What is a pellet?

For those of you who’ve been watching Dakota’s progress you probably noticed that once he started eating solid foods he also began casting pellets. What, you might ask however, is a pellet?

Owls and other raptors, as you may know, maintain a diet primarily, if not exclusively, of protein. In other words, they eat other animals. Raptors are unlike humans who can cut, cook, and otherwise prepare our food to eliminate the indigestible portions. They also differ from carnivores like wolves that can tear the meat away from indigestible things like bones. They often feed on small animals like rodents and smaller birds. Weeding out the digestible from the indigestible parts of small animals like these when you only have a beak and talons to do so with isn’t always easy. The solution that raptors have come up with is casting pellets.

As a raptor digests its meal, its body separates these indigestible parts such as bones and fur. This material binds together and is later expelled through an action that very much looks like the bird is vomiting. They are not vomiting however, and it is not the same thing as a cat expelling a hairball either. Many people at one point in their lifetimes, whether it was in science class or just for fun, have dissected owl pellets. If you haven’t had the pleasure, these pellets appear as small forms of bound up fur. Often you can see small bones if you look closely. For those with strong stomachs we’ve attached the proof that Dakota is eating well and progressing better than we could have hoped for.

Dakota’s veterinarian plans to do another thorough exam on Monday complete with further blood work. We hope for good news from analysis of the results and will be sure to pass it along as soon as we can.



Dakota began casting pellets (complete ones) only two days after beginning solid foods
(the first note looks like it says 2/15/11 but it actually is 12/15/11)



On Sunday, December 18th, Dakota cast his 4th pellet! This is holiday cheer for those who work with wildlife!



When examined closely, you can find bones from small animals bound up in the fur. This is Dakota's 3rd pellet, in which you can see small bones from the mice he began getting on Tuesday, December 13th



This display was made for WINC to use for display and educational purposes. It shows examples of some of the things you might find if you were to dissect a typical pellet

Increasing Dakota Awareness & Education

This has been a very busy week for us at WINC, due in large part to our efforts to continue to reach out to the community and increase awareness of Dakota’s situation. We know our efforts are working, because we have been contacted by so many new people who have reached out to us: people who have just started following our blog & our facebook page, people who have now seen our flyers and heard about our search locally, and people who are becoming aware of Dakota from news stories and the internet. It is an amazing thing to see, just how many people have been touched by Dakota’s plight, and the awesome distances his story has traveled. We have been getting calls from as far away as Canada, from people who want to share information with us & help us in any way they are able, and to contribute ideas to our efforts to see Dakota home once again. It cannot be overstated how heartened we are for the continued well wishes and positive support we receive. If there has been any upside to this sad situation, it has been the constant stream of caring we have been blessed with. We are humbled by the generosity of spirit the community has for Dakota, and overwhelmed by how he continues to educate, even during this current situation.

As a part of our education and outreach efforts, we would like to remind everyone that during this difficult time for WINC, one of the things that is of the utmost importance to us is that we return the respect we have received. We are ever mindful that we want our impact on the community to be a positive one, and ever mindful that the example we set in our search methods allows us to achieve maximum impact with a minimum “footprint”. We are striving to be very respectful of the people who live in the neighborhoods we are searching in, and are therefore keeping our search parties small and quiet in nature. We are so very grateful for the opportunities we have been given to search on private property with permission, and wish to publicly thank everyone who has so graciously allowed us to continue searching on their land. We are also grateful that everyone who has offered to help us search has continued to contact WINC before acting alone, and has allowed us to take the lead on any organized searches. This in turn has allowed us to conduct ongoing searches with minimal disturbance to the community, and maximum respect to it.  No search parties organized by WINC will ever venture onto private property wihout permission.

We are also mindful of the impact our searches have on the environment, and mindful that we continue to fulfill our core mission of helping wildlife in need, and not creating any in the process by disturbing the existing balance. We have been very careful not to create nuisances, both by being selective of where we place our feeding stations, and not disturbing the patterns of existing wildlife in any of the areas we are searching. Above all else, we would never want our efforts in our search for Dakota to bring any harm to the existing wildlife in the areas we are searching. We take extreme care not to harass any wildlife in those areas, and to be respectful of their habitats & not disturb them. Again, we want to thank everyone who has chosen to help us to watch out for Dakota for the care they have also taken and continue to take, to always be respectful of the wildlife that lives in those areas. Though we have stated it in our poster, it bears repeating: if you spot a Great Horned Owl that you believe to be Dakota, please, please, PLEASE do not approach him or call to him.  Please watch him closely while being extremely quiet, and contact the Wildlife In Need Center immediately. Dakota will respond to his handlers, and may be frightened by people he does not already know and is comfortable with.  We would not want anyone to inadvertantly further traumatize Dakota, or unduly traumatize any other owl(s) in the area who might be mistaken for Dakota.

During this past week we have continued to hand out informational flyers during our daily foot searchs, and have followed up on many leads from people who have reported hearing owls in their area. Unfortunately, we still have not been successful in pinpointing Dakota's exact location. We have heard owl calls from time to time, but not always received responses that we could definitively identify as Dakota’s. We have made some minor changes to the locations of the feeding stations, but still have not seen any measurable evidence that he is visiting them. Even though it may seem obvious, one of the things that people sometimes forget is that, even if he is not catching live prey, Dakota will eat dead animals. And even if he is not visiting the feeding stations to do so, he may be finding other food in that manner. We remain optimistic that Dakota is eating on his own.

We also remain optimistic Dakota remains in the general area. There is a statistic on released owls that points to most of them staying in a 5-mile radius from the area they are released in. As we know the approximate area Dakota was in when he escaped his captors, we have a fairly good idea of the areas we need to be most watchful for him in. Additionally, part of that range for us includes both our current building and grounds, and our old building. We have had many people ask, and yes---we do search the premises around our old building on a regular basis, on the chance Dakota has found his way back to that area.

The most important thing that we want people to remember is, we have not given up on our efforts to locate Dakota. We absolutely believe he is out there, and we will absolutely continue to search for him, and continue to raise awareness of him throughout the community. The eyes and the ears of the local community are one of the greatest resources we have available to us.  We have know from the very beginning that this would not be an easy process, but we remain committed to bringing him home. He is such an important member of our family, we are not whole without him.


Please continue to help us to find Dakota by remaining observant and vigilant especially when you are in the Dousman/Hunter’s Lake area. We have an improved version of our original flyer available & attached to this blog for download. We've added some specific information about Dakota's behavior and habits that we hope will prove helpful in further increasing education & raising awareness of Dakota in the local community. As previously mentioned, we’d like to again invite everyone to please feel free to print out the picture of the flyer included with this blog and post it-----WITH PERMISSION = please do not post it or distribute it unless you have the expressed permission of any given property owner, business, school---etc. 
((Reminder: it is ILLEGAL to place flyers in mailboxes.))

Thank you for your continued support of Dakota, and of WINC. Please continue to keep the faith that he remains strong, and will be home with us again soon.




(Guest Blogger K.P.)

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.)

Updates---

Our latest updates regarding our attempts to lure Dakota to the feeding station we have set up are as follows:

Thursday Nov 17

The feeding station was checked on Thursday morning, and all of the mice we had offered were still there. Staff did some calling and walking in that area, but heard only crows.  There were no significant signs that any other animals had visited the feeding station.

Friday Nov 18

The fresh mice put out at the feeding station the night before remained untouched this morning.  Some faint hooting was heard, but Dakota was not sighted.  Several dogs could be heard barking in that area, which made it difficult to determine which direction the hooting was coming from.

Staff is continuing to visit the feeding station and the area nearby on a regular basis each day.  Because we believe we have sighted and know we have shared vocalizations with Dakota in that area, we continue to remain hopeful that we will be successful in luring Dakota down from the trees to the feeding station, and that we will be able to see evidence he’s in that area on the trailcam that the homeowners who are assisting us are monitoring.  If we have any significant updates regarding our progress in these areas, we will post an update on the blog and/or our facebook page.


Thank you all again for the tremendous support you have shown and continue to show the center.  Please continue to join us in praying for the best possible outcome for Dakota---that he is back home once again with his family at WINC.  We miss him terribly, more than words can express.  Your positive energy and well-wishes mean the world to us right now.

Additionally, we wanted to let everyone following Dakota’s situation know, we appreciate the concern that has been expressed regarding the security of the grounds and the building at the current WINC location.  As always, our foremost concern is for the safety & well-being of the animals we treat and house at the center, and for the staff and volunteers who spend such a substantial portion of their time caring for those animals.

WINC is looking at increased security measures in light of our recent break in and theft of Dakota.  Because we are on UW-W property, we are working directly with the university system to discuss ways to increase security for the property in general. Our original plans for the building and our compound was to install security cameras & also use the same camera system to put cameras on patients and educational animals. Ultimately, we would like to be able to set up monitors in the public “Gathering” educational room so that visitors can see the animals, without disturbing the animals. These cameras would also help Animal Care staff evaluate and monitor patients by watching them when the animals don’t know they are being observed (with the hope that the animals would behave and move about as they normally would, without the added stress of human interaction). Winter weather this last year caused construction delays and increased costs for the building, so the camera project had to be put off until we can raise sufficient money to complete it.   We remain focused on continuing to secure adequate funding for that camera system, as well as for additional lighting, and also some physical changes to the building itself to increase security now. We have been asked repeatedly by our supporters and the public if there are ways in which they can help, and we are accepting donations from anyone who wishes to help us meet our goals with this project.  Every donation we receive helps us in our greater goal of providing care and comfort to the animals we treat.

For obvious reasons, it wouldn’t be in the center’s best interests to go into specifics on our blog or our facebook page of the exact details of every measure we are taking to add to the center’s security, because we would not want any other intruders to know what they might face if they come here. However…..one suggestion has been to deploy “Daphne”, our Educational Muscovy Duck, to patrol the clinic at night – anyone who knows Daphne knows she would make her presence known to any potential intruders J

(Guest bloggers L.R. & 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.)

An update on Dakota...

We wanted to take the opportunity to once again thank everyone who has been so kind and generous in your support of the center and our beloved Dakota.  Please continue to send your prayers, well wishes, and positive energy our way. The outpouring of local & state community support from our friends, our volunteers, the public who has been touched by Dakota, and the wildlife rehabilitation community at large, has been overwhelming---and appreciated more than we can say. Thank you all for keeping Dakota in your hearts.....Dakota is our heart and soul.  He is such an important member of our family.  Our greatest wish is to have him home and safe.

The most up-to-date information we have is detailed in the latest JSOnline article: http://www.jsonline.com/news/waukesha/searchers-looking-near-dousman-for-stolen-owl-ef32mna-133914393.html  We have had a number of people contacting the center with offers to search & questions about sightings in various spots in southeastern WI. Dakota is believed to be in the local area. If you live in the Dousman area, please continue to keep your eyes open for a great horned owl wearing jesses (leather straps like leashes, 4-6 inches long, on his ankles), or acting strangely. Dakota is fully imprinted on people, and our hope is that he would therefore be more likely to appear "tame", and more readily visible than an owl who is fully wild (and therefore more instinctively shy of people). 

We are thankful and so grateful for the many offers to help search.  At this time, we are limiting searchers to our staff and trained wildlife volunteers that help at the Wildlife In Need Center. We are searching on private property with permission and do not want to lose that permission by being too much of a bother. This must be terribly traumatic to Dakota, to be attacked by strangers the way he was, and to be loose and alone in an unfamiliar area.  We feel people he is familiar with will have the best chance of recovering him.  Additionally, because he is a Great Horned Owl, he could possibly hurt someone from fear if someone unfamiliar with raptors tried to handle him. We are so very thankful to everyone who has contacted us offering to help. There are more good people in this world than bad and that’s inspiration for all of us.

Please continue to contact the facility at 262-965-3090 with any sightings in the local Dousman area. Please also continue to contact the Waukesha County Sheriff's Department at 262-548-7126, if you have any information regarding the theft of Dakota.

Thank you all so very much for caring about wildlife, and about bringing our Dakota home. People have contacted us from all over Wisconsin, and are reporting seeing or hearing owls they think are Dakota. Many say they have never seen or heard owls in their area before.  Dakota and the Wildlife In Need Center are still educating people about owls and other wildlife, and we will never stop.  We would also like to offer our most sincere thanks to the Waukesha County Sheriffs Department for their quick action and for treating this crime as seriously as they have.  The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources has also been most helpful to us, and is looking into the case as well.

(Guest Bloggers LR & KP.)

Hung Up

The other day we received a phone call from a gentleman who claimed that while hiking the woods behind his home he and his children had seen a hawk dangling from a tree by one leg. He hadn’t been able to get close enough to tell if there was something tangled up on the leg or what it could be which made the assessment of the situation much more difficult.

He described that it was fairly wooded in and the ground was quite moist from the freezing and thawing streak we had been experiencing. And the bird was several feet from the tree trunk and 15 to 20 feet above the ground. I was at a loss. Even in the winter we are often too busy to send a staff member out for a rescue, and rely on volunteers to assist us with these situations. But how was I going to pin-point a volunteer able to attempt this feat?

Right away we contacted our volunteers who specialize in baby owl re-nesting since they have the equipment needed to climb high trees to put owlets back into their nests. When one finally notified us that he would be available I contacted the caller back to get an update on the situation.

The story gets interesting at this point because the children in the family reported that the hawk had by this point been able to right itself onto the branch but still no one had been able to get a good enough view to discern what, if anything, had caused the bird to be tangled up and hanging from the tree. They suggested that it had been hanging of it’s own accord by its talons, but this is not a normal behavior for hawks so I was still very concerned that the bird was wedded to the tree somehow.

We had a volunteer who wasn’t experienced in owl re-nesting, but who happened to live close by, go out to the site to visit with the callers and see if he could get any more information on the birds (another bird, presumably a mate, had shown up on the scene at this point). When he called back and informed us that not only had both birds “flown the coop” but that he had been shown the pictures taken when the bird was first sighted and it appeared that it had been hanging by its talon; everyone was shocked.

It didn’t take long before someone postulated that there was really no reason to be confused by the situation because there was a simple answer that no one had yet thought of…

It may seem cold and frigid to most of us, but for our wild neighbors love is in the air. Squirrels are performing acrobatics in the trees, the groundhogs are starting to stir in their burrows, and the owls and hawks are starting to seek out their mates and claim their nesting territories. I’ve never seen, but have heard, that when hawks are courting they can be witnessed doing some pretty amazing stunts like grasping talons and falling out of the sky. I’ve heard it described as appearing as though they are “fighting.”

A face only a mother Red-tail could love???

What likely happened, and this really is the best way this story could’ve ended, is that during one of this pairs’ “stunts” one of the hawks lost control and fell into the tree, perhaps grasping the limb to keep from continuing to the ground. We don’t know how long the hawk was there before the family discovered it, perhaps it was a coincidence that they happened along just after it occurred. Once the bird, with its amazing agility, was able to right itself it probably just needed a few moments for the shock to wear off, with its mate there ready to lead it off again. We are VERY glad that there wasn’t anything hanging the bird up and wish these two a happy and successful year. For those poor birds who DO get caught up on wire, string and other debris left behind by humans please keep the following in mind:

• Nets for outdoor games should always be taken in or down when not in use
• Fishing line, especially with lures or bait still attached, should never be left behind
• Kite strings and other types of strings should always be wound up and tied off before discarding

Tangled Update:

On February 8, 2011 our Great Horned Owl from our January blog titled “Tangled” went to Eye Care for Animals to get an eye exam from Dr. Collins, an animal eye expert. He found a small corneal lesion on her right eye (her good eye), but believed that it does not cause her any vision problems. Her left eye (the eye that was damaged when she came in) showed some retinal scarring and signs of a cataract that was miraculously almost completely dissolved. She has a positive response to light in her left eye, which is a very good sign!
Dr. Collins finished up with a fluorescein stain to check for small scratches to the cornea and an inner eye pressure test on both eyes. After both tests were finished Dr. Collins give his approval that the eye is not causing her any pain and that he didn’t see why she could not be released considering the conditions of the eye currently.

That is music to all our ears! All she needs to do is to continue to grow in new feathers down her leg before she can be released into the bitter Wisconsin weather!

Guest Blogger M.F.

Don't worry about our brave owl friend who's been through so much being released back into the cold. Great Horned Owls stick around all year long and are designed to handle the cold. Plus - February is a month for romance when it comes to these Owls, perhaps someone out there will be overjoyed upon her return...

Sometimes saying good-bye isn't easy

On December 16, 2010 our beloved American Kestrel and Educational Ambassador, Indigo, passed away.

Indigo originally arrived at WINC in October of 2005 from another rehabilitator. He came to us with a permanent shoulder injury that prevented him from ever being able to fly normally. We knew, because of his injury, that he was unreleasable and therefore was going to be fulfilling a very important role as one of our educational ambassadors. Indigo has touched the lives of staff, volunteers and those who were fortunate enough to meet him during educational programs. Our educational animal team would not have been the same without him and he is irreplaceable.

Thank you to all of those who have cared for Indigo during his time with us. He will forever be in our hearts and will be dearly missed by all.

Another leg has been added to the journey home for “Jesse” the Peregrine Falcon

The Wildlife In Need Center will transfer the Falcon to world-renowned Raptor Center of Minnesota for further expert care

Oconomowoc, Wisconsin - December 15, 2010 - On Saturday the 20th of November a large trash receptacle arrived at the Wildlife In Need Center from Watertown, Wisconsin. Inside the receptacle was a Peregrine Falcon that had been rescued from the side of the road. The injury is suspected to have been a result of a gunshot but has healed well through supportive care. Her initial release had to be postponed due to some damaged feathers and she is now on her way to the Raptor Center of Minnesota, a world-renowned care facility specializing in birds of prey, for follow-up care.

Peregrine populations plummeted in the mid-20th century especially from the East Coast into the Midwest. Although their numbers have risen in recent years, so much so that they were recently removed from the Federal Endangered Species List, they are still considered Endangered and of Critical Concern in the state of Wisconsin. Although reports come in annually, Peregrines are still not a common sight in most counties across the state.

This particular bird was also banded giving us a unique look into where she’d come from before needing the Wildlife In Need Center. According to the United States Fish and Wildlife Service this bird was hatched in Genoa, Wisconsin in 2008. There, she was banded and nicknamed “Jesse.” This year she hatched and raised 4 young birds in the WE energies nest box at the Mayfair Mall site in Milwaukee.

Although she’s already traveled some great distances in her life, the rehabilitation process will be her most triumphant. The very first leg of her journey to recovery was an X-ray followed by two weeks of supportive care. Due to the injury, some of Jesse’s feathers were broken and during her stay several more were damaged making her immediate release no longer possible. The Raptor Center has not only agreed to take Jesse into their care to perform a procedure called “imping” which will replace the missing feathers, but they have also offered to pay the costs involved with the transfer of the bird. If the surgery goes well we will work with the Raptor Center to determine the best timeline for transferring Jesse back to Wisconsin and ultimately her release back to the wild.

Fun Facts:

An adult Peregrine can travel at speeds exceeding 25mph and over 300mph when dropping out of the sky after its prey.

This hunting tactic is why they prefer to nest on rocky ledges of steep bluffs or especially in urban areas, ledges on high-rise buildings.

Peregrine means “wanderer” and certain birds that nest in parts of Canada have the longest migration routes of any other bird in North America.

For more information you can also visit the following resources:

Cornell Lab of Ornithology at: http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Peregrine_Falcon/id

Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources at: http://dnr.wi.gov/org/land/er/biodiversity/index.asp?mode=info&Grp=7&SpecCode=ABNKD06070

A Harrowing Rescue Tail

Back in June of this year strong tornados came through southern Wisconsin taking down power lines and causing damage to homes of both people and animals alike. In the days after the storms had passed, one call we received was a caring woman who had a young a bald eagle that she thought was in need of help. Here at the Wildlife In Need Center we generally rely on the public to bring us injured, sick or orphaned wildlife but in some situations we are able to send trained volunteers or staff out on rescues. In this instance, Rick, a dedicated volunteer was able to help. After a long drive winding through the aftermath of the storms and avoiding all of the turtles that had found their way onto the road, Rick finally arrived at the start of his journey.

When Rick arrived at the home of the caller she showed him there they eagle was; perched in a very large tree over a ravine filled with other trees and vines covering the ground. Things were about to get difficult. The branch that the eagle was on was at the same level as the top of the ravine but too far away to simply reach out to. Rick attempted to use a net that was attached to a pole. It was just long enough to reach the bird but it kept getting tangled in the tree. At this point Rick had assessed the bird from a distance and realized that it was a younger bird and that it was pretty emaciated and most likely dehydrated. Because the bird was young, it's likely it was still unskilled in hunting and may have become too weak to fly well. This can be dangerous even though there weren't any substantial injuries because being too weak to fly means that he wouldn't be able to hunt which is how he became weaker to begin with. Rick succeeded in nudging the bird out of the tree and it glided to the ravine floor.

Rick followed the bird into the ravine full of tangled vines. He crept closer and closer to the eagle and just when he had it in his sights, the bird hopped away. This struggle continued across the ravine for about an hour, but even while tripping on and getting tangled in the vines with every move, Rick was not about to give up. He asked for help and even though the woman who called was not able to herself, she found other caring neighbors that could. The new recruits formed a human wall behind the bird to keep it from escaping onto the clearing and Rick moved in again. This time he successfully captured the eagle in a large blanket.

The bald eagle was, as Rick predicted, emaciated, dehydrated and very underweight. After spending just a night at WINC it was transferred to a rehabber at Pineview for expert care in a facility with more resources for the size and care required for this type of bird. After such a difficult rescue Rick wanted to make sure the eagle did well and asked to be kept informed on its rehabilitation progress. After the eagle had been returned to health Rick received another call, but this time it was to be there for the release back into the wild of the eagle he worked so hard to rescue.

Without teamwork this eagle’s story may not have had such a happy ending. Teamwork between staff, volunteers and the public is key in the success of both rescuing and rehabilitating an animal. If this caring woman had not made the call we would have never known there was an eagle in need of our help. Without dedicated volunteers or the other caring individuals who offered assistance, the eagle may not have been able to get the help it needed and this hard to top rescue may not have been such a success.

Rehabbers from the Center the Eagle was transferred to and cared for at release it back to its home territory while Rick photographed the moment he had been hoping to see since he first rescued the bird.

The Answer is Blowing in the Wind

Whether March arrives like a lion or a lamb, it’s the month for baby owls. It’s the blowing of the spring winds, which tests the durability of any Great Horned owl nest. You see, Great Horned owls don’t construct their own nests, they move into nests that are already made; built by other raptors, squirrels and crows. Add a full grown parent and two or three owlets and a nest that is old and already weak is bound to give way eventually.

This is where the Center comes to into the picture. First a baby owl will be found on the ground and brought into the Center. Animal Care staff will do a physical exam on the owl to ensure that it is in good condition. In the meantime, another staff member will visit the rescue site on a “reconnaissance” mission, looking for signs of the old nest, any other members of the family, food remnants, pellets or whitewash. And if they’re lucky, they will see one or both parents in the immediate area.

Once the old nest is located a new site nearby is chosen. The new nest will be constructed of a wicker laundry basket, lined with boughs and secured to the tree with bungee cords. A new nest can last in a tree, three to four years before having to be replaced. Next, the Center will contact one of our tree-climbing volunteers. The tree climbing volunteers are equipped with ropes, harnesses and spikes, exactly like the equipment used by tree trimmers and utility repairmen.

Arrangements will be made with the homeowner to return to their property with the owlet and to place the new nest in the tree. Once there, the owlets are placed inside a container that the tree climber will carry or pull up through the tree until it reaches the new nest. The tree climber will carefully remove the baby owlet(s) from the carrier and place them gently into the nest. All the while, the spotter below will be assisting the climber and searching the nearby trees for the parents.

It’s important that at least one of the parents returns to the nest site within 24 hours of the re-nest, as the owlets need to be fed regularly when they are young. Property owners are asked to watch for parents visiting the nest in the early dawn and late afternoon to evening and report back to the Center their observations. It’s from their information that we know a successful reunion has been made. To date, WINC has received six owlets, five owls in one day alone!

-Guest Blogger KF