SNN (ScrollingNetworkNews) ✿ ✿ Our Mel and Sydney returned to their nesting box with plenty of bonding occurring..but after 2.5 months of Sydney in the box from Dec 2013 to mid Feb 2014, the lack of prey gifts from Mel ( perhaps due to the severe and historic drought underway in California)and they have forgone the nesting process this year as many other raptors ✿ Compared to other owls of similar size, the Barn Owl has a much higher metabolic rate, requiring relatively more food. Pound for pound, Barn Owls consume more rodents – often regarded as pests by humans – than possibly any other creature. ✿ We remind viewers that sometimes owlets may not survive - the parents will dispose of things in "The Owl Way" -viewer discretion is advised, this is nature and the "Owl way". ✿ ~ ✿ “Animals, like us, are living souls. They are not things. They are not objects. Neither are they human. Yet they mourn. They love. They dance. They suffer. They know the peaks and chasms of being.” ― Gary Kowalski, The Souls of Animals ✿ Each species is a masterpiece, a creation assembled with extreme care and genius." ~ E.O. Wilson

Monday, March 5, 2012

Charlie the oldest red-tailed hawk on record..

PULLMAN, Wash
Charlie was brought to WSU’s College of Veterinary Medicine in 1981, the year Ronald Reagan became president, a first-class stamp cost 18 cents and "Raiders of the Lost Ark” was released.

At three months old, he was found injured at the side of a road after being struck by a car, said Erik Stauber, retired WSU veterinary professor and raptor specialist who treated Charlie’s wing and skull fractures.

"After his injuries healed, we saw that he could no longer fly. Knowing he’d never survive on his own, we made him our first permanent raptor resident,” said Stauber, who became Charlie’s primary trainer.

Charlie’s injuries may have left him permanently disabled but, like all birds of prey, he’s armed with powerful talons for piercing and crushing his target. And like any wild bird, he got ornery when approached by humans.

Read the rest of his story by clicking on the link below
Charlies story

Its your birthday!