A second round of eye surgery means a falcon in New Hampshire that had cataracts might fly again someday.
The Concord Monitor reported Monday that laser surgery to clear cloudiness from Banner's eyes was performed three weeks ago by Dr. Andre d'Hemecourt, an ophthalmologist at the Eye Center of Concord who had performed many laser procedures on humans but never a falcon.
He told the newspaper that Banner responded immediately when the laser penetrated clouded layers of membrane.
"She started to blink," d'Hemecourt said.
Banner, a 5-year-old lanner falcon, had cataract surgery in September, but there were lingering problems so owners Nancy and Jim Cowan hoped the laser procedure would help. The Cowans run the New Hampshire School of Falconry in Deering.
Dr. George Messenger, a retired veterinarian who performed the first surgery on Banner, contacted d'Hemecourt for the next round, performed June 22 at the Capital Area Veterinary Emergency Service in Concord.
Nancy Cowan told the newspaper she has seen a "tremendous improvement" in Banner's sight.
"She really takes things quite well," Cowan said of Banner's reaction to the multiple procedures. "At this point, we can talk about retraining her and maybe getting her back in the air. And that wasn't possible before."
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