Bainbridge Style
Island food and travel blog
West Sound Wildlife Shelter
January 26th, 2010 at Tue, 26th, 2010 at 7:34 am by carlamcgarvieMeet Athena, a barred owl and Mike Pratt the director of wildlife services at the West Sound Wildlife Shelter (WSWS). We met them on a rainy Sunday at the Bloedel Reserve where Mike told us about the wildlife shelter and answered lots of questions about owls.
Did you know that owls mate for life? That baby owls spend about a week learning how to fly and during that time are unprotected and vulnerable on the ground? Athena, on what is thought to be her inaugural flight flew into the path of a car. Her wing is badly damaged and she’ll never fly again. She now serves as one of the shelter’s ambassadors.
West Sound Wildlife Shelter cared for nearly 800 wild animals last year. The focus is on rehabilitation and their goal is that every single animal be returned to their natural habitat.
The shelter’s website is wonderful with lots of baby animal pics and info. I spent a happy interlude there last night reading patient stories with Little E. WSWS is currently caring for three young bald eagles and a mature female that was shot.
By the way; you no longer need a reservation to visit the Bloedel Reserve and the paths and vistas hold a special magic on rainy days so don’t wait for summer.
The ponds are especially mesmerizing. (Tried to insert a rainy day video here but it didn’t work. You’ll just have to imagine the tinkly sound rain makes on the ponds.)
The camellias are blooming, can spring be far behind?
Note: Cross posted from Bainbridge Style.
Permalink
ABOUT COMMUNITY BLOGS: Community blogs are written by volunteers. They are members of our community but not employees of this site or newspaper. They have applied or were invited to blog here but their words are their own and are not edited by the editor or staff of this site, and have agreed to abide by our Terms of Use. The authors are solely responsible for their content. If you have concerns about something you read on a community blog, please contact the author directly or email us.
COMMENTING RULES: We encourage an open exchange of ideas in the PNWLocalNews.com community, but we ask you to follow our guidelines for respecting community standards. In a nutshell, don't say anything you wouldn't want your mother to read.
So keep your comments:
- Civil
- Smart
- On-topic
- Free of profanity
We ask that all participants own their words by registering for an account. It's a simple process that will take seconds and helps keep our comments free of trolls, cranks, and drive-by commenters.
As a community site, we ask that the community help by using the "Flag" button on each comment if they feel the comment has violated the rules. You can also use the up and down arrows on each comment to voice your opinion about that particular comment.
Want to tell us something but you don't want it to be public? Talk to us privately.
