Mags' Story (and Some Note-Worthy Tidbits!)

Hey everyone! Widget here! But it's only me for a minute. Today I'm turning the blog over to a good friend of mine. I'm letting her take the keyboard over for a bit to tell you her story. And, if she does a good enough job and the giant humans like her work, maybe she'll be back to post again someday! Enjoy a few words from my awesome friend Mags!  

Hey guys! My name is Mags and I'm a Great Horned Owl in residence here at Wild At Heart. I've called this place home since March 29th of this year. I was only three weeks old when I got here.

This is going to sound a bit weird, but there's not much I can do about it. My friend, Widget, refers to me as a "she" up there. But the giant humans at Wild At Heart actually don't know, yet, if I'm male or female. Why not? Well, that's a really good question. I've got some identity issues starting to arise so I hope they figure it out soon!

Anyways, like I said before, I was three weeks old when I came to Wild At Heart. I was brought in with severe head wounds from falling out of my nest. And I didn't just fall once. I fell multiple times. How did I keep falling? Different big people kept putting me back in my nest every time. They kept putting me back in the nest until my face was almost unrecognizable...

That's when someone decided it was time to bring me in to Wild At Heart. When I came in, both my eyes were swollen and filled with maggots. There was also a massive, gaping hole in my head. Of course this couldn't go untreated and I was absolutely silent while Sam (one of the giant humans in charge) removed hundreds of maggots from my eye sockets.

Once the yucky maggots were removed, I visited two wonderful veterinarians in the area. Dr. Ingram of All Creatures Animal Clinic in Phoenix was able to close up the top of my head so it wasn't open for the world to see. It's all healed up now! Dr. Urbanz of Eye Care for Animals in Scottsdale took care of my eyes. Even with continuous care for my eyes, I am still blind in my right eye and only partially sighted in my left eye.

I currently live in the Hospital room at Wild At Heart with my stepsister, Juniper (she's an American Kestrel). We love spending our time interacting with the volunteers and visitors that float in and out throughout the day.

Remember how I said earlier that I was totally silent while Sam pulled the maggots out? Well, the reality is I'm still not quite sure how to "hoot" like the other owls. But I still love to carry on long conversations with the volunteers that come to visit me. An owl's got to do something to pass the time!

Wild At Heart will be my forever home. I'm proud to call it my forever home, though, because it provides me with amazing opportunities. I get to be one of their educational birds and help the staff and volunteers teach children and adults everywhere that just because you're a little different doesn't mean you aren't special! The giant humans hope that one day I'll be able to leave the Hospital room and join the rest of their Great Horned Owls in the aviaries!

Now that I've told you my story, I want to give you a few quick tidbits on the place I call home. Remember, I have to do a good job on this so I get to write to all of you again!

First off, Wild At Heart recently closed their Owls and Hawks Story Contest! They had 51 entries and the winner will be announced later this week. That's a lot of stories the judges have to read and we have to give them time to get through them all!

"Holidays are for the Birds" is the theme for the end of year fundraising campaign beginning November 1st. Let's make this a jolly good holiday season for those of us here at Wild At Heart so we can take flight into the New Year!

Those who wish to donate sooner may do so through PayPal, Razoo, or by sponsoring a block on the Wild At Heart Wall. This is a seriously cool option, guys. Check it out. It's a Virtual Supporter Wall online (available through the Wild At Heart Facebook Page). You select a block (hover over them to see the price), upload a picture (of yourself, kids, pets, etc...), type in your name and fill in the rest of the information. When you're done click the "Get This Square" button and complete your purchase information. Then that's it! Your picture is on the Wild At Heart Wall and you've helped to support the giant humans who care for the amazing birds in our facility! These blocks are fantastic gifts for birthdays and the upcoming holidays. If you all chip in to fill the entire Wall you would have raised over $40,000 for Wild At Heart. That's a huge goal, but we have every confidence that you can help us out!

You can also make donations by completing all of your internet searches through a search engine called Goodsearch. This search engine donates money for every search made using their site. They also have other ways to earn money for Wild At Heart through video games and watching videos. Make sure you check out the Goodshop, too, which partners with online retailers to provide funds to organizations!

And there you have it, everyone. My story, the news about Wild At Heart and some awesome ways to help these giant humans continue their very important work with the Arizona native birds!

The Great Pig Rescue! Wait. What??

Alright, alright. We've got a different sort of rescue to talk about today. And let me tell you, it's not anything like we usually deal with around here...   First things first. Wild At Heart is a bird rescue. Got it? Bird. Rescue. We have small birds and large birds and all sizes in between. But we do birds.   Until now.   Mr. Bob (giant human in charge #1) was away the other day. He'd been sent on an errand. The facility was in need of more supplies so the boss man went out to pick them all up. Everything was well and good here, so no one thought anything of it. It's not like it was the first time he'd been away, so who would have thought it would be an issue? No one. Not me. And especially not Sam (giant human in charge #2).   While Bob is away, though, (an hour and a half away, I might add!) Sam gets an unusual call. For some reason no one else would answer the phones when they were called except Wild At Heart. Go Sam!   Anyways. Sam got a call from a frantic human. There was a pot-bellied pig. On the side of a very busy road. Near a community center. In an area where the coyotes live. Oh boy. What do we do?   Well, being the animal lovers we are around here, of course Sam hopped on the phone and begun hunting down someone to go hunt down the pig. Bob was still far away. Yvette, Wendy and Donny were unavailable. Luckily she was able to get in touch with a couple of awesome volunteers, Rachelle and Ian. They happen to live in the area where the poor pig was last seen and went out in search of it.   Well, they found it. But quickly realized that the small kennel they had brought with them was too small. Who would have thought that it would be too small? Pot-bellied pigs are supposed to be little, right?   They gave Bob a call. He'd made it back into town and immediately set out with his large kennel. Little did they know that his large kennel still wouldn't be large enough for this pig. Again, aren't pot-bellied pigs supposed to be little!?   After a few minutes of scrambling and a desperate call to Sam asking what they should do, they found a solution. What was it? A comforter. And some fruits and vegetables. How did it work? They laid out the comforter, placed the food in the middle of it and when the pig went after the food, they hoisted her up into the backseat of Bob's truck.

Now what? Sam suggested that Bob take the traumatized pig to a friends nearby barn. Once they made it to Tavia's barn, though, the pig wouldn't move. She was comfortable. Her little cave in Mr. Bob's truck was just the spot for her. She was perfectly content to just sit in the backseat of the truck all day long. But that just wouldn't work.

They tried everything they could. They made a sort of ramp out of straw bales for the pig to walk down. They tried coaxing the pig out of the truck with more food. But she just wouldn't budge. That was her spot and she wasn't giving it up. Mr. Bob had had enough at that point and finally goosed the pig! Up and out she went!   A few hours later Sam received a call at Wild At Heart. The caller was the pig's owners and they were anxious to be re-united with their baby. A meeting was arranged at Tavia's barn and Lulu was sent happily on her way with her family. They were so thankful to Wild At Heart for helping even though it was an odd rescue for our people.

Unfortunately for Bob and Sam, the day wasn't over yet. You see, most of the residents at Wild At Heart are owls. Which means we are mostly awake at night. So anything that needs to be done with us usually has to be done after dark. What does that mean? Some really long nights for Sam and Bob. They hardly ever get to bed before 2am, and that night was no different. Except that they got a call at 3:30am for a barn owl that had been hit by a car. Wild At Heart is the only rescue to answer the phone in person at any hour, day or night.   So off Bob went to rescue the poor barn owl. He returned around 7:45 that morning and wrapped the fractured wing.   Most people would have gone straight to bed after that. But not Bob. He and Sam were up and at it for a full day of work!   I just love those giant humans and their dedication to us!