The Raptor Rescue Read online

  “What kinds of injuries do the birds get?” Jessie asked.

  “Often they get hurt by flying into something,” Carmen said, “like a car or truck, buildings, or fences. Sometimes we also get birds with gunshot wounds.”

  “That’s terrible!” Violet said. “Are people allowed to hunt raptors?”

  Carmen shook her head. “Absolutely not. There are strict laws against killing, harassing, or harming any bird of prey. But even large fines and a risk of jail time don’t stop some people.”

  “But why do people shoot them?” Violet asked.

  Carmen shrugged. “Some people might simply think it’s fun. Also, some hunters think hawks eat game birds, like quail. They kill the hawks hoping to save more birds they can hunt.”

  Jessie pulled out her notebook. “Does that work?”

  “No,” Carmen said. “Hawks don’t eat many birds. They mostly eat rodents, like mice. Rodents reproduce very quickly. Without hawks, you get more rodents, and they eat bird eggs. Killing raptors actually leads to fewer game birds.”

  Jessie quickly took notes. “More people need to know that.”

  “Education is one of our biggest priorities,” Carmen said. “You might think I spend all day hanging out with birds. In reality, I do a lot of management and outreach. We have to order supplies, pay the bills, and raise money.”

  “I hope we can help,” Henry said.

  “Will we see the birds?” Benny asked. “Pierce is my favorite.”

  “You will get to see them,” Carmen said, “but not touch them. We have to be very careful.”

  “Yes,” Violet said. “Those sharp talons and beaks look like they could really hurt you.”

  The young woman at the desk put down the phone. “Carmen, we have an injured owl coming in.”

  The children exchanged excited glances. They couldn’t believe something like this was already happening so soon after they had arrived.

  “Thank you, Daisy,” Carmen answered. “What do we know about the injury?”

  “He found it beside the road,” Daisy said. “He thinks a car hit it. It might have a broken wing.”

  “All right, call Dr. Lauren.” Carmen turned back to the children. “When we admit a new bird, it gets a bird card.” She went to a desk with stacks of colored index cards. “Owls get a green card. This paper shows the information we need to enter. Jessie, would you like to do this one?”

  “I’d love to!” Jessie sat and read the list of questions.

  “We don’t always know how someone is carrying the bird,” Carmen said. “It might come in a cage or cardboard box or wrapped in a blanket.”

  “What do you do about the sharp beak and talons?” Henry asked.

  “I use these big gloves.” Carmen picked up a pair of leather gloves that came up to her elbows. “They’re really thick. They will help me hold the bird safely. I’ll also try to keep it wrapped in a blanket so it won’t hurt itself more by flapping around.”

  “I think I’ll wait over here.” Benny stood with his back against the wall. “I want to see the bird, but I don’t want to get close to its sharp parts!”

  Carmen laughed. “That’s a good idea. I’ll handle the bird. Oh, someone is pulling up.” Carmen crossed to the door and held it open.

  A man hurried inside holding a coat wrapped into a bundle. “It’s a long-eared owl,” he said. “I found it beside the road.”

  Carmen stepped forward to take the bundle.

  The man hugged it to himself. “What are you going to do?”

  “Our veterinarian will be here soon,” Carmen said calmly. “She’ll examine the bird. Then we’ll know what treatment it needs.”

  The man didn’t hand over the bundle. “Why isn’t the veterinarian here now? This bird needs help right away!”

  “Dr. Lauren comes in twice a week to check on all the birds,” Carmen said. “We call her for emergencies.”

  The man frowned. “That doesn’t sound very professional.”

  Carmen kept smiling. “We’re limited by the donations we get.”

  “Shall I start filling out the card?” Jessie asked. Maybe that would distract the man and he would calm down. “Where did you find the owl?”

  “I was bird-watching on the west side of Turtle Pond,” he said. “I’m an avid birder.”

  “The owl is lucky you found it,” Violet said.

  The man nodded proudly. “I saved its life, so this place better not let it die!”

  “We’ll do the best we can,” Carmen said.

  “I need your name, since you found the owl,” Jessie said.

  “Sebastian Hawkins.”

  “Hawkins.” Jessie wrote it down. “That’s a good name for someone who rescued a raptor.”

  Against the wall, Benny frowned in thought. The name reminded him of something.

  “May I please see the bird?” Carmen carefully took the bird from him and eased back the coat until a face appeared. The owl’s round eyes seemed to glare at everyone. “It is a long-eared owl.”

  “I told you,” Sebastian said. “Raptors are my favorite birds. I certainly know the difference between types of owls.”

  Carmen turned to Jessie. “Did you get that?”

  Jessie nodded. “I put down long-eared owl and today’s date. I noted who found it and under what circumstances. It has a line for the animal’s name. What should I put there?”

  “The bird doesn’t have a name,” Sebastian said. “It’s wild.”

  Carmen held the owl like a baby. “If this bird has a broken wing, it will cost thousands of dollars to fix. We have vet bills. We have to pay for its food and medicine and the buildings. People who watch the live cams feel like they know the birds better if the birds have names. They’re more likely to donate money to help one of them.”

  “So photos might bring in money to save this owl.” Violet took some pictures of the owl peeking out of the coat.

  Jessie tapped her pen on the bird card. “What’s a good name for this owl?”

  “How about Hoots?” Benny suggested.

  “That’s a fine name.” Carmen nodded.

  Sebastian frowned, but Jessie wrote the name down anyway. “That’s everything I need for now,” she said.

  Carmen looked over the card. “This card will stay with the bird the entire time it’s here. We’ll update it and add notes about its care as we learn more.”

  The door opened and a woman came in.

  “Oh, Dr. Lauren, here’s our new patient,” Carmen said. The two of them hurried down the hallway to begin examining the owl.

  “I wish we could watch them,” Jessie said. “It’s probably not safe though.”

  “Are owls actually raptors?” Violet asked. “When I think of raptors, I think of eagles, falcons, and hawks.”

  “A raptor is a bird of prey,” Sebastian said. “They hunt small mammals. Some definitions restrict the term raptor to falcons, hawks, and eagles, which are all active during the day. But many definitions of raptor include owls, which are nocturnal, or active at night. Altogether there are about five hundred raptor species worldwide.”

  “Wow, you do know a lot about birds,” Violet said.

  The young woman from the desk joined them. “If you leave your phone number, I’ll call you with an update on the owl,” she told Sebastian.

  He grumbled, but he gave her his information and then headed out the door.

  The woman grinned at the children. “I’m Daisy King. I heard you were coming.”

  The children introduced themselves. “This is an impressive place,” Henry said.

  Daisy shrugged. “Yeah, it’s great. It could be even better though.” She pointed at the colored index cards. “Look at these. It’s such an old-fashioned way of doing things! We should have everything on computers. That way you wouldn’t have to remember to move the card when you move a bird.”

  Henry thought about it. “It must be handy to have the card right where the bird is.”

  “Yeah, I guess,
” Daisy said. “We could do both. I have a lot of ideas for making this place more modern.” She looked down the hallway and lowered her voice. “Unfortunately, Carmen isn’t big on change.”

  “What else would you change?” Jessie had her notebook out, ready to take notes.

  “We could do so much with computers,” Daisy said. “An online calendar system would let us see who’s scheduled to work each day. Volunteers could update it themselves. They could see which slots are filled and which are empty. As it is, they have to call around when someone wants to trade.”

  “Do you have a lot of volunteers?” Henry asked.

  Daisy nodded. “Some have been coming in for years. We also have students who get school credit for helping. We need to track their hours so Carmen can sign their timesheets. That could be done on the computer. Instead, everything is paper all the time.”

  Henry frowned. “It does seem like a waste of paper.”

  “I agree,” Daisy said. “But Carmen is afraid something will happen to the computers and we’ll lose everything. It’s like she’s never heard of backups.” Daisy glanced down the hall again. “But don’t tell her I was complaining, okay?”

  “We won’t,” Henry said.

  Carmen came out a few minutes later. “Sorry about that,” she said. “Let me give you a quick tour.” She led them outside and pointed to a group of buildings. “Between those buildings is an open courtyard. That’s where Pierce’s enclosure and the eagle cam are located.”

  “Can we go see him?” Benny asked.

  “Tomorrow, okay? I need to stay close to hear Dr. Lauren’s report.” Carmen pointed to one of the buildings around the courtyard. “That one is a hospital for birds with severe injuries. They have small enclosures to keep them from flying. Behind that is a building just for owls.”

  “That’s where Hoots will go,” Jessie said.

  “When he’s healthy enough,” Carmen replied. “The last building holds birds that cannot be released. Some can’t fly. Some are blind.”

  “That must be hard for them,” Violet said.

  “Yes, but we try to give them a good life,” Carmen said. “We use them in our educational programs. Some are trained, so we can take them to schools or community events. They help teach people about raptors.”

  “That’s good,” Jessie said. “If people know more, maybe they’ll stop hurting them.”

  “And if they know about this place, they’ll know where to take an injured bird,” Henry added.

  “You have a lot of buildings and a lot of birds!” Benny said.

  Carmen nodded. “And a lot of work.”

  Henry thought of Daisy’s ideas. “Would using computers more make things easier?”

  “I’m sure they would in the long run.” Carmen sighed. “We’re so busy right now that I don’t have time to make changes. Maybe when things settle down. Lately it seems like everything is going wrong.”

  “How?” Benny asked.

  “Oh, just strange things. Mistakes are being made, but I can’t tell who’s at fault. Some of the problems put the birds at risk. They might put people at risk too.” Carmen managed to smile. “I’d better go back and see Dr. Lauren. Feel free to look around for a little while.”

  She hurried back into the building. The children looked at each other.

  “Strange things!” Benny bounced up and down. “We’re good at figuring out strange things.”

  “Maybe those people in the eagle cam chat were right after all,” Jessie suggested. “If there are so many strange things happening, it could be a security problem. What if someone is doing all this on purpose?”

  “We need to find out what exactly has been going on,” Henry said.

  “And we need to do it before anything bad happens to the birds,” Violet added.

  Henry nodded. “It looks like we have a mystery to solve.”

  A Mysterious Mix-Up

  Carmen seemed more cheerful the next morning. “How would you like to take a walk and see some birds?” she asked the children. “You can check on Hoots and finally meet Pierce.”

  Benny cheered.

  They headed to the owl house first. “Hoots did have a broken wing,” Carmen said. “Fortunately, the break was in the radius, a bone that’s fairly easy to fix.” She tapped her forearm. “That’s here on us. Dr. Lauren stabilized the bone with a splint. Then she wrapped the wing in a bandage. It should heal well.”

  “How long will Hoots be here?” Jessie asked.

  “Birds heal faster than people do,” Carmen said. “We’ll unwrap her wing in about two weeks, then give her another week to make sure she’s fully healed. If she flies well and can hunt, we’ll release her.”

  In the owl building, Carmen led them to a small enclosure. They looked through the chicken wire at Hoots. The owl stretched her body tall and swayed side to side.

  “Other birds of prey sometimes hunt long-eared owls,” Carmen said. “The long-eared owls stretch and move like that to look bigger and scare away predators.”

  “Even with her wing bandaged, she looks dangerous,” Henry said.

  Carmen studied the card attached to the cage. “Wait a moment. This isn’t right. This card is for a barn owl with a leg injury. How did it get here?”

  They looked at other cages. “This one’s wrong too,” Henry said. “The card says it’s a barn owl, but I think that’s a great horned owl.”

  Jessie spotted cards on the floor and gathered them. “Here’s the card for Hoots. Maybe it fell off. But why was a different card on her cage?”

  Carmen rubbed her forehead. “How did they get mixed up? Why are some on the floor? Let’s get these all to the right enclosures.”

  They matched each card to the correct bird. Jessie read the card for Hoots. “Someone added information last night after the exam. It says Hoots is fifteen inches tall and weighs eight ounces. That’s only half a pound!”

  “Birds have to be light to fly,” Henry said. “They have hollow bones.”

  “They do, but that doesn’t make them lighter,” Carmen said. “Their bones are hollow but made of denser material, so they won’t break. The hollow spaces are for air. Bird bones are like extra lungs.”

  Jessie looked at the owl, which stared back. “These birds are so amazing. Why would someone make trouble for them?”

  “I wish I knew.” Carmen sighed. “Let’s check the other buildings.” She led the way out.

  “What’s so bad about the cards getting mixed up?” Benny asked. “No one tried to hurt the owls.”

  “They need the right information with each bird,” Jessie said. “Otherwise people might think Hoots is ready to be released even though she just got here. Or they might think a bird had been fed when it hasn’t been.”

  “I wouldn’t like that at all!” Benny patted his stomach. “Missing meals is no fun.”

  Jessie smiled at him. “It’s no fun, and if a sick bird misses a meal, it might get weaker. It won’t heal as quickly.”

  Violet dropped back to join them. “Maybe it was an accident. A lot goes on here. Someone might have been distracted.”

  “I guess,” Jessie said. “But why were the cards on the floor?”

  “Maybe there was an emergency,” Violet said. “If someone called for help fast, I might drop things too.”

  They went into the next building. Carmen glanced at a card. “This is the right card for this bird, but I don’t think those care instructions are correct.” She looked at some of the other cards. “A lot of them are wrong. Things have been crossed out or added.”

  “Do you have any new volunteers?” Henry asked. “Maybe someone got confused and made mistakes.”

  “We do have a couple of new people,” Carmen said. “Still, we don’t let new volunteers update the info on the cards until they’ve been trained.” She gathered all the cards. “I’ll have to redo these.”

  They hurried back to the main building. Inside, a young man stood across the desk from Daisy.

  “
Oh, hi, Carmen,” Daisy said. “Everything all right?”

  “No, it’s not.” Carmen tapped the cards into a tighter pile. “I have to redo all these cards. Some of them have the wrong information. And in the owl house, cards had been switched between cages. Do you have any idea how that happened?”

  Before Daisy could answer, the young man stepped toward them. “I heard you’ve been having trouble here. I guess the rumors are true.”

  Carmen frowned. “Who are you?”

  “Faisal Raad, reporter. I got an anonymous tip about problems at the Raptor Rehab Center.” He grinned. “What else can you tell me about the trouble you’re having?”

  Carmen frowned and shook her head. “There’s really nothing much to tell. I imagine one of the new volunteers made a mistake. We’ll fix it.”

  Daisy piped up. “But if the bird cards were mixed up, one of the raptors could get the wrong medicine. That could be fatal.”

  “Fatal! Sounds like a major mistake to me.” Faisal scribbled in a small notebook. “Have any raptors died because of your mistakes yet?”

  “They certainly have not!” Carmen huffed out an annoyed breath. “You’re exaggerating, Daisy. We only let staff and trained volunteers give the birds food and medicine. They would recognize incorrect information. In any case, we found the mixed-up cards right away, so no harm has been done.” She added softly, almost to herself, “I’m sure those cards were correct when I left last night.”

  “If you had digitized the information like I suggested, this wouldn’t have happened,” Daisy said.

  “Please, Daisy, not now.” Carmen glared at Daisy. The young woman glared back.

  Faisal made notes. “Outdated systems,” he muttered. “Poor security.”

  “This is ridiculous!” Carmen snapped. “Everyone here makes the raptors our top priority. Most of our funding goes directly to care for the birds. We are constantly working on a tight budget and—oh, I don’t have time to defend these silly accusations. I have work to do.” She stomped over to a filing cabinet and pulled out a drawer.