Those of you who have seen us conduct programs know that we view our education animals as valuable education tools -- ambassadors for their wild cousins. They are NOT pets and we never treat them as such. However, for purposes of our Adopt-an-Animal sponsorship program, we have given each of our education animals a name. We find that children, in particular, would rather sponsor "Scarlet," for example, than "the female Red-tailed hawk." With this in mind, we'd like to introduce you to our "Cast of Characters,"
Part of our mission is to provide a permanent home for more than sixty non-releasable wild animals that are either too sick or too injured to go back into the wild. We've provided biographies for several of these animals on the following pages, but they do not account for a full list of all animals that are cared for by Ohio Nature Education. These animals are as follows:
(5) Southern Flying Squirrels
(2) Great Horned Owls
(2) Barred Owls
(1) Peregrine Falcon
(3) Red Tailed Hawks
(2) Red Shouldered Hawks
(5) Eastern Screech Owls
(1) American Kestrel
(2) Turkey Vultures
(3) Red Fox Mixes
(3) Virginia Opposums
(2) Striped Skunks
(5) Big Brown Bats
(1) American Crow
(4) Eastern Box Turtles
(1) Corn Snake*
(1) Chilean Rose Haired Tarantula*
(1) Sinaloan Milk Snake*
* denotes non-native animal
Click or tap the picture of an animal to see a larger version!
Hiboux, which is French for Owl, is a small male Great Horned Owl. Hiboux was infected with the West Nile Virus in the summer of 2002. Even though he was fortunate to survive the virus, he suffers permanent partial paralysis of his left wing.
Found on a golf course in Muskingum County as a young, Twitter (from the sound he makes) suffered head trauma and an eye injury most likely from falling out or being pushed out of a nest. He is quite vocal and will sometimes hoot during programs.
Ruby is a female red-phased eastern screech owl who suffered irreparable foot and leg injuries after being hit by a car.
Rusty, like Ruby and Brutus, was permanently injured after being hit by a car.
Brutus was injured after being struck by a car. His injuries prevent him from being able to survive if released into the wild.
Buckeye is a female Eastern screech owl who lost vision in one eye after being struck by a car.
Otus came to us from the Back to the Wild wildlife rehabilitation facility in Castalia, Ohio after it was determined that he was non-releasable due to being struck by a car. Otus, named after his the Otus Asio, the latin name for screech owl, is a male, grey Eastern screech owl.
Raleigh is a female Barred owl who hails from Raleigh, NC. She suffers from wing injuries sustained when she was hit by a car.
Oz came to us all the way from Kansas. She is a female Barred owl who has a missing toe on one foot and a wing injury that not only prevents flight, but prevents the proper growth of some of her primary feathers. Her injuries were sustained from being caught in a soccer net.
Luna is a non-releasable captive bred falconry bird.
Bellatrix is a non-releasable captive bred falconry bird.
Igor is a permanently injured turkey vulture. Despite the name, Igor is a female. She was found in the spring of 2001 wandering around the grounds of Denison University in Granville, Ohio. Upon further inspection it was discovered that Igor had a detached retina in her left eye and an old healed fracture in her left wing. She is currently being featured in our Birds of Prey, Animals We Love to Hate, and Wildlife as Meteorologists programs.
Ichabod is a male turkey vulture who suffered eye and head trauma from an unknown injury.
In March, 2002, Mr. and Mrs. Van traveled to the Back to the Wild rehabilitation facility in Castalia, Ohio to bring home some birds from Back to the Wild. While there, we "adopted" a permanently injured, non-releasable male American Kestrel. The kestrel was born in 2001 and, while a fledgling, was caught by a cat and suffered permanent tendon and nerve damage. We have named him Falco since he is not only a member of the falcon family, but the smallest member.
Bella is a female red-tailed hawk who came to us from the Columbus Airport area with a wing injury. We received a call from Angela Miller at the Senior Times reporting that they'd been observing a downed hawk on their property for a few days. They'd made calls to several agencies but had heard nothing back until they reached us through one of our vets. An examination of the hawk revealed no apparent fractures, but she was rather thin and was having difficulty flying. Sadly, Bella never improved her ability to fly and could not be released, so she now lives with Scarlet, and, during the summer months, with Igor the Turkey Vulture.
Apollo is a male red-tailed hawk who was injured when his nest tree was cut down. He lives with Scarlet and Bella.
Edgar, for Edgar Allen Crow of course, came to us imprinted. He'd been raised illegally by someone who found him when he was young. We tried to help him regain his natural fear of humans by placing him with our own Velcrow. Unfortunately, he still greets us at the aviary door and will eat out of our hands, therefore he is non-releasable and will be incorporated into programs and keep Velcrow company.
Artemis, a female red shouldered hawk, was found by an employee of the Licking Park District after being hit by a car in Licking County.
Henna is a male red shouldered hawk who came to Ohio Nature Education from a wildlife rehabilitation center in Lake County, Ohio.
Bio coming soon. Minna is a non-releasable captive bred falconry bird.
Harriet is a non-releasable captive bred falconry bird.
Teddy came to us in the fall of 2016 from the Medina Raptor Center. He had been found under some power lines with a wing injury which unfortunately did not heal properly. He now lives with two other red tailed hawks and two turkey vultures. He is named after President Theodore Roosevelt, an avid outdoorsman who was instrumental in starting our national parks.
Reptiles, Amphibians, and Tarantulas
While not native to Ohio, Rusty the red rat snake is closely related to Ohio's black rat snake.
Most turtles are animals that people illegally confiscate from the wild and cannot be returned to prevent spread of disease. Eastern box turtles need to be returned to their home territory or will not survive. Most box turtles spend their entire lives -- which can exceed 100 years -- within 250 yards of the nests where they were born. A box turtle makes a mental map of its home territory and knows exactly where to find food throughout the year. If removed from its home territory, it will make every effort to return. It probably will succeed if moved less than a mile or two away, but probably not if moved further; although it may try for years. We strongly suggest leaving turtles alone. If you see one trying to cross the road, help it by taking it to the side that it was heading in, NOT the direction it was coming from.
This is Rose, our Chilean rose haired tarantula. Again, though tarantulas are not native to Ohio, they are awesome tools for teaching about the benefits of spiders.
Bo, the commercially propagated red fox mix, lives with Blondie and Amber -- also commercially propagated.
Marselle's mother was hit by a car while Marselle was in her pouch. As a result, Marselle suffered permanent damage, making her a poor candidate for release.
Amelia is a southern flying squirrel who came to us from a wildlife rehabilitator. She was orphaned when a cat attacked her mom and litter mates. She came to us at four weeks of age when her eyes were still closed. Amelia required mammal formula feedings via syringe four to five times per day. Now she is feasting on seeds, fruits, nuts and vegetables. Houdini, named for his great skill as an escape artist, is a male southern flying squirrel. With the purchase of a new cage, Ohio Nature Education has been able to keep Houdini under wraps. He was left on a wildlife rehabilitator's doorstep with an anonymous note asking the rehabilitator to care for their "pet." Unfortunately, as is true with all wild animals, Houdini was unsuitable to be a pet, however, because humans raised him, he is also unsuited to life in the wild. Both Amelia and Houdini live with three other flying squirrels.
Orphaned at a young age and kept too long by someone with good intentions, these skunks were too "habituated" to humans to be released back into the wild.
Echo and Radar are two male Big Brown Bats that were donated to us from the Bat Lab at OSU run by Dr. Mitch Masters. Radar is permanently injured and Echo was orphaned at a very young age.
Luna is a female Big Brown Bat who found her way to Ohio Nature Education in the spring of 1998. Only two days old, she was discovered by a wildlife rehabilitator in Licking County, Ohio. It appeared she had fallen off of her mother. Her eyes were still closed and she was covered with peach fuzz-like fur, not to mention her umbilical cord was still attached. For reasons unknown, Luna is unable to fly and is not releasable. She serves as an important ambassador because she teaches people that bats are amazing, highly beneficial creatures. Luna also lives with two additional big brown bats, Tes & Chiro.