Ballantyne Magazine

FALL 2012

Ballantyne Magazine covers news, events, real estate, restaurants, shopping, health, schools and business in the upscale Ballantyne Area of Charlotte, NC.

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BALLANTYNE | who knew? 'Who, Who, Who' is Lil' Urho? Great Horned Owl Rescued, Returned to Ballantyne By Jodi Helmer WHEN THE CAROLINA RAPTOR CENTER took in the great horned owl on March 8, it weighed just 423 grams. Still a ball of white fluff, the nestling was too small to fly or hunt and his chances of survival in the wild were slim. a flight cage where it could stretch its wings. Under the close watch of veterinarians, its skills were assessed. One thing the caregivers watched for was silence in flight, which is essential for an owl to sneak up on its supper. An exercise known as "mouse school" was the final test. Before for the great horned owl could be released, it had to prove it could hunt. It was released in a dark building with several live mice. At the end of the test, all of the mice were gone and the owl tipped the scales at 1,330 grams. After 90 days at the center (and a cost of $1,040 for care), the great horned owl was ready to be returned to the wild. It was released on June 7 during a ceremony at Ballantyne Corporate Park. Balancing the Ecosystem "Releasing the raptor back in Ballantyne, where it was found, helps balance the ecosystem in the area," explains Bret Estridge, a board member at the raptor center and a project manager for Balfour Beatty, the construction firm overseeing the development of SPX Corp.'s headquarters in Ballantyne Corporate Park. Scott adds, "Mother Nature knows best and we wanted to follow her Heather Moeller (right), philanthropy manager at the Carolina Raptor Center, teaches people about the young owl just prior to its release. "It should have been in a nest, underneath its mom," explains Dave Scott, a veterinarian at the Carolina Raptor Center, one of the few nonprofit organizations in the nation that rescues and rehabilitates injured and orphaned birds of prey. The center is located in northern Mecklenburg County not far from Latta Plantation. Ryan Newell, the landscape superintendent for Bissell Land Services, found the raptor near Hawkins Pond in the Ballantyne Corporate Park. After he notified the center of the distressed bird, a volunteer rescued the week-old great horned owl and transported him to the Huntersville facility, where the owl was placed in an incubator in the treatment center. Rehabilitate, Release In 2011, the center took in 835 raptors. As with other birds of prey that come to the facility, the staff launched efforts to rehabilitate the orphaned great horned owl with a goal of releasing it when it was old enough. To increase the odds of a successful release, veterinarians mimicked its natural habitat and taught it important survival skills. "We fed him pieces of rats and mice using tweezers and a puppet made of a deceased owl," Scott explains. "Imprinting is so important at that age; the owl needed to be taught what it should eat, how it should look and even how its future mate should look." After a week in the incubator, the great horned owl was moved to 96 BALLANTYNE MAGAZINE FALL 2012 lead. There are ecological and biological reasons to release the bird back in Ballantyne." Although caregivers at the raptor center didn't name the great horned owl, attendees decided he should be called Lil' Urho. "We hope it'll have a long life in its natural habitat," Scott says. After 90 days at the raptor center, Lil' Urho was released in Ballantyne Corporate Park. Photo by Shelly Johnson

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