The Bald Eagle That Would Not Quit
Full Transcript

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That particular bald eagle was found by a rancher about four or five miles west of Cedar City, Utah.

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The eagle was on the ground, the rancher was a little concerned because the eagle looked like it was tame,  it would just sit there.

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The eagle sat there for a couple of days, then the rancher decided to give me a call.

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That the eagle just wasn't moving and wondering if the eagle might be sick

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When I first saw the eagle it was sitting under a group of cotton wood trees

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Well you're standing, that's a good sign

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No apparent injury, it was quite a ways from power lines and quite aways from roads.

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So not really understanding what could be causing the eagle to just be sitting there

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I carefully approached the eagle and the eagle refused to move

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Hi, how are you?  You're sure a pretty thing.

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And I scooped the eagle up and gave it a quick check over and it was incredibly skinny.

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Which is a bad sign it hasn't been eating for a very long time

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Probably hadn't had a meal in two, almost three weeks.

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So obviously it went from a mild concern to a really critical condition

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We determined that lead poisoning was the issue, because we couldn't find any physical injuries

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the eagle had severe neurological issues

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You treat the symptoms, you want to make sure the eagle gets lots of food, lots of fluids

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subcutaneous IVs are in order, fluids, feeding tubes, medications

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As far as being able to identify the issues, that really comes with experience.

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You know I've been caring for these animals for the past 48 years

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and I've got a pretty good handle on a variety of illnesses, diseases, injuries that occur

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I really hate when they're too sick to bite.

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All of the animals that come to our rescue center, at least almost all of them, are in absolutely critical condition

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and it's a really bad thing when the animal just sits very quietly in the transport kennel and won't move and won't fight back

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and those kinds of things, so I have to reach in a grab him

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if he just lays there or sits there and acts tame

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we know that eagle is in really poor shape

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and so immediately we bring him out of the kennel

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as quickly as possible get food and fluids into him

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give him a thorough health examination

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and then start to plan the treatment that the eagle will receive

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in hopes of saving its life

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and so that's kind of the point

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any time that you see an animal, an wild animal that appears to be tame

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it is deathly ill.

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They do not want to socialize with us, they don't want to be a part of us

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They just want to be back in the wild and left alone.

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This particular eagle was in absolute critical condition

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It had lost more than half its body weight

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It probably was not going to survive

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No matter what we did to help this poor animal

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and I'm a little bit sensitive to not wanting to videotape

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what I call dead eagles

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and so my wife Susan says let's go video tape this

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and I say, no, no, it

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it probably wasn't going to worth the time to videotape it

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this eagle has a very, very slim chance of survival

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and so with extreme intensive care

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for 11 days

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where the eagle couldn't stand, couldn't move

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and like I said feeding tubes and everything we could do

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just to try to keep the poor little thing alive

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after 11 days Susan approached me again

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and says what about taking some videos

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and very very reluctantly, I said okay.

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and so from the video of me acquiring the eagle

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and getting it out of its airport kennel

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to the very first video you see of me feeding the eagle

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there was an 11 day period in there where I truly didn't believe the eagle would survive.

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hey little guy

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we're going to start off with some fluids

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By the 11th day, the bird was standing which was a good sign

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and it was the very first time that it was able to stand on a very very low perch

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it was exciting that he was able to step up onto a perch

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my little guy, how are we doing this morning?  You want to bite, that's a good thing

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Please understand, I have had animals make it even further than that in the recovery

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and still not survive.

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So there was a little glimmer of hope

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we couldn't allow ourselves to hope too much

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because the disappointment if we lost that eagle

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would have been severe

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that's my boy, okay, there's your fluids and your medicine

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Do you want to try to do this standing on your own or should I hold you?

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Let's see if we can do this with you standing on your own, sweetheart.

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Initially there was three or four feedings a day

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and in the process of the feeding I would

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check the bird's weight and not use a scale

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but I would take my fingers and feel its keel bone, its breast bone

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and as the eagle regains strength

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and weight, that breast bone, the muscle around the breast bone,

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starts to cover more and more of the bone so the bone doesn't stick out as far.

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Each feeding, three or four feedings a day, each feeding

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would last about ten to fifteen minutes

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and again, this is not an animal that I want to socialize with

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this is not an animal that's a pet

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this is an animal we want it to be wild

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and so the less human contact, the better.

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It would take about twenty minutes to a half hour

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to prepare the food and fluids and medications for it

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the food that we would start off using

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because it would have a difficult time digesting

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we wouldn't use whole animal carcasses

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what we would use is either jack rabbit meat, cotton tail meat

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pigeon breast, quail breast,

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again, natural foods, and as the eagle continued to get stronger and stronger

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then we could start giving what we call casting material

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and that would consist of whole mice

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for the eagle so that it would not only get a more complete diet

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it would then be able to regurgitate the pellets to help clean out its digestive system

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and then once the eagle is able to feed itself

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then it would get whole carcasses of rabbits,

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quail, pigeons, rats, mice, and the eagle would be allowed to free feed, or feed itself.

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Our bald eagle, this morning, actually turned around on its perch.

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That might not sound like a big achievement to most of you.

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But in his weakened condition,

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him being able to turn around on a perch...

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remember, all of you who were in gymnastics, and you

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and you practiced on the balance beam

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and how difficult it was to turn on the balance beam?

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Well these guys live on a balance beam their whole life.

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and for him to have the strength and coordination to turn himself around on a perch

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in his condition was a huge achievement

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and so we're very very excited about that

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this guy right here was incredibly ill

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all indications were lead poisoning

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he's got some neurological issues

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he may have some vision issues

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and we have saved his life

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we are able to feed him, he's able to perch

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and whether or not he will be able to become

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physically fit enough to be able to return to the wild

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we won't know that for months

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but that's the goal, to get this guy back to the wild

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Now here's the sad part, by federal law

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if we can not return this eagle back to the wild

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the eagle can be placed in an educational program

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or the eagle must be euthanized.

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and that, that just tears me apart

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I've been caring for these guys for 47 years

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and it just terrifies me thought

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of working with this eagle for six months

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and he not be able to be releasable

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and that I will have to euthanize him

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and I promise all of you that will be an extremely bad day for me.

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That is why it's so very very important that we get the Cedar Canyon Nature Park up and running

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The Cedar Canyon Nature Park will be a place

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where non-releasable wildlife can be placed in natural habitats

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and be used for wildlife education

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well the first thing I want to do this morning is I want to check and see how much weight he's gained

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and instead of using the scale, I will feel his keel bone, his breast bone

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and, again, don't do this

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this can be very dangerous

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they do bite

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yes you do, huh sweetie

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oh that's a good boy, that's my baby, shhhh

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now see I'm distracting him here to let me get my hands up under here and feel his breast bone

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there's my baby, oh such a good boy

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oh you're doing better

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he's got more weight on his breast bone right here

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which means that he is putting on weight

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so that's very very good

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now that beak right there

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is designed to rip large chunks of flesh

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so he could certainly rip a big chunk of flesh out of my hand

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but I am keeping him very calm here and he's doing okay

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the next thing you have to worry about is his feet

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these feet right here

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600 pounds per square inch of crushing power in those feet

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that's what he kills with

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and he could drive those talons

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through my hand and crush the bones of my hand

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so when your dealing with wild animals

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don't approach them.  If you think they're sick

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please call police dispatch, do NOT call 911

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911 is for human emergencies

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Call police dispatch, they will dispatch

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a wildlife rehabilitator like myself or

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a conservation officer who is skilled in handling these animals

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and let them deal with it

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because if you try to handle an animal like this

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you may have to call 911 because it may very well turn into a human emergency

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try to get you to a hospital with an eagle hanging off your arm

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So please do not pick up or approach sick or injured wildlife.

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Well it's time for his breakfast

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and we're very pleased with how he's eating.

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I've got a bag full of mice here

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these are domestically raised mice here

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that we order by the thousand to feed these guys

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please understand these are like two bucks a piece

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so feeding these guys is extremely expensive

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and I use a pair of forceps to keep my fingers a little bit further away

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so he eats the mouse instead of my hand

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there you go, that's my boy

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yes, now you know it's breakfast time, huh?

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It's very important to feed them whole animals

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not just meat

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basically they need the fur, they need the feather, they need the bones

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they need everything in order to help with their digestive system

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and so this guy will put down a pretty good sized meal this morning

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and that's really really good. Like I said he's gaining weight

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he's got sufficient balance, he was able to turn around on his perch

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but he's still very much a long ways from out the woods

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he's got a lot of healing to do still

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before he can be returned to the wild

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k, you 'bout got a full crop there kiddo?

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you had enough?

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okay, that's a pretty good meal, that's almost a whole bag

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okay, one more time, let me check you out here

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yes, I know

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okay, that's a pretty good sized meal that you've got in crop right now

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So you're doing all right

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we'll give you a dinner feeding a little later

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you ready for some breakfast big guy?

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are ya?  you ready for breakfast?

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We've had steady progress with the eagle

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He's now jumping up on a perch that is about two and half feet off the ground

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able to turn around, able to perch well

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his balance is coming back, he's still very very weak

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we are feeding him whole animals

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but he still can't, doesn't have the physical strength to stand on a carcass and tear it apart

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to be able to feed himself so we're still hand feeding him

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how you doing sweetheart?

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yeah, that's my boy, you've got a lot more meat on you

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you were so skinny when we gotcha

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you're feeling so much better

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you start with three or four feeding a day and as the eagle starts to gain strength

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and abilities to swallow and to feed itself

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then it goes down to a single feeding a day

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where you put a large portion of food in and allow the eagle to feed itself

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Susan: what is a casting?  Tell us what a casting is.

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a casting is what is undigested

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you can see right here

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what we're feeding him is whole mice

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and he'll eat the whole thing

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and then whatever he doesn't digest, the fur and bones and that kind of stuff

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he'll regurgitate into a pellet that comes out

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people are more familiar with owl pellets

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but all birds of prey cast pellets

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here's a pellet, right here

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and this is basically fur and bone and whatever else is not digestible

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and they regurgitate that about 24 hours after they've eaten

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and I gave him an evening meal last night

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and so he might not have brought it back up yet

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so he doesn't want to eat and put food on top of his casting so he can cast a little easier

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and when I bring my hand in here what I'm doing is I'm feeling

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for his keel bone and basically I don't want to pick him up and put him on a scale everyday

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and so I can check and see if he's gaining weight by feeling the keel bone right here

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and he's really put on a tremendous amount of weight since I first got him in

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So that's what I'm doing there is just checking his weight.

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Once you start to eat then you go

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You just have to get him to start

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but as I've told everybody before

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he's not out the woods yet

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he's still very weak

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yes I know, we'll feed you a little later after you've had your casting

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after your casting has come up, we'll give you some breakfast

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you're all right, that's my boy

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the basic rule is that these are wild animals, these are not pets

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and the less human interaction, the better.

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and so we try to minimize all human contact as much as possible.

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Where you're dealing with wildlife

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once they start feeling better and healthier, they do not want to be in captivity

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and that's kind of a point where things get a little bit dangerous

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because you walk in there and you need to continue the physical examination of the bird

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but they don't want to touched

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as you saw in the earlier videos the eagle just sat there, I could touch his head and touch his chest

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and make sure that he's putting on weight

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once they get to the point where you walk in the chamber

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and they fly across the chamber, they do not want to be touched

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they do not want you to grab them, to hold them

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then it becomes a point where

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you take a pole net

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you still have to do the examinations

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you take a pole net and you walk into the chamber and you net the bird

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grab the bird's feet, watch out for the beak

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because he will certainly at this point and time bite you viciously

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the bird has regained its wild sense of independence

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and it doesn't like the idea of having to socialize with a human

0:21:38.00,0:21:43.00
and so it's a really, really good sign when that eagle flies back and forth across the chamber

0:21:43.00,0:21:46.00
and I have to go net the eagle

0:21:46.00,0:21:48.00
to give it its physical examinations

0:21:48.00,0:21:53.00
and make sure the eagle is getting close to ready for release

0:21:58.00,0:22:00.00
Here's whats going to happen now, I've got to go in and I've got to catch him

0:22:00.00,0:22:02.00
This is a completely wild eagle

0:22:02.00,0:22:04.00
We've had him for a couple months, we want to get him back in the wild

0:22:06.00,0:22:08.00
and I'll be really honest with you, we don't want him to like me

0:22:08.00,0:22:10.00
we want him to be afraid of humans

0:22:10.00,0:22:14.00
when he leaves he'll fly far away and stay away from humans for the rest of his life

0:22:14.00,0:22:15.00
that's a good thing

0:22:15.00,0:22:18.00
Now the net allows me to get him as quickly and efficiently as possible

0:22:18.00,0:22:21.00
So I'm going to step in, I'm going to grab him with the net

0:22:21.00,0:22:24.00
and grab a hold of him them we'll walk him over to the car

0:22:24.00,0:22:28.00
There's my boy

0:22:34.00,0:22:37.00
Shh, shh, shh, shhh

0:22:37.00,0:22:39.00
There's my boy

0:22:43.00,0:22:44.00
gotcha

0:22:44.00,0:22:49.00
sorta got ya

0:22:49.00,0:22:52.00
oh we love that

0:22:52.00,0:22:55.00
like I said, he's not tame, he's fighting like mad

0:22:55.00,0:22:57.00
that's really good, we like that

0:22:57.00,0:23:00.00
He's ready to go back to the wild where he belongs

0:23:00.00,0:23:03.00
Let's get a hold of his feet here

0:23:03.00,0:23:06.00
there we go, there's my boy

0:23:06.00,0:23:12.00
for those of you who have seen the previous videos of this eagle

0:23:12.00,0:23:17.00
you can recognize that he is 100% feisty

0:23:17.00,0:23:21.00
and fighting and he wants to go back to the wild so bad right now

0:23:21.00,0:23:26.00
so that is wonderful, he is ready

0:23:26.00,0:23:29.00
if he wasn't fighting with me, I'd be worried

0:23:29.00,0:23:36.00
since he wants to fight, that's terrific, we are going to get this guy released

0:23:36.00,0:23:43.00
that's the goal to get them back in the wild as quickly as we can

0:23:43.00,0:23:48.00
and efficiently as we can if I can him to let go the net here

0:23:48.00,0:23:51.00
little bit of a hassle but we're almost there

0:23:51.00,0:23:54.00
One more talon to let loose

0:23:54.00,0:23:56.00
There we are, there's my boy

0:23:56.00,0:24:00.00
Oh I know, you can bite me, that's all right

0:24:00.00,0:24:03.00
There's a common belief among many native peoples

0:24:03.00,0:24:08.00
that if you say your prayers to an eagle feather the eagle will carry your prayers to god

0:24:08.00,0:24:11.00
so when I have an eagle that's ready to return back to the wild

0:24:11.00,0:24:16.00
we will frequently seek out individuals or organization that could use some extra prayers

0:24:16.00,0:24:19.00
and give them the opportunity to release the eagle

0:24:19.00,0:24:21.00
herein lies the problem

0:24:21.00,0:24:26.00
by the time I can say okay the eagle is healthy enough

0:24:26.00,0:24:28.00
it's ready to be returned back to the wild

0:24:28.00,0:24:32.00
the eagle is fighting with me

0:24:32.00,0:24:34.00
the eagle does not want to be in captivity

0:24:34.00,0:24:37.00
the eagle could injure himself in captivity

0:24:37.00,0:24:43.00
and so when I call an individual or organization and say

0:24:43.00,0:24:44.00
we need to an eagle release

0:24:44.00,0:24:47.00
the vast majority of times

0:24:47.00,0:24:50.00
they say well okay can we do it next month?

0:24:50.00,0:24:53.00
Can we do it in three or four weeks?

0:24:53.00,0:24:55.00
and the answer is no

0:24:55.00,0:24:58.00
the moment that eagle is ready to be returned to the wild

0:24:58.00,0:25:00.00
he has to be returned to the wild

0:25:00.00,0:25:03.00
okay, now this is a hood

0:25:03.00,0:25:05.00
and this is his stress protection

0:25:05.00,0:25:08.00
these guys their eyesight is so good, a lot of movement

0:25:08.00,0:25:10.00
especially transporting him in the car

0:25:10.00,0:25:13.00
will frighten them, they can injure themselves

0:25:13.00,0:25:16.00
and so we can put the over his head

0:25:16.00,0:25:20.00
and block his vision so he'll sit much quieter in the car, he'll be a lot calmer

0:25:20.00,0:25:24.00
this is his stress protection, this is the first time a hood has gone on his head

0:25:24.00,0:25:26.00
so he's never worn one before

0:25:30.00,0:25:34.00
there we go

0:25:34.00,0:25:39.00
this particular eagle release we basically just said

0:25:39.00,0:25:42.00
anybody that wants to go up to Brian Head

0:25:42.00,0:25:46.00
which is the ski resort northeast of Cedar City

0:25:46.00,0:25:48.00
and stand at the top of the mountain

0:25:48.00,0:25:52.00
and release the eagle, we're going to release the eagle back to the wild

0:25:52.00,0:25:57.00
and we offered everybody, adults, not children

0:25:57.00,0:26:02.00
any adult that was there, if they would like to be the person to actually release the eagle

0:26:02.00,0:26:05.00
we would put their name in a fishbowl

0:26:05.00,0:26:10.00
and draw a name and that's the person that releases the eagle

0:26:10.00,0:26:14.00
the reason that we make any wildlife release public

0:26:14.00,0:26:15.00
especially eagle releases

0:26:15.00,0:26:17.00
is the educate the public

0:26:17.00,0:26:23.00
when I first moved the Southern Utah as a volunteer wildlife rehabilitator

0:26:23.00,0:26:27.00
we were receiving about a dozen shot eagles every year

0:26:27.00,0:26:31.00
and it wasn't that the people of Southern Utah hated eagles, they just saw no value in them

0:26:31.00,0:26:36.00
and so they would drive out through the agricultural areas and say there's a big bird, let's shoot it

0:26:36.00,0:26:41.00
38 years of school programs

0:26:41.00,0:26:43.00
38 years of Scout programs

0:26:43.00,0:26:44.00
38 years of community events

0:26:44.00,0:26:48.00
38 years of wildlife releases for the public's education

0:26:48.00,0:26:53.00
we receive a shot bird of prey about one every other year maybe even less

0:26:53.00,0:26:58.00
and so it's the education, you know,

0:26:58.00,0:27:05.00
that eagle release will save more eagles than I will save in a year

0:27:05.00,0:27:08.00
because the general public gets to see how beautiful they are

0:27:08.00,0:27:10.00
how majestic they are up close and personal

0:27:10.00,0:27:14.00
and see their value and once the eagle is in the sky

0:27:14.00,0:27:17.00
I guarantee every one that attended that eagle release

0:27:17.00,0:27:20.00
when they go back out to eagle habitat

0:27:20.00,0:27:23.00
will be very careful not to injure eagles

0:27:23.00,0:27:29.00
the purpose for the release first is to return the animal back to the wild

0:27:29.00,0:27:31.00
that's the primary focus

0:27:31.00,0:27:33.00
the second is education

0:27:33.00,0:27:40.00
the third is always to help bring awareness to our volunteer wildlife rescue organization

0:27:40.00,0:27:46.00
and so people get the opportunity to see and understand the work that we do

0:27:46.00,0:27:54.00
and like I said, taking the animals out and just turning them loose without the public

0:27:54.00,0:27:58.00
is certainly easier for us, especially me

0:27:58.00,0:28:04.00
but we could release injured wildlife all day long

0:28:04.00,0:28:07.00
but if nobody knows we released them

0:28:07.00,0:28:09.00
and that we cared for them

0:28:09.00,0:28:12.00
then we'd have a very hard time raising money for our wildlife rescue center

0:28:12.00,0:28:21.00
the US Fish and Wildlife service will not allow us to band rehabilitation animals

0:28:21.00,0:28:26.00
now we can band, we can get a banding permit and we can band

0:28:26.00,0:28:31.00
baby eagles in the nest or we can band eagles on their migration

0:28:31.00,0:28:36.00
trap them and take measurements for scientific study

0:28:36.00,0:28:42.00
but they do not allow us to band wildlife rehabilitation animals

0:28:42.00,0:28:44.00
North of town here we have a

0:28:44.00,0:28:46.00
a roosting site where we have

0:28:46.00,0:28:51.00
as many as fifty bald eagles come in and roost in the evenings

0:28:51.00,0:28:55.00
Are any of those the eagles that I rescued?

0:28:55.00,0:28:55.00
maybe, but I have no way of knowing

0:28:58.00,0:29:03.00
I would like to say that this particular eagle stands out

0:29:03.00,0:29:10.00
because of its success and its willingness to fight for its life

0:29:10.00,0:29:14.00
and we were able to return it to the wild

0:29:14.00,0:29:21.00
but that's a story that has occurred in my life hundreds of times

0:29:21.00,0:29:23.00
we need a lot of help

0:29:23.00,0:29:25.00
probably the first and foremost that we need

0:29:25.00,0:29:34.00
is people who have the skills and abilities to raise the funds necessary to build the Cedar Canyon Nature Park

0:29:34.00,0:29:36.00
to build our wildlife rescue center

0:29:36.00,0:29:41.00
to build the visitor center, natural history museum, 

0:29:41.00,0:29:45.00
to build the eagle flight cages

0:29:45.00,0:29:54.00
and to build the exhibits where non-releasable wildlife can be on display for the public to see and for educational programs

0:29:54.00,0:30:02.00
then I certainly need skilled individuals who are educators

0:30:02.00,0:30:05.00
to do wildlife programs, I need

0:30:05.00,0:30:11.00
skilled individuals who are highly qualified in veterinary services

0:30:11.00,0:30:14.00
I need builders, I need contractors

0:30:14.00,0:30:15.00
I need custodians

0:30:15.00,0:30:22.00
I need people willing to roll up their sleeves and help to run the Cedar Canyon Nature Park

0:30:22.00,0:30:24.00
and keep is running and beautiful

0:30:24.00,0:30:27.00
I need people with botany experiences

0:30:27.00,0:30:29.00
for the native plants

0:30:29.00,0:30:31.00
There's a million things that I need

0:30:31.00,0:30:35.00
and so, you know, I always say

0:30:35.00,0:30:37.00
and this is so very true

0:30:37.00,0:30:44.00
that everyone not only has skills that we could use

0:30:44.00,0:30:48.00
but everyone knows someone that could help the Cedar Canyon Nature Park

0:30:49.00,0:30:51.00
Everyone wants to play with the animals

0:30:51.00,0:30:53.00
and I certainly understand that

0:30:53.00,0:30:55.00
but these are wild animals

0:30:55.00,0:30:58.00
and because we're working with wild animals

0:30:58.00,0:31:02.00
there's a two year training program you have to go through before you can even volunteer

0:31:02.00,0:31:05.00
So if you really would like to help us

0:31:05.00,0:31:10.00
there's a lot of other avenues that we could really really use

0:31:10.00,0:31:14.00
and in the process if you're local in the Cedar City Utah area

0:31:14.00,0:31:18.00
and would like to eventually be able to work with the animals

0:31:18.00,0:31:22.00
I need you to volunteer in other areas

0:31:22.00,0:31:26.00
to help develop the Cedar Canyon Nature Park and our wildlife rescue center

0:31:26.00,0:31:29.00
and the people that help us do that

0:31:29.00,0:31:31.00
will certainly be first in line

0:31:31.00,0:31:35.00
to be able to work with the sick, injured, orphaned wildlife

0:31:35.00,0:31:37.00
as the nature park develops.

0:31:37.00,0:31:40.00
Susan Tyner: Visit our web site, gowildlife.org

0:31:40.00,0:31:43.00
We've got beautiful wildlife t-shirts

0:31:43.00,0:31:50.00
Martin is an amazing photographer and has beautiful photographs of all kinds of wildlife

0:31:50.00,0:31:52.00
including this eagle

0:31:52.00,0:31:55.00
if you would like to make a donation and

0:31:55.00,0:31:57.00
receive some of his beautiful photography

0:31:57.00,0:32:00.00
we also have a wonderful book out called Healer of Angels

0:32:00.00,0:32:05.00
it's stories of Martin growing up in his youth

0:32:05.00,0:32:08.00
and overcoming a lot of difficulties as a child

0:32:08.00,0:32:12.00
the wisdom of his grandparents, it talks about how

0:32:12.00,0:32:14.00
he got into falconry

0:32:14.00,0:32:17.00
and the first bird he ever got

0:32:17.00,0:32:20.00
all kinds of wonderful stories

0:32:20.00,0:32:22.00
it's very inspirational

0:32:22.00,0:32:24.00
it will have you laughing and some of it will have you crying

0:32:24.00,0:32:27.00
it's a great read, so any of those things

0:32:27.00,0:32:32.00
if you're interested in, it helps us to raise money to build the nature park

0:32:32.00,0:32:35.00
and take care of our wildlife rescue, thank you very much

0:32:35.00,0:32:40.00
Martin: and if anybody would like to make a $25 donation to the Southwest Wildlife Foundation

0:32:40.00,0:32:46.00
I will send you a beautiful head shot portrait of this bald eagle.

0:32:46.00,0:32:55.00 
♪ acoustic guitar music ♪