Little owl recovering after mate died defending it from magpies
A little owl recovering in North Canterbury after being attacked by magpies has lost its mate after it died trying to defend her.
Scott Bowman, of Oxford Bird Rescue, said the owl, named Hermione, was found on the ground in Ashburton in a bad condition and taken to Vetlife Ashburton.
“It appears that she had been attacked by magpies and sadly her mate was killed defending her,’’ he said.
“They gave us a call after doing the initial assessment and discovering a bit of a surprise in the x-ray, a huge egg.’’
The owl was stabilised and transferred to Vetlife Oxford where it was treated for concussion injuries.
Its head was so swollen it could not open its eyes, and for the next few days it was hand-fed and given medication and pain relief.
The swelling went down, however it became apparent the egg was stuck and it would not be laying, so it was taken back to Vetlife and the egg was removed under anaesthesia.
Bowman said the procedure was quite an ordeal but Hermione was recovering well.
“It’s going to take some time to see if the egg is still viable, but we are incubating it for her just in case.’’
But with no idea how long it had been stuck the chances of it developing were slim, he said.
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Live Q&A: Garden maintenance with Crewcut
This Wednesday, we are having another Neighbourly Q&A session. This time with John Bracewell from Crewcut.
John Bracewell, former Black Caps coach turned Franchisee Development Manager and currently the face of Crewcut’s #Movember campaign, knows a thing or two about keeping the grass looking sharp—whether it’s on a cricket pitch or in your backyard!
As a seasoned Crewcut franchisee, John is excited to answer your lawn and gardening questions. After years of perfecting the greens on the field, he's ready to share tips on how to knock your garden out of the park. Let's just say he’s as passionate about lush lawns as he is about a good game of cricket!
John is happy to answer questions about lawn mowing, tree/hedge trimming, tidying your garden, ride on mowing, you name it! He'll be online on Wednesday, 27th of November to answer them all.
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