falconspace

It's a Jungle Out There!

An escapee from Morgan Island has been captured in a tree in the backyard of a home on Lady's Island — about 7 miles away from where he was supposed to be.

The 10-year-old, 20-pound male rhesus monkey was first noticed as missing from the island April 30, the same time residents of Coosaw and Lady's islands reported seeing him. Some residents were concerned the animal might carry an infectious disease because Morgan Island houses primates used in government research.

Alpha Genesis officials said they can't explain how the monkey managed to leave the island laboratory and make its way across Parrot Creek.

"I have been here eight years and this is the first (escape) I can remember in the area," said Greg Westergaard, president and chief executive officer of Alpha Genesis. "I'm at a loss at how it got over there. They probably can swim a little bit, but it really is a long way over there."

The monkeys have been on the island since 1979 and are the property of the Food and Drug Administration. They are used in defense and vaccine development studies.

The escaped monkey was caught Tuesday, Westergaard said. "I'm sure he wanted to get back but couldn't figure out how," he said.

But the escapee won't be going back to the 400-acres colony on Morgan Island. Instead, he'll probably be taken to one of two breeding facilities in Yemassee or Early Branch, Westergaard said.

Westergaard said it was unlikely the monkey would have a disease because the research performed on the animals isn't done at the island. The monkeys also go through physical examinations four times a year to make sure they are healthy and carry no diseases, he said.

"This monkey's in great shape," he said.

He said there are no artificial barriers keeping the monkeys on the island other than the water surrounding it, as they tend to be social creatures and stay with other monkeys.

"I don't know what happened to this guy," Westergaard said.

# posted by Unknown : 9:07 PM

The mummy, found two months ago, was covered from head to toe in brightly colored cartonage burial material depicting a range of graphic scenes, including the Goddess Maat of balance and truth who was shown with outstretched arms that took the shape of feathered wings. Also shown were the four children of the falcon-headed god, Horus, and the rituals and processes to mummify the person, who Hawass believed must have been wealthy considering his burial location and fine gold used for the mummy's mask.

# posted by Unknown : 9:09 PM

SAN FRANCISCO - A group of baby falcons growing up on the 33rd-floor ledge of Pacific Gas and Electric Co.'s downtown headquarters were banded Wednesday, a procedure that will allow scientists to track and monitor the peregrines.

The banding was completed without problems in 15 minutes.

"They kind of looked at us like 'what are you doing here' and they talked a bit. But they stayed in place," said Brian Swanson, a utility spokesman.

The peregrines are the offspring of adult falcons George and Gracie.

The pair first became a hit with the downtown lunchtime crowd in 2002, in part because they can dive at speeds up to 200 mph to capture prey. Thanks to a $30,000 grant from PG&E and a Webcam, their lives are available via the Internet.

Two bands were placed on the falcons: a band with a phone number in case a falcon is injured and found and a band that can be read with binoculars. Swanson said the adult falcons dived and swooped at scientists banding different young birds last year but were out hunting this time.

This year's brood is Gracie's most successful. In 2003, she laid one infertile egg. She laid four eggs and had two babies the following year.

"It has to do with timing between her and the male ... now that they've been at if for three years it looks like they have the schedule down," said Brian Latta, a field biologist with the Predatory Bird Research Group in Santa Cruz

The young falcons are becoming more mobile and can stand and walk, Latta said. During the next few days they will leave the tray and walk around the ledge.

Eventually, Latta said, the falcons will gain enough courage to leave the ledge and building.

The young falcons look healthy, in part due to a steady diet of pigeons, meadowlarks and other birds. But scientists say the pigeon population will remain stable.

"They might make a small dent in the population but even if there were four or five falcons the pigeons would still hold their own," Latta said.

# posted by Unknown : 8:04 PM

A RARE peregrine falcon found badly wounded, suffering from gunshots, in a Fife field has made an amazing recovery and will soon be released back into the wild, welfare workers have revealed.

The falcon, found shot at Clunie Clays by Kirkcaldy in February, has been nicknamed "the bionic bird" by staff at the Scottish SPCA’s specialist wildlife centre at Middlebank, near Dunfermline.

The falcon was peppered with shotgun pellets - which broke its wing and leg and narrowly missed its head.

Specialists at the Royal (Dick) Veterinary School in Edinburgh operated to remove the pieces of lead from the peregrine’s body and inserted a special steel pin to help the bird to walk again.

It will be released back into the wild later this month.

The bird was found in a field by a man walking his dog.

Experts believe the bird was probably shot by a pigeon fancier who feared it could have disrupted a race.

# posted by Unknown : 12:55 PM