:usaflag: Freedom & Jeff ----------A Love Story

[Cupajo]

Freedom & Jeff~ a love story





This is the kind of story you need when it seems like the world is spiraling out of control...
-----------------
Not many people get a picture of this proud bird snuggled up next to them

[attachment 163790 BeachPhotos066Large.jpg]

Freedom and Jeff


Freedom and I have been together 10 years this summer.
She came in as a baby in 1998 with two broken
wings. Her left wing doesn't open all the way
even after surgery, it was broken in 4 places. She's my baby.


When Freedom came in she could not stand and both wings were broken. She was emaciated and covered in lice. We made the decision to give her a chance at life, so I took
her to the vets office. From then on, I was always around her. We had her in a huge dog carrier with the top off, and it
was loaded up with shredded newspaper for her to
lay in. I used to sit and talk to her, urging her to live, to fight; and she would lay there looking at me with those big brown eyes. We also had to tube feed her for weeks.


This went on for 4-6 weeks, and by then she still couldn't stand. It got to the point where the decision was made to euthanize her if she couldn't stand in a week. You know you don't want to cross that line between torture and rehab, and it looked like death was winning. She was going to be put
down that Friday, and I was supposed to come in on that Thursday afternoon. I didn't want to go to the center that Thursday, because I couldn't bear the thought of her being euthanized; but I went anyway, and when I walked in everyone was grinning from ear to ear. I went immediately back to her cage; and there she was, standing on her own, a big beautiful eagle. She was ready to live. I was
just about in tears by then. That was a very good day.


We knew she could never fly, so the director asked me to glove train her. I got her used to the glove, and then to jesses, and we started doing education programs for schools in western Washington. We wound up in the newspapers,
radio (believe it or not) and some TV.. Miracle Pets even did a show about us.


In the spring of 2000, I was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin

 

[Micheal_R]

n/t

 

[Kelley (Texas)]

How long do Eagles live in captivity? Does anyone know how she was injured? That is a beautiful bird and a shame that she was injured like that. I loved reading this story, thanks for sharing it with the Forum. Kelley (Texas)

 

[Wayne in BC]

Freedom and Jeff

 

[Kelley (Texas)]

made by the photographer, it will get you to thinking of just how mankind has tampered with the environment and it's affect on animals. Kelley (Texas)

 

[Cupajo]

Thanks Wayne for the link. Quality stuff for sure.

When a story like this touches me I know it will touch you folks too!

CJ

 

[Wayne in BC]

in that some people make comments that sound good but they have either parroted their information or colored it a bit to fit with their agenda.
While it is true that humans have made many serious mistakes in dealing with our environment, one must also remember that the vast majority of them would not give up the conveniences in life to make a point. I have yet to see an environmental activist living in a hut made from rock or deadfall wood and walking everywhere whilst wearing bark clothing (from dead trees), plus eating only veggies or insects. Not using any personal health products made from petroleum or tested on animals etc. They seem to be happy to use modern conveniences to decry modern conveniences.

So i am mostly jaded and suspicious, tending to remember to "follow the money" when i hear even the SPCA begging and would personally shut down at least half the shelters in the country due to greed and stupidity, replacing them with folk who are not uninformed or hypocrites and liars.

I firmly believe that country raised folk have a much better handle on the real world than those raised on TV and one of the IMO worst and most damaging statements ever made was by the fictional talking and "human thinking" ungulate known as the mother of Bambi .......... "run run! here comes the "cruel" hunter!"
But of course you know all that and i am just ranting today

 

[Kelley (Texas)]

Here is the actual quote that I was referring to: "It took a long time before I understood what I wanted to say with these pictures and why I was inspired there. The more I was around these animals, the more I saw their inner beauty and intelligence and the more frustrated I became by our world and how much of nature is neglected or destroyed. I believe the wild creatures among us embody the instinct and love we have lost, and with this I realized more and more the purpose of my work." Annie Marie Musselman, photographer.

I do tend to share the same views as you and not the views of most of the radical tree hugger type advocates. I support the common sense approach to solving issues pertaining to our environment and wildlife. For example, we would dispose of rattlesnakes found around the immediate area of our home or barns, but when encountered out in the wild, we left them alone. We disposed of them when found around the house or barns because of the issue of the safety of our family members or livestock...the rattlesnake did not pose that danger to us when discovered out in the wild. It just boils down to using common sense...in my humble opinion. Kelley (Texas)

 

[Cupajo]

As the old saw goes,"Yer preachen ta th choir!!"

CJ

 

[Cupajo]

Bottom Line----"Common Sense" is fairly common among those folks that needed it to earn their keep from the land!

It's gettin pretty blasted rare elsewhere!!

Case in point;

Day after Memorial Day at Sound View Beach, Old Lyme, Connecticut.

[attachment 163809 BeachPhotos056Large.jpg]

So much trash that there is no place to put the excess scattered on the ground around the barrels at the end of the street and from one end of the little beach to the other!

[attachment 163810 BeachPhotos057Large.jpg]

[attachment 163811 BeachPhotos062Large.jpg]
[attachment 163814 BeachPhotos065Large.jpg]
[attachment 163813 BeachPhotos064Large.jpg]
[attachment 163812 BeachPhotos063Large.jpg]

Saddens and angers me to think we have a generation of such foolish young folks.

CJ

PS Enlarge the pics for full effect!!

Yesterday AM I had picked up every tiny piece of trash visible to the human eye by 7:40 AM!! Today I searched for broken bottles and other "harmful" items, otherwise I left the mess as I found it at sun-rise this AM! This day is my one year anniversary of keeping the trash picked up and I'm finished except for looking for those harmful items!

 

[Kelley (Texas)]

There is no telling what was left behind besides the trash...your gain! Kelley (Texas)

 

[Cupajo]

Hi Fred,

There were maybe two hundred dollars in returnable bottles and cans if I had time and the inclination to mess with them!

I checked the mess for any valuables and harmful items and didn't find anything either way.

Thanks for your reply Friend,

CJ

 

[George-CT]

weekend warriors from the big city's?....... Gay City park this weekend was the same way at the end of the day. had to pick my daughter and her horse up there and there were bus loads of inner city folks there. Picked nothing up...and then they wonder why no one wants them there......

 

[ojm bc]

n/t

 

[Cupajo]

Not many locals and the small beach gets so crowded you can't even find a place to put your feet to walk without stepping on someone!

I stay clear until the crowd leaves,

CJ

 

[Rob/Windsor Ont.]

At the risk of sounding "corny", I have always wondered about animal instinct and/or their intuitiveness when it comes to illness in humans. I really enjoyed this post