Week after thanksgiving and with a lot of people out of town we were a little shorted staffed on the rehab side. No problem me and my buddy mike handled it with skill. However it was cold and the raptor food was frozen which made my poor little fingers freeze in my gloves. But enough complaining on my end, arizona winters are nothing compared to other parts of the states.
I am becoming more comfortable with going into the cages even when several birds are in their at one time. The key is to stay by the walls and to always keep an eye on the brood. However, some birds will just fly like crazy when you are in their enclosure and its these times that the thick gloves we wear for the raptors come in handy.
This week I had two enclosures that were feisty, the sharpshin hawks and the big red tailed hawks. The sharpshins we have are so spastic they remind me of kids running around loose at chuckie cheese. They fly from perch to perch and will sometimes even bounce off of your head as they fly by. This is why i kept my hood on when i went in their enclosure. The red tailed hawks were a little meaner in their enclosure. While I was in the enclosure one decided to stick up for the brood and flew at me. its funny they dont realize that I am giving them their food, they just want the intruder gone! Luckily I saw him coming and i was able to stoop down and put my glove up in case he wanted to foot me. Footing is when a raptor uses its talons to scratch or injure you. Obviously it is not doing it on purpose but is just trying to protect itself. I finished their food and got the heck out of there so they could calm down and eat.
I also got my name badge this week so i feel very official now. :)
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