Fine feathered friends swoop into Abilene for CALF
Nathaniel Ellsworth
The Children's Art & Literacy Festival always brings in a host of fun and educational guests, but this year Peter Brown's storybook characters will joined by a group of feathered "wildlife ambassadors" from Wildlife Rehab Lorena.
Licensed falconers will show off several of birds of prey at Frontier Texas! on Friday and Saturday, teaching visitors about raptors and wildlife rehabilitation. Shows will be presented at 9 a.m., 10:30 a.m., noon, 1:30 p.m. and 3 p.m. both days, but the birds will be available for viewing and volunteers will answer questions all day.
The exhibit fits this year's CALF because many of Brown's characters thrive in the natural world.
"I grew up exploring fields and streams and forests near my home, and I learned a lot about the local wildlife," he writes in "The Wild Robot." "I heard geese honking overhear as they flew south every autumn."
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The scheduled lineup includes Wally the barred owl, Sue the red-shouldered hawk, red-tailed hawks Una and Pops, Romeo the great horned owl, Eve the screech owl, Cowboy the caracara and Morticia the vulture.
A raven and a crow also may be present, if they have finished molting.
These birds are among Wildlife Rehab Lorena's permanent residents, unable to be released back into the wild, mostly due to injury. According to Brittany Weimert, events coordinator with Wildlife Rehab Lorena, they now help with a noble cause.
"Those birds go on and they try to inspire the youth and the next generation to take care of our wildlife, so we call them our wildlife ambassadors," Weimert said.
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Weimert hopes these birds can help others to avoid the need for rehabilitation, using the example of the hawk, Sue.
"She came into the rehab center with a hole all the way through her wing and significant head trauma," Weimert said. "After a couple of weeks of being in rehab, we discovered that Sue was actually shot. It is against the law to shoot any bird of prey or any bird on the Migratory Bird Treaty Act."
Sue's injury left her blind, thus unable to be released to the wild. She still has steel buckshot between her eyes and in her shoulder, chest and thigh.
Although most of the ambassadors were kept due to injury, occasionally other causes prevent birds from being released. Romeo the owl imprinted upon a human as a baby, and so is also incapable of life in the wild.
Weimert emphasizes most wild birds don't need our help.
"It's fledging season right now, so sometimes our babies will get out of the nest a little bit early, but the parents will still come to the ground and raise those babies," said Weimert. "We don't need to interfere."
Part of Wildlife Rehab Lorena's program at CALF will be to provide education on when and how wildlife rehabilitation is warranted. Weimert also suggests that those needing advice check the Texas Parks & Wildlife wildlife rehabilitation website, tpwd.texas.gov/huntwild/wild/rehab.
Wildlife Rehab Lorena, which is McClennan County, harbors birds of prey from around the state, as well as a number of other animals from Central Texas.
"Last year, our numbers were over 600," said Weimert. "This year it's just the start of spring, and we're already over 350 animals, so this year will be a much larger year."
Most of the animals at the facility are songbirds, but it is also currently housing about 50 raccoons, a number which has been increasing with land development in the region. The center has also rehabilitated bobcats and coyotes.
Feeding all the animals is a challenge for the facility, which runs solely off of volunteers and donations.
"Baby owls will eat 6-10 mice per day," said Weimert. "We go through over 200 mice a day."
The center breeds its own mice as feed, but also mustpurchase bulk orders of frozen rodents. The facility's animals are also fed quail, rat, rabbit, deer, chicken, canned dog and cat food, and a variety of milk formulas.
A basket will be set up to accept donations of puppy formula, kitten formula, deer milk, cans of baby food or monetary donations. Wildlife Rehab Lorena is a 501(c)(3) organization, and has a wishlist online at facebook.com/WildlifeRehabLorena.
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