January 2, 2021
Sad News
We have just learned that “Sam” Fox died yesterday, January 1, 2021. Sam and her husband, Bob, founded Wild At Heart, and have been supporters of this publication, Friends of the Scenic Drive and the Greater Pinnacle Peak Association for decades. Sam has suffered from health and mobility issues for many years. Sam’s health challenges never weakened her determination to care for injured and abandoned raptors.
As an initial tribute to Sam, we are republishing “For the Love an Owl,” which Sam wrote for The Peak in 2018. No additional information about services and memorials are available at this time. Wild At Heart contact and contribution information can be found at the end of the article below.
Les Conklin
February 14, 2018
Prologue
I’m so glad that Wild At Heart’s founders, “Sam” and Bob Fox, were too busy caring for owls and left it to me to select the images and write the captions used in the article below. I’ll let Sam’s article speak for itself, but I am happy to add a few photographs that provide a glimpse at the ways they labor in love for our wild raptors and our natural environment. Wild At Heart – two people and their volunteers – have earned your support. Please take action after you read the last lines of Sam’s article.
Editor
For The Love Of An Owl
By “Sam” Fox
“Sam” and Bob Fox treat an injured owl. (Courtesy The Peak magazine.)
In early1990, I read a delightful book “A Place For Owls” by Kay McKeever, a well-known owl rehabilitator in Ontario Canada. The escapades of “Granny”, a Spectacled Owl, and her first efforts at being a foster mom were hilarious, touching and inspiring.
Excited by Granny’s success at raising displaced owlets, Kay encouraged other non-releasable owls at her facility to do the same. After reading their stories I was convinced that using non-releasable owls as surrogate parents was the best way to raise nestling owlets in captivity.
I was fairly new to wildlife rehab at that time and volunteered at the Arizona Game and Fish Wildlife Center. With a bit of persuasion, the then Director gave me permission to initiate a foster parenting program, “as soon as a suitable bird was found”.
Later that spring, a severely ill, six-week-old barn owl with permanent wing and leg injuries arrived.
I was given permission to care for him at our home and “if it lived, try to make a foster parent out of it!”
On the way home, I optimistically hoped he would survive and that my husband and I could nurse him back to health. Little did I know then that this pathetic looking owlet would drastically change our lives forever!
Chia the barn owl that started it all.” (Courtesy Wild At Heart.)
It soon became apparent that Chia would need prolonged medical care. The wildlife center was not willing to spend their resources on one bird with no guaranty that he would survive, so we took him to our own vet, Dr. Ingram, an experienced wildlife veterinarian.
Chia was a fighter. It would take many pages to describe the months of medical treatments he so willingly endured and of how many times we thought he might not survive. Against all odds and to the amazement of our veterinarian, this little owlet did survive and grew into a beautiful young male. We built an aviary for him in the backyard of our former residence and informally founded Wild At Heart.
In 1991, as a single father, Chia raised his first group of 14 displaced nestling. He was a gentle, devoted father to his adopted family. Chia would become the avian forerunner of foster parenting in Arizona and through his example encourage other rehabbers to utilize non-releasable birds and mammals as surrogate parents. Over the following eleven years, Chia and his mate, Tyta, became foster mom and dad to hundreds of baby barn owls.
But Chia did not belong to us. He was legally held under the Arizona Game and Fish Department permits. Even though Chia was now “healthy”, his wings and leg were forever compromised. He could not fly and he walked with a limp. In order for Chia to stay with us permanently, we would need to get special permits from the AZ G&F and USF&WS. Not an easy task and one that would require an enormous commitment from both Bob and I.
Baby Barn Owl with Reptile Friend. (Courtesy Wild At Heart.)
Owls, as well as most other birds cannot legally be keep as pets. We would have to start our own rehabilitation organization and hope that Game and Fish would then transfer custody of Chia to us.
By then, it was too late to turn back; a life long passion had begun. WAH was incorporated as a nonprofit entity and we dedicate our lives to caring for these wonderful creatures.
How You Can Help
In 2017 Wild At Heart rescued and cared for 485 raptors! Each year the numbers of raptors needing rescue increases. Your Tax-Deductible donations are very appreciated.
For information about how you can contribute, visit our Contribution Information Page.
Website: www.wildatheartowls.org
Postal Address: Wild At Heart, 31840 N. 45th Street, Cave Creek, AZ 85331.
Tax I.D. EIN 86-0770883 Thank you!
Wild At Heart in Action Photo Journal
Wild At Heart volunteers move community of burrowing owls from path of development.(Courtesy Wild At Heart.)
Wild At Heart volunteers release rehabilitate Harris hawks back into the wild. (Courtesy Wild At Heart.)
A recently hatched owlet examines a coin. {Courtesy Wild At Heart.)
In 2004, Wild At Heart volunteer releases a great horned owl at Cookout at the Ranch. Wild At Heart supports many nonprofits by doing releases at fund raisers. (Courtesy Friends of the Scenic Drive.}
This 2000 issue of The Peak published an article written by a Wild At Heart volunteer that described the dangers posed to raptors by power lines. A victim being rehabilitated by Wild At Heart is shown in the foreground. (Courtesy The Peak.)
Scheherazade, a legendary foster mother at Wild At Heart, was featured with youngsters under her care on the September 2003 cover of The Peak. (Courtesy The Peak.)
Barn Owls. ({Courtesy Wild At Heart.)
The Peak Welcomes Your Comment
GPPA MembershipMake a Donation to GPPA Peak Advertisements & Advertorials
Recent Comments