Dakota Update---11/22/11

Everyone has been so wonderful in being patient and allowing us to continue to focus our efforts on bringing Dakota home, and we are so very grateful for that.  Much of our current resources---in addition to continuing to provide constant care for our patients & continuing to keep our clinic properly staffed---are devoted to our recovery process, and continuing to evaluate that process & consult our resources within the rehab community.  It’s not always easy to have the additional resources to compile and publish daily updates on Dakota, and when we do provide updates, we want to make sure that we are giving you the most current and correct information.  Our sincere appreciation goes out to all of you for your continued patience, well-wishes, positive energy & prayers.  You are awesome.

Over the past weekend, staff went out multiple times and are pretty sure they heard Dakota on several occasions (tho he was not positively sighted).  This is still a very positive sign.  There are also now two feeding stations up.  Neither seem to have been visited yet, but staff will continue to check the feeding stations and continue to try to locate Dakota by calls at night.  We’re again asking everyone, please do not attempt to locate Dakota on your own. People he is not familiar with will frighten him (and, we want to again caution everyone about hunting season; it’s unsafe to be walking around the area we believe him to be in).  Thank you to everyone who’s been respectful of us & Dakota during this time.  The most important thing you can do for us is to please continue to keep Dakota in your hearts & have faith, and continue to be patient….this is not an easy process, and it is not going to be a quick process.  But we remain very optimistic, and are working hard to bring Dakota home.

Additional positives of our current search include the fact that we are still actively and regularly hearing 2 Great Horned Owls in the area we believe Dakota to be in.  Staff will be moving one of the feeding stations down into a lower area where we believe he has settled down in to get away from the wind (Dakota does not like the wind or rain).  Although he may be eating on his own (and we of course absolutely hope that he is), if he is not, he may be just starting to get hungry.  The most positive aspect of his current feeding situation is that Dakota was in great condition when he was taken.  He is healthy, strong, in excellent feather, and was extremely well-fed.  The extreme cold weather has not yet reached us, and that will allow him to further conserve his energy & bulk.  Because of these factors, we are able to be very grateful that we are blessed with the time and resources to continue to try and lure him in without further traumatizing him.  These are all very hopeful and positive assets!

Thank you all again for caring so much about Dakota.  It is so heartening to us that there is so much love in the community for him, and that he has—and continues—to touch so many lives.  Please continue to remain patient and ever hopeful that we will have him home again soon.  We will do our very best to provide regular updates, when we have developments to report.

(Guest blogger K.P.)

A Hopeful Progress Report

We wanted to check in again & update everyone on our progress in our search for Dakota.  

Search parties were out all day and early evening Tuesday, south of Hunters Lake/Dousman. We had several sightings and vocalizations. We’re secure in our belief that Dakota is in that area, as he has responded to Leslie’s voice several times and we recognize some of his “special” vocalizations. We were confused initially by sightings and vocalizations that seemed to be in different areas, sometimes at the same time. We now feel there are 2-3 owls other than Dakota in the area: a youngster from this year who makes begging cries for food when staff hoots, and 1 or 2 adults who are probably its parents.

We’ve had so many offers of search help, and want to again express how very grateful we are for the kindness and caring of everyone who has been touched by Dakota's plight. After several searches over the past few days, staff has decided that the best approach is to just attempt recovery with staff members, who Dakota is the most familiar with and comfortable around. We are also very mindful that we don’t want to lose our permission to search on these private properties by becoming a nuisance.  We think our best chance of recovery is with people Dakota knows well, especially since he is so traumatized.  We don’ t want anyone not familiar with (or familiar to) Dakota to try to grab him and be inadvertently hurt, or further scare Dakota. So at this time, we would ask that everyone (including our Animal Care Volunteers) stop going to this area, and not call or look for Dakota. If our staff members are the only ones calling for him, he is more likely to come to staff. But we want to again express how very grateful we are for all of the help we have already received and all of your generous offers.  We are blessed to be surrounded by so many people who care so greatly about Dakota, and bringing him home.

We did want to additionally remind everyone, in the further interest of public safety: deer gun season starts this Saturday, and there are several deer/tree stands in the woods where Dakota is staying. It’s too dangerous for any one of us to be moving in the woods even with blaze orange, and we need to respect the hunter’s rights.  But one house nearest to Dakota has generously agreed to let us use their yard as a feeding station & set up their trail cam on it. Even though owls in the wild do not eat every single day, without likely having eaten for several days now, Dakota is going to be getting very hungry. Staff is going to call from that feeding station starting Wed afternoon/night to draw Dakota to that area which we can safely access during hunting. Once Dakota starts feeding there, we think he may come to us, or we can utilize raptor traps.

As always, we simply cannot thank everyone enough for their kind wishes and help. We are especially grateful to the people who reported the Facebook page to the Waukesha County Sheriff’s Department, and to us. That was the tip that led to the arrests, and to the information on Dakota’s location. I know some of the people I talked to wanted to be anonymous because they were worried about retribution from these suspects and their friends. It was courageous of them to report the information.  

Thank you all for caring about Dakota, and please keep him in your thoughts and prayers.  All of the positive energy everyone has been sending our way is so very, very appreciated.


(Guest Bloggers L.R. & K.P.)

*** ALERT = Important, Please Read ASAP ***

The Wildlife In Need Center is a small non-profit 501c3 organization that offers free medical care to orphaned and injured wildlife with the intent to release back to the wild.

Last night on November 12th, someone broke into our outdoor compound and three of our outdoor cages.  One of the cages housed our main animal ambassador, Dakota, a great horned owl.   Dakota was taken by the thieves.

Dakota is 11 years old and has lived in captivity all but the beginning of his life. Someone kidnapped him as an infant, prior to his coming into our care. He is fully imprinted on humans and can not fend for himself or hunt for food on his own.

Dakota has reached approximately 80,000 people in his educating career not including those through the media via the newspapers and TV. He appears at over 100 programs a year making an impact on girl and boy scout troops, adult charitable organizations, schools, senior citizen facilities and special needs groups.

PLEASE:  if you see or find a great horned owl with jesses (leather straps that would be dangling from his legs), or see an owl that is acting very friendly please contact the Wildlife in Need Center at 262-965-3090, your local humane society, or the Waukesha County Sheriff’s department who is investigating this theft.

Many children and adults have already planned their year end holiday celebrations around Dakota, and his message has always been to promote the positive things that the Wildlife In Need Center does for wildlife and the people that live with them.

Thank you for any information or help that you can provide,
to bring Dakota back home to us.

A Special “Independence Day” Update

Lonesome Louise is lonesome no more!

I don’t know what a southern squirrel will think of northern winters, but Louise certainly has a beautiful place to live. On Thursday, June 24, she and her two buddies were released at a gorgeous several hundred acre farm near Dousman. The owners have multiple bird and squirrel feeders as well as nest boxes and huge oak trees all around their house. When we opened the door of Louise’s nestbox, she was the first to come bounding out, bouncing in huge leaps across the yard. It was probably the first time she ever had grass beneath her feet. She ran across the yard – there was no cage wall to stop her anymore. Then she dashed into the open door of a small shed. “Oh, that’s where we store the corn and sunflower seed. She knows where to go!” Liane laughed. Louise’s two buddies were a little shyer and we had to remove the roof of the box to get them out. By that time Louise had ventured out of the building and was discovering that the trees had no roof; imagine that!

Thanks to all of our generous home and property owners we can give our orphaned patients a good start to life by releasing them in areas where they will be able to find the resources they need to live long, happy lives. To find out more about becoming a release site, visit our website at: http://www.helpingwildlife.org/getinvolved/volunteer.htm#release