RESCUE, REHABILITATION, RELEASE & EDUCATION

Imagine that you find a Red Tailed Hawk injured at the side of a road or that a Great Gray Owl slams into your car and is not moving! What should you do? Who can you call?

Bitterroot Audubon invites you to their November 18^thmeeting to get answers and to hear real life stories from experts, Brooke and Jesse, of the Wild Skies Raptor Center.Few people have the dedication it takes to commit their lives to wildlife rehabilitation. These are the people who provide rescue, veterinary care and rehabilitation, or humane death when wildlife are injured, often by the actions of people. Most of the reported injured raptors in the Bitterroot make their way to Wild Skies Raptor Center.  Just the past couple of years, Wild Skies has admitted over 60 injured raptors from the Bitterroot Valley, including the famous Great Gray Owl "Gracie". Many of the birds they rehabilitate have suffered from vehicle, fence, or window collision, entanglement in fishing line, lead poisoning from ammunition fragments, injury from domestic cats or intentional shootings. Many of these injuries are preventable, so part of the Wild Skies mission is to educate the public about ways they can reduce or eliminate wildlife injury. 

Brooke and Jesse will give a presentation on their work with injured raptors in western Montana. Brooke has been rescuing and rehabilitating injured raptors for over 13 years. She'll give a brief history of Wild Skies, current educational programs, and plans for the future. There is a lot more work that goes into the rescue and care of these injured, federally protected species than most people realize. How do you capture an injured raptor? What do you feed them? How much does it cost to care for an injured bird? What if they have broken bones? How can I help? Brooke and Jesse will answer these questions and more.  They'll also bring along a few non-releasable raptors to share their stories.

Brooke Tanner, originally from Toledo, OH, moved to Montana, in 2002 after graduating from Veterinary Technician school in Colorado. She got her start rehabilitating raptors at the Ground Eagle Foundation in Condon, MT from 2006-2009.  Brooke founded Wild Skies Raptor Center March of 2010 after Grounded Eagle closed. While developing Wild Skies Brooke was sub-permitted under Judy Hoy of Stevensville from 2010-2015. 

Brooke met Jesse Varnado in 2011, while volunteering at the wildlife center in Helena. Jesse was born and raised in Helena, MT.  He is an avid outdoorsman and talented wildlife photographer. While volunteering at the wildlife center in Helena from 2008-2012 he gained experience in wildlife rehab and raptor handling skills. Since 2012, Brooke and Jesse have been the dedicated team behind Wild Skies.  In 2014 they started renovating exiting buildings on a 12½-acre piece of property in Potomac, MT.  Wild Skies Raptor Center received 501(c) 3 nonprofit status in 2010 and has all necessary permits through US Fish & Wildlife Migratory Bird Office and MT Fish, Wildlife and Parks. Brooke has also been sub-permitted under Raptor View Research Institute’s USGS Banding Permit and has banded around 200 rehabilitated raptors, including 20 Eagles, since 2011.  

COME JOIN BITTERROOT AUDUBON, MONDAY, NOVEMBER 18^TH7:00 P.M. AT THE LEE METCALF NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE TO LEARN MORE ABOUT RAPTOR REHABILITATION AND WAYS YOU CAN HELP! The meeting will be held in the Visitors’ Center of the Refuge located north of Stevensville just off the Eastside Highway. Turn west onto Wildfowl Lane. The Public is invited. Contact Kay for more information, 360-8664.