Wildlife Care Center of Florida Helps Jason and Kathy Save Injured Osprey

By Jason Frederick

I am sure that most of you have had an encounter with a sick or injured animal. This is a story about what happened Sunday November 12th on our way to a field trip at the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge (MINWR) that was scheduled that day.

My wife Kathy and I were just coming off of US 1 in Titusville and turned on to State Road 406 headed out to the visitor center for the refuge. As we came around the first curve approaching the draw bridge, we saw a jogger standing next to an osprey that was in the middle of the road. Other vehicles just swerved around them and kept going. Kathy pulled over and I jumped out. Even though I was in the middle of the road, traffic was still coming and not slowing down. The osprey was obviously injured as it did not take flight to avoid me as I approached it. I pulled off my sweat jacket and threw it over the osprey's head to reduce its stress. I ran around to the osprey's backside and closed its wings carefully and scooped it up into my arms. The osprey felt as though it relaxed and did not even try to fight me off. Sometimes humans put human emotions into an animal's reactions, but it did seem as though the osprey knew I was trying to help.

I jumped back into the car and we headed to the visitor center not really sure what we were going to do yet. While driving there, we thought that we may be able to hand it off to the MINWR or to US Fish and Wildlife Services. Neither was opened yet; I knew our other Co-Vice President Jim Meyer was going to be attending the field trip and asked him to take over as field trip leader. Jim, and all that attended the field trip, saw the injured osprey and agreed to take over the field trip. At that moment, a falconer who just happened to be there asked if I needed him to take a look at the osprey. That is when we discovered that the osprey had been apparently shot by what appeared to be a pellet from a shot gun shell in the right wing and that it had suffered a break in the left wing near the elbow.

He and a friend offered to transport the osprey to the Maitland Birds of Prey Center, but I told him that the Wildlife Care Center of Florida was closer. He gave me a few pointers on safely carrying the osprey as to avoid the talons clutching into my hand and we were off. I checked on him while enroute and the osprey just stared up at me with these beautiful golden yellow eyes. The whole trip the osprey just lay in my arms like an infant and did not struggle to escape. Well, not till we got to the Wildlife Care Center of Florida and we tried to transfer him to a holding cage.

When Paul Sypien from the Wildlife Care Center called us to give an update he said that it was the biggest osprey he had ever seen. He also told us that the osprey was due to get x-rays on Tuesday November 14, but everything looked as if they would be able to care for the osprey and return him to the wild.

As Thanksgiving approaches, you start to think about all that you are thankful for; family, health, good friends, a good job, etc. What we sometimes forget about until we need them are them is the wildlife care centers and rehabbers that help to take care of sick and injured wildlife and work to get them back into nature where they belong. While you are out shopping for the holidays, take time to stop by the wildlife care center in your area and drop off a holiday gift to them to show how thankful you are to them and all that they do. It can be a donation or a gift of supplies that they are always in need of.

The Florida Wildlife Hospital in Melbourne can be reached at 321-254-8843 and the Wildlife Care Center of Florida can be reached at 321-639-8655. You may need to leave them a message if you call while they are attending to patients, but they will call back.