B: ...by swearing when we all forget to write 2009 instead of 2008 when admitting new patients. Good evening, dear readers, and welcome to tonight's installment of Brittany, post-Alicia: Will the Weeping Ever Stop?

In all honesty, my eyes are dry, but it is a trifle disconcerting when the other half of my brain is moving to the other side of the country. If there are lapses in my storytelling, or if my train of thought seems derailed, it is only because I am still adjusting to "flying solo".

The change of the year has not yet brought any new revelations as to what Second Chance Wildlife Center's future holds, but all of us volunteers, members of the Board of Directors and staff fervently hope a new building (or at least more concrete plans of a new building) is just over the horizon. While the public's demand for our services is ever-increasing, our 120+ year-old farmhouse stays the same size (or shrinks if you consider some of the pieces that ocassionally fall off). A new building, certainly one designed with rehabilitation in mind, will go a long way towards ensuring SCWC's future...

...though our current patients seem content enough in their enclosures. While this winter of up and down temperatures is still bringing new patients to our door, we are still the emptiest we have been in a long time. One new patient, a juvenile male red-tailed hawk, is certainly enjoying his stay at Chez Second Chance once he learned that our offerings were food he could actually eat on his own. Suffering from a badly fractured femur after a run-in with a vehicle, this young male was unwilling to do much but lay in our ICU and allow himself to be used as a veritable pin cushion as we gave his twice-daily injections of antibiotics, as well as once-daily injections of anti-inflammatories and pain relieving medications.

Our volunteer vet very kindly pinned his broken bone and our scruffy little boy now perches quite willingly, though he wisely puts little weight on his "bad" leg. He scarfs his food like the pig all red-taileds are meant to be and, though he does not know it yet, physical therapy for his leg is in his future once the pins are removed and his muscles have been given time to heal.

Because their legs act as shock absorbers when landing on branches or when capturing prey, our young man will need time and space in order to properly exercise his leg. While we have some caging large enough to house a raptor of his size, he will need something much larger to test himself. Since our biggest and best cage is still out-of-order from the summer storms, we will most likely transfer him to another rehabilitation center with the space to allow him ample opportunity to take-off and land, as well as test his live prey-capturing skills, something vital for a bird so young.

For all you bird feeders out there in cyberspace, do not forget to offer a shallow dish of water, if you do not already have a bird bath. Water can be hard to find in the cold winter months and all that seed is pretty dry. Rinsing the dish (or bath) on a daily or near-daily basis will help eliminate algae and mosquitoes (yes, they are still around in the winter). To discourage nocturnal animals (such as raccoons) from marking your yard as a reliable drinking fountain, empty (or bring in) the dish or bath each night.

And to all of you have made this blog the little success story it has turned out to be, thank you for sticking with us and I hope I can entertain you at least half as well by myself as I did with my stunningly beautiful partner in crime. TTFN.

Questions or comments about the Nut House blog? You can either comment below or email Brittany at nut.house.ab@gmail.com. Want to learn more about Second Chance Wildlife Center? Simply go to www.SCWC.org.