Approximately 10 years ago I was on my way to a wedding and found an injured pigeon on the road.  I took the pigeon to the wedding with me, and kept it in the car.  During the reception I would go to the car to give it water until I could get home and find it help.  When home, I was on the phone for hours calling lead after lead.  There was no one knowledgeable to take care of injured wild birds anywhere in the area.  I lived in Atlantic County, and at this time the Avian Rehab in South Seaville had been closed for a few years.  Somehow I was able to track a woman named Tonya which used to run the rehab in Seaville.  She had experience taking care of injured birds for over 20 years.  Tonya agreed to take the bird.  The next day on my way to her house the radiator in my car broke, so I had to turn around and go home.  Unable to bring her the bird my husband brought us to a veterinarian after he was done work.  “Tweety” was treated with antibiotics, and was on his way to recovery.

Tweety would stand on a chair in the kitchen and allow me to give him his medicine every day until it was finished.  He was very smart.  Tweety had freedom of the house.  He would stay on my screened in porch all day, and in the evening I would open the door and tell him it was sleepy time.  Tweety would then fly through the house maneuvering himself sideways to fly through door ways to finally find his way into the bedroom.  There he would sleep on a clothes basket.  I set it up for him with his food and water in it.  (It was Tonya’s suggestion).  Tweety would sleep all night, but at 5:30am his routine called for him to go into the living room and sit in front of the glass door for about an hour before he went on the porch.  If I was not awake to let him out of the room he would fly up and land on my husband’s chest while he was sleeping and stare at him.  My husband would then wake me and tell me my bird wanted to get up, and I would let him out of the room.  Tweety stayed for about a year, and one spring day decided to fly off.  I never saw him again.  What a wonderful bird.  Later the neighborhood children brought me an orphaned Blue Jay, and I phoned Tonya.  She gave me specific instructions on how to raise the bird.  I followed the instructions to the T and raised the bird until it left on his own when he was ready.  It was extremely successful and rewarding.  I had named the bird Baby Blue.

Word of mouth had spread that I took care of injured birds.  I received birds from as far south as Cape May and north to Mystic Island.  I would get calls all times of the day and evening.  I started a non-profit organization called the St. Francis Avian Rehabilitation Center.   I was raised a Catholic and thought the name appropriate.  I learned that I need a State and Federal license to care for injured regulated birds, so I applied to the State of NJ to get my certification.  I had to undergo almost a complete year of training in Tabernacle NJ.  It took me an hour and 20 minutes to get there on my only day off from my full time job to do their required training.  The woman there was more raccoon oriented, and was hardly knowledgeable on birds.  I had more knowledge from hands on with Tonya.
Tonya helped me to identify the birds coming in, and she showed me how to identify broken wings, and wrap them.  I learned to care for and treat broken legs, spinal injuries, illness, head trauma, internal bleeding etc.  Since I was a NJ Licensed Optician, and had my own Optical Store, I worked with an Ophthalmologist which treated all eye injuries.  I can say that treating eye injuries is my forte.

I completed the state’s training program for the required time, and I received my certificate of completion.  My Federal and State permits were issued once all the ordinances for the area in which I lived had been checked.

Stay tuned for my next post and I’ll continue the story!

Technorati Tags: alliance, animals, ara, fish and game, history, New Jersey, NJ, non-profit, rehabilitators, St. Francis Avian, story, wildlife

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