A Day At The Hospital - Part 2...

Each year our Wildlife Hospital receives between 250 to 300 patients.  Some, like the little red tailed hawk in our last posting, are fortunate and have no serious injuries.  Others are not so lucky.  Those patients may spend weeks or even months in our care being treated for injuries, and if possible, being rehabilitated for release.  

All of this intensive treatment requires a large investment of our time, money, and man-hours.  The World Bird Sanctuary is fortunate to have a wonderful group of staff, volunteers, and interns who are dedicated to the care of these animals.  However, each and every volunteer and intern who wishes to work directly with the birds must receive a large investment of our staff's time to insure that they are taught the correct procedures for handling the animals in our care.  This is to ensure the safety of the animals and the humans who care for them.  

Following are some photos of such a training session.

One of our veteran staff members demonstrates the technique for removing a defensive hawk from it's enclosure while one of our new interns watches 

closely.

Once our intern has been coached in the techniques of safely restraining a protesting bird of prey, our staff member administers an antibiotic.

Mission Accomplished!!  Our intern has learned a valuable lesson in bird handling, and our patient has been given the medication needed to hasten his recovery.

And then, of course, there's the ever present paperwork!