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Ojai Raptor Center

Patricia Fry

Raptor Rapport

On any given day, Kim Stroud tends up to 60 birds of prey at the Ojai Raptor Center in Ventura County, California - and that's just on her lunch break. Ten years ago, when the company Stroud works for - the progressive, environmentally conscious outdoor clothing company, Patagonia - offered its employees the opportunity to train with local raptor rehabilitation expert Jerry Thompson, Stroud eagerly volunteered. "Patagonia supplied two months of paid time to train with him, of which I took one day each week," she recalls.

Initially the only person studying under Thompson, Stroud became a sort of prodigy under his guidance. When he handed all of his great horned owls over to Stroud's care, Patagonia assisted her by building an aviary on its premises. Today, the aviary houses many varieties of birds who are undergoing rehabilitation. Although Stroud and other staff members at the rehabilitation center do their best to treat and release all of the aviary's residents, some birds come to them so sick or damaged that they can't be released back into the wild. Stroud's Ojai backyard is home to about 20 of them. She calls these permanent residents her education birds. "We give about 75 presentations each year with them," says Stroud. "We feel that by educating people, we will receive fewer birds that have been injured by humans." She also wants the public to know that "It's against the law to keep these birds. They need a special diet and they need special caging."

The education birds illustrate her message. Among them are a golden eagle who lost a wing to a bullet, a red-tailed hawk who was crippled by the diet his original captors fed him, and a three-year-old great horned owl who was kept as a pet. "That owl," says Stroud, "could live to be 40 years old, but she can never fly free because of human imprinting." Imprinting, Stroud explains, is like bonding. When an animal imprints with a human, it is identifying that human as its parent. In this case, the owl relies entirely on humans to feed and care for her because that's what she learned from birth. Stroud's urgency to get her message across to the public stems from the fact that there's little hope left for raptors who can't be rehabilitated. The sanctuary in her backyard is filled to capacity. "I took in 375 raptors last year. If we get any now who can't be rehabilitated, we try to place them with another education facility. If we can't do that, we have to euthanize them. It's federal law."

For more information, contact Kim Stroud at the Ojai Raptor Center at
(805) 649-6884 or (805) 667-4727.

Stroud's volunteer staff of 25 includes a veterinarian who performs surgeries at a reduced rate. She's also working with the Humane Society of Ventura County Animal Shelter and Adoption Center on an educational project that will display nonreleasable golden and bald eagles at its shelter. Tim Dewar, director of public relations for the humane society, says, "We're excited about the prospect of providing a display area for these beautiful birds and expanding our educational offerings."

Birds seem to be drawn to Stroud as much as she is to them. "They kind of come to me," she says. "The other day we were working with an eagle, and a dove was on the ground outside my pigeon coop trying to get in," she laughs. "Obviously she has a tremendous gift," says Patty Perry, an Ojai resident who volunteers at the sanctuary at Stroud's home. "And I feel blessed that I'm able to do this with her." But both Perry and Stroud wish there wasn't such a need for their work. Perry explains, "We struggle with conflict everyday because these birds aren't doing what's intended for them." She gazes at the one-winged eagle on her heavily gloved hand and says sadly, "This bird should be soaring."

Patricia Fry is a freelance writer living in Ojai, California.

Courtesy of
ASPCA
424 East 92nd St.
New York, NY 10128-6804
(212) 876-7700
www.aspca.org

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