IT IS ILLEGAL TO CARE FOR NATIVE WILDLIFE WITHOUT A PERMIT

Nigel is a Turkey Vulture who came to us as just a chick with two broken bones in his wing.  While he can fly quite well, we didn't think he'd be able to fly well enough to migrate.  (We know this because he's gotten away from his handler a few times.)  Typically, vultures eat carrion, but Nigel is a bit spoiled as he's been fed fresh meats since he was a baby.   Nigel also begins to shiver when it gets down to 40 degrees, so he spends winters inside.  We are fortunate to have such a wonderful, glove trained vulture for education programs, and that's because we got him so young.  We take Nigel to school and community programs to teach people about his species and how important they are to our world.

Our education Barred Owls, Opal (right) and Ellie (left), both came to us having been hit by cars.  Opal has a partial wing amputation and can't fly well enough to survive in the wild.  However in captivity, she is very determined, can fly in short bursts and climb up to perches 7-8 feet off of the ground. She's a quiet bird that will sometimes fall asleep on the glove of her handler if you rub her neck.  Opal has been with us for 6 years.  Ellie is just 4 years old and was hit when she was a young bird with baby plumage.  She is blind in one eye and her head injury has had lasting effects that prevent her from living a wild life.  Ellie can often be seen on ACA's Facebook page as her antics are definitely worth posting.  Our cameras catch her early in the morning fluttering on her perch and hopping around like she's loving life!  Both Opal and Ellie are great program birds that people can see face to face while learning fascinating owl facts!

Ozzy is our education Red Tailed Hawk.  At some time in her life, Ozzy became imprinted on humans.  She came to us because she was flying down to people when she was hungry.  She would literally land on us when she was first rescued by ACA.  That behavior makes her non-releasable.  One summer, we let Ozzy fly around the farm for a few months.  She made no attempt to hunt on her own.  She just waited for us to bring her food every day.  She also made no attempt to leave.  We finally put her back into an enclosure because she doesn't like men and would fly silently down and hit our volunteers from behind.  One two hundred pound man said that she nearly knocked him off of his feet.  This powerful bird weighs three pounds.  Amazing!  Despite all of her shortcomings, Ozzy makes a fabulous educational ambassador and a great representative of a raptor species.

Spike is our Raccoon Educational Ambassador.  He is 8, and we've had him since he was just a few weeks old.  The rest of Spike's orphaned litter were released once they were big enough, but Spike was born with some physical deformities that prevented him from living a wild life.  If Spike hadn't come to ACA as a baby, he would not have survived.  His front legs are abnormally short and he can't climb very well.  Like Nigel, we got Spike so young that he has become a fabulous animal to take to educational programs to teach people of all ages about native Indiana wildlife.