Hawkeye News & Bulletins

Dan Frankian of Hawkeye Bird & Animal Control, attended the Bird Strike conference dealing with pest bird and animal control and abatement at airport runways and taxiways.  
Conversations at this conference were very informative with Mr John Weller, the head biologist for the Federal Aviation Administration FAA as well as Micheal Begier Director from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) .

Dan Frankian also gave several public interviews to foreign news agencies dealing with Bird and Animal control and Abatement at airports.

One of the attractions in Stratford during the second annual Culture Days was the Stratford Shakespeare Festival's "A Fayre Day in Camelot," which transformed Market Square into a medieval-themed market with vendors and demonstrations.

Right, trainer Julia Staines shows off Clara the hawk, who you can see in the Festival's production of Camelot.

Stratford Gazette Photo

Clara a Harris Hawk, and handler Ken Bangerter of Acton's Hawkeye Bird and Animal control ,  were on hand to talk to students at a career fair at the Acton High School last Wednesday.

Clara often is used to control birds at the airport and in shopping malls.

Frances Niblok Photo

Mended bird released in urban Hamilton

Timmy, a rehabilitated young red-tailed hawk, had no trouble soaring to freedom when released, not in the wild, but at his Hamilton home ground on the Mountain. He flew up, perched himself high on a pine tree for a few seconds, and then took off to enjoy his new lease on life.

“This is so cool,” rescuer Gord Marsden, a rehabilitation expert, said Wednesday as he prepared to release Timmy in a small clearing on his Upper Wellington property.

Timmy was a nestling blown out of his nest near the top of a 60- to 70-foot white pine beside Marsden’s house when he was found in early July. Marsden hadn’t seen him since rushing him to Hawkeye Bird Control Inc. near Acton.

Julia Staines of Hawkeye gave Timmy his name. And the bird expert is confident the hawk, now close to five months old, will do just fine. “It was a good release. He went up on the tree, got his bearings and flew off. And the way he flew, it was strong.”

Kitchener-Waterloo Humane Society invites you to the 4th annual "On The Cat Walk" Fashion Show

Sunday, April 11th, 2010 at St. George Banquet Hall (665 King Street North, Waterloo) - All proceeds go to help the orphaned animals of our community ... Details »

Toronto Humane Society documents obtained by the Star appear to show the THS has violated provincial regulations by releasing wildlife captured in Toronto to the Newmarket-area farm of a board member.

Under Ontario rules for authorized wildlife custodians such as the THS, rehabilitated adult wildlife must be released a maximum of one kilometre from the site of its capture, "immature" wildlife a maximum of 15 kilometres. But according to kennel cards obtained by the Star, three raccoons captured in downtown Toronto in 2007 were released to "Bud's farm"– the farm of board member Bud Walters.

A THS employee who requested anonymity also provided kennel cards to the Star for other animals he said were released to Walters' farm, including a sparrow, an owl and squirrels.

Those cards did not say "Bud's farm" on them, the employee said, because THS managers asked employees to throw cards for such animals in the garbage knowing that the Ministry of Natural Resources might inspect them if they were kept.

The ministry executed a search warrant at the THS facility on River St. on Tuesday morning.

Natural Resources Minister Donna Cansfield said the warrant targeted the log books in which information about release locations is stored.

"They have to have accurate recordkeeping practices," Cansfield said.

She did not allege any recordkeeping impropriety, saying it was too early in the ministry investigation to know if the THS had violated any regulations.

Cansfield warned, however, that the ministry could revoke the THS's wildlife custodian authorization if major breaches of any type were found.

Reached at his home in Toronto, Walters readily acknowledged that raccoons had been released on his farm. He said, however, that it had not happened recently.

"It has happened in the past, but a long time ago," he said.

Told that cards appeared to show that raccoons were released on his farm in 2007, Walters said: "Not to my knowledge. But that doesn't mean it didn't happen, because they have access here any time they want. Heavens, I don't lock things up. It's all forest, 90 acres of forest. I've got three ponds – it's a perfect spot for animals."

Walters, 85, struggled with his memory during the evening telephone interview, at one point having difficulty recalling that the three-minute conversation was about raccoons.

Told that raccoon releases at his farm would violate provincial regulations, he said, "I don't know anything about that, anyway."

THS acting president Bob Hambley referred questions to spokesman Ian McConachie, who did not respond to requests for comment. It is not clear why the THS would release raccoons so far outside of the maximum distance allowed, though some in the wildlife rehabilitation field have criticized the limits as overly restrictive.

According to the kennel cards, raccoons released on Walters' farm were captured at Gerrard St. E. and Broadview Ave., Queen St. E. and Sumach St., and at Queen St. E. and Boston Ave; two other cards which said "Bud's farm" did not have capture information. Newmarket is approximately 50 kilometres away from downtown Toronto.

Ministry conservation officers removed all animals from the THS wildlife centre on Monday. On Tuesday, Cansfield became the first McGuinty government official to reprimand the beleaguered THS, criticizing its officials for confining a red-tailed hawk to an insufficiently large cage.

The hawk was one of eight animals, including two painted turtles, a mallard duck, a mourning dove and a sparrow, taken from the THS to the Toronto Wildlife Centre in Downsview Park.

"A hawk needs space," Cansfield said. "It can't be confined to a small cage."

The wildlife centre comprised a tiny fraction of THS operations, housing fewer than 10 of more than 1,000 animals. It has been the target of frequent criticism since its founding in the mid-1980s.

In 2006, a former veterinarian, a former veterinary technician and an official at an outside rehabilitation agency told the Star that conditions at the centre were poor. On Tuesday, Nicole Richer, a trained wildlife rehabilitator who spent two months at the centre before she was dismissed, said "everything was wrong, everything."

Original Star Article »