Workers with Tomahawk Services are building new alternate housing for the raptors near the current enclosures, using nail guns under the muggy tree canopy next to the Nature Center.
Birds of prey are kept in enclosures or cages called “mews,” and these ones are looking a little long in the "beak."
“So the bird mews was kind of falling apart a little bit,” said George Fleming, Wesselman Woods director of facilities. “We're not tearing it all the way down, just tearing it down to the studs and putting a new roof on and then extending the cages for the Raptors.”
Wesselman Woods did some fundraising and construction started in mid-June. There’s been some weather and scheduling delays but they’ve restarted just this week.
During this time, Sybil the bald eagle is being housed off-site, while Izzy the falcon and Pearl the turkey vulture are still at Wesselman.
Elaine Kung, wildlife curator and educator said expanding the mews helps the raptors exhibit more natural behaviors. This is good for the birds and good for Wesselman guests.
“Natural behaviors are so important,” she said. “So if you have an animal too small of a cage, hypothetically, if they can't move around, they can't express natural behaviors, behaviors that reflect their mood, their comfort. So once you give them that extra space and allow them to do all those extra behaviors, I feel like that is a more positive situation for both the bird and the public.”
The mews footprint will be expanded and Sybil will receive a small pond to play in. “It'll be super cute,” Kung said.
After deconstructing the old mews, crews began building a set of smaller enclosure utilizing the boulder wall. It will house raptors while the main mews are being renovated. It’ll also provide an alternate housing for the main facility in the future.
If all goes well, the main project will start in August. When complete, it will also improve working conditions for staff that care for the raptors.
“So right now, when they are prepping food for the birds, they're basically in this temperature outside right now, prepping the food, so it makes it hard,” Fleming said.
It also ruins their freezers, which hold the food. “The new prepping area will have heating and air, which will be great for that.”
Fleming can’t recall the last time these facilities have been updated. Parts of the wood construction were starting to rot.
“All these cages will be extended and added steel posts to them, so they last way longer than what they have — less rotting of boards on the bottom. So that's a hit on inspections.”
Inspections aside, Kung said they have a responsibility to take care of these raptors the best they can.
“When we agree to take a bird in, we are agreeing to take them for however much longer their life is, and our responsibility is to make sure the rest of their life is satisfying for them, not necessarily for us,” Kung said. She said the bald eagle can live for 40 years in the wild; the turkey vulture for 50 years.
“And if you have such a long lifespan — well even if you have a shorter lifespan — you want that lifespan to be fulfilling and happy as best as you can, considering their physical limitations.”
None of the raptors — including three owls — can fly. They came to Wesselman Woods through rehab organizations. The project timeline will vary, but it could take six months to complete.
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