Annie, a peregrine falcon, is blind in one eye |
When I was in high school, I first became interested in wildlife rehabilitation - Phoenix HS had a relationship with
Wildlife Images in Merlin (near Grants Pass) - a facility dedicated to helping injured wildlife for eventual release back into the wild. While their most well-known bird is the red tailed hawk seen in Buick commercials, they have bears, mountain lions, all sorts of non-predator wildlife, and at least one crow that used to be a pet and mimics human speech. The animals they can't rehab enough to survive in the wild are used for education programs touring schools and civic groups. During the last Christmas vacation, while visiting my folks, Jen and I checked out another Oregon rehab facility,
Free Flight in Bandon - they end up with a lot of pelicans, gulls, and marine mammals, in addition to raptors.
Leuc, a bald eagle, initially was kept as an education bird after coming in with a bad wing injury. He is now also recovering from cancer in one of his feet |
This week, while relaxing in Minnesota, Jen took me to the
Raptor Center. Since she is a VetMed 2nd Yr, we got to have a less formal, more "behind the scenes" tour. The Center specializes in birds of prey, but will do work on other
aves (they were in surgery with a broken-legged pet rooster when we were there). They are conveniently right across the street from UMN's
Veterinary Medical Center, the teaching hospital associated with the College of Veterinary Medicine.
The Raptor Center has been in the news lately with the rash of great grey owl injuries (collisions with vehicle grills - their low flying hunting style doesn't mix well with traffic). The owls are ranging further south as their prey goes through cyclic decline. As they get into more populated territory, they are encountering more motor vehicles, breaking wings, beaks, etc... when one is found injured, volunteers will drive out to get them, or in some cases, Polaris (a snowmobile manufacturer) has donated use of a company helicopter to help transport more remote injured birds.
Herc, eating after some time outside |
It is really unfortunate that such a NEED exisits for these facilities, but a distressing number of raptors come in to all three victims of intentional gunshot wounds (few people try the "I thought it was a crow/turkey/whatever" excuse...) If you are near to one of them, or have a wildlife rehab place near where you live, visit, volunteer, and find out what donations would be of greatest help to them.
In addition to looking at the facilities set up to help wild animals, Jen also walked me through the large and small animal wards at the VMC, where I met Hercules - a draft horse who resides at the center and helps as a hands-on subject for some of the teaching, but primarily serves as a blood donor. He's a sweet, HUGE fella who enjoys a kind word as you pass his stall.
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