I had the opportunity to get up close and personal with the raptors at WSU last spring. I got some amazing images of these beautiful birds. All of them have been injured to the point they would not survive in the wild. Their injuries range from broken wings that healed incorrectly from events like being hit by vehicles, some have been shot by humans, some have been poison…intentionally or accidentally. All the birds that come through the program are attempted to mend and release back into the wild but that is not always possible.
The Raptor Club takes care of these magnificent creatures and I highly encourage you to learn more about them at http://www.vetmed.wsu.edu/academic-programs/clubs/raptors
They give tours from time to time and it’s absolutely fascinating seeing these animals up close and hearing their individual stories. We learned a lot.
The image with my daughter holding a painting was actually done by the raptor on the handlers arm. They give the birds animal safe paint and let them paint on a sheet of paper. They enter them into a silent raffle at the Vet Med’s annual open house. We won this particular one done by “Dakota” so we had to get her picture with her artwork.
Next Open House April 8, 2017
