Driving Miss Vulture

Why do wildlife-transport calls and fire calls always come an hour before suppertime? That is M.'s lament, and to be honest, it does seem to be the pattern.

This time it was Diana Miller, director of the Raptor Center, who had been contacted by some people from the other end of my county.

They had picked up an injured turkey vulture—which otherwise should have migrated south by now. They were willing to bring it down our way—could we bring it to Pueblo?

Well, of course. We accepted the bird at the little store out on the state highway, and they already had it in a cardboard box, so my carrier was not needed.

Raptor Center director DIana Miller examines the turkey vulture that we had driven to Pueblo this afternoon.

She was young, hungry, and her wing injury had mostly healed on its own—but she will never be fully able to fend for herself, so she will become an "education bird," a permanent resident of the center who is taken to schools and so forth.

We also checked the progress of the peregrine falcon that we transported at the end of August.

She now resides in a 95-foot-long flight pen, and demonstrated that she could fly to the far end quite well, thanks very much, rather than be bothered by people. Diana said that she will be moved to a larger flight pen later this winter and released in the spring, if all goes well. We hope to be on hand for that event.