From the WTF Department: Owl in a Box?

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livejournal said:
While driving to work last week we found a large, great horned owl on the side of the freeway next to a tall concrete wall. He could fly, but not very well (he looked like he may have gotten clipped by a car). We caught him in mid-flight before it got out in traffic and I somehow managed to not get bitten or ripped open by his claws. We were on the way to work so we had to bring him with us. He was pretty mad so it was really tricky to photograph him. I had to hold him with one hand in my lap and work the camera with the other hand.
One of the homeowners we met with that day gave us a box, so that made things quite a bit easier. We dropped him off at a state park and an animal rescue organization sent a team to come pick him up (I'm not sure if they knew he was already in a box).








That is one pissed off looking bird.

That first picture..spooky.. *shiver*

Glad they rescued it though
 
P

Philosopher B.

Heh, that fourth pic just cracks me up. He looks so mad.
 
L

lafftaff

I never realized how big an owl's eyes really are. They're super pretty.
 
L

Laurelai

/paramedic on
I'm worried about the bird because it's pupils are not equal. They should accommodate- i.e. if one is exposed to light, the other should constrict to match it's partner. That could be a sign of a head injury.
:(
 

Ross

Staff member
/paramedic on
I'm worried about the bird because it's pupils are not equal. They should accommodate- i.e. if one is exposed to light, the other should constrict to match it's partner. That could be a sign of a head injury.
:(
It only seems that way because of how the shading is when in the box, I think. His eyes seem pretty equal in the other pics.[/quote]
This.

Also

FIRST I LOL'D


THEN I SERIOUS'D




and let's not forget



YA RLY, NOW GTFO
 
/paramedic on
I'm worried about the bird because it's pupils are not equal. They should accommodate- i.e. if one is exposed to light, the other should constrict to match it's partner. That could be a sign of a head injury.
:(
Really? I thought you could preserve night vision by covering one eye when passing bright spots. I'll have to put sunglasses on one eye tonight and see if the pupils are the same size or not.

-Adam
 
L

Laurelai

/paramedic on
I'm worried about the bird because it's pupils are not equal. They should accommodate- i.e. if one is exposed to light, the other should constrict to match it's partner. That could be a sign of a head injury.
:(
Really? I thought you could preserve night vision by covering one eye when passing bright spots. I'll have to put sunglasses on one eye tonight and see if the pupils are the same size or not.

-Adam[/QUOTE]

When you shine a light in one pupil, the other should constrict as well- it's hard to test on yourself lol. Grab a friend though!

---------- Post added at 02:31 AM ---------- Previous post was at 02:28 AM ----------

..... of course, that's with humans. I will readily admit that my avian medic skills are a tad lacking!
 
/paramedic on
I'm worried about the bird because it's pupils are not equal. They should accommodate- i.e. if one is exposed to light, the other should constrict to match it's partner. That could be a sign of a head injury.
:(
Really? I thought you could preserve night vision by covering one eye when passing bright spots. I'll have to put sunglasses on one eye tonight and see if the pupils are the same size or not.

-Adam[/quote]

When you shine a light in one pupil, the other should constrict as well- it's hard to test on yourself lol. Grab a friend though!

---------- Post added at 02:31 AM ---------- Previous post was at 02:28 AM ----------

..... of course, that's with humans. I will readily admit that my avian medic skills are a tad lacking![/QUOTE]

Hot dog, you're right!

-Adam
 
/paramedic on
I'm worried about the bird because it's pupils are not equal. They should accommodate- i.e. if one is exposed to light, the other should constrict to match it's partner. That could be a sign of a head injury.
:(
Really? I thought you could preserve night vision by covering one eye when passing bright spots. I'll have to put sunglasses on one eye tonight and see if the pupils are the same size or not.

-Adam[/quote]

When you shine a light in one pupil, the other should constrict as well- it's hard to test on yourself lol. Grab a friend though!

---------- Post added at 02:31 AM ---------- Previous post was at 02:28 AM ----------

..... of course, that's with humans. I will readily admit that my avian medic skills are a tad lacking![/QUOTE]

Hot dog, you're right!

-Adam[/QUOTE]

no worries, folks -- this can be quite a normal finding in birds. for one thing, there is 100% crossover at the optic chiasm, so no consensual PLR is expected (in most avian species). also, birds have striated muscle controlling the pupillary sphincter (and thus can voluntarily constrict their pupils - how cool is that?). that's not to say that this owl *doesn't* have an ocular/neurologic injury affecting one or both eyes, but the anisocoria is not automatically a sign of pathology (especially since the pupils look pretty even in the last picture).

tl;dr or "holy crap medical gobbledygook" version: pupil size weirdness does not necessarily equal badness.

and he does look rather miffed in that last picture -- maybe he's mad that you didn't let him drive.
 
L

Laurelai

/paramedic on
I'm worried about the bird because it's pupils are not equal. They should accommodate- i.e. if one is exposed to light, the other should constrict to match it's partner. That could be a sign of a head injury.
:(
Really? I thought you could preserve night vision by covering one eye when passing bright spots. I'll have to put sunglasses on one eye tonight and see if the pupils are the same size or not.

-Adam[/quote]

When you shine a light in one pupil, the other should constrict as well- it's hard to test on yourself lol. Grab a friend though!

---------- Post added at 02:31 AM ---------- Previous post was at 02:28 AM ----------

..... of course, that's with humans. I will readily admit that my avian medic skills are a tad lacking![/QUOTE]

Hot dog, you're right!

-Adam[/QUOTE]

no worries, folks -- this can be quite a normal finding in birds. for one thing, there is 100% crossover at the optic chiasm, so no consensual PLR is expected (in most avian species). also, birds have striated muscle controlling the pupillary sphincter (and thus can voluntarily constrict their pupils - how cool is that?). that's not to say that this owl *doesn't* have an ocular injury in one or both eyes, but the anisocoria is not automatically a sign of pathology (especially since the pupils look pretty even in the last picture).

tl;dr or "holy crap medical gobbledygook" version: pupil size weirdness does not necessarily equal badness.

and he does look rather miffed in that last picture -- maybe he's mad that you didn't let him drive.[/QUOTE]

...... I thinks I'm in lub!
 
/paramedic on
I'm worried about the bird because it's pupils are not equal. They should accommodate- i.e. if one is exposed to light, the other should constrict to match it's partner. That could be a sign of a head injury.
:(
Really? I thought you could preserve night vision by covering one eye when passing bright spots. I'll have to put sunglasses on one eye tonight and see if the pupils are the same size or not.

-Adam[/quote]

When you shine a light in one pupil, the other should constrict as well- it's hard to test on yourself lol. Grab a friend though!

---------- Post added at 02:31 AM ---------- Previous post was at 02:28 AM ----------

..... of course, that's with humans. I will readily admit that my avian medic skills are a tad lacking![/quote]

Hot dog, you're right!

-Adam[/quote]

no worries, folks -- this can be quite a normal finding in birds. for one thing, there is 100% crossover at the optic chiasm, so no consensual PLR is expected (in most avian species). also, birds have striated muscle controlling the pupillary sphincter (and thus can voluntarily constrict their pupils - how cool is that?). that's not to say that this owl *doesn't* have an ocular injury in one or both eyes, but the anisocoria is not automatically a sign of pathology (especially since the pupils look pretty even in the last picture).

tl;dr or "holy crap medical gobbledygook" version: pupil size weirdness does not necessarily equal badness.

and he does look rather miffed in that last picture -- maybe he's mad that you didn't let him drive.[/QUOTE]

Cool! Another random set of info I can store in my noggin.

The picture with the two pupils sized differently reminds me of a human cocking one eyebrow at you.

Anthropomorphizing ftw!

-Adam
 
P

Philosopher B.

He's such an angry little guy, every time I look at the pics, I just get the urge to hug him. 'Course, he'd probably rip my face off. "P
 

figmentPez

Staff member
Really? I thought you could preserve night vision by covering one eye when passing bright spots. I'll have to put sunglasses on one eye tonight and see if the pupils are the same size or not.
Yes, you can preserve night vision by covering one eye when in bright light. However, it's not a matter of pupil size, it's about chemicals called rhodopsins. A probably over-simplified explanation, in the light sensitive cones of the eye (which are responsible for night vision, and only see in black & white) light hits rhodopsin and splits it into retinol and opsin. In bright light all the available rhodopsin gets split and it takes time for it to bind back together. (The more rhodopsin you have, the better night vision you have, thus eating lots of carrots which provide Vitamin A, retinol, does improve night vision).
 
Really? I thought you could preserve night vision by covering one eye when passing bright spots. I'll have to put sunglasses on one eye tonight and see if the pupils are the same size or not.
Yes, you can preserve night vision by covering one eye when in bright light. However, it's not a matter of pupil size, it's about chemicals called rhodopsins. A probably over-simplified explanation, in the light sensitive cones of the eye (which are responsible for night vision, and only see in black & white) light hits rhodopsin and splits it into retinol and opsin. In bright light all the available rhodopsin gets split and it takes time for it to bind back together. (The more rhodopsin you have, the better night vision you have, thus eating lots of carrots which provide Vitamin A, retinol, does improve night vision).[/QUOTE]

Ah, that makes sense! I always wondered why night vision returned slowly, when the pupils react pretty quickly. I just figured there was a huge low pass filter somewhere - and now I know it's called rhodopsins.

-Adam
 
... A probably over-simplified explanation, in the light sensitive cones of the eye (which are responsible for night vision, and only see in black & white) ...
I think you mean rods. Cones are for color, I'm pretty sure.

Or at least, that's what Blue Man Group taught me.

 

figmentPez

Staff member
I think you mean rods. Cones are for color, I'm pretty sure.
Yes, you're right. I've never been able to keep those straight. Even to the point of not being able to type/say the one I'm thinking of. Although I probably wasn't even thinking the right word this time. I need to come up with some sort of mnemonic.
 
I think you mean rods. Cones are for color, I'm pretty sure.
Yes, you're right. I've never been able to keep those straight. Even to the point of not being able to type/say the one I'm thinking of. Although I probably wasn't even thinking the right word this time. I need to come up with some sort of mnemonic.[/QUOTE]

Cone = Color is how I got it.
 

North_Ranger

Staff member
Awww, so many things that I want to say...

- These pictures need captions, like NAU ;)

- So they finally caught Bubble for multiple avicide?

- Awww, I think we just got a new forum pet.
 

North_Ranger

Staff member
Awww, so many things that I want to say...

- These pictures need captions, like NAU ;)

- So they finally caught Bubble for multiple avicide?

- Awww, I think we just got a new forum pet.
makes a good avatar[/QUOTE]

YES! I declare an OAW (=Owl Avatar Week!) :p
 
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