Helping a Hawk Fly Free Again –

Dr. Adamski works with New England Wildlife Center technicians and student interns to repair a red-tailed hawk’s feathers.  This red-tail was admitted to the Center, unable to fly, with severely damaged feathers.  The procedure they are performing to help this hawk fly again is called imping.  Imping is the process of taking feathers from a deceased “donor bird” and epoxying them into the feather shafts of a live bird, who is in need of feather repair.  

In order to complete this procedure, our staff and interns bought a live bamboo plant and cut strips from the woody portion of the plant.  These strips were then dried over night and pressed between two pieces of construction paper with two heavy books placed on top.  During the procedure, it was these bamboo strips that were inserted into the shaft of the donor feather and then into the shaft of the patient.  

These feathers will help this red-tailed hawk fly again and will remain intact until she molts.  In this case, the “donor” red-tail hawk arrived dead at New England Wildlife Center after being shot. The hawk in the video is the patient who is receiving the donated feathers.  She is now doing very well and will be released.

Today Mom Opossum and her 10 babies were released back into the wild after a difficult go of it. Mom was admitted in late July after being found stuck inside of the wall of a Braintree home. Fortunately for mom opossum, she got stuck in the right house. The homeowner was able and willing to help. The mother opossum was thin and distressed when she arrived at New England Wildlife Center for emergency care. Initially mom was admitted with a few nursing babies. Within a few days, a total of 10 babies joined her at the Center. Each time we thought all the babies were found, more kept coming! It is always a great day when they return to the wild.

Here’s some pictures chronicling her stay with us and a first hand look at our full immersion internship program.

A video by: Kyle Richards

Click here for a complete list of NEWC Videos

A video by: Kyle Richards

Click here for a complete list of NEWC Videos

One of the things that I love best about the New England Wildlife Center is that we are able to reach out to so many different people to educate them about wildlife.  People come from all over, and everyone learns something every day.  Interns are able to learn hands-on what wildlife medicine is, and every visitor to the Center is able to see everything happening first-hand.

In this photograph, Dr. Andrew Cartoceti is operating on a small bird while being assisted by several interns.  In the background, a group of visitors is watching the procedure with Safari Steve from the Center’s hallway which allows visitors to view into all of the medical wards.  This picture encompasses a lot of what the Center is trying to do: educate the public about wildlife while teaching future veterinarians about wildlife medicine, all while improving the lives of injured animals.”

– Sarah Wengert, Animal Caretaker

Canada Goose Release by Interns

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Dr. Cartoceti and interns are examining a brown bat.

Students from all over the world come to the Center to work and study.  Students come to the Center to gain valuable first hand experience in veterinary medical technology, medicine and natural history.  Our internship program specializes in full-immersion apprentice-style job training to high school and undergraduate students.  Over a hundred, out of eight-hundred, of our interns have gone on to veterinary school and graduate training.  Many gained their first exposure to the field of veterinary medicine  at the Center as volunteers who then went on to be interns at the Center.  Students have come to us from schools like Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Boston University, Boston College, Mt. Ida College, Becker College, Dartmouth, Bowdoin, Colby, and the Universities of Virginia, New Hampshire, Maine, Alaska, Hawaii, Massachusetts, Maryland, and so forth. Students who have interned at the Center have represented all-in-all about a hundred colleges and universities.

Many of our student volunteers and interns want to become professionals in the field of veterinary medicine.  Many of our students already have. Becoming a veterinarian or veterinary technician is a complicated process.  The central quality of students on this career path is an unflagging curiosity about animals.  What kinds of animals are you most curious about? What is it about these kinds of animals that you most like?