Falcon Rescue
Today, I had noticed some birds flying around in my back yard. Then, I saw this:
He was sitting right outside my office window and so I grabbed my camera and took a few pictures:
He didn't seem to be too afraid that I was right there (my first thought was that he really couldn't see me through the window). But then, I noticed that there were several smaller birds swooping down on him:
When he tried to fly away, his left wing was obviously injured. So I called animal control and they told me that they only handle domesticated animals and referred me to Austin's Wildlife Rescue. They put me in touch with Brooks who told me that I needed to capture the bird for its own protection and that he would be on his way (he lives about 2 hours away and was eating dinner with his family).
Yeah, sure. So he suggested a light sheet to throw over him (needed to be light so that he could breathe). Well, Liz has several tablecloths from her business and one seemed like it would do the trick. So, as I'm on my way out to the back yard, Liz asks what I will do after I capture him. I'm thinking that I'd cross that bridge when I got to it, but she said I needed to have a plan (my plan, up until that point, was all self-preservation). She had suggested a large box that we had, and Noah (our 7 year old) piped up, "How about using the pet carrier?" Liz and I looked at each other with a "duh" look and told Noah how great his idea was.
I go out to the back yard, white tablecloth in hand and try to corner the bird. I was able to actually get quite close to him but just as I was about to throw, he moved away, trying to fly, never getting more than a few feet off of the ground. He had moved over to another corner of the yard and I approached again. I tossed the tablecloth and it covered him. He didn't move at that point, so I wrapped him up and transported him to the carrier and removed the tablecloth:
He had plenty of room in there (we have a big kitty) and I covered the whole thing with the tablecloth (like a parrot cage) to keep him calm. Brooks arrived about 2 hours later and picked him up and was going to try to get him looked at as soon as possible, but being Sunday night, it may have to wait until the morning and he would look after "Mr. Feathery". Noah named him that. Brooks is very passionate about saving these creatures and I am glad there are people like him out there.
He was sitting right outside my office window and so I grabbed my camera and took a few pictures:
He didn't seem to be too afraid that I was right there (my first thought was that he really couldn't see me through the window). But then, I noticed that there were several smaller birds swooping down on him:
When he tried to fly away, his left wing was obviously injured. So I called animal control and they told me that they only handle domesticated animals and referred me to Austin's Wildlife Rescue. They put me in touch with Brooks who told me that I needed to capture the bird for its own protection and that he would be on his way (he lives about 2 hours away and was eating dinner with his family).
Yeah, sure. So he suggested a light sheet to throw over him (needed to be light so that he could breathe). Well, Liz has several tablecloths from her business and one seemed like it would do the trick. So, as I'm on my way out to the back yard, Liz asks what I will do after I capture him. I'm thinking that I'd cross that bridge when I got to it, but she said I needed to have a plan (my plan, up until that point, was all self-preservation). She had suggested a large box that we had, and Noah (our 7 year old) piped up, "How about using the pet carrier?" Liz and I looked at each other with a "duh" look and told Noah how great his idea was.
I go out to the back yard, white tablecloth in hand and try to corner the bird. I was able to actually get quite close to him but just as I was about to throw, he moved away, trying to fly, never getting more than a few feet off of the ground. He had moved over to another corner of the yard and I approached again. I tossed the tablecloth and it covered him. He didn't move at that point, so I wrapped him up and transported him to the carrier and removed the tablecloth:
He had plenty of room in there (we have a big kitty) and I covered the whole thing with the tablecloth (like a parrot cage) to keep him calm. Brooks arrived about 2 hours later and picked him up and was going to try to get him looked at as soon as possible, but being Sunday night, it may have to wait until the morning and he would look after "Mr. Feathery". Noah named him that. Brooks is very passionate about saving these creatures and I am glad there are people like him out there.
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