By Nancy Cowing Umphres

The spring nesting frenzy has calmed down a bit. The great horned owls are the winners in the battle of the favorite Harris's hawk nest. The nest is located in a large huisache tree beside our company workshop and has been the favorite of our released Harris's hawks over the past few years.
The nest was almost completely destroyed in a very violent storm last summer, but the hawks rebuilt, and have raised two more batches of young and were working on a third when Mrs. Owl planted herself smugly in the nest and refused to move. The hawks screamed and swooped at Mrs. Owl for several days before giving up and moving to their back-up nest about half a block away in a neighbor's large cedar tree.
The recent storms have brought us several new patients who lost their homes in the high winds, hail, and rain. A pair of nestling white wing doves were the last to arrive and are growing rapidly. I try to encourage anyone who calls to try and put the baby birds back in the nest if possible and even build a new nest to put in a safe place close to the destroyed nest (see last month's LareDOS for more information on rescue care). This works well in most cases and the parent birds will continue to care for their young even after human handling.
Speaking of storms, last week we had a very violent storm that hit at about 11 p.m. We had already retired for the day but had to rush around letting in the dogs, closing windows on vehicles, etc. My mother's emergency response alarm service also called us and I made a mad dash next door to her house to check on her. Luckily it was a false alarm caused by the power outage.
While rushing back with my dim flashlight I checked on all the animals and almost tripped over Willow the blind beaver, who was calmly hauling back to his cage some branches he had cut from one of the Rescue Center's trees. Willow has made a neat open tunnel under his cage door and now has free reign of the fenced Center. I had had to put up wire around our main trees so that Willow will not cut and haul them to his home.
We finally managed to get back to bed after all was secured and a few candles were found. I opened our window and we watched the lightning show as it passed over us and moved away toward the south. The calm after the storm was filled with silence at first, and then it began. We listened to the night sounds and began to name the ones we heard.
The close sounds were easy: the glurping of our dogs licking themselves, the suckle of a puppy nursing on her mother. (We took in the mother dog when the owner lost interest and abandoned her and her seven puppies. Luckily we were able to find homes for six of the seven.) The squeak of the domestic rat's wheel being used by three baby cotton-tailed rabbits. (Meadow the rat adopted the rabbits and has taught them to use her wheel.) Then we tuned to the outside noises.
The first sound puzzled us and we both said, "What the hell is that?" After a few minutes we realized it was two raccoons fighting somewhere near the Center. The loud death cry of a wild rat followed with the sounds of hungry nestling great horned owls calling to their overworked parents. Junior the baby feral hog gave a loud sharp cry which we decided was probably due to a reprimand by one of his foster parent javelinas. A barn owl shrieked as it flew by our window.
We were beginning to feel very tired by this time and I decided to hunt up my battery-powered travel sound machine in the hopes of trying to mask the noises and get some much-needed sleep. The batteries were dead so another hunt ensued for fresh ones. Just as I set up the machine to the gentle sound of the ocean surf the lights came back on and we finally were able to get a few hours of shut-eye.
Peja the mother dog and her daughter Anu have become new members of our ever-increasing family. My mother and I recently took Anu to the Falcon Lake Nursing Home to visit my father, who is a resident in the home. The reaction to a furry visitor was amazing. Residents I had never seen smile were glowing at the sight of the puppy. Everyone had to pet her and talk to her. She sat happily in my father's lap as he stroked her. My father is in second stage Alzheimer's and has taken a turn for the worse in the past few months. Anu seemed to have a definite calming effect on him as well as all the other residents she visited.
I spoke to the nursing home physician, Dr. Alex J. Blanco, about having Anu visit on a regular basis, and he was all for it. So I guess her training will begin.

(The Zapata Wildlife Rescue Center can be contacted by mail at 6812 STOP 68A, Zapata, TX 78076-2913, by phone at (956) 765-8526, or e-mail at dreams@zapata.border.net. Those interested in visiting should call ahead for directions.)