All juvenile raptors will experience bumps and knocks as they gain experience in our ever expanding urban environment. For this little Merlin, the knock was much greater than his tiny wing could bear. In the pursuit of prey he took to the sky. Focused only on his target, he did not see the hydro wire that he was hurtling towards. The collision was quick, his grounding permanent.

He was taken to a local rehabilitation centre that cared for him as best as they could. They knew he would never fly again, but they saw hope that his life need not end. Once healed, he was sent to a captive breeding centre so that he might produce young that would one day take his place in the skies. Unable to fly up to heights over two feet, safe housing and successful breeding seemed impossible. The breeder turned to one last place where this little light might continue to shine; the Canadian Peregrine Foundation.

The future for this Merlin would be summed up in a single picture, an x-ray, and the advice of an esteemed member of our Health and Wellness team Dr. Marcus Luckwaldt of the Amherst Vet Clinic in Scarborough. Indeed his left wing was broken; ulna and radius snapped in half. The natural pull of muscle and tendon forced the bones to overlap and time has since fused them together, shortening his left wing by almost one third. Fortunately, this damage can be repaired with the insert of a surgical pin in each bone and the healing hand of time. This surgery would give him back over 50% use of the damaged wing and allow him short bursts of lift. Although he would never be able to survive in the wild, in captive care her safe elevated perches would no longer be an object of frustration but an attainable goal.