PVCC Puma Press: April 2006

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	Photo by Janice Semmel
	Lady Liberty, the bald eagle, eats guinea pig while perched on volunteer Anne Peyton's arm-length, leather glove. Lady Liberty lives in captivity because of a gunshot wound.
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Perched on an arm-length, red leather glove, Lady Liberty, a majestic bald eagle wounded by a gun shot and forced to live in captivity, feeds on guinea pig while Anne Peyton, head volunteer and eagle trainer at Liberty Wildlife, calmly looks on. Peyton explains, “There are fewer than 15 bald eagles in the country that stand on a glove.”

Peyton wears gloves on both arms to protect herself from the eagle’s sharp beak and talons. Jesses, short leather straps fastened around the eagle’s legs, attach to a leash on the glove for security. The feeding process consists of a routine, which a handler must learn to be safe. Peyton explains that bald eagles tend to be natural bullies. She says in the wild they will watch an osprey catch a fish and then bully the bird until it drops its catch, so the bald eagle can swoop down and retrieve it to eat.

Eagles’ behaviors change with the mating season and with weather. When it is cold outside or they sense a cold front approaching, they instinctively eat faster because in the wild they would fill up on food so that they could hibernate for a few days and avoid the bad weather, but when it is warm, they eat more slowly. The eagle’s diet at Liberty Wildlife consists of chicken, guinea pig and fish. After the eagle is finished eating, she returns to her pen to bathe herself in a child-sized pool because she likes to be clean.

Liberty Wildlife counts on volunteers like Peyton to do such things as man the Wildlife Hotline, care for and rescue native wildlife, participate in educational programs and help to raise funds. According to Megan Mosby, executive director at Liberty Wildlife, anywhere from 200-300 volunteers participate in programs during the year.

The general public and volunteers bring native birds and animals that are sick, injured, orphaned or displaced to Liberty Wildlife for rehabilitation. The institution also houses birds and animals such as Lady Liberty that are non-releasable.

Laura Chambers, director of orphan care, says orphan care’s busy season starts in April and continues through September. She says, “We get baby quails, but because they are so precocious, they are easy to deal with and can be released after they have been cared for.”

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	'I think that it is important for the public to look an eagle or an owl in the eye and care about it'
	—Anne Peyton
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Faye Williamson, Wildlife Hotline coordinator, says the hotline is usually open from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m., 365 days a year and can respond to as many as 150 calls a day during the busy season. She says that after volunteers have completed training, they can answer hotline calls from their homes. This position requires a dedicated individual who maintains a set volunteer schedule of two-to-four hours per week.

Individuals may bring wounded or orphaned native animals to the drop-off window. Liberty Wildlife, located just east of 68th Street at the end of Paradise Lane between Shea Blvd. and Cactus Road, operates from 8 a.m.-6 p.m. daily, but individuals should call the hotline before dropping off animals.

Allison, one of the volunteers at Liberty Wildlife, makes an injured dove comfortable inside a clear plastic container. An individual brought the dove in for care after it was caught and wounded by a cat.

A Gila monster, gopher snake and Frodo, a burrowing owl, reside in cages located in the converted house at Liberty Wildlife and participate in educational programs. Because construction destroys existing burrows, Frodo was displaced from his natural habitat.

Chambers explains that reptiles such as desert tortoise, Gila monsters and snakes can not be released back into the wild because they may take diseases back with them. Some of these reptiles become part of the educational program, while the desert tortoise becomes part of the Adopt-a-Tortoise Program. Volunteer James Badman assesses homes for adoption and decides who can and cannot adopt a desert tortoise.

In the orphan care area of the house, tiny baby birds keep warm inside a brooder. Baby finches nestle inside folds of white paper towels placed inside a green, vented strawberry basket. Chambers scoops up a thin porridge mixture in the pocket clip of a pen cap and dribbles the contents into the hungry baby birds’ mouths.

Behind the house, Claudia, a volunteer, helps to care for injured and orphaned animals located in pens in a separate area from the educational animals. Blue herons rest on a perch in the flight enclosure where they undergo physical therapy to ensure their broken wings are sufficiently healed before release. Chambers explains that a caller reported the blue herons in distress, and a volunteer rescued and brought them to Liberty Wildlife for rehab. They will be released in the location where they were rescued.

Ruth Scott rehabs small native mammals such as raccoons, rabbits and coyotes that are occasionally brought to Liberty Wildlife.

Approximately 20 educational animals reside at Liberty Wildlife and include Lennie and Ruppert, the ravens; Acoma, a red-tail hawk; Cuervo the crow; Amelia, a peregrine falcon; Hedwig, a great horned owl; Lucilla, an American kestrel; Lady Liberty, the bald eagle and Apache, the golden eagle. Severe injuries or human imprinting prohibit their release back to the wild.

Anne Peyton trains and feeds the educational birds. Peyton feeds Apache, a golden eagle. Unlike Lady Liberty, Peyton only needs one glove to feed Apache. In 17 years at Liberty Wildlife, he has never bitten anyone, not even when they take his food. The eagle has never flown because a semi truck hit him.

Peyton participates in the educational programs. She says, “I think that it is important for the public to look an eagle or an owl in the eye and care about it.” She hopes to teach people to become more caring in how they deal with all creatures.

Executive director Mosby says educational teams consist of approximately two volunteers for classroom presentations and four to five volunteers for booth presentations. Last year, the teams participated in 350-370 educational presentations.

To volunteer or make donations, please call the hotline at (480) 998-5550 or for additional information on Liberty Wildlife Rehabilitation Foundation, please visit www.libertywildlife.org.