November is not just a month for thanksgiving here at the refuge, but it is also a month we genuinely have to give thanks. This month several good things happened, and some things that are not bad.. The following paragraphs are mini articles to tell about things that have happened this past month (and a bit more).
Wild Birds Unlimited Brings In Money for the Refuge In November!
Our Wild Birds Unlimited shows are historically our best income educational presentations. This year, the shows brought just under $2000 in contributions to the refuge. Previous years have also netted us large numbers. We have to give a special thanks to the Baumer family, owners of Wild Birds unlimited in Raleigh and Cary, for their generosity in matching customer donations and in having us therein the first place! Thank you!
Charles River Labs Contributes Food for the Birds In November!
This years visit to charles river labs brought in about 2800 mice and 6 dozen rats. Since Mice cost about $0.65-0.85 each, and Rats cost $2.50 each, this is a huge contribution. As usual, we shared the wealth. We sent some of the food to other local raptor rescues, like Forest The Owl (foresttheowl.org) and CLAWS (nc-claws.org). Either way, we have a good number of days of food already in the freezers for our birds. Thanks Charles River Labs for the generous donation!
Cage rebuilds going well In November!
The cages that were damaged or destroyed by the ultra aggressive raccoons have been getting repaired, slowly but surely. We have 4 left that are not yet repaired, but hope to finish those over the holiday. We caught and killed one of the raccoons, and no attacks have happened since. Thanks to our contributors who have given us money for building materials!
Dr. Dan helps Beanca See Again In October!
As some of you may know, Beanca, our eagle has had issues with cataracts. recently she had a bad problem with her left eye. The cataracts grew and pushed the lens out of place, making ig get caught in her iris. Dr Dan did eye surgery and removed the cataracts and moved the lens out of the way of the iris. She can once again see out of that eye. Thanks Dr Dan and the staff at Avian and Exotic Animal Care for all the work they do for our birds!
The WTCC Raptor Rehab Students Contribute $2600 to the Refuge!
The 2012 Raptor Rehabilitation class at Wake Tech occurred at a particularly low point in refuge finances. This occurred when the SUV broke down, and the raccoon attacks were at their worst. Some of the students heard about the occurrences and made contributions to the refuge. Mary and Bill contributed $2500 towards materials, food, and expenses. Peter contributed another $100. The money was wonderfully helpful, and it kept us going and the animals fed for several months. Thanks Mary, Bill, and Peter!
Thanks to North Carolina Wildlife!
This year once again, NC Wildlife has had us as featured educators in their Raleigh facility and in shows like The Dixie Deer Classic, and more. In addition, they were there to issue us a license to stop the raccoons who were killing out birds, and even loaned us traps to catch them. Thanks NC Wildlife for all you do!
Thanks Rolesville Storage Max!
This year Rolesville Storage Max created "Charity Wars." The event invited non profit organizations to put items in a storage locker, and let people bid on the locker. Whatever the bid price was, the charity got. Rolesville storage paid all fees, the auctioneer costs, advertising, and so on. They gave each charity a free storage locker for a month to fill it up. We bought some nice items and had many contributed. Our locker sold for $625. Additionally a few month after, they sent us another check for $625. It was a record keeping mistake on their part, and we called and returned the check, but they were making sure everyone was paid. Thanks Rolesville Storage Max
Thanks to the Camenzinds for our amazing SUV!
Although each gas fill up I complain about it, we have to thank the Camenzind family once again for the donation of the 2000 Mercedes ML320 SUV. The car has to date done over 300 rescues, transported us to over 150 education shows, and gotten us through many many weather and road hazards with it's all wheel drive. 240,000 miles and going strong. Thank you Camenzind family!
Thanks Wake Tech!
Every year, Wake Tech Community College lets us teach a Raptor rehab course in their facilities. The 5 week long course qualifies for time towards a federal rehab license, and is now recognized by the NC Veterinary board for continuing education for veterinarians. Additionally this year, Wake tech has given me (Steve) more classes to teach to help bring in more money to support the refuge. Thanks Wake Tech!
Thanks to our Volunteers!
This year our volunteers have helped us in over 100 shows. We have had set ups outdoors in the rain, out in the hot bright sun, inside schools, in stores, and libraries. We have done shows all over the state. One volunteer moved over 2.5 hours away, but still comes in to help with shows and fund raisers! Our volunteers are special people who have put aside time to care for the animals. It is an amazing commitment. so we have to say, Thanks volunteers!
There are more things for us to be thankful for. The bottom line is that we are able to be here for the birds, and we thank all of you who helped along the way. Thank you for supporting us and following our blog and being there. Thank you!
--Steve
Tuesday, November 20, 2012
Monday, October 22, 2012
Forgive us readers for we have been quiet..
Forgive us readers for we have been silent. It has been several weeks since our last update /post.
It is midnight and I am waiting for another 15 minutes to pass before I give Beanca another dose of medicine. Last week, after a week of medicines, the vet looked at her eye and said that it needed surgery for her to see again. I am ot totally clear on what was happening, but it was something about a cataract growing beyond the lens and blocking off light and sight from the eye. Twins being her good eye. When we went to the appointment last Monday, you could only see silvery stuff, no iris, no pupil.
Doctor Dan looked it over and said he could fix it. Wednesday morning Beanca had surgery. She stayed at the vets until Saturday morning. She needs her medicines every 8 hours". Today was 10am, 5pm, and 1 am. She gets 2 drops of 2 different. Medicines. They need 15 or 20 minutes between the different drops, so I go into her cage 6 times a day and wrestle with her to put drops in her eyes.
Needless to say, Beanca is NOT loving this. She has learned the art of Karatalon... The ancient art of empty talon fighting. If she has her way, she will flip me over her perch and out the door. She keeps finding new ways to bite and claw while restrained.
The cage rebuilds are going well. I think we will be done in early 2020 (yes, that is an exaggeration). The weather has gotten much better for outdoor work. Now, if only there were a way to get rid of mosquitoes...
The Rolesville Ship On Site that we had our mailing address through went out of business, so we had to scramble to get a new mailing address. As all of. O know, the. Making address is NOT at our physical location. The physical location is not public, so we keep a public mailing address for everything we do.
Our new mailing address is 4501 New Bern Ave, suite 130-333, Raleigh NC 27610. Twins does not mean we have moved the refuge, oly the mailing address has changed.
That is about it. Oh! Wait! I almost forgot, birds stuff....
This month we have had a lot of stupid hunters come in. These are babies from this year who are away from the nest for the first time, and desperately trying to survive, often b dong something stupid. The stupid hunters are victims of stupid injuries, or of just hunger because they are not catching enough food to survive. Often they come in hungry, and need places to eat and practice flying. We can help that.
One came in with a pox, or some sort of infection. The infection was one that we wee concerned that could spread to the other birds, so we had to euthanize that bird. It was not an easy division. We might have been able to save it, though it was in really bad shape, but it would have been in close contact with our other hospital rids (9 other right now) and put them at risk for catching it.
We have released 3 birds, and gotten in another 9 in the past 2 weeks. It is getting more and more busy.
Our next shows are November 10th and 17th at the Wild Birds Unlimited in Cary (10th) and Raleigh (17th) it is very likely Beanca will be ahere with her friends.
-Steve
It is midnight and I am waiting for another 15 minutes to pass before I give Beanca another dose of medicine. Last week, after a week of medicines, the vet looked at her eye and said that it needed surgery for her to see again. I am ot totally clear on what was happening, but it was something about a cataract growing beyond the lens and blocking off light and sight from the eye. Twins being her good eye. When we went to the appointment last Monday, you could only see silvery stuff, no iris, no pupil.
Doctor Dan looked it over and said he could fix it. Wednesday morning Beanca had surgery. She stayed at the vets until Saturday morning. She needs her medicines every 8 hours". Today was 10am, 5pm, and 1 am. She gets 2 drops of 2 different. Medicines. They need 15 or 20 minutes between the different drops, so I go into her cage 6 times a day and wrestle with her to put drops in her eyes.
Needless to say, Beanca is NOT loving this. She has learned the art of Karatalon... The ancient art of empty talon fighting. If she has her way, she will flip me over her perch and out the door. She keeps finding new ways to bite and claw while restrained.
The cage rebuilds are going well. I think we will be done in early 2020 (yes, that is an exaggeration). The weather has gotten much better for outdoor work. Now, if only there were a way to get rid of mosquitoes...
The Rolesville Ship On Site that we had our mailing address through went out of business, so we had to scramble to get a new mailing address. As all of. O know, the. Making address is NOT at our physical location. The physical location is not public, so we keep a public mailing address for everything we do.
Our new mailing address is 4501 New Bern Ave, suite 130-333, Raleigh NC 27610. Twins does not mean we have moved the refuge, oly the mailing address has changed.
That is about it. Oh! Wait! I almost forgot, birds stuff....
This month we have had a lot of stupid hunters come in. These are babies from this year who are away from the nest for the first time, and desperately trying to survive, often b dong something stupid. The stupid hunters are victims of stupid injuries, or of just hunger because they are not catching enough food to survive. Often they come in hungry, and need places to eat and practice flying. We can help that.
One came in with a pox, or some sort of infection. The infection was one that we wee concerned that could spread to the other birds, so we had to euthanize that bird. It was not an easy division. We might have been able to save it, though it was in really bad shape, but it would have been in close contact with our other hospital rids (9 other right now) and put them at risk for catching it.
We have released 3 birds, and gotten in another 9 in the past 2 weeks. It is getting more and more busy.
Our next shows are November 10th and 17th at the Wild Birds Unlimited in Cary (10th) and Raleigh (17th) it is very likely Beanca will be ahere with her friends.
-Steve
Wednesday, August 22, 2012
The good , the bad, and the changes
First, please excuse typos and grammer and spelling errors here. I am writing this fast to get back to work with the birds. Things are a bit crazy right now. you will read why in this blog. It has been a harsh few weeks at the refuge, but it has also been good in other ways.
First the good news. We got a donation of $2500, which has been and is going to several uses for the refuge. So far it has bought food, fixed the rescue van, (and of course bought gas), helped us get materials, and more. It has been wonderful for us to have money to pay all the things we have to.
To cut expenses and make that money go further, we are making a change in our services. in some cases, we will be having local animal control officers pick up the birds instead of us directly. Even with this donation, we can not pay out over $1000 for gas every month we simply do not have that much income. We havearranged drop off areas for people who have found a raptor; including Avian and Exotic Animal Care, and, as they have in the past, the After Hours Emergency Clinic on Vick drive. We will still care for the birds, but with the current economy and the quantity of birds we are getting, we can not afford the time away from our hospital or the cost of gas for all the rescue calls we are getting. We will still go out on rescues when we can, but the majority will be instructing people how and where to get help and then caring for the birds after.
Now for the the very bad news. I've been holding off talking about it until I knew what happened, and now I do. We have a pair of very tough and sneaky raccoons who have been tearing up our caging. We have had plywood with holes ripped into it, and we have had metal wire ripped from the nails holding it onto the wood. These guys are tough and vicious.
Last week they got in and killed our 2 eastern screech owls Fireball and Furbee. I still can not find how they got into the cage, so I am tearing it down and rebuilding the entire thing. in the mean time our remaining screech owl , Blinky the western screech is in a cage inside our hospital where it is safe.
Last night I was working late (1am) when I heard thumping noises in the barred owls cage. I went out and found 2 raccoons inside the cage with Scowl and Klik-Klak, our barred owls. While barred owls and raccoons may appear similar in size, a barred owl weighs less than 2 pounds. Against an 8-10 pound raccoon they have no chance.
I got my 22 rifle with the "ratshot" bullets and shot each raccon, making them run off through the hole they had ripped in the cage. Before you say how mean that is, there are 2 things to remember. 1- the .22 ratshot did not and could not kill a raccoon, it just hurts like hell. and 2-They killed animals I am sworn to protect. I consider this their one and only warning if they come again I will kill them and cut them up and feed them to the birds.
This is not the first time w have had issues with raccoons. Before we changed to raptors only, we had constant problems with them. Since changing we had only one series of incidents 4 years ago. At that time, we lost a kestrel and 4 raccoons attacked our red tails Freya and Houdini. (another case of me removing the birds for their safety) They tried to attack the ferruginous hawk we had (Chaps), but the hawk killed one, and according to the blood in the cage, hurt the other(s).
These recent attacks are by far the worst case. We have had 5 cages damaged to become unusable by them. They even tried to get into the inside cage where Beanca sleeps. That area, however, is ultra-secure. Now we have lost 2 birds and 5 usable cages and have damage to 4 morcages from thier attempts.
I have decided to change policy a bit and allow newer volunteers to come to the refuge to help us rebuild. And this is truly a rebuild, we have to remake teh cages with a different strategy in mind. I am having workdays the next few Sundays from 1pm - 4pm, So, if you want to volunteer for the refuge, email me at awrefuge@aol.com or call me at the refuge number (you will likely have to leave a message) 919-229-8449.
We do not generally let people come to the refuge because people are dangerous to the birds. CRC had an eagle stolen from them a few years back, and one of our board members had a falcon stolen from his place. Additionally we are told by falconers and others about people who go and shoot birds in outdoor cages; some for sport / mischief, and some because they are eco-terrorists. In this case, however, we are going to have to trust you, our supporters, to come and NOT share our location or information with anyone, because our birds need their cages to be in good safe order.
There it is. An entirely new phase in our operation... a new begining. I hope you, our supporters and friends, will join us for this.
First the good news. We got a donation of $2500, which has been and is going to several uses for the refuge. So far it has bought food, fixed the rescue van, (and of course bought gas), helped us get materials, and more. It has been wonderful for us to have money to pay all the things we have to.
To cut expenses and make that money go further, we are making a change in our services. in some cases, we will be having local animal control officers pick up the birds instead of us directly. Even with this donation, we can not pay out over $1000 for gas every month we simply do not have that much income. We havearranged drop off areas for people who have found a raptor; including Avian and Exotic Animal Care, and, as they have in the past, the After Hours Emergency Clinic on Vick drive. We will still care for the birds, but with the current economy and the quantity of birds we are getting, we can not afford the time away from our hospital or the cost of gas for all the rescue calls we are getting. We will still go out on rescues when we can, but the majority will be instructing people how and where to get help and then caring for the birds after.
Now for the the very bad news. I've been holding off talking about it until I knew what happened, and now I do. We have a pair of very tough and sneaky raccoons who have been tearing up our caging. We have had plywood with holes ripped into it, and we have had metal wire ripped from the nails holding it onto the wood. These guys are tough and vicious.
Last week they got in and killed our 2 eastern screech owls Fireball and Furbee. I still can not find how they got into the cage, so I am tearing it down and rebuilding the entire thing. in the mean time our remaining screech owl , Blinky the western screech is in a cage inside our hospital where it is safe.
Last night I was working late (1am) when I heard thumping noises in the barred owls cage. I went out and found 2 raccoons inside the cage with Scowl and Klik-Klak, our barred owls. While barred owls and raccoons may appear similar in size, a barred owl weighs less than 2 pounds. Against an 8-10 pound raccoon they have no chance.
I got my 22 rifle with the "ratshot" bullets and shot each raccon, making them run off through the hole they had ripped in the cage. Before you say how mean that is, there are 2 things to remember. 1- the .22 ratshot did not and could not kill a raccoon, it just hurts like hell. and 2-They killed animals I am sworn to protect. I consider this their one and only warning if they come again I will kill them and cut them up and feed them to the birds.
This is not the first time w have had issues with raccoons. Before we changed to raptors only, we had constant problems with them. Since changing we had only one series of incidents 4 years ago. At that time, we lost a kestrel and 4 raccoons attacked our red tails Freya and Houdini. (another case of me removing the birds for their safety) They tried to attack the ferruginous hawk we had (Chaps), but the hawk killed one, and according to the blood in the cage, hurt the other(s).
These recent attacks are by far the worst case. We have had 5 cages damaged to become unusable by them. They even tried to get into the inside cage where Beanca sleeps. That area, however, is ultra-secure. Now we have lost 2 birds and 5 usable cages and have damage to 4 morcages from thier attempts.
I have decided to change policy a bit and allow newer volunteers to come to the refuge to help us rebuild. And this is truly a rebuild, we have to remake teh cages with a different strategy in mind. I am having workdays the next few Sundays from 1pm - 4pm, So, if you want to volunteer for the refuge, email me at awrefuge@aol.com or call me at the refuge number (you will likely have to leave a message) 919-229-8449.
We do not generally let people come to the refuge because people are dangerous to the birds. CRC had an eagle stolen from them a few years back, and one of our board members had a falcon stolen from his place. Additionally we are told by falconers and others about people who go and shoot birds in outdoor cages; some for sport / mischief, and some because they are eco-terrorists. In this case, however, we are going to have to trust you, our supporters, to come and NOT share our location or information with anyone, because our birds need their cages to be in good safe order.
There it is. An entirely new phase in our operation... a new begining. I hope you, our supporters and friends, will join us for this.
Monday, July 23, 2012
July nearly done already?
This month has been a huge month for us both good and bad. First the bad It is always best to get the bad part over with then get to the good stuff, so you are left with good being your most recent memory.
Bad stuff:
- We had quite a few calls and rescues, and none of them seemed to be within a 20 mile range of us. We have been averaging $20 a day in gas use. Some days none, which brings the other days up. We got a call in Garner, went out and picked up a bird, about 22 miles each way. 4 hours later, we got a call from the same street! just 4 houses away.
- Our Great Horned Owl "Hisss" has cancer. He has had an operation, but this kind of cancer can, and did come back. it si not a matter if if he will die from it, but when , and how far we should let it go before we euthanize him. Hisss has been with us since 2002.
- Our Eagle Beanca had to have foot surgery. She was out the entire month of July.
- Our rescue van needs a new radiator. New part costs Dealer price - $700 /or/ Discount house price $500 + Labor (About $125) =($600-900) budget ouch!
- Our free food source has totally dried up, so we are paying for all the feed animals we get. We are getting some discounts though, but the food cost compared to 2010 has increased tremendously. Rats we used to get free are now $2.25 - $3.00 each. We have 4 birds who eat rats and want one each and every day. That is a 3200.00- $4200 per year difference on those 4 birds alone!
Good Stuff:
-We have been able to release several birds this month. including some who have the press following them.
.
-In spite of the high cost, we ARE getting to rescues and back and we have helped many birds. The average rescue volume over the past month or so is 2 calls per day (Some days as many as 5 some Zero)
- The Wake Tech Raptor Rehab class had enough register for it to run this month. we are almost half way thru the class. We have had 2 classes and 3 labs. We have 8 great students) we've helped a lot of animals
- We had a very positive article in the Wilson newspaper written about us. After a show at the library, we had several photos and a half page article!
-We rescued 2 birds that are on the popular "Raleigh Raptors" page ( http://opienc.wordpress.com/ ). There were many photos taken of us, and we may well be included in the next "Raleigh Raptors" book ( http://www.amazon.com/Raleigh-Raptors-Volume-Jordan-Paw/dp/1469993899/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1343080231&sr=8-1&keywords=raleigh+raptors ) by Jordan Paw.
- Cary Living magazine is doing an article on local wildlife educators, and we are supposed to be one of 3 featured groups in the area in their August issue.
There is , of course, more bad and good stuff; but that is enough for one blog post. We are doing plenty of rescues and education shows, and we are continuing on step by step and rescue by rescue...
Wednesday, June 27, 2012
In the news
We have been in the news a lot lately. It seems to come in bunches. Last year (2011) we had no actual news articles, the year before we had several. 2010 we had articles about our possible location in Apex, and some news articles about some of our rescues. In 2009 we had very few if any articles. 2008 we had several articles about rescues and our organization in general.
This year has started a new bunch of articles. People seem to forget we are here until they rediscover us every 2nd year. This year, we have been mostly in the news this month. We have been in a blog called " the Raleigh Raptors" It is a photo book background blog for a family of Raptors in downtown Raleigh NC ( http://opienc.wordpress.com/ ) We had an article and photos in the Wilson NC paper from our show at the Wilson county library. Over 250 people attended that show. (WIlson times "Who's in the library" last week) We were also interviewed and had photos taken of our show at the Eva Perry Library in Apex NC by a Cary magazine. The magazine says we will be in a feature on animal education groups in the area. We will be featured with 2 other groups.
Once again, we have garnered attention. It is a good thing since we do not advertise. Stories like this help get us shows, and more shows mean more money to help the birds.
WTCC Class coming up - Begins July 12th
Just a reminder to anyone out there thinking of being part of AWR, Our raptor rehab class starts July 12th . This is a once a week (thursday nights) class, with 3 optional live bird labs on Sunday afternoons. If you want to be a volunteer for AWR, and want to work with the birds, this class is mandatory.
The class has a huge amount of information. We have had licensed rehabbers and vets join it and say they learned a lot. The class also applies towards your getting your federal license. The NC Veterinary board gives credit towards veterinary CEs for this class as well. This is the 4th year this class has been taught at WTCC. The class was taught at our location previous years (since 2003)
If you want to register visit: http://conted.waketech.edu/ , click register online, and in the search , use keyword " raptor ".
The class has a huge amount of information. We have had licensed rehabbers and vets join it and say they learned a lot. The class also applies towards your getting your federal license. The NC Veterinary board gives credit towards veterinary CEs for this class as well. This is the 4th year this class has been taught at WTCC. The class was taught at our location previous years (since 2003)
If you want to register visit: http://conted.waketech.edu/ , click register online, and in the search , use keyword " raptor ".
Tuesday, June 12, 2012
Another Day, Another baby
Another Day, Another Baby
Yes, we have been busy. Babies have been coming in pretty much every day. Some are hurt, others are just lost and starved. Oddly enough , the hurt ones we can do more for.
Last week we got in several new youngsters. of them, all but 3 were damaged badly. We have one with eye trauma, 5 with broken wings, and 1 with severe wounds, probably from a cat.
And of course we also have some hurt adult birds. All in all we have been on the road a lot getting hurt birds. None of them seem to be nearby.. Most are at the edge of Wake County or just inside an adjacent county. We are averaging $800 a month on gas for rescues.
We have sent about 16 birds to the large Carolina Raptor center. Those birds are ready for outside cages and CRC has more cages and LARGER cages than we have
Still, as a rule we do our best to care for birds we get in until such tim as we are sure that they are beyond us, Then we find others who have the facilities. That does not mean we send out all birds. most birds are released (60%+-) or die (30%+-).
For a while, we will have babies. Soon, those babies will be on their own, hopefully healthy and hopefully never to need us.
Yes, we have been busy. Babies have been coming in pretty much every day. Some are hurt, others are just lost and starved. Oddly enough , the hurt ones we can do more for.
Last week we got in several new youngsters. of them, all but 3 were damaged badly. We have one with eye trauma, 5 with broken wings, and 1 with severe wounds, probably from a cat.
And of course we also have some hurt adult birds. All in all we have been on the road a lot getting hurt birds. None of them seem to be nearby.. Most are at the edge of Wake County or just inside an adjacent county. We are averaging $800 a month on gas for rescues.
We have sent about 16 birds to the large Carolina Raptor center. Those birds are ready for outside cages and CRC has more cages and LARGER cages than we have
Still, as a rule we do our best to care for birds we get in until such tim as we are sure that they are beyond us, Then we find others who have the facilities. That does not mean we send out all birds. most birds are released (60%+-) or die (30%+-).
For a while, we will have babies. Soon, those babies will be on their own, hopefully healthy and hopefully never to need us.
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