L A S T C H A N C E F O R E V E R / T H E B I R D O F P R E Y C O N S E R V A N C Y

A Feather In The Wind - Fall 2013 1

A Feather In The Wind

From the Executive DirectorAt the end of the year, we ask where we've been and what we've done, and where we should be going. Human impacts on wildlife are more pronounced than ever.

After so many years of providing a service to the birds of prey - for me personally it has been 50 - I can only say that those of you who support our work are the most loved, admired, and cherished people.

Your generosity keeps us going when a juvenile eagle unable to fly arrives with a broken beak and other numerous injuries after having been pushed out of the nest in a 75 foot pine tree because a Houston man wanted a pet eagle. When a Red Tailed hawk comes in with a gunshot wound, or when we remove an owl discovered in a foot trap hanging from a pole, the leg shank severed through the bone, harmed

because something was eating a farmer’s chickens.

Winning Some, Losing Some

A Red Shouldered hawk arrived just the other day. It was obviously sitting on a branch when a pellet from an ignorant person’s pellet rifle ripped through the edge of the chest, shattering the breast bone and ripping through the wing, severing tendons, bones and muscles. While I was examining this case, my telephone rang. The

person on the other end was complaining about a “buzzard” sitting in his driveway that had been there for a couple of days. I asked him to throw a box over it, maybe he or a friend could get it to us and all of the care would be free. His reply, “That’s not gonna happen man. This is a poor neighborhood and so it is your fault it’s gonna die!” Click.

I finish bandaging the hawk, give him fluids and antibiotics. My staff puts him into our hospital with a warming unit as I turn off the surgery light and clean the surgery table, wipe away the senseless loss of blood and prepare to go home. It’s eight o’clock.

Yet, we win many battles. Good hearted folks bring many birds to our door. We do get 56% to 65% of our cases back into the wild. We returned 3 Bald Eagles to east Texas in August, and 8 more are scheduled to go soon. We, you, Last Chance Forever staff, and volunteers have continued to provide educational programming, and we can proudly say that 538,000 people in the past year sat at least 40 minutes with us to hear our common sense wildlife conservation message.

A Changing Landscape

Thinking back to the late night with the Red Continued on Page 2...

For love of life, hawks on the wing, eagles in the sky, and for love of peace... We must always put up a fight. - John Karger

From the Executive DirectorOn fighting for our natural future one bird - and one human - at a time.

Page 1

Telling Nature's StoriesWe explore the pitfalls of making up great animal tales that misinform about biology.Page 2

A Year In PhotosRenewal at the ranch, educational programs, holidays, & exciting releases!Page 3

CalendarLast Chance Forever has a busy year ahead in our schedule of public demonstrations. Join us!Page 6

NewsletterFall 2013

Enjoying an afternoon at our Muleshoe Farm & Ranch facility, catching a Bay Winged Hawk

at an educational demonstration.

A Year In Our Lives

Our holiday letter as we look back over 2013 and plan for the next year.Page 5

Thank You, DonorsWe thank all our donors in 2013 who have kept us going financially, and who have inspired us to continue our rehabilitation and education work.Page 4

Edited by Volunteer Roxana Orrell

L A S T C H A N C E F O R E V E R / T H E B I R D O F P R E Y C O N S E R V A N C Y

2 A Feather In The Wind - Fall 2013

“I never let the truth stand in the way of a good story.”- Delbert Trew, Texas Folklorist

We all love wildlife and we love sharing great animal stories. We also live in a world where spicy tales inform people’s understanding of biology, rather than scientific fact. After all, it’s much more fun to imagine an eagle flying off with a sheep than it is to know that the bird can only carry 1/3 of its own body weight.

Nobody is immune to imaginatively interpreting what they’ve seen. At a recent event I met a volunteer from another raptor rehabilitation center, who stopped by to ask if we had lost a hawk. That was a strange question, so I asked what prompted it.  She said that a visitor to their center had asked about a bird’s behavior - it was feeding the visitor’s dog. I immediately realized that she assumed the hawk had been used in falconry because it was associating with a dog.

Later, the source of the story stopped by with a few more details.  The bird was brown, sat like a hawk, and ate fish. In the area, there were only two types of fish eaters - osprey and bald eagles. While eagles are rarely used in falconry, working with osprey is nearly unheard of. Even young osprey have a lot of white on their bodies, but bald eagles don't get their white head and tail until they are 4-5 years old, and it is easy to mistake a juvenile bald eagle for a hawk at a distance. It was probably an eagle.

She said that this bird would come by each day, sit in a tree, and drop food to the dog. The dog, of course, was eager to be fed.  

Was it possible that the eagle had been a falconry bird for a season or two and then released, a common practice and a good way to help a juvenile bird make it to adulthood?  Had it been hunted with a dog, and become used to sharing its catch with its canine partner?

The real problem was that my imagination had run away with my scientific perspective.  I was trying to interpret the bird's behavior when I

should have been focusing on the dog's.  

Raptors often have a favored place to eat.  This bird went about its business catching lunch, returning to its favorite spot, and dining messily.  The dog, on the other hand, had figured out the routine, and would go there and wait for scraps to fall.  Sure enough, his snack would be delivered from on high. There was no reason to believe that the bird had ever been involved in falconry, or that it cared one whit about the dog.

We had fallen into the trap of anthropomorphizing, projecting human-like thoughts, feelings and motivations onto the animal’s behavior.  In a hospital setting like Last Chance Forever’s, misconstruing behavior can endanger our patients' health. In helping others understand their natural world, how to exist within it, and how to protect it, it is equally dangerous to misinterpret and misinform. The most valuable lesson is how to view the world from an animal’s perspective, not from our own.

Sadly, quite a few of the birds we receive for treatment have been victims of this phenomenon.  It happens most often when a well-meaning individual sees a young bird on the ground.  The first assumption is that the bird has fallen out of the nest, and that its parents can't find it or care for it.  Instead, the young bird may be on the ground as a normal part of its development while it is "branching" out of the nest.  At this time in its life, it learns to hop and fly and, in many cases, ends up on the ground for a time before it develops the strength, skills, and full feathers for controlled flight.  Our human instinct says that youngsters should be kept close at hand for safety.  But for a bird, this separation is normal.  The parents know precisely where the fledgling can be found, and would continue feeding and teaching it - unless a caring but uninformed person who doesn’t understand the bird’s biology mistakenly "saves" it.  If the bird looks like it's really in trouble, by all means try to help. Otherwise, let nature take it's course.

Telling Nature's Storiesby Robert Schmid

From the Executive Director (Continued)Shouldered hawk, I think things are getting worse for the natural world. It could be global warming, it is overpopulation. It could be politics - no, I know it’s politics when we “mitigate” wetland, or issue eagle predation permits to wind generation companies, or allow lead shot over captive fish hatcheries, or allow our children to become so engrossed in video games, telephones and social media that they forget to look up and be aware of the world around them.

Our children don’t to go to the woods because we don’t take them there. We don’t have time, is what I hear. We let them fear the scary woods and the animals within. There might be germs in the dirt or air, or, heaven forbid your hot dog falls on to the ground, or you have to wipe your hands off on your pants to eat lunch. A generation of these children have grown up engrossed in technology without embracing the outdoors. They think nothing of rampant overdevelopment without any incentive to redevelop previously used spaces, after all it's woods, fields, and"just animals." No big deal!

We need your support. We thank those that help, and we need you to ask others to help. We need allies who open their hearts to adopt Last Chance Forever, who can make a difference with the stroke of a pen, a telephone call. Nature suffers while people seem to give more attention to pets because they can be possessed, but are forgetting that without nature, life as we know it will cease to exist. Don't mistake me, I love my dogs almost more than I love most people, but I equally love the earth I live on. A minority of people deeply understand that without water to drink, air to breathe, and a clean earth to eat from, we have no future. Though they may become financially rich, our children will suffer when there are no usable natural resources.

Harris hawks live in a community. They are the only raptors known to hunt in packs. While the parents are feeding, unrelated hawks bring food. When they hunt in packs, the older birds are teaching the younger birds to survive, even when they are not their own hatchlings. Inspiring, I say! Shouldn’t we older birds be teaching the younger birds even when they are not our own? Donate today; I’m not getting any younger!

I hope your days are filled with joy.

John Karger

To receive this newsletter by email, IN COLOR, drop us a line at raptor@ddc.net. We will not sell or share our

mailing list. - John Karger

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A Feather In The Wind - Fall 2013 3

Yard and garden upgrades, and a fully restored and functional concrete hothouse.

A young man releases a Screech Owl.

Volunteers at the Minnesota State Fair.

Falconry class At Muleshoe Farm & Ranch Trust.LCF President Melissa Hill, DVM and Executive Director John Karger

ride with an eagle for the 4th of July.

Handling birds at the Falconry Experience Moments after release, a Barn Owl seeks the skies.

LAST CHANCE

FOREVER -A YEAR IN PHOTOS

Muleshoe Farm & Ranch Trust Renewal - Thanks Hill

Country Master

Naturalists!

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4 A Feather In The Wind - Fall 2013

In AppreciationLast Chance Forever would like to thank all our friends, including the following foundations, organizations, and individuals, for their generous support.

Corporations & BusinessesAIG Matching Grants ProgramComfort Garden ClubCrowe's Nest FarmHill Country Master NaturalistsKirby Animal HospitalLaredo Animal ClinicMinnesota D.N.R.Pro Shooters, LLCSan Antonio Parks & Rec.Texas Hawking AssociationTexas Parks & Wildlife Dept.Town & Country Veterinary HospitalU.S. Fish & Wildlife ServiceVanishing Texas River Cruise

FoundationsAaron Edward Walters Trust Leo S. & Emogene Burton Case FoundationHixon Family Foundation

Hollomon Price FoundationSan Antonio Area FoundationSK Foundation

IndividualsJonnie AlbaDiane AlshouseLaurie ArmstrongKaren BarnesWendy BritzMolly BurkeTodd BurnettVance & Deborah CleggSherry CoffmanFred & Niki CollinsDuncan & Corie CormieVee DavisonLarry DittoEleanor DvorakNancy ErnstCaroline Forgason

Michael GallopsMary Beth GarriganJo Ann GinnLand & Judy GlofeltySai GoldenJames GrahamMartin HarrisBarbara HenningEliane HenryJames & Judith IsaacsonLarry & Sharon JaySumi KingDavid & Myrna LangfordBonnie LunaPam McDonaldKurt & Linda MyersBrandi NickersonPaul & Arvella OliverTed & Cheryl PriceDenny & Nancy RenwickRobert & Eloise Roche

Lanny & Patricia RossG. William RueberDiane SchirfDana & Sallie SchmidBill & Letticia SeverJames ShermanJoseph & Suzanne ShoafPeter & Connie SmithDebbie StephensBrandy SwansonVan Tine FamilyGeorge & Claire VaughanTom & Geri WalkerLinda WhitacreMargaret WhittMolly Willsher

Volunteer SupportDiane AlshouseJulie AndersonMolly Burke

Fafnir CrowChristel & Jim DanningMichelle & Ridge FelkerCasey HarringtonMike HinkleMarla HopmanDavid JustinCaroline KrisaScott Mahan-MillerRoxana Orrell Carrie ParsonsRobert SchmidMatt SchweitzerPolly WilkeAndrew & Rebecca WillenbringKeith WrightZoe ValdezAngel Vargas

ContributionsName" "

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I am enclosing a tax-deductible contribution of:

q $25 q $50 q $100 q $200 q Other $"

If you wish to send a gift in honor of another, please list their information below. They will be notified that a gift was made on their behalf:

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Occasion "Please send your donations to:Last Chance Forever / The Bird of Prey ConservancyPO Box 460993, San Antonio, TX 78246Or visit our website at www.lastchanceforever.org for online giving.

Cleaning1 gal. Freezer Bags13 gal. Trash Bags55 gal. Trash BagsClorox BleachGreen Scrub SpongesHand & Dish SoapSimple Green Cleaner

HardwareBlack Zip Ties (any size)Duct TapeMasking Tape

MedicalGauze PadsHydrogen PeroxideQ-TipsTongue DepressorsTriple Antibiotic OintmentVet Wrap

Office3" x 3" Post-Its9" x 12" Envelopes#10 Business EnvelopesDry-Erase MarkersHighlightersLetter-Sized White Copier PaperManila File FoldersPermanent Markers

OutdoorHeavy Duty Garden HosePlastic Wading Pools

Computer/ElectronicsCD-R and DVD-R Blank DiscsDuracell Batteries (Any Size)Extension CordsFlash DrivesSurge Protection Strips

LCF's Supply Wish List

Please Contact us at (210) 499-4080to schedule any donation delivery times.

Memorial FundIn our memory and never forgotten.Felix & Felicia Barth, Jay Bell, Scott C. Blayney, Brett Bommer, Betsy Damon, Colonel Darling, Ronnie Ersch, Linda Hahn, Hagbard D. Hansen, Nancy Holmes, Robert Humphrey, Christie Jackson, Adolph & Ida Karger, Signa M. Karger, Walter H. Karger, Walter Karger, Amy Freeman Lee, Bob Nash, Dr. Amanda Riddle Noble, Kevin O’Malley, Wayne Price, William Jeffery Pylant, Pat Quick, Diane Roche, Dr. Jon Scarborough, Joseph Simonich, Timothy Stone, Edgar Watkins, William White.

Our Spotlight Donor - THANK YOU, Hollomon Price Foundation!

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A Feather In The Wind - Fall 2013 5

At the weather turns chilly, we share the road we've traveled and plan the next chapter. It's fall, and we have released many of our young orphans to start their lives in the wild. But many will remain with us for some time, including an unusually high number of eagles - 13 Bald Eagles and a Golden Eagle.

Our Year Of The Eagle

Five of the Bald Eagles are being flight exercised now that the weather has cooled, in preparation for release. Others require longer treatment and recovery, including two that were injured as chicks by human interference, suffering beak injuries and deformity that require reshaping and realignment over a year or more, in order to tear prey normally. As exciting as their progress is, all these eagles eat 3/4 to a full pound of food per day, which has brought our daily meat consumption to over 40 pounds of food per day at certain times of the year.

Feeding the Horde

We feed roughly 17,000 pounds of beef heart, rats, quail, chicks, venison, and other meat to our patients every year. When processing hearts, a mainstay food, we actually must start with double the amount we feed, due to the high amount of fat and other tissue that must be trimmed off the delivered cuts. This year we have been lucky to work with a quail source (thank you Diamond H Quail!), so that we can easily feed out more whole bodies for a natural diet. As always we tip our hats to our local game wardens who help tremendously by providing freshly killed deer, usually retrieved from mishaps. Though we are sad that they met a premature end, we also are thankful that they will directly benefit other wildlife in our care.

Muleshoe Farm & Ranch Trust

Restoration of our working farm and ranch facility in Comfort is proceeding. The concrete hothouse is fully functional. Some changes, such as tree planting and fencing, are easily apparent, while others, like the new well, are returning functionality. Coming projects include building raptor housing on the property, which to date we have used only for education and special events. The donor of this property, Betty K. Barth, still manages the farm on

which she has lived most of her 93 years. We thank the Hill Country Master Naturalists who have adopted the ranch for an ongoing restoration effort.

Exciting Experiences

We have started offering falconry experiences to individuals and small groups in the Hill Country. Our guests have learned some bird handling basics as well as enjoyed their flight over the fields among the picturesque hills. Some hardy souls have even enjoyed touring the ranch by camel back!

Conservation Education

As we have done every year for over three decades, Last Chance Forever has educated and entertained audiences in Texas and beyond, performing over 300 demonstrations with our raptor ambassadors. Along with many school visits, we discussed raptors and conservation with tens of thousands in public venues from SeaWorld to the Minnesota State Fair, where we have been graciously invited year after year by the MN Department of Natural Resources and are joined by our permanent crew of local volunteers. Most months, we also have been educating nature enthusiasts and releasing birds on the Vanishing Texas River Cruise in Burnet. We are amazed by the connections made between the public and their natural world when people experience these animals so closely. We know we are making a difference when individuals seek us out at events halfway across the state to bring us hurt or orphaned birds of prey.

New Outreach

Last Chance Forever is in the process of developing a new website for our young friends who want to learn more about what we do and how to help preserve their wildlife heritage. They are our heroes of tomorrow, our Raptor Rangers, who pledge:

For love of life,Hawks on the wing,

Eagles in the sky,And for love of peace...

We must always put up a fight.

We wish all our friends a joyous holiday season and a bright new year, and hope to see and hear from you in the coming months. Let us make the world a better place together.

Falconry Experiences For those who have always wanted to see more of the ancient art of falconry, we now offer a Falconry Experience in the Hill Country. Come join falconers, their birds, and their hunting dogs, in a cottage of wood and stone. Help them prepare falcons and hawks for the field, and watch as they take flight. Learn about falconry equipment and ancient practices. For more information on our packages, call us at 210-499-4080.

LCF On Facebook!Last Chance Forever has its own Facebook page. Come Like us and get all the latest news about certain patients, releases, conservation, and our coming events. We hope to see you there!

A Year In Our Livesby Roxana Orrell

Doug Baum's camels at a falconry experience. Flight exercising a Bald Eagle for release. A young Great Horned Owl flies free.

An injured orphan brought for treatmentto an educational event.

L A S T C H A N C E F O R E V E R / T H E B I R D O F P R E Y C O N S E R V A N C Y

Thank you to everyone who makes our work possible!

NewsletterFall 2013

Last Chance Forever Live - CalendarWe look forward to seeing our friends at our public educational events. Please check our website for more details and more events as they are added.

Last Chance Forever / The Bird of Prey ConservancyPO Box 460993San Antonio, TX 78246-0993(210) 499-4080 l www.lastchanceforever.org

FebruarySeaWorld San Antonio (tentative) - Feb. 15, 16, 17.Vanishing Texas River Cruise - Sunday Date TBD, 11 AM. Releases and gorgeous nature viewing. www.vtrc.com/freedom_flight.html

MarchWings Over Boerne - Mar. 8, 15, 22/11 AM - 5 PM. Boerne Visitor Center. www.visitboerne.org/calendar/Vanishing Texas River Cruise (tentative) - Apr. 20, 11 AM. www.vtrc.com/freedom_flight.html

AprilScarborough Renaissance Festival - Weekends Starting April 5, 4 shows daily. Falconry practiced as it was in the renaissance, with exciting flights and pageantry. www.srfestival.com

To see this newsletter in full color, go to www.lastchanceforever.org.

Additional events can be found on our calendar, www.lastchanceforever.org/calendar/. Also, come see (and Like) our Facebook page!