Happy Endings
- New Beginnings We would like to share heartwarming
stories about animals that come to us for care and are later successfully released back to their natural homes.
Enjoy!
Great Horned Owlet
A young owl fell from his nest but
was safely put back up in the tree.
Come back to learn the whole story!
More information to come soon!
Click to enlarge images!
Juvenile Bald
Eagle!
Video of the Eagles Release
Case # B72609 arrived at the infirmary on Sept.
9, transported very officially by a United
States Fish & Wildlife biologists from the Shiawassee National
Wildlife Refuge near
Saginaw. All summer the biologists had been observing their nesting
resident bald
eagles; that morning they found a juvenile struggling to walk and
unable to fly. While
being pursued, she stumbled into a swampy pond followed quickly by
an officer who
jumped in to save the flailing bird.
At the center, an initial exam was done on the juvenile eagle. Her
condition was
poor and the prognosis guarded. She was emaciated, dehydrated, feathers
ragged and dirty,
and her crop was perforated. At 9 lbs. and starving, she was clearly
a first year female
(adult males weigh 7.5 lbs.) and the “little” girl was the largest
raptor we have ever
handled. Her age and sex were confirmed by the band number she had
received as a nestling
in May. After four days of tubing food into her stomach to allow the
crop to heal, We cautiously started
her on small pieces of mice and fish. Her portions were strictly
weighed and limited; the reason she
was in trouble in the first place is because young raptors on their
own are at first, “young and dumb.”
They may happen upon a meal and gorge until their crop bursts! Her
strength improved and for
three weeks she dwarfed our 20 ft. flight pen as she bounced from
perch to perch. In our 40 ft. pen, she
was able to make longer flights and maneuver beautifully; our once
awkward, gawky,
enormous little girl was becoming powerful and quite graceful. After
seven weeks, a healthier
10 lbs. 9 ounces, she was transferred to *Dave Hogan, fellow
rehabilitator, to further build
her muscles and endurance. Today, November 19th, back at the
Shiawassee National Wildlife Refuge,
we witnessed this eagle's spectacular release back into the wild.
She is now restored to her full
splendor and, hopefully, is a little wiser. Happy Ending!
Pied-Billed Grebe with his catch!
In October 2009, we released this
little, pied-billed grebe. When the grebe arrived at the infirmary,
he was
very thin, and had lost his waterproofing. His first swim in a small
pool left him soaked to the skin and
shivering within minutes. Two days, and many grebe-hours of preening
later, the small bird had
regained his waterproofing and his buoyancy, and spent most of his
time bobbing in the pool.
Volunteers worked hard to keep the pool clean, replacing the water
several times a day, so that the
feathers would stay in great condition. The release was a happy one
– the grebe swam across the lake,
dove, and almost immediately caught a fish. A birdwatcher who
happened to be at the lake was able to
get this picture of the grebe with his prize. Happy Ending!
