Improving the Care and Understanding of Barred Owls
When you visit your doctor for a routine physical, they can learn a great deal about your health by analyzing your blood and may even refer you for an echocardiogram. These results are compared to established “normal” values for people of similar age and background, helping clinicians identify murmurs, leaky valves, coronary artery disease, and much more. The same process applies when you bring your dog or cat to an annual veterinary visit and a specialist is needed.
This system works because millions of tests have been performed on healthy people and pets, allowing experts to clearly define what is normal and what falls outside the expected range. But what happens when the patient is wildlife?
While several databases exist with known cardiac values for non-domestic animals, they are often based on relatively small sample sizes. Recently, the University of Georgia’s College of Veterinary Medicine reached out to the Wildlife Department regarding Barred Owls—one of the most common raptor species treated in our Rehabilitation Clinic. Dr. Hillary Hammond, Dr. Michelle Kendell, and Dr. Samantha Fedotova are studying these owls to establish normal echocardiographic parameters. Their work will help create reference ranges that can be applied to the species as a whole.
Earlier this month, the research team performed echocardiograms on five Barred Owls undergoing rehabilitation. Four had been struck by vehicles, and one had become entangled in netting. The owls were lightly sedated, had blood drawn for a full diagnostic workup (including red and white blood cell counts and DNA sexing), and underwent ECGs before returning to CNC the following day.
Chattahoochee Nature Center’s Wildlife Department is thrilled to support this vital research, which will improve the care and understanding of Barred Owls for years to come.
