4th Blogoversary

Today is the our 4th Blogoversary. So I'm rerunning my first post about some of our patients. Thanks to everyone who has come to visit during the past 4 years.

These guys were found too close to the Palmer Airport. They are being cared for by one of our falconer friends, Tim Sell. He took them home to "hack out". Hacking is a method of raising young raptors so that they don't associate humans with food and can become independent at their own rate of speed.

Well, they're called Northern Harriers (Circus cyaneus) and they are
the only species of harrier in North America. They are somewhat
similar to accipiters such as Northern Goshawks, Coopers Hawks or
Sharp-shinned Hawks, but their lifestyle is very different. They hunt
over open meadows and marshes and nest on the ground. They were
formerly called Marsh Hawks. Their chief prey is the vole (meadow
mouse), but they also eat other small mammals as well as birds.

Thanks to Chris Maack for the info and pictures!

Update: 7/17/2008 These guys were released about 1 1/2 months later. To our knowledge they have not become repeat customers.