Megan Mosby
Executive Director
With the New Year comes some great changes in what we are doing at Liberty Wildlife. We will be talking about those changes as the year progresses.
One of the first changes relates to our new and improved membership program. We are now offering memberships… with benefits! As a member, you not only get free admission any time you come to our Open Hours programming, you also get a cool Liberty Wildlife sticker and appropriate discounts. As you increase the level of the membership, your benefits increase as well adding guest passes and bimonthly nature hikes. And, some of the benefits provide a once-in-a-lifetime adventure, like spending an hour with a trainer, or early entry into events. And at the highest level, members will get to enjoy a “behind the scenes” tour of our hospital, which is not normally open to public viewing.
The very best part of being a member, however, is knowing that your membership dollars go to our mission-driven programming. It is funding like this that allowed us to care for almost 10,000 animals last year. It allowed us to provide over 800 educational opportunities during the past year, and it has allowed us to fulfill requests for feathers to legally registered Native Americans to be used in cultural activities for over 178 tribes in 48 states across the country.
You might be asking now, “How do I become a member?” It is so easy. You can sign up online or in person at our lobby desk when you visit for Open Hours or while attending an event on campus.
Of course, this is just one way you can support our mission. You can also follow us on FaceBook or on our webpage to keep up with fun fundraising events on campus. We have our annual Sippin’ the Spirit of the Southwest event on February 15th, our annual fundraiser for orphan care, Wild Ones Baby Shower… crepes and mimosas on Sunday, April 19th, and our Wine, Whiskey, and Wildlife event on May 16th. Details for all of these events will be found on our webpage.
And we are always exploring new ways for you to participate further in helping us fulfill the mission of Liberty Wildlife. So stay tuned.
Please see the flyer below to for more detailed information on becoming an attending member of Liberty Wildlife. We look forward to seeing you often as we grow and change.
This Week @ Liberty – January 14, 2020
As 2020 begins, we boldly step into the new year, and a new decade! After almost 2 weeks, we’re already a bit ahead of last year and it can only get better from here. I’m coming off of a bout with Type B flu which, I’m discovering, takes longer to get over now that I’m officially “OLD.” In any case, I haven’t gotten many new photos from the last two weeks but I have some stored up since before Christmas, so here’s a look at recent history before rushing headlong into the future:
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In setting up each TW@L update, I have been using templates from a year ago and interestingly, the news about this male ferruginous hawk was posted exactly one year ago. He had come in from up north after being burned, most likely in some kind of electrical flash and has been here recuperating ever since. Now, after a year in our care, he has replaced all his burned feathers and is ready to go home. It and and another female ferruginous was recently released by volunteers led by Claudia. Truly a success story!
(Look for 8 photos)
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A local duck living in Tempe was rescued by the AZ Humane Society and brought to Liberty. After successful surgery to remove a fishing hook from it’s throat, the duck was kept for a couple of weeks for rehabilitation and got released not long ago. Another duck, the first intake of 2020, was also successfully treated and released at a local lake. A good year is well on its way!
(Look for 2 photos)
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A couple Cooper’s hawks arrived recently and are currently in our care. As we have noted, accipiters like Cooper’s and sharp-shinned hawks are very volatile and often do more damage to themselves in captivity than they do on the outside. One in particular which came in from another facility in the Yuma area was showing signs of cage thrashing which only adds to the care they require.
(Look for 2 photos)
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We certainly take in a lot of doves of all types, including this mourning dove. Its presentation included a wad of what appeared to be human hair tangled in its legs and feet. Doves are notorious for building poorly engineered and equally poorly constructed nests so this one was perhaps trying to use some hair that it found to shore up a classically flimsy nest as we approach breeding season. The problem was, the hair was severely restricting it’s legs and feet. The good news is that our Med Services team was able to easily remove the hair and free it’s appendages.
(Look for 1 photo)
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A little eared grebe was brought in recently. Grebes have a difficult time when they end up on the ground. They were designed to fly off of long stretches of water and if one alights on terra firms, the chances of them getting airborne again are dismal. The good news is, if they are found soon enough, all we have to do is get them back to water. That was the case with this guy. Med Services volunteer Debbie Ordorica took him back out to a lake and after a little bit of dabbling and scouting, off he went.
(Look for 2 photos)
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Posted by Terry Stevens
Operations Director