Getting Creative

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Enrichment is all about providing outlets for an animal's natural behaviors. If a Red-tailed Hawk caught a sparrow, they would likely spend time plucking its feathers before eating it. So this week when I had an extra quail wing for Carson the hawk, I wondered how I could make this a plucking activity rather than a swallow-in-one-gulp activity. I pulled out a toilet paper tube from our handy stash. I cut a hole in the side and squeezed half of the wing through. For a little extra interest, I snipped each end of the tube for a starburst effect. When Carson finally pounced on her new toy, she spent several minutes tearing at the treat. Sometimes it takes a little creativity to come up with something new for the birds to do!



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