She took the raven to 2 veterinarians after she received the decision a few 12 months in the past. They each advised her nothing may very well be carried out to assist the hen as a result of it had been shot within the shoulder and had a extreme rotator cuff damage.
“One of many vets suggested euthanasia,” Sevcenko stated, explaining the hen — nicknamed King Kong due to its massive dimension — would by no means fly once more.
Sevcenko had different concepts for King Kong.
“I simply checked out this stunning hen — the biggest raven I’d ever seen — and I believed, ‘He doesn’t appear to be in ache. Perhaps there’s one thing we are able to do, regardless that his accidents are everlasting and he’ll by no means totally be a raven once more.’”
Sevcenko, who for years has been a licensed rehabilitator at her dwelling and for varied sanctuaries, formalized her small hen rehab facility in 2020 and named it Diva Crows. She stated her mission is to launch as many birds as potential again into the wild, however she knew that wouldn’t be potential for King Kong.
Sevcenko and certainly one of her volunteers, Sam Sparks, wrapped the hen’s wing to supply assist because it healed. They introduced King Kong berries, nuts and useless mice, in addition to contemporary water so the hen may take a shower each morning.
“We did our greatest to provide enrichment, however he wasn’t very conscious of interplay,” Sevcenko, 60, stated.
Ravens are highly intelligent birds, able to holding grudges, stashing meals and utilizing gestures to speak. King Kong was no exception, Sevcenko stated.
“He’s muscular, weighs virtually three kilos and runs just like the wind,” she stated. “He’s actually an incredible creature.”
Final summer time, when King Kong had sufficiently healed from his accidents, Sevcenko and her employees regarded for a brand new dwelling for the hen. They thought the Cayuga Nature Center in Ithaca, N.Y., could be a very good match.
It took a number of months to get the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to approve the switch throughout state strains as a result of birds are protected underneath the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, Sevcenko stated. However final month, the transfer lastly occurred.
“I used to be relieved, as a result of I may inform he wasn’t completely satisfied right here — he thought I’d carried out him flawed as a result of I’d wrapped his wing and pried open his mouth for medicines,” Sevcenko stated.
Ravens remember faces and might recall whether or not an individual made them really feel cheated or threatened, research present. Sevcenko stated she wholeheartedly agrees.
“Once I wasn’t round, he’d be out sunning himself and exploring,” she added. “From his viewpoint, I wasn’t an individual he felt snug round.”
In mid-January, Joe Capone, a Diva Crows volunteer, drove the raven three hours to a Starbucks in Harrisburg, Pa., about midway to Ithaca. He was met by Shyia Magan, director of stay animals for the Cayuga Nature Middle. Magan transported the hen one other three hours to the sanctuary.
“This raven is an actual success story — it was a joyful second to appreciate he was going to have a contemporary begin in a brand new dwelling,” stated Capone, 61, a retired federal prosecutor who now devotes his spare time to serving to at Diva Crows and releasing efficiently handled birds again into the wild.
“Ravens are stunning, clever and social birds, and this was the absolute best end result,” Capone stated. “There may be a whole lot of disappointment on this enterprise — numerous birds don’t make it. So it’s at all times a cheerful second when it can save you one.”
After King Kong arrived on the Cayuga Nature Middle, one of many first orders of enterprise was to provide him a brand new title, stated Magan, 26, noting that the sanctuary gives a everlasting dwelling for a wide range of animals and 4 different birds — a turkey vulture, a red-tailed hawk, a fantastic horned owl and a collared dove.
“We determined to permit him to select his personal title,” she stated, explaining that employees members wrote 5 names — Indigo, Eolas, Tarot, Renwykon and Bertrand — on small items of paper and a useless mouse was positioned on high of every title.
He chosen the useless mouse that was on high of the title Bertrand.
“Bertrand means ‘brilliant raven,’ so it was good,” Magan stated. “It fits him. Everybody calls him Bert for brief.”
It took Bertrand a number of weeks to heat as much as new environment, and he spent a number of days on the lookout for a method to escape the out of doors enclosure, she stated. However Bert is now chatting with crows that fly by, and appears extra open to having folks round, Magan stated.
“Daily, we’ll feed him fruit, greens, canine kibble and a few form of prey merchandise — like an egg or a mouse or rat,” she stated. “We’ll wrap his meals in newspaper or cover it in a field, and he’ll determine easy methods to get to it.”
Bert’s favourite deal with is cutup pears or apples, and he’ll typically cover mice to take pleasure in as a snack later, she stated. Studies present ravens are intelligent and able to summary thought. They’re typically conniving and intelligent, significantly in relation to hiding their food.
She and different employees members hope Bertrand can be open to studying new behaviors, akin to perching on command, to allow them to convey him out of the enclosure when college teams go to for instructional applications and summer time camps, she stated.
“He’s so sensible and so current, and all of us take pleasure in watching him hop round,” Magan stated. “He’s a real character.”
Sevcenko stated that’s what she’d hoped to listen to after she stated goodbye to the distinguished-looking raven in January.
Whereas she misses having Bert round (she’s completely satisfied to name him his new title now), she stated she is delighted he’s settling into a brand new routine on the Cayuga Nature Middle.
“It was a deal with and an honor to have him with us for so long as we did,” she stated. “He’ll by no means be free, however not less than he’s in an exquisite setup now. In any case that he’s been by means of, he now has the house that he deserves.”
