On Fri, 23 Jun 1995 MWKG at aol.com wrote:
> This morning's examination by the Zoo Vets revealed an abcess on the ther
> left side of her jaw and high white blood count indicating infection. they
> still have been unable to tell if her jaw is broken. They described her as
> emaciated and dehydrated.(770grams). She is also showing signs of stress from
>
> There is no real change inthe condition of the first bird brought in on the
> 15th since the last report. She is still being tube-fed and medicated. She
> is still unable to eat on her own so her prognosis remains guarded as well.
> Her last reported weight was 761 grams.

Allow me to be the spoilsport, please...

(and may I point out that this is not aimed at Mike Waller, it's just a
comment about priorities)

Why the expenditure of so much energy and resources on a species which we
*know* loses about 80-90% of its young in the first year anyway? Raptors
are known for dying in their first year, why don't we just expect it, and
let it go at that? Yes, yes, yes, peregrines are neat birds, I'll agree,
but it seems that the raptocentric (nice word, huh? I think I just made
it up) tendencies of some folks make them ignore reality. Raptors must
be in excellent shape to make it on their own, no? Isn't that what
natural selection is all about?

-------------
Michael R. Smith
Univ. of Washington, Seattle
whimbrel at u.washington.edu
http://salmo.cqs.washington.edu/~wagap/mike.html