{"id":19445,"date":"2017-12-21T08:04:48","date_gmt":"2017-12-21T13:04:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/?p=19445"},"modified":"2018-01-10T12:35:14","modified_gmt":"2018-01-10T17:35:14","slug":"prey-for-rescue","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/2017\/12\/21\/prey-for-rescue\/","title":{"rendered":"Prey for Rescue: Officer training extends to handling raptors"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Photo

Immature bald eagle; by William Pully<\/p><\/div>\n

Vulnerable, yet often still powerful, injured birds of prey pose many challenges to would-be rescuers.<\/p>\n

Whether it is a struggling bald eagle whose water-logged feathers prevent it from lifting off from a river or an osprey left dazed after flying into a plate-glass window, raptors are great forces of nature, capable of striking with formidable talons and beaks.<\/p>\n

A natural lesson<\/strong>
\nIn a new program, Maryland Natural Resources Police<\/a> officers are being taught to perform raptor triage, providing a bridge to get birds in trouble out of danger and into the care of a regional network of trained volunteers and rehabilitation specialists.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe public looks to us to have answers. It\u2019s nice that we now have the training and confidence to help these injured birds,\u201d says Cpl. Chris Neville, one of the first officers to take the course.<\/p>\n

\"Photo

Ranger Milbourne with eagle; by John Zinke<\/p><\/div>\n

The curriculum is built on the 30-year foundation provided by the popular Maryland Park Service Scales & Tales<\/a> program, which introduces the public to birds and reptiles that have been rescued but are unable to live in the wild. Scales & Tales education programs are set up at several state parks, including Cunningham Falls, Rocky Gap and Tuckahoe.<\/p>\n

The collaboration is a natural extension of the relationship between the parks and the officers who patrol them. Many calls about injured birds come on nights and weekends, meaning officers are often the first on the scene, says Sarah Milbourne, the manager of Rocky Gap State Park<\/a>, who crafted the curriculum.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not easy. These birds can be intimidating, even when they\u2019re injured. They\u2019re powerful, they\u2019re big and they\u2019re athletic. They sense so much, whether it\u2019s fear or indecision,\u201d Milbourne says. \u201cThey are unpredictable, especially if they\u2019re cornered or starving.\u201d<\/p>\n

Training<\/strong>
\nOfficers learn how to approach an injured raptor, how to use the terrain and other people to close off escape routes, how to assess an injury, and how to place a wounded animal in a carrying box.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe hardest cases are the animals that are hurt but still have some spunk in them. The officers don\u2019t want to put the animal in danger, but they don\u2019t want to be maimed for life, either,\u201d Milbourne says. \u201cWe are empowering them to save wildlife.\u201d
\nAlready, the training is paying off.<\/p>\n

\"Photo

Cpl. Doug Feller practicing handling a Scales & Tales eagle<\/p><\/div>\n

Just days after completing training last summer, Officer First Class Amelia Nelson was on patrol on the South River in Anne Arundel County when she received a call about an injured osprey on the second floor of a home on Aberdeen Creek.<\/p>\n

She docked her boat and went to the house, where she found the bird, one wing slightly drooping, cowering on a porch. \u201cThe bird was the size of a baby and the talons\u2014they were huge,\u201d Nelson recalls. \u201cThe closer I got, the bigger she tried to make herself.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tapping into her training, Nelson asked the homeowner for a towel, which she draped over the osprey to calm it and keep its wings from flapping. Pointing the bird\u2019s powerful talons away from her body, Nelson called Officer First Class Brian Hunt for assistance.<\/p>\n

The two officers took the bird they nicknamed Hemingway by boat to a volunteer raptor caregiver, where it stayed overnight until it could be driven to Owl Moon Raptor Center in Montgomery County.<\/p>\n

In late summer, recovery time is of the essence because osprey are about to begin their long migration to the Southern Hemisphere for winter. Expert treatment meant Hemingway did not miss its flight.<\/p>\n

Nelson was elated to put her training to use right away. \u201cI was so happy. I was so proud to be an officer. It was one of the best experiences, ever,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

Another save<\/strong>
\nWeeks later in Western Maryland, Officers First Class Marty Kaetzel and Cory Garver got that same feeling of accomplishment when they helped Milbourne corral a bald eagle that had been struck by a truck on I-68. With the officers looking on, that eagle was rehabilitated and released after just a few short weeks.<\/p>\n

\u201cOnce you have that first save, you get the confidence to handle the next one,\u201d Milbourne says.
\nOfficers who take the training are given nets, welder\u2019s gloves, towels and carrying boxes. They also receive a list of rehabilitators and advice on how to house a bird overnight if immediate transportation cannot be arranged.<\/p>\n

\"Photo

Not hurt, just learning to fly. Officers must be able to assess various situations. By Sarah Milbourne<\/p><\/div>\n

The highlight of the training comes when officers put on their welder\u2019s gloves and experience the grip of a raptor\u2014a red-tailed hawk or an owl\u2014perched on their forearm.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a surprise to find out how powerful they really are,\u201d Neville says. \u201cEven with the gloves on you could feel their strength and you see why they\u2019re such extraordinary animals and apex predators.\u201d<\/p>\n

Positive outcomes<\/strong>
\nThe training proved to be rewarding in other ways, too.<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of times when we get these calls we know we\u2019re going to have to put the animal down. It\u2019s part of the job, but it\u2019s not an easy part,\u201d says Officer McKenzie Divelbiss. \u201cWhen we get a chance to help a bird, to give it a second chance\u2014that\u2019s a really good feeling.\u201d The goal is always to return a bird to the wild. But both the officers and trainers know that despite their best efforts, they aren\u2019t always going to experience that happy ending.<\/p>\n

\u201cEven if the bird doesn\u2019t live, we know that in its last moments it was safe and as comfortable as possible,\u201d Milbourne says. n<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Article by Candy Thomson<\/b>\u2014Natural Resources Police public information officer.\u00a0<\/em>Appears in Vol. 21, No. 1 of the Maryland Natural Resource magazine, winter 2018.<\/i><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Vulnerable, yet often still powerful, injured birds of prey pose many challenges to would-be rescuers. Whether it is a struggling bald eagle whose water-logged feathers prevent it from lifting off from a river or an osprey left dazed after flying into a plate-glass window, raptors are great forces of nature, capable of striking with formidable  Read the Rest…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":140,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[957,14,13],"tags":[3168],"class_list":["post-19445","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-appnews","category-nrp-news","category-wildlife","tag-magazine"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19445","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/140"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19445"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19445\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19508,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19445\/revisions\/19508"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19445"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19445"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19445"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}