pulled out all the links & pics but still won't go.  Am now going to copy & paste into a new draft & if that doesn't work I'll have to start all over with blogger.  I suspect one of the enclosed links must have been bad so I just went back & re-did them all.   Here goes..................

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Noticed in RICK'S blog this morning that while reading BRUCE & MARGIE'S blog he was surprised to see they had run into a helpful fellow RV repair guy by the name of Phil.  Same fellow Rick came across in Quartzsite a couple years ago.  In reading the comments in Rick's blog I noticed other RV folks have encountered the same fellow & spoke highly of him.  It is so nice to have people like that out there who can share their time & expertise to help fellow RVers with all sorts of RV & RV related problems.  MIKE commented that in his 15 years of full timing he has met dozens of Phil's across the United States & my comment in Rick's blog was simply that, "Being mechanically talented like Phil has it's own personal rewards. Not only is he able to repair things & make people feel good but it must be a nice feeling inside at the end of the day to know that something he has done has been of help to someone else. I envy those people with the patience, know-how & personality to do things like that. Two thumbs up for Phil & all the good people out there like him."

MAMA ROBIN & HER 3 YOUNG ROBINETTES IN OUR CARPORT

Have you ever walked into your RV's washroom & was surprised by a wet floor??  Check out Robert & Chris's blog, LITTLE TRAVEL NOTEBOOK & see how they tackled a leaking toilet problem & saved themselves a bunch of money.  And, Speedy over at SOMEWHERE IN TIME is having a problem with his jack stand gears on his 5th wheel.  A mobile tech guy determined it wasn't the jack's motor so will return with parts next week to fix the gear dilemma.  Meanwhile, Speedy & Sherri are grounded!!  Not all Park volunteer jobs work out for folks & I came across a blog this morning where the DISCOVERY TRAVELERS, Karon & her husband, decided it was time to pull the pin on a job & head on down the road.  Came across a good article about Mountain Driving a Heavy RV on RV NEWS & REVIEWS Lots of interesting & entertaining stuff out here on the internet folks & it's always a good idea to check other people's blogs to see what tips you can pick up & what they are up to. 

 

OUR FRONT YARD HOSTAS GROW VERY LARGE HERE

We have a wooden deck outside connecting our sunroom with the front porch. This deck is shaded by a Sunburst Locust tree & we have a mildew problem with it every year.  Last year I pressure washed the mildew off but didn't think that was the best way to do it because the piercing jet stream of water is too hard on the wood.  Decided to slip up to Home Hardware this morning & pick up something that could be put on that mold to loosen & dissolve it.  The clerk guy handed me a 4L jug of something called, 'Natura-Mildew Off.'  I have a terrible trusting nature & my alarm bell should have gone off right away when I noticed the price of this stuff had been marked down from $15.99 to $11.47.  To make a long story short I went home & applied this to the deck as per instructions.  Nothing happened.  This stuff never even put the slightest dent in that mildew problem.  I even scrubbed with a bristle brush & it would not remove the mildew.  I  then proceeded into the house to type up a big long huge rant about my frustrations.  It got kind of nasty but later I noticed the deck boards had lightened a bit & some of the mold had disappeared so I had to go back inside & rewrite my rant to make it less nasty.  I will leave it at that but I will include the last line of the original rant to give you an idea about how upset I was about this product....."Welcome to Planet Earth extra terrestrial space travelers........but let me warn you....................beware of the humans!!!!"

   

HAVE ALWAYS KIND OF LIKED THAT IVY COVERED ENGLISH COUNTRY GARDEN LOOK

Now, although I may still be in a slightly sour mood over this mold remover fiasco today I do not want to end the post on a negative note, so let me just say once again how grateful I am to all the folks out there who take the time each day to either leave comments or email the Bayfield Bunch.  Much appreciate each & everyone & would you believe I have saved all those comments from the past couple of years in a special folder.  One of these days when I am feeling really, really, blue I am going to open that folder & count them all:))  And to the folks who email inquiries in...... if I haven't emailed you back about a specific question you asked, just email me again with a gentle reminder to get my can in gear!!  Thanks for dropping by folks............................10-4:))

 

GOOD LUCK FINDING THE BAYFIELD BUNCH IN THE GREEN MAZE!!

GROANER'S CORNER:((  A police recruit was asked during the exam, "What would you do if you had to arrest your own mother?" He answered, "Call for backup."

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Tourists see the world, travelers experience it.

"UNTIL ONE HAS LOVED AN ANIMAL, PART OF THEIR SOUL REMAINS UNAWAKENED"

OUR BLOGGER WEBSITE http://thebayfieldbunch.com/

OUR PHOTO ALBUMS http://picasaweb.google.com/stargeezerguy/

AL'S SMUG MUG PHOTO GALLERY http://stargeezer.smugmug.com/ (a work in progress)

The only thing better than right now will someday be the memories of right now...... AL.