Every day I handle many telephone calls from people who have come across a critter they believe is in distress. On a light day I have twenty-some calls. An average day I handle thirty to forty, and during baby season last summer I had a high of sixty-three. In these calls I lead the caller […]
I frequently am asked how I learned about animals. My best and favorite way is to observe them. A relaxing break in my day is to sit and watch their movements, antics, and habits. Each one is an individual, just like us. Their personalities are distinctive. After getting to know them, I sum them up […]
A couple weeks ago about 7:00 one evening, Alice, Elizabeth’s neighbor, called and urged her to come over. “One of the great-horned owls Patti released is here,” she shared. “Hurry.” Elizabeth immediately drove over, but when she arrived, the owl had moved. Several crows had been making quite a disturbance around the owl, and it […]
Yesterday we released a merlin that we have been rehabbing for several weeks. Watching her fly off was pure joy. Shortly after, we let a ring-billed gull go. He had come in with a bad wing. The last couple of days he was telling me off each time I fed him. The last time he […]
I have been receiving over forty calls per day, mostly about fledglings. When birds fledge, they spend a few days on the ground running around since they are not sure what to do with their feet and wings. The parents stay close by to feed and watch over them. Many callers catch the birds and […]
A few weeks ago I wrote you about the sandhill crane I have been raising. She’s almost 20” tall now. Her wings are forming. She still loves worms, eating over 100 a day. When she tosses them into her water dish before downing them, sometimes she misses the dish. I move her water dish at […]
Every year during May, June, and July I experience a great deal of worry about how to have the funds to feed the babies I am getting in daily. Ironically, those months are usually my lowest intake of donations, but they are my highest time for need of donations to feed and care for the […]
Today I had five calls from people concerned that they are seeing baby eagles on the ground. My advice, “Just enjoy. Not many people get to see baby eagles.” When baby eagles leave the nest, they find themselves down on the ground and don’t know what to do. Similar to baby birds’ fledgling, young eagles […]
If you have to chase a bird on the ground, maybe you shouldn’t. Fledglings spend three to five days on the ground after leaving the nest. They learn to use their legs before they exercise their wings. When they hit the ground, they look around, “Huh! What am I doing here?” The parents, especially robin […]
One of my biggest rewards with rehabilitating animals is enjoying their antics. I love to watch the young sandhill crane get excited when I give her worms to eat. Yesterday she tossed one into her water dish, just to observe it moving and thrust her beak in the water to retrieve it. Worms are absolutely […]
