A Visit to the Eugene Raptor Center

 

One lovely day in July,  My friend Miriam, her dad Forrest and I attended the Cascades Raptor Center of Eugene, Oregon.  I knew it was mostly full of rescued birds, but still felt a little concerned about all the cages.  In my mind, birds in cages is just a very sad situation.  So imagine my delight when I stepped up to the first raptor - Guillermo, an Aplomado Falcon and he stepped forward on his perch so he was inches away from my face, and started talking to me.  The first thing he said was “take off your glasses”, which I promptly did.  Then, looking straight into my eyes he told he how much he loved living here.  How proud he was to be an ambassador for raptors, and how much fun he had interacting with all the people who showed up every day to visit with him.  That would have been enough for me, but it kept going.  Every cage I visited showed me another raptor who wanted me to know how happy and proud they were.  Even the shy ones, at the back of their cages, agreed.  Sometimes just a nod, as with Hans, the astounding Eurasian Eagle-Owl, and oftentimes, quite an outpouring of pleasure and joy as from Guapo, the Swainson’s Hawk, and surprisingly for me, Lethe, the turkey vulture, who was also talking to me right at the front of his cage and so very engaged, and uplifting my rather ignorant perspective about this particular breed of raptors.  I send my thanks to all these amazing birds and the work they do.  Because of them, I’m planning a visit to the Woodland Park Zoo to see what everyone there might have to say to me!

Cascades Raptor Center Website

 


Guillermo, the Aplomado Falcon

Hans, the Eurasian Eagle-Owl

Lethe, the turkey vulture

Guapo, the Swainson’s Hawk

Miriam, Guillermo and Ambassador Curator Sidney Campbell