MONROE COUNTY, Pa. — There are all kinds of animals at the Pocono Wildlife Rehabilitation and Education Center near Stroudsburg.
While many animals call this place their permanent home and are used to teaching visitors about wildlife in Pennsylvania, many others are here to heal and get better.
"Nonprofit, 501, c3 wildlife hospital, " said co-executive director Janine Tancredi about the center. "So anything native to Pennsylvania that is injured, orphaned, or abandoned, they can bring here. They can call two, half brought here, and we rescue, rehabilitate, and release."
Popular clients here are birds of prey.
"A lot of them are especially owls. That's usually really common for owls to be hit by cars," explained staff member Sampson Metzgar. "That's due for a number of reasons. Usually, it's due to littering on the side of the road. So when you leave food on the side of the road that tracks rodents, that's an owl's biggest prey. So, an owl that's going down to grab something is not really paying attention to its surroundings. Obviously, the driver at night. It's night, it's dark, it's hard to see. So that was so focused that just dives down. And that's kind of it."
While many of these birds in the hospital were hit by vehicles, there are other reasons these majestic birds might find themselves in trouble.
"About four months ago, she was electrocuted, so we are waiting for her feathers to regrow," said Janine about a juvenile bald eagle at the center.
Napoleon, a mature bald eagle, had an unpleasant mix-up in a human wastewater treatment facility.
"so we start off by treating him for lead, poisoning, and head trauma," added Sampson.
Eventually these birds will move on from the hospital crates to these larger enclosures, once their head trauma heals and it's time to learn to fly again.
Some of their neighbors or buddies they'll find there are permanent residents that cannot go back into the wild, but travel to schools, churches and other events to spread awareness for their friends in need back in the hospital or to teach us how we should be interacting with them.
If you want to learn more about the Pocono Wildlife Rehabilitation and Education Center, click here.
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