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About The nugget. (Sisters, Or.) 1994-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 15, 2017)
14 Wednesday, November 15, 2017 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon Tales from a Sisters Naturalist by Jim Anderson Look out for eagles There’s a lot of old fogies like me still driving, and our reflexes are not as fast as the young whipper-snappers sharing the highways with us these days. Even with very strict and wonderful laws in place regarding cell phones and driving, I still see people blow by me on Highway 20 blabbing away on their hand- held phones. Those kind of drivers are made-to-order deer and rap- tor killers. Mule deer migrat- ing to their winter deer range, and hungry raptors passing through are all too vulnerable to motor vehicles. Most of the prey raptors are so reliant upon have gone down to hibernate through the winter. There are jackrab- bits and cottontails still above ground, and a raptor needing a meal will take them, even if they have to swoop right in front of a motor vehicle. I received a phone call from Peggy Tehan last Friday, reporting a barred owl lying face down in her yard. When I went to her place of busi- ness to retrieve it, it was still warm, having just died on the trip from Peggy’s home to her office. The owl was in good shape, as far as I could see, but weighed only a few ounces. To get a better pic- ture of what may have caused the owl’s death, I took it to Sisters raptor rehabber Gary Landers for a look see. The first thing Gary did was check it over carefully looking for obvious signs of trauma, but, its wings were still operable, there was no sign of blood in the mouth or eyes, or any obvious outside signs of trauma. However, he found it to be almost imaci- ated, with very little mus- cle in its body (something I had missed). And when he checked the floppy tail assembly he found the last segment of the spine to be broken and the tail, though in good shape, completely inop- erable. Somehow, the owl had received a sharp blow on the tailbone which dis- connected the tail assembly from support or any muscle control. “There’s a good chance it was struck by a motor vehicle a while back and was hang- ing around the Tehan place to recover,” was Lander’s analysis. So, there it sat, perched in the Tehan’s big pines, gazing down at the voles and mice passing under it, but inca- pable of capturing them, and all the time slowly starving to death; a probable victim of another hit and run. While talking to Gary about birds and motor-vehicle collisions — during which I mentioned finding a dead golden eagle lying along- side the road out between Hampton and Brothers — Gary said, “I hate to tell you this, Jim, but I fear the male Golden Eagle from Smith Rock is dead.” That was a shocker! The Smith Rock goldens have been there a long time and have lived through all kinds of trauma from park visi- tors and sight-seers pester- ing them during the breed- ing season. They even had to put up with a low-flying airplane and hot-air balloon that caused their nest to fail. Now, if Gary’s appraisal of the discovery of a road-killed eagle near Terrebonne is cor- rect, one of the pair will have to find a new partner. This is the time of year that the summer’s abundant ground squirrel population is no longer available as prey for raptors. There’s a hay ranch west of Terrebonne where Sue and I have counted as many as 50 red-tailed hawks feeding on the ground squirrels. When those ground squirrels go down, the hawks are frantic for food and start taking unnecessary risks to keep from starving; like chasing a cottontail across the road. Working the highway for road-kills pays off for a hawk, owl or eagle, but when Thanksgiving Dinner Buffet Hair & Nails Natural & Artifi cial 541-549-6566 484 W. Washington Ave., Ste. B Thursday, November 23, 4-7 p.m. Fresh-herb-crusted Prime Rib or Golden-roasted Turkey many delectable sides to choose from Dessert and a drink (Adults may choose wine or beer) $49 adults | $19 kids 5 541-549-EATS 4 1 5 4 9 E A T S ( (3287) 3 2 8 7 ) Tues.-Sun., 5 to 9 p.m. p . m . 243 N. Elm St. S Sisters i s t e r s Call to set your reservations Gift Certifi cates Available New Parlor | Take out | Dine in PHOTO BY JIM ANDERSON BLM wildlife biologists checking a golden eagle dead along Highway 20 between Hampton and Brothers, a victim of a motor vehicle strike. one comes down to grab a fresh kill near speeding vehi- cles they are in great jeop- ardy. Even if the bird sees the oncoming vehicle in time and attempts to fly off, at times they’ll be struck if the vehi- cle is going 70 mph and the driver isn’t paying attention. It would also be of great help if ODOT would haul dead deer to the agency’s wildlife graveyards ASAP and get them away from busy highways. I’ve dodged owls at night, and missed hawks, bur- rowing owls and American kestrels and eagles during the day quite often. I’m pushing 90, and I can still miss ’em. You can, too. As you watch that eagle, hawk, falcon or owl fly away from a near collision, pat yourself on the back and tell me about it so I can thank you. You can begin by slow- ing down as you approach the old Lazy Z adjacent to Highway 20. There’s an adult American kestrel wintering there; you can see it perched on the power line looking for voles. So, please slow down. Thank you! 4 OUT OF 5 MEN SAY THEIR HAIR FEELS STRONGER, LOOKS THICKER... METAMORPHOSIS 541-549-1784, 161-C N. Elm St. Men’s Haircuts! Are you the one they desperately need when their computer crashes? Hey TECH GURU: Use the Nugget’s classifi ed ad category, Computers & Communications , to get the word out about your services and expertise. Just $2 per line the fi rst week , $1.50 per line on repeat weeks . And it goes online at no extra charge! 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