Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (April 23, 1987)
In the Name of Wildlife Grants Pass sanctuary offers care for injured, homeless animals. A small Screech Owl huddles in a box. supported by vs ads of paper toweling. Its eyes .ire dull with shock, its breathing is labored One wing has been crushed in a collision w ith a car. Nearby. a Red Speckled Ama/on Parrot, rescued Irom a Iront vard. squawks in its cage Outside, two people are try ing to recovet an m lured swan that has flown into a thicket ol blackberry brambles It 's another day tor Dave Siddon at Wildlife Images. Comprised of six acres near the scenic Rogue River outside of (ii.inis Pass. WilcltiIc Imae'es is .1 nun pntin oream/ation dedicated lo the tare o! injured animals and l'nds and their eventual release hat k into the wild A not he 1 t!«*aI is 1 lie education «»| ihe puhlu about the wild tie.limes 1h.1t share then environment l ath vear more than a million children are reaeheil bv Snltlon s iiavelme p roe rams Suldon. loimdei and directoi o| lilt' eenlei. has a lone histoiv ol love lot animals Ik- has vvoiked as a him makei phoioeiaphei and st r 1 pi filer loi Wild kmedom and has pnnluccd sex eraI shows .1 seat m the p.i''t !«>i American Spoil sm.in He n.nik'il ilu' center W lUllile I maces because Ik1 rallied to endow ii unh his private him .mil photo lihrarx. which contains more than a hall million slide's "I see this as kind ol a pa>back to the wild critters.” he sa\s Stddon’s expertise with miureil birds reaches hack to his childhood w hen his father, an avid collector ol birds, taught him to splint broken w injt»x. poppi / i: R hF K I A V l R N A THIS L AST SOMMtR 1: 11:30 am to 10:30 pm DAILY 675 E. 13th St. 343-0846 CLOSED TUESDAYS "During the Depression no one had enough money to bring their animals to a veterinarian They d bring them to us," he says Siddon came to Oregon from California in 1973 with gist a cougar and a covote to do some filming "We thought we’d phase out up here because there wouldn't be enough demand." he explains Instead, his reputation tor working with injured animals spread, and the current facility is the result Wildlife linages treats between N(M) .nul 1,2(KI animals a \e.n most ni|uicd b\ hunters, imps 01 automobiles Some weie kept as pets and maltreated In then owners Still others sulfet from debilitating illnesses Siddon boasts .1 success rate of (>() percent and remarked that "the other 4(1 percent are |ust too sick " Ninety percent of the animals saved can be returned to the wild. The re maining animals are kept and used tor educational purposes because they would not be able to survive in the w ild I hanks to a generous grant, a full service clinic is being com pleted on the property that will in elude a treatment room. \ rav machine and areas for food preparation and outpatient care. I wo veterinarians offer their set v ices to the center, anil Siddon cut rent I> is living: to get a third t inane ed In more grants Siddon does much of the emergency treatment at the ccntct himself, draw me on his years of experience. "My dad taught me the basics, and I adopted my own techniques," lie says. but he leaves the com plicated surgery to t h e veterinarians Assisting Siddon is a dedicated stall ot volunteers who are respon sible tor the maintenance and the everyday tasks ot animal care Dave Sousa, a self confessed "animal freak." has helped at Wildlife Images for three vears now anil even lives on the property "I get to do a lot of cra/y things most people don't get to do." he says. One ot his projects is the handling and training ot Nicole, an immature female Red failed Hawk Birds ot prey are given only one handler to minimi/e contact with humans and make release easier. " There’s a respect, a rap port with your animal." Sousa says. I sing techniques taken from the sport ot falconry, Nicole is being trained to hunt for prey on her own and conditioned to lessen her dependence on humans tor food. Ihe animals at Wildlife Images are a varied mix ot birds ot prey, bears, coyotes, cougars and water fowl. Its permanent residents mum ly are birds and orphaned animals who "imprinted" with humans m stead ot then natural mothers when Inst born. Since thev associate humans with food, they would not hesitate to come near them and make easy hunting targets, Sousa explains. One ot the bobcats at the center dug its way out ot its cage and wandered no further than a dish ot cat food. Siddon is working on a different outcome for Kitten, a female cougar, and her brothers. After a man shot the mother cougar m sell defense, the cougars were turned over to the state and then to Siddon. Kitten weighed only one and a halt pounds when she arrived and was nearly dead from dehydration. Siddon says. She now weighs 90 pounds and is the only one ot the litter that is on view to visitors. Part ot her rehabilitation pro gram will include “human aversion therapy," which entails being sur rounded by strangers with guns Siddon sa\s this will teach her to associate danger with men and weapons. ‘‘They're still a g a m e animal The only way to hunt them is with dogs, and tree them. Not my idea of a sporting event." he says. Siddon is optimistic about the tuture ot the center and his animals, and he hopes to keep expanding the facilities and the educational pro grams as well. " fins is very fulfilling for me. I think we accomplish something here and there," Siddon says modestly in what is perhaps an u n d e r s t a I e m e n t of his accomplishments ^German AUTO SERVICE VW’S MERCEDES BMW’S DATSUN TOYOTA 342-2912 Relijbtp service 'or you' foreign c<»r since '963 202b Franklin Bivd Eugene Ore 97403 Mother Kali’s Books J “Eugene’s feminist bookstore" feminism women of color Jewish women lesbians women's music periodicals mail orders Everyone’s welcome! 1070 Lawrence, Eugene, OR 97403 10 o Mon i hurs ( 10 .3 Eri 10 6 Sat Story by Melissa Schukar Photos by John Giustina l);iu‘ Sousa, a self confessed “animal freak” and volunteer at NN ildlife Images for three years, handles Nicole, a young Rcd I ailed Hawk (far left). Sousa is Nicole's sole handler in order to make her break from the human world easier. Sousa is gradually decreasing the birds weight, stimulating her to seek prey on her own, in anticipation of her release, Vfter a fo\ den was hulldo/ed at a housing development site in Portland, one of the sur\i\ors was transported to \\ ildlife Images (inset left I. I wo < anadian (ieese seen swimmiug at the sanctuary *s recent ly completed w at erf ow I pond (below ), often mi\ in tern porarilv with the resident (links and geese, with minimal eon lliet, during their migration. I)a\e Siddon, founder of NN ildlife Images, handles Kitten, a '((I pound I1111.de cougar 1 left). Kitten was a mere one and a half pounds w hen brought to NN ildlife Images as an infant along w ith others in the litter. I he other three ari1 kept out of \icw on Niddon's property. \ >oung black bear lounges in the branches of a tree at its home at NN ildlife Images. Siddon is host to se\eral such bears, and the bear enclosure gathers the most visitor attention at the center. ■UO Bookstore BOOK VIEWS Literature Review BEST OF ORFC.ON by Ki*n Met/ler Timber Press kr\b\ Milium (, lo\ Professor Ken Met/ler h.is just produ< ed ,i delightful hook about ()regon. In fifteen swiftly moving chapters he ueh omes the reader, tells the truth, gives lirst impressions, explains our historical roots, and expresses the love for his native state. I he ( hapters con tinue with the author’s nominations tor the seven natural wonders oi Oregon, the best places to explore, and an honest appraisal of the worst of Oregon. The last chapters deal with water, literature, conflict, business, his hometown of boring, lonesome locales and the essence of Oregon. I In; hook is unusual in having an appen dix of information sources, a bibliography, and a useful index, Ken Motzler is eminently iju.11 i t ied to write about ( trefoil Hoi 11 ami raised here he is a keen observer ol the sc ene. And lie has been away enough to have a perspec tive on the plat e The hook is <.rammed with accurate* up to date lac Is and (inures Muc h ol three vears were spent c riss c Kissing the st.ite validating fac ts and rt*fininy> personal ini pressions I lundreds ol ()regu nians responded to Professor Met/.ler's questionnaires. lie has woven theii contributions into a beautiful fabric . I hr Hast ol Orr^on is a wonderful gilt hook I've already given away two c opies Try it. you'll like* it! UO BOOKSTORE 13th & Kincaid M-F 7 30 5:30 SAT 10:00 4 00 686 4331
