Today Kylie, Melissa and I had a very strange, and probably rare, experience. We got to help rescue an injured Peregrine Falcon. We were on our way to Target to get Kylie anew bathing suit, and as we passed the car wash next to Meijer Daddy saw the Falcon standing under a tree. After turning around and going back we were realized that the Falcon was injured. There was another lady there who said she had already called the humane society and was waiting for their emergency animal pick up, so we went on to Target. While we were there Daddy made a few phone calls to track down other possible places for the falcon to go, but none were available. When we left to back home the falcon was still there and other people had gathered as well. This time when we pulled in we found out that the emergency pick-up personnel from the humane society was not going to be able to come for the falcon as they were dealing with another issue elsewhere. They suggested that if someone could get a blanket over the falcon and gently wrap it, that we could then put the raptor in a box and bring it to the humane society. Other people were currently trying to get the falcon, but all they had was a T-shirt, and that’s when Daddy remembered that we have a blanket in the truck. After getting the blanket, and working in coordination with the two other people who were trying to get the falcon, Daddy was able to get behind the falcon and drape the blanket over it and then gentle hold and wrap it, pick it up and place it in a box. We then followed some other helpers to the humane society. When we got there we gave the falcon to their emergency unit, but they came back out a few minutes later and told us they were not going to be able to save the falcon; it’s wing was badly broken and it’s one claw was badly mangled, unfortunately that had to euthanize the falcon. Even though there was a sad ending for the falcon, we all felt really good that we at least tried to help the bird. We were able to take a few pictures of the injured falcon, also a video of us catching the falcon.
Tag Archives: Animals
Close Encounters of the Squirrel Kind
Apparently the squirrels on EMU’s campus are very tame and used to people, as this little guy came right up and sniffed my hand. In fact, he was so close that I can tell you with certainty that squirrels have a wet nose, just like dogs. This was taken at this morning after I dropped Kylie off at day care.
Another bird encounter
So I pulled into work this morning and parked on the lower level of the parking structure. While I was backing into a spot Chuck pulled in next to me. So we walked up the stairs together talking and not really paying attention to much else. We got to the top of the enclosed stairway from the lower deck up to the upper deck and outside and started to head out into the parking lot to head to the building when we heard a bird chirp and wings flutter. I turned and looked back into the stair well to see a small brown bird flying up and down the glass trying to fly out. So I walked back in and came towards it from the side hoping to direct it out to the door so it could fly away. However when I got close it would just fly up the window and not go around the enclosure. When it would come back down the window it would land on a little ledge where I could see its breath on the window. It seemed to be breathing hard, like it had been trying to get out for a while.
So I handed Chuck my apple and badge and decided that I would try to gently grab the bird and bring it outside. I was moving very slowly to try to not frighten the poor bird and give it a heart attack. Well when I went to grab it it flew up the window again. So I slowly moved my hands up the window with it and then back down the window as the little brown bird came down. I still wasn’t touching the bird at this point. I slowly moved my hands in to pick it up and it flew up again. So this time I just left my hands in a cup shape down on the window ledge. Then when the bird came down this time it landed back on the window ledge and as I moved my hands in towards it and it jumped up on my fingers and just sat there. So I picked him up and slowly walked outside with my hands cupped, but just letting the bird sit on my hand.
When I got outside he still just sat there on my hand, so I took a few steps around the outside of the enclosure into the lot and faced towards State Street. The bird then looked up at me, chirped twice, and flew away.
It was one of the coolest experience I have ever had with a live wild animal! From what I could tell I think it was a pretty mature bird. We see these little brown birds around here a lot, I think they are called song sparrows. He didn’t try to bite me or scratch me or anything. I think he finally realized I was trying to help him. Chuck said it was pretty cool too and we were both very surprised the bird let me pick him up. Afterward we were like, man we should have gotten pictures or a video of that or something. So needless to say I have no pictures to show of this bird encounter. That being said, it looked a lot like this:
Hawk on a Walk
Chuck and I have been trying to go for walks around the office building on our lunch break when the weather is nice. Typically we follow this path:
| Title: | Work Walk |
| Description: | 07/06/2009 |
Today when we came back around the front of the building we saw a large bird on the ground behind the pond. As we walked towards it to take a look it flew into a tree that we were walking towards. When it did this we realized it was a rather good sized hawk and it was carrying something in its talons. We decided to see how close we could get and see how big the Hawk was. Turns out it was holding a small bird in its talons and while it was sitting on the branch it was tearing it apart with its beak and eating it. I managed to get about five feet from the branch it was sitting on, which was only about head high, and take the below pictures with my phone (they didn’t come out to well) before the hawk finally started to give low volume screeches to warn me I was too close. After I took a step back it jumped down off the branch and flew off past me, I was surprised to see that it had a wing span of about five feet. That’s the closest I have ever been to a wild hawk, it was pretty cool.
I have uploaded the pictures to the gallery, and they can be found here. I salvaged what I could, but Like I said, they didn’t come out very well.