Willy the Oriole

I spend my free time at the Santa Barbara Wildlife Care Network. I somehow got the courage to start volunteering after rehabbing an injured Oriole. I say courage because the fear of watching an animal die kept me away from this field for too long. The oriole was caught by a cat named Lola and received puncture wounds on its chest and right wing. So, I placed the bird into Yoda's cat carrier with a couple branches, a dish of water and some meal worms. He chirped everytime we drove to and from work and everytime I gave him worms... but I knew this was not a long term solution. After a week of trying to contact numerous local rehabbers and getting declined by every vet in town, I contacted the kind folks at SBWCN. The very next morning, Dan and I dropped off the bird at the center and picked up a volunteer application. The bird recovered with a droopy wing and still being housed by Pat the volunteer... the bird is not releasable at this time because while it was recovering, it missed its migration. So, it will not be able to join its family the late summer of next year.

I named the bird Willy.... it was the first name that popped in my head... after a family friend that raises tons of birds... or because I wanted to "free" Willy.... cheese... and Willy ended up being a girl.... so once again, I have a female animal in my life with male name.