The spooky pumpkin face came from Wild Bird Center, 1722 East Woodmen Road, Colorado Springs, 719-548-9863. The WBC has fine gifts and home decor for all holidays and occasions. Happy Haunting!
We appreciate the organization and hard work,that went into this project. Thank you all for maintaining good spirits and sense of humor despite frozen faces and fingers!
Kyle came out to begin mapping out his project.
Danny arrived with his Bobcat-how cool!-and graded, augured, and trenched the areas where poles and wire would be placed.
On a cold weekend the poles were sent in concrete….
…then wire was wrapped, plywood and lattice hung, and it was a wrap!
Kyle’s Dad made the metal nameplate for Kyle’s project.
What a busy time the last several weeks has been for Scout Kyle and Troop 66. After weeks of putting together his plans for his ambitious Eagle Scout project-constructing an outdoor enclosure for wildlife in rehab-Kyle was busy getting the papework done, gaining approval for his project, and finding donated materials to complete his project. Finally, last weekend, after a week of nearly 80-degree weather, Kyle and the Troop arrived early Saturday morning in very cold, windy weather to work on the enclosure. The project went well and the plan was to return Sunday morning to complete the cage. Well, forecast of potential snow and nasty weather had us all concerned, but Sunday was actually a decent day early on. The turnout was great and the project was pretty much completed, just needing a few finishing touches that were done by Kyle and his brother later. Meanwhile, Rodney embarked on a very big project that is already helping immensely; he brought water out to the other side of the property and those enclosures, so no more hooking 3 hoses together for water for cleaning and filling water bowls; no more hauling water from the house in freezing temps, and next spring we will install misting systems for wildlife enclosures on that side of the property as well. A VERY HUGE THANK YOU to Kyle, Troop 66, Rodney, Danny, and all who helped make these amazing things happen!
Water system placed 3 feet deep to prevent freezing in wintertime.
Oh, yes, there was LOTS of digging to be done before and after, and thank you again to Danny and his trencher!!
And now we have water on that side of the facility!!
Kickstand GHO has arrived from Pueblo to assist us at educational programs. Kickstand made his EWRC debut at Wild Bird Center Creatures of the Night Program.
Freddy Fox came to rehab starved, emaciated, and mangy-looking. He has no apparent injuries or illnesses yet was obviously not finding or catching food.
Look at Freddy now! He has gained weight and his fur is coming in nicely. We anticipate full recovery and release!
This time of year with the warm days and cold nights people are finding poorwills everywhere, from Commerce City to Monument, like this one, and to the ‘Springs. These birds are on of my favorites. This is the only bird known to “hibernate” or go into torpor and don’t be fooled by the miniscule beak; these guys have HUGE mouths for catching bugs! The birds are sunning and warming up on concrete and other sunny surfaces, and will usually fly away at nighttime.
Releases are still getting done with more critters coming to rehab almost every day! And believe it or not, babies, too. Baby goldfinch came to rehab from the Safeway in Franktown after falling out of her nest. Kris has baby nut hatches nesting in her bird house. Baby pigeons, of course, and a very young collared dove, too. And hawks and owls and teeny baby mice, oh my!