The Fuzzy Mind

Anne and Paul, along with their friends, now reside in Hilton, New York. You can meet them and learn more about the Institute for Environmental Learning at www.ielraptors.org/.

Eagles, hawks, owls, falcons, and kestrels are known as raptors. These are birds of prey and have been hunting and feeding on the North American Continent for the millennial.

Perhaps in your travels you have seen them soaring overhead as they search for prey. Particularly here in the northeast you may spot a hawk hunting along the medians and edges of our interstate highways. This is because the highway departments keep these areas mowed and with the shorter grass it is easier to spot a mouse or mole.

All raptors will hunt these areas as well as the right of way for power lines. These are very dangerous places to hunt and scavenge which these birds also do. They are not above taking a free meal on the side of the road. Every so often in the Delaware Water Gap Area an eagle will be hit by a car on the side of or in the road as it feeds on carrion.

Power lines are dangerous because the wires stretching from tower to tower go out of focus as the bird has its full concentration on the  prey on the ground below. The diving birds often run into these wires and become injured. Man also is a source of danger for this class of bird. We very nearly drove the eagle to extinction. Thankfully they have just recently recovered enough to be removed from the endangered species list.

First I want you to know Liberty.

Liberty cannot fly because as a young bird she flew into a cliff and shattered a joint in her wing that is sort of equal to our shoulder. There have been a number of surgical attempts to correct the problem but all have failed. Without the ability to fly she cannot hunt and feed so she must have care for life.

Paul and Anne provide that lifelong care. You saw the image in the previous article of Liberty with her wings spread looking like she is ready to take flight. What she is actually doing is spreading her wings in an effort to maintain her balance. It is very similar to you or I putting out our arms for balance when walking on a beam.

The Red Tail 

and Harris hawk were once trained and used in the sport of Falconry. Birds used in this sport are captured as very young chicks and hand fed. This is the only way these birds know how to eat and must always be given food by man.

Once the trainer can no longer care for the bird it comes to Paul again needing lifelong care. If these birds were released to the wild they would find and kill prey but would not leave or eat it  awaiting man to come and pick it up and feed it to them as their reward. They would stay with the prey until they died of dehydration.

The Bard Owl is blind.

This all too often affliction is caused by man. The owl has eaten poisoned food. We put out those poison pellets for mice and moles that come into our homes. The vermin then go outside and die and we think "Good. That’s taken care of. " What we really created was a problem for the bird. The owl didn’t know what he was eating was poisoned, he only saw it as an opportunity for a meal. Now, once blind, the bird will starve to death or become severely injured in an attempt to fly.

The Screech Owls have physical damage that severely hampers their attempt at hunting and feeding. The Grey Morph has a broken bone in one ear causing it to lay over his hearing hole, effectively making him deaf in one ear. This hearing problem makes it impossible for him to distinguish where a sound is coming from.

The Red Morph is blind in one eye so he cannot focus on prey. Block off one of your eyes and look around. The first thing you will notice is you have lost depth perception which for an owl diving on prey is a big problem. He just doesn’t realize how far away something is and that causes crashes. It also causes erratic flight. He goes in the direction he can see.

You may meet Paul and Anne and their friends at a school program, sportsman show or other nature event. If you do be sure to stop and tell them Fuzzy said Hi!

You can learn more about their educational programs by visiting their web site or sending an e mail to programs@ielraptors.org .