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May/June 2004 issue	In this issue Table of Contents Feature: Cougar attack In-depth: Cougars in Canada The Inside Story Editor’s Notebook Explorer Reverberations À la carte Mosaic

Photo: Roy Tanami

There’s no better feeling than releasing a bird," says Val Lofvendahl (above), as she sets a young adult Cooper’s hawk free near the bountiful raptor hunting grounds of Burns Bog in British Columbia last February. "You let it go, and it doesn’t even look back. It just goes and goes, and you know that you couldn’t have done anything better for that bird."

Lofvendahl works at the Orphaned Wildlife Rehabilitation Society (OWL) near Ladner, B.C., one of Canada’s largest centres specializing in birds of prey. Each year, more than 400 eagles, falcons, hawks and owls owe their lives to the centre’s staff and up to 40 volunteers, who rescue injured and orphaned raptors from all over North America and nurse their broken bones and other ailments until they are strong enough to be returned to the wild.

Some birds, such as Pepper, are permanent residents at OWL. Pepper, a 12-year-old Harris’ hawk native to the southwestern United States, is one of 23 birds used to educate visitors on how to prevent injuries to wildlife. She was trained as a working bird and spent the first 10 years of her life scaring seagulls away from the Vancouver landfill until one day, says Smith, she took to riding on the site’s machinery instead of flying and was brought to OWL to spend her retirement.

Jodi Di Menna

For the rest of this story, visit your local newsstand or go to our store to buy this issue.

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