Blaze Gets High With a Little Help From Her Friends

Well, it seems we are not finished with the rescue calls just yet.

Late yesterday afternoon, I was working an event downtown with fellow Division of Wildlife staff when the Franklin County Wildlife Officer, Brad Kiger received a call. The report came in that a banded bird was on the ground in a parking garage near Front and State Streets.  From the band description it was definitely one of the juvenile falcons.  Upon arrival, Blaze was perched under a railing inside the garage.  She didn't appear to have any injuries. At this age, young falcons don't know the "equipment" (talons, beak, wings, etc.) they have and aren't skilled in getting away quickly.  So most times they aren't difficult to capture--and today was no exception.  Once we had her in hand and checked her out (no apparent injuries, scrapes or bruises) we decided to put her back out on the nest ledge.

Parking garages can be tricky for wildlife to navigate.  If you think about it, they are like a dark maze with no cheese at the end.  It is possible Blaze was chasing prey and mistakenly followed it into the garage or perhaps she just took a wrong turn in general.  At any rate, this "Trouble" bird got a second trip back to "Start."

A Big Thanks to the garage attendants who knew enough to contact us when they first noticed Blaze in the garage.  And thanks to our wildlife officers who make it a priority to assist wildlife management in peregrine falcon rescue situations.