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Wildlife Images
April 2011
Merlin, Oregon |
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Wildlife Images
April 2011
Merlin, Oregon |
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In April our preschool visited Wildlife Images Rehabilitation Center in Merlin, Oregon (just north of Grants Pass). Wildlife Images is a world-renowned wildlife rehabilitation center. Sometimes the animals that come to them are so severely injured, or so tamed by humans, that they cannot be released back into the wild. They become permanent residents of the facility, and many are trained as wildlife ambassadors for schools and community outreach. These are the animals we saw on our tour, since those being treated for release are kept away from human contact. You will notice that many of the animals are caged. The facility is in the process of enlarging its habitats in order to provide more space and a better quality of life for its residents. Since this is a publicly viewed page, I have not included any pictures of the children. Each of these animals has a story. To learn more about Wildlife Images, or to support their work, please visit their website. |
The Trolley
Wildlife Images has a trolley, which transports visitors to and from the center. We rode it to and from our school!
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Our fearless director sits with a bear! |
The Birds
The center has two resident Bald Eagles. One of them is named Defiance.
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A raven, a turkey vulture, and Happy, the Red-tailed Hawk:
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An African Sacred Ibis and two Sandhill Cranes:
African Sacred Ibis |
Sandhill Cranes |
Bears
The bears are fortunate to have very large enclosures. Ted E. Bear, the black bear, was snoozing while we were there...
...but the Grizzly was in a playful mood!
Big Cats
Rufus, the Bobcat:
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Nikki, a Eurasian Lynx, in the new big cat enclosure. The big cats take turns spending the day there.
Clark the Mountain Lion
Clark was raised by humans as a pet. His owners declawed him and cut his leg tendons(!). Eventually they realized they could no longer keep him, so he was brought to Wildlife Images. He loves to be petted and played with, and the staff did so each day.
One day while playing, he accidentally caught a staff member's thumb and broke the skin. He was scheduled to be put down, because of a federal law requiring large cats to be put down if they harm a human. Wildlife Images had to go to court to get a stay of execution for him, and were warned that if it happened again, he would be put down. As a result, in order to protect his life, they no longer allow the staff to touch him or be in the enclosure with him. He misses the contact.
Other Mammals...
Jasmine the mink, and a resident raccoon:
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Nubs, the badger:
The Wolves
Lakota and Tundra are the resident wolf pair:
Lakota |
Tundra |
We hope you enjoyed this brief tour of Wildlife Images. Come back again!
