Wildlife Conservation United States Project #9275

Fellow Mortals--Compassion Changes Everything

by Fellow Mortals Wildlife Hospital

Fellow Mortals--Compassion Changes Everything

Project Report | Feb 7, 2017
Eric's Owl

By Yvonne Wallace Blane | Project Leader

Peek a boo owl

Just one week ago, I got a frantic message from a man named 'Eric,' who had found an owl on the side of the road. Eric's message said, "the owl is injured and breathing heavily--I'm afraid I will hurt it even more trying to do anything!"

I called him back and asked if he could cover the bird with a box so that it didn't fly or walk away before we could help.

This might sound strange, since how coud an injured owl leave? But wild creatures will do anything they can to avoid being caught if they are injured. They do not know that many people are compassionate and cannot tell that our intentions are kind when we approach. If they are well, no human will ever be able to get near them--let alone touch them.

In this case, the owl was badly injured--unable to stand and bleeding from the mouth, so I was able to explain exactly how to contain the owl for transport.

Never attempt to pick up an owl or hawk or any wild creature without being instructed how to do it safely for you and the wild animal. In the case of owls, their natural defense is their talons--the nails on their feet that they use to catch prey. The feet are strong--the nails are sharp.

Once Eric had the owl contained, he called to say he thought it probably needed to be euthanized because it was so badly injured. I told him to "bring it in right away--this is what we do."

When we examined the owl, we found it was a healthy female weiging four pounds--that's alot for a great-horned owl. The feet were big and all indications are that it is a female. Eric had found her on the side of the road and, because she was otherwise in great shape, we can only guess that she had bit hit by a vehicle.

The owl was bleeding from the mouth and had an abrasion on one eye, but her most critical injury was head trauma that made it impossible for her to stand. We treated her for the trauma and injury to the eye.

One week later, she has come from a bird that was on death's door and unable to feed herself or stand to a fierce beauty that doesn't want to be in our care. With the rate she is progressing, we hope to release her in time to raise her young in the wild.

I sent Eric a picture to show him the owl's progress and he responded, "I guess I was a little panicked. Thank you for helping me figure out how to help."

We are so happy we could help and we love what we do, but we wouldn't even get the chance if people like Eric and people like you didn't care enough to make sure we are here when we are needed.

We've attached a picture of Eric's owl, as well as some valentine 'stickers' for you.

This Valentine's Day, we want to thank you for Opening your heart to Wildlife!

Yvonne

delicious beaver

Bestbuds Bunnies

Sweet Fawn

Eric's owl

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Nov 10, 2016
Life is Funny like this

By Yvonne Wallace Blane | Project Leader

The morning after

Life is funny like this. Thursday, October 13 was our last day of our court proceedings where we were making our case to argue against the local power company cutting the trees that provide privacy, security and quiet to the wild animals in our care. The power company owns an easement on Fellow Mortals' property where mature spruce and walnuts have grown for decades, and have always been trimmed in the past. Suddenly this year--they wanted to cut them all down. We were fighting for the wild ones, and their home.

It was more than irony that no sooner had we returned from court to the hospital that evening, but we got a text to let us know there was a hawk dangling from a power line in a very rural area of Walworth County. It was about 6 p.m.

The immature red-tailed hawk had been hanging from the top power line sometime that morning.

Two of us arrived at the location and saw the hawk hanging helplessly head down from the topmost power line. Every so often, it beat its wings which caused it to bang its legs against the pole. We called the power company and then the police and fire department and then the power company again. The police and fire department arrived quickly but it was over an hour later before we saw the welcome sight of the power company truck's lights approaching along the desolate country road.

Once on the scene, the power company worker checked with the company and determined the power to the line would need to be turned off to allow for a safe rescue, and he left to do that while we stayed with the bird. Another half hour passed. It was now nearly 9 p.m.

Once the worker got back and got his truck into position, it was clear the hawk was exhausted and wasn't even trying to beat its wings anymore. The air had turned chilly and it was critical that the hawk be rescued soon.

I instructed the worker how to use the raptor handling gloves to grasp the hawk's legs, and then how to hold the hawk to transport it safely once he had extricated the bird's talons from the line.

After he maneuvered the bucket truck under the hawk, the rescue was smooth. Everyone cheered when we saw he had freed the hawk!

As soon as the bucket truck returned to ground, I took the very stressed and hypothermic bird, a beautiful immature female Red-tailed hawk, into my arms, and started massaging her feet and legs. I was not sure if she was still alive and it was a half hour trip before we could get her to the hospital, but just minutes before we arrived, I felt her talons move under the warmth of my hands.

Once back at Fellow Mortals, we worked to warm the bird slowly using hot wraps and blankets, and when she finally opened her eyes, we provided glucose and fluids.

On examination, we found degloving on the inside of one leg that had created a hole over an inch in diameter in the skin. She would need antibiotics and daily wound care to heal.

That first evening, it was enough to know she had returned to normal temperature and was resting quietly in critical care. We hoped she was helped soon enough to recover from the ordeal and will be alive in the morning. It was after 10 p.m. before we shut off the lights in the hospital.

The next day we returned to court, where the Judge granted the power company the right to take our trees. The power line would not take the hawk's life.

Nearly a month has passed; the hawk is fully healed and will be moving outside to a pre-flight cage tomorrow to acclimate to Wisconsin's fall temperatures, a few days hence, she will move to the big raptor flight where she will have the room to stretch her wings and legs in preparation for release!

Though we lost our fight to save the trees that were so much a part of Fellow Mortals' Sanctuary, thanks to the hawk, we have shown we have not lost our purpose--to help the wild ones, regardless of who finds them, or why they need help.

Hours hanging from the power line

Power company employee in bucket by hawk

The bird is down

Coming back to life

A time to rest

Links:

Article on Court Case

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Aug 11, 2016
Saving the Sanctuary that Saves Wildlife

By Yvonne Wallace Blane | Project Leader

Supporters at Court

Wild birds and mammals who have recovered from critical injuries and spent sometimes months in care spend the final weeks of rehabilitation in the safety, quiet and natural environment outside the hospital, where large trees and dense undergrowth at the front of the Sanctuary shield them from traffic noise and potential harm from people passing by on the road that runs in front of the Sanctuary. This peace, quiet and safety is threatened with destruction by American Transmission Co. (ATC), which wants to save time and money by cutting everything down once and for all in a 450 foot long path along the front of the Sanctuary--rather than trimming the trees every few years and letting them stand, as has been done since 1970.

If we cannot save the trees and vegetation in the easement, the outdoor flights and habitats will not be safe for wildlife and will become unusable. Other wildlife facilities have had their permanent education animals stolen and have had wildlife in care injured or killed, which is why we have done everything we can to create a visual and sound barrier for the Sanctuary where wildlife are housed prior to release.

Thanks to the support of our community and people nationwide who have signed our online petition, on July 29, 2016 Fellow Mortals' rehabilitators were present in Court to hear the Judge grant our request for an injunction to stop American Transmission Co. (ATC) from clear cutting the trees and vegetation from the utilities easement.

American Transmission Co. (ATC) had asked the Judge to dismiss Fellow Mortals' request for a temporary restraining order, but the Judge ruled in our favor, and we were allowed to move to a hearing on the evidence.

The Temporary Restraining Order will stand for 90 days.

Our attorneys were wonderful and this achievement was not anticipated by ATC. The hearing was attended by over 50 supporters, who packed the courtroom, and wore badges that said "Battered, Bruised but Unbroken."

On August 10, a scheduling conference and bond hearing was held. ATC requested a $1,100,000 bond of Fellow Mortals. The Judge entered a bond for $108,000. A four-day trial is set to begin October 10.

ATC wants to make sure they are protected if anything happens while the injunction is in place, and continue to mention "FIRE." You may remember that Fellow Mortals received a phone call threatening fire, that Sal Dimiceli, long-time supporter of Fellow Mortals and founder of the charity A Time is Now to Help (www.thetimeisnowtohelp.org) received a phone call threatening Fellow Mortals' animals if we did not go along with ATC's demands--and that an ATC employee brought up fire on the stand when he was being questioned in front of the Judge on July 29.

While we have had three victories, we have a long way to go to win and ATC is going to do everything they can to try to stop us. We feel confident we can prevail and set a precedent that will help others who face similar battles in the future, but we need your help.

The community support we have received locally, regionally and beyond has been what is keeping us strong. We are so very grateful for each and every one of the 85,000 people who has taken the time to sign our petition, make a donation or say a prayer. We have raised $20,000 for legal fees so far, but we need to raise much more.

American Transmission Co. (ATC) will fight hard to defeat Fellow Mortals, because they know that if we win, it will help others to protect wildlife, wildlife habitat and property rights in the future.

FACTS: Clear-cutting or 'vegetation management' to remove 'incompatible species' is NOT required by state or federal law. Clear-cutting is a company policy, a company choice--that abuses easements to the detriment of the people who live on the property where transmission lines are placed.

The lines in the easement at Fellow Mortals are 138 kV, relatively low voltage. The lines have not changed since 1970, and the easement for the lines has been maintained by trimming trees for the last 46 years. Experts have told us that reliability and safety of the electric lines can be maintained by continuing trimming as has been done in the past. Clear cutting is not necessary.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) did not require an Environmental Impact Survey before approving the applicaiton of ATC and other companies to institute their 'vegetation management' plan in 2013, stating that it did not anticipate any change from past practice--which was trimming. You can read more here: http://www.ferc.gov/industries/electric/indus-act/reliability/vegetation-mgt.asp

ATC stated in court that it intends to 'remove incompatible vegetation'--that is clear cut--under its 9,440 miles of lines--it just hasn't gotten to all of them yet. In that case, an Environmental Impact Survey must be performed.

We are coming to you, our supporters, to ask you to consider making a generous one-time gift to Save the Sanctuary that Saves Wildlife. https://www.globalgiving.org/microprojects/save-the-trees-save-the-sanctuary-fellow-mortals/

A gift to help in this fight will not only help the wild animals who are currently at Fellow Mortals; it will help those who need us in years to come--and, very importantly, your gift will help us set a precedent that can be used to protect wildlife and wildlife habitat nationwide when the case is cited as a precedent in the future.

This Norway Spruce is over 100 years old

Alberta, 36, lives permanently in the Sanctuary

Links:

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