Stalled fundraiser dims holiday cheer

If y’all recall, I mentioned last week LWR would initiate a fundraiser on Giving Tuesday, Nov. 30. It’s not going well: Thus far, just $210 of $1500 has been raised, and the fundraiser is slated to end Dec. 12. This means you have just 7 days to help keep our winter intakes fed. During this season of giving and feasting, please take time to make sure our raptors also eat well as they recover from injury/illness.

A prime example of a bird benefiting from your generosity is this barred owl, who came in with a broken foot. The week before Thanksgiving, vet Jim Hobby of Smalley’s Animal Hospital crafted a boot for him to wear as his foot heals. He’s an antsy fellow now, as with that boot on, he feels good to go—can’t convince him he’s got another month or so at LWR! But during his stay at LWR, he needs food—healthy, species-appropriate food that will not only keep him at a healthy weight but will also provide the nutrients he needs to aid in the healing of that foot. Your donations help keep birds like him fed.

Another example is this first-year red tail who’s struggling to recover from an elbow fracture that healed but froze the joint. His future doesn’t look promising, but until we’re sure he absolutely cannot fly, he needs to eat well. Again, your donations help keep him well-fed.

The only new intake last week still benefited from your largesse, in a different way. This gorgeous great horned owl came in with a closed shoulder fracture and an open elbow fracture. The wing wasn’t salvageable; he required euthanasia. Your donations allow LWR to keep the supplies on hand for a quick, humane euthanasia when there’s no other aid we can provide a bird.

To give you an idea of the cost to feed these birds, I used most of the $210 already donated to get a few bags of mice while the supplier was having a sale: 4 bags of mice—a total of 200 mice—cost $173. Each raptor currently at LWR can eat anywhere from 4-6 mice daily—more if the weather is cooler, less if the weather is warmer. At the moment, I have just two birds, so that’s between 8 and 12 mice daily. You do the math: How long will 200 mice last? I’m serious. Grab your calculator and see just how far nearly $200 worth of mice will go for just 2 birds at, say, 6 mice per bird per day. THIS is why we hold fundraisers a couple of times a year—so YOU can help us keep these birds fed!

If you’ve donated already, many heartfelt thanks; for those who haven’t, can our birds really count on YOU to be “fed for Christmas?”