falconspace

She hangs around Temple Square, no chick any more but too young to set out on her own.

This peregrine falcon is likely to be the only fledgling this year to make it in downtown Salt Lake City.

Spotters have seen her watch the world's comings and goings from her perch on the Salt Lake Temple, partway down Moroni's trumpet. They call her "Slowpoke" and say she wails to her dad to distraction sometimes.

Her brother and sister did not fare as well. Her sister, the eldest of three hatched on a Main Street rooftop, crashed on one of her first forays into the downtown canyons. She died a few days later.

The brother, dubbed "Sideline," remains in the raptor equivalent of rehab. He can't fly, and he relies on a human to feed him chicken or to chop up a mouse for his meals. He struggles to keep his balance. He has been this way for a month. "This bird's got problems," said Jo Stafford, a bird rehabilitator. She has nursed him since falcon-watching volunteers discovered the dazed fledgling on a 100 South sidewalk, next to a sushi bar. "There is significant damage there that's preventing him from doing appropriate things for his age and his species."

Clayton M. White, a Brigham Young University zoology professor, has seen this sort of thing before in his 50-year career studying peregrines.

"They get brain damaged, there's no doubt about it," said White, whose book Peregrine Quest: From a Naturalist's Field Book, comes out this fall.

He recalled a photo from the Chicago Tribune a few years ago. It showed a young peregrine on a busy street. Passers-by eyed it like an odd duck.
"It's a very common phenomenon," White said.

Slowpoke had a few worrisome crashes too. Volunteer spotters rescued her three times. They twice took her to Stafford for a health check.

"She could've easily ended up like her sister," said Bob Walters of Utah's Watchable Wildlife program. However, she's gradually gotten more nimble, more capable. She cruises between the temple and the Joseph Smith Memorial Building, just off Temple Square.

You might see Walters, wearing a neon orange vest and binoculars, checking up on Slowpoke over the weekend. He often looks for her near the beehive on the Joseph Smith Memorial Building.

She's a "peregrine," a wanderer. So, she will probably head out of the city in the fall. In Utah's wild canyons, she could mingle with her own kind. An estimated 150 of the birds live in the state.

Slowpoke may be drawn back to her city birthplace in the spring. The right male could change that and persuade her to settle in a desert canyon.

As for her brother, it's unlikely he will return to the wild, although that's where Walters wants to see him. Another possibility: The bird could wind up in an education program, not as student but as teacher.

White, the peregrine scholar, likes people to learn about peregrines.

"It opens up a whole new window of experiences that many people have lost."

# posted by Unknown : 7:47 AM

Forty squirrels were trained to crack nuts in the new film Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. How?

Even with sophisticated computer-generated technology available, director Tim Burton refused to take any short cuts with the famous Nut Room scene in Roald Dahl's novel.

It had to be as life-like as possible, Burton decided, which meant squirrels cracking and sorting nuts on a conveyor belt.

In the film, they are seen sitting on stools testing the quality of the nuts until their work is rudely interrupted by one of the humans, in an action they take strong exception to.

Some of the squirrels were hand-reared and required bottled milk on set, and others came from squirrel rescues or private homes.

Steve Vedmore, an animal trainer from Brynmawr, south Wales, worked for eight weeks on the film. The American Humane Society insists that for every animal you use as a hero you have two back-ups, like a human actor has a double. Because of a confidentiality agreement with Warner Bros, he can't reveal exactly what happened on set but, having worked with squirrels before, he says some are easy to train and some aren't.

"The placid ones are good to handle and other ones are aggressive, so we use them as runner animals if we can run them from A to B because they're not good for human contact. They bite."

Training is based on food rewards, so the squirrels got nuts when they did what was required.

"You shape their behaviour so if you're running them from A to B - which could be 100m - you put catching boxes inches away so they run into the box and get a reward. Then you put the box further and further away."

Some worked harder than others, while some filled up on nuts very quickly and then lost interest, he says.

Animal stand-ins

Some of the work is one trainer with one squirrel, but on occasions 10 squirrels are released on a task. This means the aggressive ones have to be released first to stop them attacking others in the pursuit.

All the animals are given names and can be further identified if their fur is clipped in a harmless way, says Mr Vedmore.

"You categorise animals and one could be a good A to B runner but not a hero animal, which is a trick one doing the most intensive work.

"The American Humane Society insists that for every animal you use as a hero you have two back-ups, like a human actor has a stand-in or double that does the running, so you don't burn any one animal out."

Mr Vedmore, who has trained animals for 30 years, says he hasn't come across an animal that can't be trained.

They have very acute hearing, so noises backstage can sometimes be a problem. For the movements squirrels are physically unable to do, special effects computers are used to simulate the action.

Starring role

For the film, the squirrels were used for 10 months, including training, but Mr Vedmore has yet to see his work on screen.

The American Humane Society supervised the training to make sure no animal was made to do anything which might cause it distress. After filming the squirrels were either returned to their owners or adopted by Birds and Animals UK until their next role, because by law, rescued grey squirrels cannot be released into the wild.

Craig Redmond, of the Captive Animals' Protection Society, says: "We always have concerns whenever animals are used in commercials or films, and given the computer technology around these days, I find it surprising the film decided to use live animals."

He says that some animals suffer during training, filming or when trying to adjust to life afterwards.

"I'm ready for my close-up...."

# posted by Unknown : 8:48 PM

Des Moines' ruling queen falcon is in Cedar Rapids recovering from a broken wing, and may be replaced in the downtown Des Moines pecking order.

No one knows how the bird was injured.

A year ago, the peregrine falcon, known only as 8/T, ran another falcon out of town, taking over the nest and pairing with the male falcon, or tiercel, to eventually produce seven young.

Pat Schlarbaum of the Iowa Department of Natural Resources said 8/T's injury may have resulted from the same kind of territorial fight that sent her predecessor packing.

Joe Jordan of Des Moines first noticed the bird when he was leaving work at Terrus Real Estate Group near 10th and High streets late Friday afternoon. The falcon lay motionless in the shade with her beak open, a sign of severe stress.

He called his wife, Amanda, who called a family friend, Osceola wildlife rehabilitator Beth Brown, who called the Iowa Department of Natural Resources. State biologists contacted Dr. Dennis Riordan, a local veterinarian, who took over the case.

Amanda Jordan said she and her husband didn't want to leave the bird in a heavily traveled area and 100-degree heat.

Riordan confirmed with X-rays that the female falcon had a compound fracture in her right wing.

Dr. Eric Burrough of the Macbride Raptor Project at Kirkwood Community College in Cedar Rapids wrapped and treated the wing, said project director Jodeane Cancilla. The bird is expected to survive, but probably will not be able to fly, Cancilla said.

Schlarbaum said a new falcon likely will move into downtown Des Moines to replace 8/T in the nest.

Anyone who witnessed the bird's injury should call (515) 432-2823.

8/T in better days [Register photo]

# posted by Unknown : 8:23 AM

One of the Canadian Peregrine Foundation's most prized birds — a rare young falcon — was stolen on the weekend by an expert thief.

The locks on the bird's pen were cut Saturday night or Sunday morning by someone "who knew exactly what they were doing," said Linda Woods, a CPF staff member.

The thief broke into the building north of Toronto and, ignoring all the other pens, cut the locks to release only this bird. The obvious knowledge displayed by the thief has led the foundation's staff to conclude that the bird was stolen by or for a falconry aficionado.

"Someone has an interest in her for breeding purposes, I believe," Ms. Woods said yesterday. "A person that is educated in the sport of falconry would be interested in this bird."

The falcon was not quite two years old, and about the size of a pigeon. She was a mottled blue-black, brown and white, with a sharply hooked beak and a sometimes baleful glare in her black eyes. She also wore a seamless band with the code GCBF-ON-04/55.

Named Tarah, the bird was part of a subspecies of falcon known as a Peale's peregrine. She was the only such bird the foundation had.

"They're highly treasured," Ms. Woods said, who is worried the thief will keep the bird hidden until her colouring becomes more blue with the appearance of adult feathers, and she gains weight over time.

"All the people that have these birds, they treasure them. They're not a species to be taken lightly. It takes a lot of time and care and training to keep these birds."

Ms. Woods said the bird is probably extremely stressed, disoriented and fearful at being subjected to an unfamiliar environment and handler. It had not been "imprinted" yet — the term used for a bird that is accustomed to human contact — and therefore likely wouldn't have come to the glove of the intruder if he or she was wearing one, and would probably have struggled and had to be netted.

Ms. Woods said the person, while obviously knowledgeable about birds, may not be aware just how serious a crime they've committed. Besides charges associated with the burglary itself, possession of a bird of prey is strictly regulated.

Owners need to have a specific licence for each such bird they possess, and being found with one they don't have a licence for is a criminal offence. And since Peale's peregrines are on the Species at Risk list, trading or selling one of them is considered even more serious.

"It'd be equivalent to trading ivory or any of these other things that are endangered," Ms. Woods said.

The penalties are extreme enough that there is some concern the thief, if worried about being caught, might unwittingly kill the bird by setting it free. Unaware how to hunt, the bird would weaken quickly and ultimately land somewhere, faint with hunger and needing prompt medical attention.

"Put it in a cat carrier and take it to the zoo," Ms. Woods urged. "Anonymously hand it over to someone who knows what they're doing."

# posted by Unknown : 7:54 AM