Feb 13 2009
A Light in the Dark
Mocking Bird Family By Mjmyap Flickr
Comments Off
Archive for the 'Animals' Category
Jun 01 2008
Saving God’s Magnificent Creatures
It was a sunny, balmy, breezy day, just perfect for a walk with an owl. I was a volunteer for Boyd Hill Nature Preserve with the bird of prey program. I headed down to get Phantom, the barred owl I have been working with for the past 6-8 months. I was teaching her to perch on the glove so we can start using her in our educational programs. She had only been getting on the glove for about 6 weeks. This type of training takes a long time and much patience.
When I first started with her I just stood on the ladder holding the glove in front of her for several minutes each day so she could get acquainted with it and not be frightened when the time finally came for her to actually get on it. So far patience had been paying off and she was coming along very well. The first day I actually hooked up her jesses and pulled her onto the glove she was not happy and bated off the glove. Being a glove novice she did not know what to do to get herself back up onto the glove. I had to get my free hand underneath her and gently push her body back up onto the glove and hope that she would grasp it with her feet. She did not. Once again I pushed her back up to the glove telling her that it is not dignified to be hanging upside down from a long strap attached to her legs. She didn’t care about dignity. The lesson for that day was over because once the bird is stressed I could not accomplish anything by forcing her to continue.
Many sessions later perseverance finally paid off and she eventually got the idea that it was really OK to be standing on a glove. We did not go anywhere, just stood in the cage while she felt the glove, jesses and strap. I whispered to her the whole time to calm her. By this time she had also learned how to get herself back up on the glove when she bated. What a feeling of joy I had the first time I actually took her out of her aviary. We only walked down the trail for about 50 feet but it was a giant step for her to be out of her security zone. Finally, on this day we were going to take our first long walk. Things were great. She watched me as I talked to her; she looked down at my feet hearing my footsteps whishing through the grass. I would elevate her on the glove up into the air above my head so she could feel the sun on her body and have the breeze ruffle her beautiful feathers. I sang to her softly. She blinked slowly at me with her wonderful dark eyes. She was actually enjoying this walk. After about 30-45 minutes I headed back to the aviary by way of the back parking lot. As we were heading down the trail a car pulled into the lot. Phantom tensed and I tried to distract her from bating but it was too late. She just bombed off the glove and was hanging upside down and frantically flapping her wings. Because she only has one wing and the shoulder of the other wing, all this accomplished was for her to spin in circles. She was very effectively twisting the jesses and strap around her feet so when I tried to get her back on the glove it was like her feet were tied together and she could not get a grip. I was trying to untangle her but she was flapping so madly it was impossible to untangle her.
Continue Reading »Comments Off
