Rowena Wildlife Clinic

As scheduled, we took ourselves a little road trip to somewhere we've yet to go.. The Dalles OR. It's a little less than an hour from our house but driving to that part of Oregon was truly like entering entering another world. The topography changed as we went away from the river into rolling hillsides with HUGE SKIES. It was extremely dramatic and breathtaking. Unfortunately alot of the day was overcast so some of the photos didn't turn out that great. Our reason for this little jaunt was to attend our first day orientation at the Rowena Wildlife Clinic. A wonderful volunteer showed us around and introduced us to their current charges, some of whom are life long residents, and others who are only there until they recover well enough to be released back to the wild. We saw owls, hawks, a vulture, parrots, doves, cockatiels, a cockatoo, a goat, an opossum, a duck, and a few other types of birds. We got to see where they do their surgeries and met the vet who performs them. They have a huge property with many large outdoor aviaries. Some of the long term resident birds are used in educational programs and are shown by the volunteers who work with them. We were told that many of the birds who were found, treated, and released locally often come back for free food handouts. It was really amazing to be able to be within inches of some powerful apex predators. We even got to touch one of the horned owl's feet (his name is One eyed Jack) as a way to introduce ourselves to him. We were given the lowdown on the volunteer's jobs of slicing and dicing mice, rats, chicks, and fish to feed to the animals and shown a little bit about how they keep the animal pens clean and tidy. We made sure to let them know all the ways we would be able to help. They put us down as emergency contacts so if a bird or animal is found injured on the WA side of the river we could be the first response to pick them up and transport them to the clinic. Good thing we have a van! Hopefully they will take us up on our other offers to volunteer our time in the clinic too :)

Check out their website to see some of the work they have done and see how you can help : http://rowenawildlifeclinic.org/

Click here to see the video of our time at the clinic: CLICK HERE

Click here to see the pics from the road trip: CLICK HERE