Surgery On A Royal Bengal Tiger - Hawk's Heart, Part 2 - An Original Short Story and Sketch Renderings
The tranquilized tiger lay in the tall brush, still with some fight in her. She let out a muted growl when Rachael and Marc slowly eased toward her. Though aggression was not in her eyes, Dr. Rachael hawk could tell she was scared. "Easy old girl, we're here to help you," she said soothingly, crouching to gain eye contact with the wounded patient.
"I'm not so sure Doc. Advik, better be ready with the tranq, just in case," Marc LeMasters, World Animal Conservation Foundation Project Lead stated with caution. The Indian guide, crouching in a strategic position twenty meters away, pulls the tranquilizer rifle from his should and takes aim.
Rachael wanted to object with her colleagues but knew full well what the possibilities were with a wounded tiger, shot with a high powered rifle and recently tranquilized into a stupor. "If you have to Advik, make sure to get her directly in the neck. It'll put her completely out that way," advised the Veterinarian.
"The jugular is in my sights Doc," Advik replied.
Slowly, the Royal Bengal Tiger slumps deeper into the brush where she lays. Eyes closing, her entire body relaxes with a final exhale of slumber. Rachael carefully moves toward the motionless tiger with a medical bag in her hand. Once beside the large animal, she kneels and begins clearing away the tall grass covering the bullet wound.
"It doesn't appear to have hit anything vital, just her hip. The bullet must be lodged inside still. I'm going to stitch this quickly so we can move her into the truck and get back to the surgery tent at the base camp. Marc, could you help lift her hindquarters once I'm done," Rachael instructs with haste.
Dr. Hawk worked expertly. She quickly washed the wound with a bottle of water and injected the tiger with a local anti-biotic to prevent infection. She pulled a suture kit from the bag, opened it and finished up a field stitching in under a minute.
"Now Marc, let's lift her a bit, I want to wrap this tightly for the bumpy ride back," Rachael instructed.
Rachael wrapped the tiger's hip, leg and rear stomach extensively with the roll of gauze, tying it firmly and finishing with a final injection of anesthesia to prevent pain from awakening her nearly 500 pound patient.
"OK, it's going to take all three of us to get her up there into the Rover," Dr. Hawk instructs Marc and Advik.
Marc assembles a large stretcher used for wild animals as Advik retrieves ropes from the storage compartments of the Range Rover. Rachael readies the tiger for transport and they all three adjust her onto the stretcher. Marc and Advik each grab a handle in the front and Rachael uses ropes to raise the rear as much as possible. Gradually they drag the tremendous load up to the Rover's location. Marc and Advik raise the front end to rest on the opened rear of the vehicle. All three grab hold of the back handles and wrestle the tiger into to cargo area.
The team quickly boards the Range Rover and, as gently as possible, drives back to the road. All is quiet on the trip back to the WACF compound. Everyone has the same unnerving thought on their mind; a scared, angry bengal tiger going berserk at 70 kilometers per hour.
Most veterinarians agree that operating on a large animal isn't that much different from doing so on a human for the most part. The tiger's wound could have been fatal for various reasons if un-treated, but in the end, required nothing more than opening the bullet's entry hole and reaching in with a clamp for removal. Fortunately the animal was well sedated, a fact that worried Rachael more than the shooting.
The tiger's age, combined with the trauma of being shot and dehydration as well, all put her at risk for a variety of potential complications from anesthesia and tranquilizers. Brain damage, kidney failure and respiratory complications were all possibilities. With her patient's bullet removed, cleaned and stitched, and resting quietly, Dr. Rachael Hawk removed her surgical garb and scrubbed clean. Her instructions were clear to her two veterinarian intern assistants, "Monitor her vitals closely and continue a light IV sedative until the tiger was ready to released to the enclosure outside."
"She's old, but still tough. I'm hoping that overnight will do and we can get her out into the hut tomorrow morning," Rachael instructed Vance and Margerie, Vet Interns with WACF.
Rachael exited the WACF Medical Centre with a hot, dusty wind in her face. The setting sun made her want her bed all the much more. As she walked along, she thought about the day's events and their ramifications for her animal research study. How could she possibly track the wide array of data she needed about aging Indian wildlife if greedy poachers were going to be killing the easy marks on protected land. Her anguish, combined with fatigue, made her think once again about the screened bed in her bungalow. She hoped Marc would be waiting for her in it.
The following afternoon was as hot and lazy as the last. Marc paused on the porch of the WACF Administration Building and watched Rachael from a distance. She was all alone, sitting on a crate, half watching over her convalescing tiger limping in the caged enclosure and also focussing on her tablet. He could tell she wasn't working or monitoring data but drawing away with the digital pencil in her hand. He often marveled at how accomplished an artist she was and how well she was able to make her talent explode on a digital device. Her sketches of the Indian animals were worthy of a gallery and he was sure she could have been an accomplished artist, if she wasn't already one in the veterinary field.
Walking over to her location, Marc noticed Advik struggling with a large wrench in an effort to adjust the winch on the Range Rover. He very much respected his colleague as his bravery and knowledge made him indispensable to what they were hoping to accomplish here in India.
"Mind if I have a look?" Marc asked as he approachedRachael. Her sweet smile reminded him how much he cared for her as he sat close to her on the crate.
Rachael showed him her work on the tablet. What he saw was a virtually perfect representation of the tiger in the bush from yesterday. "How can you do that so accurately, from memory?" Mac marveled.
"Idillic memory I guess. Helped me finish medical school so fast," she said leaning her head on his shoulder.
"How's the old girl doing?" Marc asked while watching the tiger stare at them both. Oddly, without an ounce of aggression.
"She'll recover fine I think. If the shot had been a bit further toward her stomach, we never could have saved her", Rachel replied with disdain.
"So waht now Doc?" Marc asked.
"I'm going to find out who's shooting my tigers and do something about it", Dr. Rachael Hawk declared calmly.
The Bengal Tiger, aka as The Royal Tiger, hails as The national Animal of both India and Bangladesh. The bengal is considered the most populous tiger species in the world, with a 2011 estimate set at 2500 approximately. Unfortunately the Bengal's numbers are decreasing annually. Please consider supporting the following charities to help the Bengal Tiger:
NationalTigerSanctuary.org
BigCatRescue.org
I posted this disclaimer starting with a previous post: A Sketch Rendering of a Ferocious Bengal Tiger - Plus Animated GIF. I really like this method of image creation as it simply makes cool looking images of beautiful animals. Now and forever, any wildlife images I create will be posted with full usage rights for anyone a member of Steemit.