The intake total for the year is now at 3161.
As you can see from the slowly climbing numbers, the intakes are now dribbling in quite slowly. The holiday is probably affecting the number as well as people weren't spending as much time outside this week. Still, a few animals showed up and a few even got released, which is always a good thing! Let's see what's going on...
The resident desert tortoises at Liberty are now quietly beginning their long winter naps. Alpo and Grandpa are both bundled up in their enclosures, stuffed with fresh hay to keep them warm, safe, and quiet for the duration of the winter. The two baby tortoises are not allowed to "hibernate" this early in life as it is dangerous for them to remain unattended and unfed during their first year or so.
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The juvenile swainson's hawk that came in a few weeks ago is getting along fine with his foster parents. This little bird is totally cute and will be kept safely with us until the spring migration returns and he is allowed to rejoin the flock of swainson's on their journey back north for the summer.
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A nice looking GHO arrived last week and after showing off his rather large feather tufts (no, they're not ears or horns!), his wing was wrapped and he was given some fluids before getting some rest and quiet needed for recuperation from a wing injury.
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A bunny came in last week with a broken foot. All rabbit foot jokes aside, we hope he's gong to heal well enough to be released eventually.
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OK, Liberty doesn't release non-native species back to the wild, but when one comes in that's been injured, we don't turn them away, we try to stabilize them and then transfer them to facilities that handle that type of animal. Last week, somebody found this pretty yellow bellied slider turtle near the Phoenix Zoo and saw that he was injured. They picked him up and brought him to us. Our staff did what they could and then got him to Rebecca who does our bat and reptile outsource treatment. He will most likely end up living with some one who knows how to treat him like the pet he obviously was.
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The beautiful big red tailed hawk that has been with us for a couple of weeks is not well enough to leave the inside cage and go to an outside enclosure to acclimate to the ambient climate and to try some short flights. After the transfer evaluation, he was given a new ID band and taken to the 30' RTH enclosure to join Jack and then other outside rehab RTH's.
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A nice looking harris' hawk arrived last week and after a thorough evaluation, was deemed OK to fly. She was trhen taken to the flight enclosure and test flown where she passed her "check ride" with flying colors (chestnut, black, and white!) Sharon then took her back to her own territory just north of Liberty and released her to rejoin her family! It's good to be home for the holidays!
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Two very special owl lovers.
Late last spring, Dr. Doug Beischel was golfing at the Arizona Country Club when he heard a snapping sound at his feet. Looking down, he found a baby great horned owl at his feet clicking his beak. After a call to the Liberty hotline, the owl was rescued and then raised by one of our foster parent owls until last week. A large crowd of members with their children arrived at the club last Wednesday evening to witness the release. Liberty had several education birds on hand before Dr. Beischel gave one the best pre-release stories ever told, and made a perfect launch of this young bird to begin his new life. Also on hand were two young ladies, each with a small barn owl puppet in honor of their favorite owl. They got to meet Henri, Liberty's wonderful barn owl, and told volunteer John Glitsos what they knew about raptors. What a great way to prelude Thanksgiving Day!
3 comments:
Those two little girls with the owl puppets are adorable!
I must tell you how much I enjoy this blog every week. Thank you, Terry for the wonderful pictures.
Dorothy, one of your hotline volunteers, is my mother. She sends the blog each week all the way to Virginia Beach, VA. You should all be proud of the work you do. Susan
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