Orphaned crane finds a home

We told you about this bird a while back. And now the Division of Wildlife reports:

A greater sandhill crane that had been raised by a ranch employee in western Colorado is finally moving to a permanent home.

The crane, affectionately named "Baby" by caretakers (no, that's no Baby in the photo, just an anonymous crane), is being given to Omaha's Henry Doorly Zoo by the DOW. The crane was a chick when it was found by a ranch hand in 2005 near Nucla. It is rare for sandhill cranes to nest and hatch young in Colorado.

Believing that the young bird had been abandoned and couldn’t survive on its own, the rancher took the bird home, fed it cat food and treated it like a pet. When the ranch hand became ill with cancer late in 2006 he asked some friends to care for the bird.

Late last winter they took it to the area near Nucla where large flocks of sandhill cranes gather during their migration north for the summer. When they released the bird it wanted no part of its free-roaming cousins.

The bird was taken to the Schneegas Wildlife Foundation near Silt, a wildlife rehabilitation center. The professional trainers there saw quickly that the bird couldn’t be retrained; so they called the DOW, which placed the bird in its wildlife rehabilitation facility near Del Norte and began searching for a permanent home.

Baby will live in the Omaha Zoo's Crane Meadows with about 75 other cranes. Most of the cranes are unable to fly because of injuries.

Crane Meadows is part of the zoo's 400-acre Lee G. Simmons Conservation Park and Wildlife Safari, a drive-through preserve 25 miles west of Omaha.

Baby's hand-over is scheduled Monday.

To prevent other such dramas, the DOW reminds us all not to touch or pick up wildlife.

Don't touch that bird!

The DOW recently sent another release warning people against meddling with wildlife, especially babies that look "lost" or "abandoned"

So when I awoke to screeching just before 5 yesterday - screeching that continued all morning, my son says - I wondered what was up. I popped out to get the paper about 5:30 and there it was, a young blue jay, fluttering its fluffy wings, trying to fly. Ma and Pa jay screeching from the porch railing and the side gate.

They had a fit when they saw our cats (Black Maul, here) staring at them, inches away.

Then calmed down a bit once they realized our cats couldn't get outside.

Then there was nothing they could do and nothing we could do but wait. The babe spent the day hidden among the lavender and mint in the front garden. I hoped it would keep quiet, cuz lots of cats peruse the neighborhood.

All was quiet last night, but the screeching started again today. I hope the babe can fly soon!

The DOW's Chad Morgan said if you can easily reach a nest, you can pick up a baby bird and place it safely back inside. I think I'd do that only if there was imminent danger - the stress from an attack by a cat or dog is enough to kill a babe.

"It’s best to let nature take its course," Morgan said.

endangered wolverine

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is studying whether wolverines should be
classified as endangered.

Enviro groups have submitted petitions supporting the move, in past.

The agency will take public comments through Aug. 6.

The wolverine, the largest land species of the weasel family, has thick brown fur with lighter brown or blonde fur along its sides. Adults are about the same size as a medium dog, weighing 17 to 40 pounds. They have large feet for crossing snow and strong jaws so it can feed on frozen carrion and bones.

Wolverines are thought to exist primarily in the northern Rockies — Montana, Wyoming, Idaho, Washington, Oregon and possibly California. They’re secretive and live in rugged and remote country.

The Colorado Division of Wildlife considered restoring wolverines along with lynx.
So far it's only working with lynx, though a DOW spokesman said nothing's off the table.