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A new home for raptor rescue program |
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Written by Erin Frustaci
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Thursday, 21 December 2006 |
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The Rocky Mountain Raptor Program, which hatched in Fort Collins in 1979, will soon be nesting in a new home. By Dec. 31, the program will move to 720B E. Vine Drive in the northwest part of Fort Collins from its current location at the Colorado State University’s veterinarian hospital.
Bob Francella, director of community support for the Rocky Mountain Raptor Program, said the program has outgrown the current home. The new space is 10 times larger, offering more room to care for injured raptors.
“In terms of impact, we are saving lives when it comes to the birds. And people have an amazing opportunity to participate and nurture their own spirits,” Francella said.
The program started as a CSU club and has soared ever since. The help of about 150 volunteers, who each give a minimum of 3-4 hours a week, makes the program glide smoothly and successfully. The staff estimates they will have treated 265 birds this year by its end.
“The most common injuries are collision injuries,” Francella said.
For raptor cases requiring specialized care, the center will continue to work closely with CSU’s College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences.
The organization rescues raptors, treats them and if they are well enough, releases them back into the wild. Birds stay anywhere from a couple weeks to nine months. On rare occasions, a bird may stay up to two years.
Francella remembers his first rescue.
“We got a call that a bird was hurt,” he said.
A barn owl in an abandoned grain elevator in La Salle was hurt. The door was locked, so Francella got on his hands and knees and crawled through the grain shoot with a flash light. As he approached the bird, the bird ran out. Though it was a challenge, the group eventually caught the bird and brought it in for treatment.
Before a bird is released, it must prove it can hunt and fly.
The new location will have more flight caging where the birds can practice flying.
The birds that are not releasable stay with the program and are used for educational purposes.
“It gives the community the opportunity to be close to these magnificent creatures and get to see close up in a way they wouldn’t otherwise,” Francella said.
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WANT TO SEE A PRETTY BIRD?
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