York Town News
CFW celebrates 20 years of service to fine feathered, furry and scaly friends
By Jennifer L. Saunders
The Center for Wildlife is nearing its goal of raising $50,000 for a new raptor compound, and this Sunday, Sept. 10, you can get a firsthand glimpse of the center at its annual Open House. Pictured are project participants on the site of the new compound (from left): CFW Development Director Laura Dehler, CFW Managing Director Karen McElmurry, donors Alice and Bill Larrea, CFW volunteers Barbara Sullivan, Laurel Caldwell and Abby Everleth, enclosure builder Les Haskell, and Lorisa Ricketts, rehabilitation staff member, with Freyja, the center's resident Peregrine falcon, who will make her home in the new enclosure with several other non-releasable birds-of-prey.
Courtesy photo
CAPE NEDDICK - Just a few months ago the Center for Wildlife began a fundraising effort to create a new raptor compound for its feathered residents who, due to significant injuries, will never wing their way to return to life in the wild.
This Sunday, Sept. 10, the CFW will host an Open House not only to celebrate its 20th anniversary of helping sick and injured wild animals, but will thank all those who have helped the center near its fundraising goal for the new compound.
As Laura Dehler, the center's development director, pointed out, the annual CFW Open House offers two-legged guests from southern Maine and New Hampshire a first-hand glimpse of the animals served by the center.
"People who come to the Open House are amazed at the facility and thrilled to have the chance see animals up close that they will probably never get to see in the wild," said Center for Wildlife Managing Director Karen McElmurry. "There is plenty for people of all ages to see and do throughout the day."
And this year's event also offers a chance to thank those who have helped bring the center within $3,000 of its $50,000 fundraising campaign underway to make the raptor compound a reality.
"The response from the public has been wonderful," Dehler said. "Whenever people hear about the project, they just want to know how they can help."
Major contributors to date include Bill and Alice Larrea for $10,000; Eddie Woodin/Woodin & Co., Inc., for $10,000; The Baldwin Foundation for $15,000, and Kennebunk Savings Bank, which recently awarded the CFW a $5,000 challenge grant to match, dollar-for-dollar, any and all contributions made to the center between now and Dec. 1 of this year.
Since its humble beginnings back in 1986, the center has grown to be lauded for its work assisting birds of prey, songbirds, mammals, reptiles and other wildlife that have been injured, orphaned or are incapacitated due to illness return to the wild.
The center also boasts a few special permanent residents, including a Peregrine falcon named Freyja, a red-tailed hawk, two barred owls, a great-horned owl and an eastern screech owl, whose injuries preclude them from surviving out of captivity. These birds not only serve the center's educational programs, but also assist in raising orphaned members of their own species.
The raptor compound, McElmurry said when the project got underway earlier this summer, "will provide a wonderful new home for these birds." The new enclosure will be a 50-foot by 50-foot octagonal structure and will double the center's current capacity for such birds. It will include eight sections with features appropriate for the particular species residing there, including natural lighting and vegetation, a variety of perches, bathing areas and secluded roosting spots.
"CFW has also been very fortunate to have some local residents pitch in to help remove trees and clear the building site at a significantly reduced cost," Dehler said. "The initial enclosure design work was done by Michael Robinson, and an architectural rendering was donated by Scott Fiorentino. The center has just broken ground for the new structure and local builder, Les Haskell, will begin construction very soon."
Dehler and McElmurry noted that the CFW has been busier than any season before, providing assistance to hundreds of birds, mammals and reptiles in need of rehabilitation for an array of reasons such as loss of habitat, car accidents and what the center staff and volunteers are quick to point out as the most typical cause of injury to wildlife: "Encounters with backyard cats and dogs."
The center is not usually open for public visits due to the nature of the work undertaken there. So, each fall, the CFW offers an opportunity to tour the facility and get a bird's eye view of some of its residents.
Sunday's event will be held from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., and visitors will have the chance to conduct self-guided tours of the center's outdoor flight enclosures for songbirds and raptors, mammal enclosures and indoor diagnostic and treatment rooms, witness the live release of rehabilitated birds and enjoy nature awareness games and "fire by friction" demonstrations by White Pine Programs, animal stories by Shawn Middleton, children's games, food and even a raffle featuring prizes donated by local artists and businesses.
The Center is located at 385 Mountain Road in Cape Neddick, just before the access road to the summit of Mount Agamenticus.
Additional funds for the ongoing raptor compound project have come from a variety of sources including The Garden Conservancy's Open Days York Garden Tours, birthday parties, a lemonade stand, T-shirt sales, pond garden tours in York and the Berwicks, raptor/reptile education programs given at local libraries and other organizations, and adoptions of the center's resident animals.
Tax-deductible contributions to the raptor enclosure building project may be sent to the CFW at P.0. Box 620, Cape Neddick, ME 03902.
For more, call 361-1400 or visit www.yorkcenterforwildlife.com.
