Good afternoon. Welcome to the Bloomington Rotary Club's weekly celebration on service. I'm Steve Wicks,
and I'm honored to serve as your president this year. Please silence your electronic devices. At the
center of each table is a thank you note. Those arrived in the mail yesterday. I think we have a packet
with about 25 of them. No return address. I think it's a school class somewhere in the area.
Lots of thanking us for supplies, so I assume it's something to do with Teachers Warehouse, but I got
a real kick out of seeing those. So last week during the Mystery Rotarian, I mentioned club member Bill
Murphy's family relation to the Wright brothers. On this day in history, September 9th, 1908, Orville
Wright made the first flight lasting over one hour.
He flew for 62 minutes and 15 seconds in Fort Myer, Virginia. And now Hank Myer will share his reflection.
Hank Walter will share his reflection. Excuse me. Somehow I
ended up with the guests and the reflection today. So I'm going to go out of order a little bit and
want to welcome all our guests, both here and online. And as we recognize you, if you would stand up
to be appreciated, that would be great. Ellen Strohman, Visiting Rotarian from Wisconsin is with us.
Speaking of visiting Rotarians, Jeffrey Berger, Assistant District Governor from Evansville. A guest
of Sandy Keller, Matt Molina, with two men in a truck. A guest of Joy Harder, Jean Schick. It wouldn't
be a Rotary meeting without a guest of Jim Brights.
Randy Saunders. Jemerson Ingenue from IU. And then we have three guests who are here with me. And that
relates to what I'm going to speak about as well. Nikki Bell from the Student Involvement and Leadership
Center in the IMU.
Sonia Rogers from IU Public Art and Cultural Heritage. And Katie Chattin, also from IU Public Art and
Cultural Heritage. You might, you might recognize, oh, I should, before I forget. Do we have any guests
online? Yes. Yes, we have one guest. It's Haoxi Wing, that is a potential
applying to be a Rotarian and is in the process. Great. Welcome, Halsey. You might have recognized Katie
because a little over a year ago, with a little help from me, Katie presented to this group on the IMU
Art Collection at Sally Gaskell's request. Though I might say yes to almost anything Sally asks of me,
I'm always happy to talk about the art collection and I wanted to take today's reflection time to give
you a brief update of some things with the collection since Katie and I last spoke to you. When I came
here a decade ago, I believed that the art collection was one of the things that made the IMU special.
Our collection brings art into the everyday life of the campus and exposes students, whether they come
from rural Indiana, Gary in the region, or Delhi, or anywhere in the globe. It exposes them to art when
they might never choose to set foot in the museum down the street. I like that the collection focuses
on Indiana art, and I've been told that we may have the largest collection of Indiana art outside of
the state museum.
union board started the collection in the 1920s before this building was even built and it began with
the purchase of several tc steels and purchases continued regularly until sometime in the 1970s and
then for some reasons i can only speculate about regular regular purchases stopped under winston shindel
who you all
There were several new pieces purchased and several more that were accepted as gifts. And Winston also
started the IMU Art Restoration Fund, which provides for the care and upkeep of the collection and has
allowed us to reframe just about the whole collection with special plexiglass that best preserves the artwork.
Many of you have been coming to the IMU for Rotary meetings for a decade or two or three or more. And
you've probably noticed that the majority of our art was oil paintings of landscapes and portraits of
old men. And since I'm rapidly approaching that description, I've got nothing against old men, but we
don't always captivate the interest of today's college students. My son will attest to that.
As you can imagine, budgets are tighter than ever these days, but we started a new IMU Art Fund a few
years ago, and with the help of three small grants and a few donors, a couple of whom are in this room,
we've been able to add 19 pieces to the collection the last few years, or we will when the last couple
pieces arrive. All of the art has been selected by students, and the purchases have been organized by
students on Union Board. They are picking art that speaks to them
And as the campus population has grown more diverse in many ways, it's not a surprise that the new art
reflects that. Our goal is to be able to add art to the collection every year. And can I say that if
you would like to help us do that, just let me know. Three of the newest purchases are on display in
the back of the room. Chroma by Jamie Locke is the large colorful circular piece. Wee by Amaya Mims
is also large and colorful.
It's the one with two hands clasping. One looks to me like a young child's hand and one an adult's.
And then See Me by Amy Maycheck is the back of someone's head and torso. Looking at that always gets
me thinking, is that a man or a woman? Who is that? How much do we actually just assume or fill in the
blanks from just a little view of a person?
But for one of our new pieces, we have the artist with us today. A few months ago, I'm sure you also
remember when our own club member Caleb Poor presented on a public art project he had led in Bloomington.
Caleb's public art has now extended to the IMU because the students picked out one of his works named
Stroll for addition to the IMU collection. And Caleb has agreed to say a few words about it.
Thank you, Hank. So I'll briefly tell you all about this piece. It's titled Strolled, and it comes from
a series that I've been working on for a couple years called Between Us. And Between Us explores the
themes of male bonding and male love, which often is hidden because of the social and safety risks there
for showing it publicly. Strolled depicts a very small gesture, just
holding someone's finger while you're on a walk together. And funnily enough, I've done that a few times
in the union. So it feels like it's the right place for it to live. I really couldn't think of a better
piece for them to select. And I'm very grateful to have my work on display. And it's very meaningful
to me as an IU alumni and also my familial connection through Winston. So thank you very much.
And Steve, I'll turn it back over to you. Thank you, Hank, and congratulations, Caleb. Rotary birthdays,
we have a few to celebrate. Tomorrow, the 10th, Jimmy Torrey. The 11th, Vivian Bridges. Alann Barker
and Betsy Trotsky on the 12th. And then also on the 12th, we have birthday for our oldest active club member,
I think, Wendell St. John. We have no rotary anniversaries to celebrate this week. Announcements. So
as many of you know, we are co-sponsoring the IU Law School's Constitution Day Luncheon program on Wednesday,
September 17, separate event
from our normal weekly meeting on the 16th, which we'll have upstairs in the Georgian room. So our obligation
as a sponsor for the law school event, we need to show up, we need to eat pizza, and we need to enjoy
the program. And it's free. What isn't free is that you'll have to pay for parking in the Henderson
Street garage, which is only a block away. Or you can try to find something on the street.
We have a huge club members who have a driver driver can drop you off on the north side of the building
And then you can get down the hall up an elevator and down another hall to the meeting room So far 34
attendees have registered most of them are members of our club If you haven't yet registered and you'd
like to attend see me after the meeting or send me an email and I'll tell you how to register
IU Rotorack Club has invited members of our club to join them for their meeting tonight, September 9th at 7 p.m.
in Woodburn Hall. Peace Building Committee had scheduled a meeting for after this meeting. It's been
delayed one week. Jonas Chang, who isn't here today, has volunteered to coordinate our club's involvement
in the October 4th Hoosiers Outrun Cancer Event.
And so I'm really happy Jonas is one of our newer members and very happy that he stepped up to coordinate
that for us. I will be out of town starting tomorrow through next Tuesday. Be available much of the
time by email and phone. Might be a little bit slower than usual to respond. Our president-elect Sam
Udak sitting over there will run the meeting. And we still need a volunteer to introduce guests next week.
Spirit of September being Rotary Literacy Month, Constellation's stage and screen needs volunteers to
read scripts. They are down to 17 readers, and they'd like to have over 30. Susan Jones, the literary
manager at Constellation, is the person to contact. And also club member Diana Hoffman, who's sitting
right there, can also provide details. Several club members have recently
battled COVID, it's back. So just please be careful and be cautious. Sign-up sheet is out for the next
quarter. Ocnof Dis, Rotary Second Quarter sign-ups to do things like greet guests, volunteer. So please
sign up if you haven't done so already. Last week, I mentioned that our technical assistant Tyler is
job hunting. And then we talked afterwards, and some members talked to him.
We didn't communicate what it is that he does, so I'll just give you a little bit of background of Tyler.
Past May, Tyler completed two master's degrees, master of music and French horn, and an MA
in arts administration from the O'Neill School. While a student at Jacobs, Tyler spent a year as assistant
coordinator for the school's pre-college and extension program, known as Jacobs Academy. He also served
as Professor Dale Clevenger's graduate assistant,
served as co-chair of the school's student representative committee, a role that include full voting
positions on the school's faculty council, as well as the academic fairness and administrative review
committees. Tyler's currently looking for work in the nonprofit sector, preferably arts related, or
higher education with the eventual goal of working for IU, either at Jacobs or in a campus level office.
He's particularly interested in positions related to fundraising, operations, event management, academic
advising, or as an administrative executive assistant. However, given the current job market, he is
open to anything that will help him fill out his resume with transferable skills. I can tell you from
a club standpoint, Tyler
is quietly competent, and he does a great job for us, and I think he would do a good job for his next
employer. So keep Tyler in mind. So now it's time for the Mystery Rotarium. Tyler so enjoyed the last
segment that he was kind of lost focus.
OK. So Monroe County native, this Rotarian earned an IUBA in English, studio art, and art history before
going to work for the IU credit union. You know the answer? Put up your hand. OK. If you're online,
electronically put up your hand, but don't shout anything out. OK.
Next clue, a Paul Harris fellow, this Rotarian has served our club in various roles, including treasurer
and point person for the annual future cast. If you know, put up your hand. Third clue, this Rotarian
was just named interim director for the IU Center for Rural Engagement.
Yeah, we have a whole lot more. And it's Kyla Cox-Dekard. So Kyla is one of several members whose spouse
is also a club member. Kyla and Trent occasionally bring their daughter Lucy to club meetings. It's
always a welcome addition.
has been very active in the community, recently serving as President, Treasurer of the Community Kitchen
of Monroe County, Board Member of the Community Foundation, and President of the City of Bloomington
Board of Public Works. So thank you, Kyla. So I think I saw Diana Hoffman and Jim Cachu put up their
hands at the same time. Did you both get it right?
OK, excellent. And did anyone get it online? Maybe they've tuned out. Rotary International, this is
Basic Education and Literacy Month. Tyler's going to cue up a short video for us.
Education is a bridge to opportunity. That's why Rotary remains committed to ensuring inclusive, quality
education for all. From cutting dropout rates, to supporting literacy programs, to empowering teachers,
Rotary's initiatives build bright futures and create lasting change. Learn more, find your cause, and
take action at Rotary.org.
And we have a minute or two for happy dollars. Let's start online. Do we have anyone who's happy about
anything today? If anybody wants to do happy dollars, go ahead and unmute yourself.
I have 10 happy dollars, actually 20 happy dollars because I visited with Charlotte and she is looking
good, sounding good, and so excited to see her doing well. I'm giving $20 in honor of my husband.
You mentioned earlier about this being an anniversary relating to the Ripeweathers. And he has completed
building a plane, a four passenger plane, has completed all his flying restrictions and can take anybody
anywhere. So it was a very, very long process. Really proud of him.
Yes. Um, I'd like to, uh, give $30 happy dollars because happily I have been at IU working at IU for
30 years. Uh, 20 bucks for it's been a while and had a lot happen since turned 40 10th wedding anniversary
trip to Africa and seven year old. Now I was president when he was
Brand new. So seven years now. So glad to be back. OK. Art Omec will introduce our speaker today.
need to get to the mic. I grew up with a father who was hard of hearing, so I could project my voice
through this room without a mic. I would like to extend a heartfelt rotary welcome to Lola Nicholson,
the CEO and owner of Raptors Rise Rehabilitation. Lola retired from a career as an officer in law enforcement
in 2020. Law enforcement. Lola, did you write me a speeding ticket in Bedford a few years ago? That
wasn't you? OK. Where was I?
Hadn't retired, she wanted to continue to serve her community. Helping animals in need has always been
her passion. Therefore, operating a rehabilitation center was a perfect fit. After four years of being
an apprentice at another rehabilitation center, Lola decided to open her own facility in Lawrence County.
Here, they are today averaging 125 birds yearly, with an amazing release rate of 80 to 85%. They are
extremely proud of the fine work they do,
and all of her funding is purely by donations. Please welcome Lola Richardson. Hello, and thank you
for having us today. I brought my husband, Rick, and he is going to be my Van of White today, and he's
going to be showing the birds to you. He doesn't actually call himself my husband anymore. He calls
himself my wingman.
He is a dad and you can tell it. So like Art said, we have opened our own facility and we've done pretty
well, averaging 125 birds a year. And our release rate is phenomenal. It doesn't look like it's gonna
be quite as phenomenal this year. We've had really a rough late summer and
early fall we've lost a lot of birds they sometimes we just can't save them they come in you know busted
up so bad we can't fix them but we try very hard we have taken care of 97 birds thus this far in the
year and we've brought a couple for you to see today we brought little ones because sometimes the big
ones get pretty rowdy we have everything from a six ounce screech owl up to a 17 pound
bald eagle. So right now we have 17 birds at the facility that we are caring for. Seven of those are
our educational ambassadors and three of those are foster parents who when we get baby chicks of their
species they will raise those babies and we are able to release them. So that is our goal is release.
Our motto is
rescue, rehabilitate, and release. So we try our hardest to get those birds back out there where they
belong. I kind of lost my train of thought, sorry. We have these two birds today. One is an American
Kestrel and the other is a Eastern Screech Owl.
And these are both non-releasable birds. And that's the only kind of bird that we will keep as an education
bird is something that's non-releasable. So that just means that it came to us as a wild bird and its
injury or its story is preventing it from surviving in the wild.
So we are licensed through the Federal Fish and Wildlife and through Indiana Department of Natural Resources.
We have very strict rules that we have to follow on birds that we are allowed to present to the public
and birds that are we allowed to keep as educational ambassadors. So this bird is Amelia, and she's
an American Kestrel. She has a very unique story. She is six years old now.
She was brought to us by a veterinarian, and she was a tiny little chick. Actually, she was still white
and fuzzy when she came to us. So her story is that someone had found her in the wild and thought it
would be very cool to keep her as a pet. Highly illegal in Indiana. Wild animals deserve to be wild
animals. Domestic animals are for people.
They kept her as a pet and they did some online research that said that she is a bird of prey. Bird
of prey only eat meat. They will not eat birdseed or any grasses or anything like that. They only eat
meat. So when they found that out, they went to the refrigerator to get her something to eat and they
fed her hot dogs and bologna. Yes.
So we all know how bad processed food is for humans. So now you can only imagine how bad it is for birds
of prey or any wild animal. So they had her for a few weeks, and they continued to feed her hot dogs
and baloney. And she began to decline. And she got sicker and sicker until they took her to a veterinarian
because they thought she was going to pass. And the veterinarian, of course, said, do you have a license
for this bird?
And they said, no, we don't. So the veterinarian said, I'm sorry that we can't release this bird back
to you. So then the veterinarian called us and said, we have this little kestrel chick. We don't really
know if she's going to survive or not. But if you would like a chance to take her and get her healthy
again, you're welcome to. And so of course, we jumped on that opportunity. We jump on every opportunity.
So we did pick her up.
And she was actually so sick that her feathers were just starting to come in. Her adult feathers were
just starting to come in. But when you would touch her, her feathers would break off. So it took us
about two complete full years with the proper diet to get her healthy again. So what had happened to
this bird is when you are a baby bird, chickens and ducks and turkeys, all baby birds do this, they imprint.
So whoever feeds you becomes your parent. So since this little bird had been fed by people almost her
whole life, she imprinted, she doesn't know that she's a bird. She thinks she's a human or else she
thinks we're all birds. I'm not sure which one, but anyhow, she has no communication skills with other
birds because she didn't have bird parents to teach her. And she has no hunting skills.
So it is illegal in Indiana to release a bird of prey that is imprinted because we know that they will
not survive. So she is ours until she expires, which is probably about 25 years and she's six years
old now. So our children are probably going to inherit this bird, which they're not happy about.
but she lives in a big parrot cage in our house. So we have other imprinted birds that actually live
outside, but they had some time to be outside before they were captured and put in the house, and they
didn't get acclimated to being in the house. Basically, Amelia only knows that she's
been in the house. So she stays in our house. She's allowed to free fly. We opened her cage door and
she free flies around our house for about four or five hours a day. And when she's had enough, she'll
fly back into her cage and put herself up. So the only problem with that, well, actually there's two
problems with that. The first problem is, is she takes a bath every day in the dog's water bowl. The
dog is not impressed at all.
So we have that problem. And the other problem is she sometimes will perch on the curtain rods. And
since she is still a wild animal, she does not have very good manners. So we do not have nice drapes
at our house. We have washable drapes at our house. So in the wild, she is a fantastic bird to have
around her property.
And these birds are found all across the lower 48 states in the United States. But in the wild, she
would have five babies every year, and she would be catching mice like crazy, five to six mice every
single day. So here's something really cool to think about that we as humans just don't think about.
One bass will cost a farmer $125 a year in waste because they ruin bags of feed and they eat the crops
and they eat the corn. And so it costs a farmer $125 a year. Well, Amelia over there would eat six mice
a day and her five children,
would eat five or six mice a day. So just Amelia and her children would save a farmer $750 a year. That's
a lot. And not only does it cost that farmer that much, but do you know who makes up that difference?
We do. So birds of prey are very important to have around. So they also are important to have around
because they keep the mice in check so we don't have them in our homes.
They catch little snakes, which a lot of people are objective to. So they're very important birds. Now,
unfortunately, all the birds in the United States are in decline. So we work very hard to get these
kestrels back out there where they belong. We actually had 21 kestrel babies this year. So only two
of them were siblings. The others were singles that had fallen out of the nest.
They come to us as little chicks not able to fly yet. They just doodle around and fall out of the nest
somehow. So they come to us. We have to hand feed them with tweezers. And then once they are big enough
to feed themselves,
We will offer them food and they'll eat on their own. Then we will place them outside in a big mew or
a big pen with a foster parent. And then that foster parent will continue to raise that bird and teach
it things like communication, bird behaviors like preening their feathers to keep them clean. And then
the foster parent and help from us will teach the bird to hunt.
And so once they're strong hunters, then we are able to release those back into the wild where they
belong. So we got quite a few of them back out this year and it was a good thing. So Amelia weighs a
big 10 ounces. She is a female and the male looks pretty much like her except where she's a little gray
on the head. The male is blue and he has blue on his wings. They're stunning birds. They're actually
from the falcon family.
And they can actually hover like a hummingbird. And I'm sure everyone's heard of the peregrine falcon,
the fastest animal on earth. Well, she's a cousin. So the peregrine can dive at 270 miles per hour.
Amelia can dive at 200 miles an hour. Pretty impressive for such a little bird. OK, Rick, you want to
get the other one out now? Thank you. So while he's doing that,
About 90% of the birds that we treat are all human-related injuries. So very rarely do we actually get
a sick bird. And if we do, we're usually not able to save it. So birds have to stay pretty healthy on
their own. But we're happy to help them recover from human injuries. Car strikes are our number one
reason we have birds, probably
65 or 70% of the birds we get are car strikes, and they'll come in with broken wings or broken legs
or concussions. We usually do pretty well with getting those guys back out. I'm trying to think of what
else. We are, like Art said, we are a nonprofit. We don't get any help from the government. They bring
us birds, but they don't help us pay for them, which is okay. So far this year, we have used about
$15,000 in mice. We purchase our mice from a company in Indianapolis that ships them in from China for
zoos and things like that. And that's the main diet for most of our birds, our mice. The bigger birds
like the eagles and the great horned owls, they'll eat rats. We do butcher venison and feed a lot of
venison because we try to keep their diets as natural as we can. It's just for the overall health of them.
So this is Sparky. Sparky is an Eastern screech owl. Sparky is full grown. We do not know how old Sparky
is. Sparky is a female. We do know that. But Sparky has a very unique story too. Sparky came to us about
three weeks ago with both of her eyes swollen shut and unable to fly.
So the person that called us to help take care of Sparky and brought a Sparky said, I just found her
in the grass. I don't know what's happened to her. And when I got to examining her to try to help her,
I thought, boy, this bird's got two infected eyes. This is so odd. I've had him with one, one infected
eye before, but never two.
So I got to thinking about it, and this little bird came from Medora, Indiana, which is down by the
river, and it's all flat farmland, and they grow crops in those fields all the time. So I called the
finder back, and I said, hey, any chance they've done any crop dusting around there? And maybe this
bird got into some kind of chemical? And he said, no, I don't think so. He said, I don't recall it.
And I said, OK. And I said, well.
It would really help me if I knew what was going on with this bird because then I would know how to
treat it. So I was going to treat it for eye infection with antibiotics and lots of cleaning. But the
next day, that guy called me back and he said, I'm really embarrassed to tell you. And I said, what's
going on? And he said, I was spraying an herbicide at my farm to kill some tall weeds.
And this bird must have gotten into it. And I said, you know, it happens. It happens. We don't use herbicides
at our farm, but it happens. Other people do. But that told me how to treat this little bird. So he
didn't need antibiotics. He needed his eyes flushed and flushed and flushed. And then he needed some
soothing ointment in his eyes because his eyes were burned. And it not only affected him in his eyes,
it infected him neurologically.
So that's why he couldn't fly. So she, she is starting to fly a little bit now and I'm not sure if she
will be able to be released before winter because right now she is not a strong hunter, but she is starting
to fly. So our hope is she will continue to get strong and the neurological problems will clear themselves
up and we'll be able to, to release her back where she belongs. She probably has a family.
Most of the birds of prey will mate for life. If they don't mate for life, they usually live in family
units. So Sparky, being a female, probably has a family unit that includes some of her babies.
So what happens when birds of prey have babies is they'll let them hang around in the same area with
them until they nest the next year. And then they have new chicks. So before those eggs are hatched,
the mom and the dad will push the older chicks out just a little farther away from the nest, which makes
room for the new chicks so they can get up and learn to fly. So she weighs a big six ounces.
She eats one mouse every day in captivity because she's not flying and we don't want to get her overweight
or she'll have trouble flying. But in the wild she would eat two, maybe three mice every day. So she's
another great bird to have around. And she too would have anywhere from three to five babies every year.
So screech apps come into two different colors. This is the red morph and they have a gray morph which
mimics tree bark just perfectly. So that's part of their camouflage. So right now at our facility, we
have two bald eagles, one adult and one juvenile. We've got several red-tailed hawks. We have a barn
owl. We have another screech owl that looks just like Sparky.
And we have two great horned owls. One's an education bird and one is a foster parent. And we have a
barred owl. And he's a little male. And he raised 15 chicks this year on his own without a female to
help. And every day when I would bring another bird to that poor fella, you could just see his face
and he would be like, oh, lady, what are you doing to me?
But he successfully raised all 15 of them. They were great hunters, and we've been able to release every
one of those. So we don't have any babies left from this season. We were able to release all of those.
And we're just really happy that we can do that.
We've actually been taking in some birds from another facility that does not have the foster parents,
and they pay us to take care of their babies. So they pay for the food so it doesn't come out of our
budget. So that works really well. There's not a whole lot of us rehabbers, not for birds of prey.
I know here in Bloomington, you've got a couple of good rehab facilities, pipsqueakery and wild care
that do mammals, but they don't do birds of prey. So they send their birds of prey to us, which we're
happy to help. And we collaborate pretty good together, and we're all glad to help each other. So is
it time for questions and answers? Art?
Yes, yes. So Art has a friend, a mutual friend with us, and his name is Frank Meadows, and he found
a juvenile bald eagle in his mother's driveway. And it had been struck by a car, and it had an injury,
a coracoid, which is like our
Shoulder bone here, breast bone, collarbone. That's what I'm thinking, collarbone. Birds probably don't
have collarbones. They have coracoids. But anyhow, it was injured and it had a concussion and we were
able to take it and heal it. And then we were able to take it back to the farm where it was found and
release it. I've got an idea for you. Say you need it for rats. Why not call the mayor of New York or
something? I mean,
They've got a lot of them. They're probably getting them for free. Yes, ma'am. Come get one from here.
Have you noticed any changes in bird health over the years related maybe to climate or urban development?
Not so much bird health, but bird behaviors. So we're finding some birds are having two clutches
of chicks where they used to only have one. Sometimes they're nesting, not in their normal time period.
Virge of prey only nest in the spring. So we've been taught, but now sometimes we're finding, we're
finding they'll nest again in the fall. And used to there was specific times, like we knew eagles were
going to be born in February. Now sometimes they're born in March.
or April. So yeah, bird behaviors are really starting to change and their migration pattern is changing
as well. The red-tailed hawks, the females will travel from Indiana. They will travel to South America.
The males stay here and protect the territory, but now we're finding that more of the females are staying
too. So that's climate change because of the weather and the temperatures. Yeah.
Are your mice dead or alive? And are they white mice or like laboratory mice or wild mice? Good question.
So the mice we buy are frozen. So we have to follow them to feed and the same thing with the rats and
they are all white. So when we are feeding
birds that are not babies, we feed them white mice. The babies we feed colored mice. And the reason
we do that is so then when we release them, they're not out in the field looking for white mice. They're
looking for natural colored mice. So those colored mice we raise ourselves, but it's really hard to
keep up with it.
They eat so many. And a lot of people have said to us, well, wouldn't it save you a lot of money if
you didn't have to buy mice? Yes. I cannot keep up with raising that many. When you think about, well,
even Millie, she eats two mice a day. And Sparky eats one mouse a day. But like the owls, a great horned
owl eats seven or eight if it doesn't eat a rat. And a barn owl eats five every day.
And our red-shoulder hawk, she eats five every day. So it just takes a lot. I can't keep up with it.
But, yeah, good question. Hey, thanks for being with us today. I'm curious how did you get into this?
How did you learn it? How did you get trained, you know, and all? It's clearly an intensive skill, so
I'm curious how that happened for you. Okay. I was in law enforcement, but I was the animal control officer.
So I only dealt with animals and I did not write artist speeding ticket. But one day I got a call that
there was a red-tailed hawk that had been struck by a car and it was in the highway and it was still
alive. So I went and picked it up and then I was like, what do I do now? And it's not something that's
readily available, puppies and kittens.
Piece of cake. But what am I going to do with this red tail hawk? So I did some research and I found
that there was a rehabilitation center in Brown County. And so I took that bird over there and I just
simply fell in love with these birds of prey. They're so intelligent and they're just fun. So I started
volunteering for them and I volunteered for four years and apprenticed at the same time. And I was doing
a lot of transport. So they'd get a call of a bird that was down that needed transport to the facility.
So I was doing that.
And then I just decided, you know, we could use, we're from Lawrence County. So I said, we could just
use one in Lawrence County. So that was 10 years ago. And in that 10 years, there was a state facility
called Hardy Lake down towards Scottsburg. And so they took care of a lot of those birds down there,
but they have since closed their facility. And so now we are the closest one.
from the Ohio River to Lawrence County. So that's a lot of transporting. So my husband Rick and I, we
don't do this on our own. We have volunteers that help. We have a girl from college that's apprenticing
with us. She's from Jasper, and she's wanting to open her facility. So two years from now, and when
she gets her apprenticeship done, which is a requirement, then maybe she'll be able to open her facility
too. So yeah, good question.
How much of a problem do you have with birds coming in that have been poisoned by people poisoning the
mice? It happens. It happens. I don't know if everybody knows this or not, but when you put rat poison
out or mouse poison out, and the mouse eats it, but he doesn't die immediately, and he crawls back outside,
and then an owl swoops down and gets him and eats him, the owl will die as well.
they've ate something that is poison, there's no saving them. Once we figure out what's going on with
them, we'll euthanize them immediately because it's horrible. Yeah. So, yeah, get an owl. Don't get
it, don't poison. Thank you so much for your service and for what you're doing for all the birds and
thanks for bringing those birds in for us to look at up close.
I was wondering how do you figure out how to release and where to release the birds? And are you looking
for places to release the birds? We are always looking for places to release the bird. Our goal is to
always take the bird back where it came from because they do live in family units. There are some exceptions
that we don't take them back. This year we had three baby hawks come in. Two of those came from a nest
right next to the interstate.
and their parent had been hit by a car and killed, so we did not release those birds there. The other
one came from a city park in Terre Haute, and the park was overran with feral cats. I said, no.
So we do release a few at our farm. We don't want to overload it. So yes, we're always looking for properties
to release safe properties. We work a lot with Sycamore Land Trust because their properties are protected
and good and safe. And so we do release a lot there as well. Thank you. So how big is your farm? And
then also, do you use veterinary services? We do. Our farm is 30 acres. It used to
have cattle and horses and things on it. Since we're older, we don't do that anymore. The kids have
grown up and moved away, so we don't have to do horses anymore. And what was the other part? Oh, the
veterinarian. We use a veterinarian in Franklin, Indiana. So it's pretty good drive. It's about an hour
and 45 minutes from where we're located. We are required by Department of Fish and Wildlife to use a
veterinarian who is licensed to
to treat wildlife. Right now, I only know two in the state. One's in Franklin, the other one
is in Evansville, and he is not taking any patients because he's ready to retire. So yeah, it's a problem.
Thank you so much for this presentation. I grew up in a house where we had seven birds flying around
at all times, dogs and cats. And I'm wondering, I've already fallen in love with these two birds. Isn't
it just heartbreaking for you both to release them? It can be bittersweet. It can be bittersweet. I
try not to get attached to them, but some of them that we keep for a long time to get healed.
you get attached to them. You really do. And what people don't realize, and I never realized it either,
is every bird has its individual personality. So you'll get nice birds, you'll get hateful old ladies,
you'll get, you know, just some birds that will not room with other birds. They're just like, no, you know,
This is my place. Find somebody else to put this bird with. But yeah, all different personalities. So
it is really fun. We were talking about the eagle that Frank brought us. He was very talkative. I can
talk to that bird and he would grunt and growl and make noises back at me. Like, just like he knew what
I was saying. It was, it was really fun. So, and you know, when you get a really super nice bird, you
can spend a little bit of time with it without
getting it too tame because that's another problem that we have. If we get them where they're not afraid
of humans and then we release them, then it could be a problem. So you can be at the city park having
a picnic with your fried chicken and a red-tailed hawk land in the middle of your table and take your
chicken away from them. So we have to be careful what we do, but it's really hard. And especially the
babies when they come in all white and fuzzy and they're missing their mom and they'll cuddle up with you.
we can only do that for about two or three days, and then we have to put them back and let them be wild
animals. Thank you again for being with us today. I'm intrigued with the concept of fostering and imprinting.
They're just interesting to me, but how do you avoid from imprinting the bird so they'll be able to
be released? Is there a method? There's really not a method. You'll see pictures sometimes of
people in zoos with puppets feeding the birds and that kind of thing. We've not had to do that. We just,
and this is really hard for the volunteers. It's really hard for me too, but it's really hard for the
volunteers to help us. Those birds are adorable when they're babies, but we coochie coo them for about
two or three days and then we leave them alone and we just let them be wild. And so then when we're
feeding, we don't talk to them. We don't,
stroke their little heads, we don't do any of that, and then we'll put them where they belong and we'll
just walk off and leave them. That's the only thing that we can do. Ten years, we've never imprinted
a bird, so it's working. The fostering, it's amazing. It is amazing because if we did not have those
fosters, there's a chance that those birds could imprint. But more importantly, they teach them communication.
So let's say the great horned owls, for example, if we raise one, and we can, we can raise them, we
can teach them to hunt, flying comes naturally, and we can release them. But we're doing the birds an
injustice if we don't teach them their communication skills, because if it's wild and it hears another
great horned owl say, oh my goodness, there's a bobcat coming, be careful, that bird we released doesn't
know what that means.
So that's an injustice. So by raising them with an adult foster parent, that foster parent can teach
them those communication skills that they need and simple things like preening. I mean, birds of prey
will bathe every day. They're incredibly clean. And then they'll, they'll take those beaks and they'll
stroke their feathers. And that's called preening. It's just cleaning the feathers and keeping their
feathers in good shape. We as humans can't teach them to do that.
So there again, you're releasing a bird and you're handicapping it by not teaching it all the things
it needs to survive. Falcons innate to Indiana? I'm sorry, I didn't hear you. Falcons innate to Indiana?
Falcons are found across the United States. We don't get a lot of Falcons.
Um, the Kestrels we get a lot where they are in the Falcon family, but like the Paragon Falcons, we've
only had one in 10 years. Um, the Merlins are Falcons. We've only had two or three of those. So yeah,
we don't know. We just don't get very many of those. Now the Paragon Falcons, um, there was only 16
known nests in the whole state of Indiana. So we had a baby come in this year.
It's the first one in 10 years, and we were able to patch it up and send it back, and we only had to
have it a couple of days. It was when the weather was like over 100 degrees, and it had stood on a metal
rod on a tower, and it burned the bottom of its feet.
So then it was stuck on the ground. It couldn't learn to fly or anything. So we healed its feet up really
quick. And we just had it a few days. And we took it back to where its parents were. And its parents
came back and claimed it and finished raising it and teaching it to hunt. Yeah, it was good. It was
really good. I'm curious. When you got a wild one in and you go to feed it like a rat or mouse,
since they're dead or they're frozen, do you have to kind of move it so it looks like it's a live prey
or something? We'll just offer it to them first, just lay it in the cage with them. And if they don't
eat, eventually we will have to force feed them to get them going again. Sometimes when they have a
head injury, like a concussion, it just kind of knocks them silly and they forget to eat. So once we
start feeding them again, then they'll pick up and continue on.
If you find an injured prey, bird of prey, how do you handle it to bring it to you? Actually, it's very
easy. People, people really think it's hard, but it's really not. Um, all birds of prey can bite. They
rarely do, but it's those talons on those feet that will get you. So we just tell people, put a pair
of heavy gloves on, take a towel or a blanket and just throw it over the bird.
and just scoop it up and put it in a cardboard box or a tote or a dog crate and bring it to us. We have
lots and lots of older people do it, but then sometimes we'll get a young man and he'll say, huh, I'm
not touching that thing. Sometimes I have to shame them into it. I was like, you know, I had an 80 year
old lady last week. And so they'll go, okay. And then they'll catch it and bring it to us. How do you
tell that, um,
A bird is going to be a good candidate to be a foster parent. We just work with it and it's based on
their personality and it's based on their nature. Some of the falcons and some of the hawks are just
so nervous and high strung that it's just not a good fit.
There's a card on your table with our Facebook on the bottom of it. We do have a Facebook page. It belongs
to the birds. Any birds that come in, we will post their picture and their treatment and hopefully their
release. And it also lists all of the fundraising events that we do. So we've got a really cool stained glass
project coming up. I think it's the 20th of September. But yeah, it's on our page. And we do lots and
lots of fundraising. So we will hang around after the meeting if you guys have more questions or you
want to see the birds up close. But thank you so very much for having us. Thank you. Thank you. I'm
so happy you're able to release so many birds back into the wild.
And honor your talk, the donation we made this quarter to off-night productions. Yesterday headline,
I think close to 49,000 students, a new record here at the IU Bloomington campus. I think I saw all
49,000 driving in today. So just remember for parking, besides the two IMU parking lots, you can park
in the Atwater or Henderson Street garages. If you want more information about that, please ask.
I'd like to thank our volunteers for today's program, Michael Shermas. And I want to single out Michael.
He, during the session when the birds were being taken around, Michael followed so that the people on
Zoom could see the birds. So thank you, Michael. Hank Walter, Art Onick, Leslie Katsenko, Glenda Murray,
Jeff Richardson, Sarah Loughlin, Judy Schroeder.
Our next meeting will be on September 16th in the Georgian Room. Katarina Koch will be speaking to us
about the Lotus Festival. I'll be traveling that day, so Sam Udak will lead our efforts. And Tyler,
if you could please share the graphic for the four-way test. And please stand if you're able and join me.
of the things we think, say, or do. First, is it the truth? Second, is it fair to all concerned? Third,
will it build goodwill and better friendships? Fourth, will it be beneficial to all concerned? And fifth,
is it fun?