This Tawny Owl was brought to us having been spotted by the roadside.
Upon inspection, she was found to be incredibly emaciated, dehydrated and suffering the beginning stages of frounce. Sadly this time of year, flies are rife and will take advantage of a poorly animal - so she was also covered head to toe in larvae and eggs.
After being rehydrated, she was bathed to try and loosen some of the eggs, treated for frounce and fed a liquid support food. Over the next 36 hours, periodic washing and removing eggs ensured that she would not be overwhelmed by maggots. At this point, unfortunately some had already found their way into the skin around her eye and they needed careful and time consuming removal. She has been very weak and honestly we did not think she would make it past the first night…but miraculously she did, and is now feeding herself!
Although still a bit bedraggled, she is now a lot stronger and we are all hoping she will pull through this horrible ordeal.