Wednesday April 11, 2012-Caddo Lake NWR

I was sleeping very well in my recliner this morning about 6:30 when one of those darn trains woke me with a very weird horn. I've never heard anything like it before. It was very loud of course, but the sound was kind of a tone sound that rose and fell like a siren. When it woke me, I thought it had to be something like a warning, like a fire or bad weather alert or something. I even looked at the radar app on my phone to be sure that a tornado was bearing down on us or something. I finally realized that it was just a train, but it sure surprised and alarmed me!

We decided to go into Marshall to buy some groceries and as it turned out, it was a good thing that we did. Stella was almost through with her purchases when my phone rang. It was Jason from the refuge, asking if we could take another bird to Barbara, the bird rehab lady in Lindale. I told him that we could, so Stella had to cut her shopping short and we blew off some other errands that we were going to do while in town, and returned to the refuge. I called the lady that had found the bird, Amy, and got directions to her house in Jefferson. By the time we finally got on the road with the owl that she had picked up, it was after 2 in the afternoon. We made the almost 90 mile drive without any problems, and were soon pulling up at Barbara's house with the owl. She came out and said it was a juvenile Great Barred owl that had suffered a broken wing. She said that it was not a life threatening injury, but that the bird would never fly again. It was an old injury and the bone had dried out and died at one of the joints of the wing, but she would care for the bird until she could find it a home. I told her that Amy had been advised by the sheriff's department that she had called, to just leave the bird alone and "let nature take its course". She said she has heard that so many times, even from game wardens but it makes her mad. Now she and other bird and animal caregivers are people that need support! Their costs for food and medicines have to be out of sight! I can only imagine...

We had a nice little chat with Barbara before returning to the refuge. She is a retired Police Officer too, so we have a lot in common to talk about. She is very envious of our lifestyle and said her sister and her husband full-timed until their deaths. We told her of our plans for the rest of the year and that we would think of her in July and August when we will be in Colorado and it's 110 degrees in east Texas.

If you would like more information about donating or giving support to Barbara, please leave me a message or email me and I will find out for you.

So long.