Tuesday, October 23, 2012

Wild Things!


As you can tell by the chain on this wolf's neck,
I did not catch this picture of him out in the wild!
He was part of a teaching seminar hosted recently
by the Old Independence Regional Museum
of Batesville, Arkansas.



It was my privilege not only to see a wolf up close,
but also to see several birds of prey.

This, and the picture above are of a grey hawk.


The man holding this horned owl is Rodney Paul
who works with "Raptor Rehab of Central Arkansas".


The owl was rescued after it was kicked out of its nest by its mother
because it was blind. 

Mr. Paul explained to us that although the blindness was temporary,
the owl had already bonded to him, and could not survive in the wild.
 

This monkey-faced bird of prey is a barn owl, also known
as a farmer's best friend because of all the mice he devours!



If you click to enlarge the photo, you can see the restraints
that keep him from being able to fly away.

I think the most important thing I learned that day
was that it is illegal for you to keep a feather of any protected
bird of prey.  If you have a feather in your possession,
it could mean you are guilty of killing the protected bird,
and could involve prison time!  So BEWARE, if you, like me,
have a habit of picking up feathers when you're out on a walk!




Although this wolf acted pretty tame, I still wouldn't trust it to have overcome its wild instincts.  There is coming a time, though, when God says,

"The wolf will live with the lamb,
 the leopard will lie down with the goat,
the calf and the lion and the yearling together;
and a little child will lead them.
The cow will feed with the bear,
 their young will lie down together,
and the lion will eat straw like the ox.
The infant will play near the hole of the cobra,
and the young child put his hand into the viper's nest.
They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain,
for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the LORD
 as the waters cover the sea."
Isaiah 11:6-9

WOW!
Won't that be a wonderful time,
when the wild things are no longer wild!
 

Thanks for your visit!
Click HERE to see "Names of God on Rocks".

17 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi Esther Joy, such great pics. And I love all the wild things. To me they tell a story about God and His great creativity
God bless
Tracy

EG CameraGirl said...

What a great time for you to get to see the animals and birds up close.

Aritha V. said...

I like this blog wit pics about wild animals. Thanks. Its great to see it.

Jenny said...

Hooray! You are so smart! You got the W link right even though I skipped ahead.

The post is correct now!

Thanks for your patience!

Rocky Mountain Woman said...

I caught a glimpse of a wolf in the wild once and the hair on the back of my neck stood straight up! They are beautiful, mystical creatures...

My name is Riet said...

We don.t see much in the wild in this small country. I love the own, it is so special.have a nice week

Midwestern City Girl said...

Great photos! I especially like the one with the hawk where he has his wings spread. Thanks for sharing!

Unknown said...

I love the bird with wings flapping. What wonderful pictures!

carol l mckenna said...

What an awesome post for 'W' and a magnificent experience for you ~ fantastic photography of nature's beautiful animals ~ (A Creative Harbor) ^_^

Anonymous said...

What beautiful animals! I love when I get to see the great horned owls that live around my farm. They are so beautiful!

anitamombanita said...

including US!! :) It will be a wonderful time for sure!

Judie said...

When we lived in Arizona, there were a LOT of wild things that we saw on a daily basis. Not far from our house was Honeybee Canyon, the home of many Great Horned Owls for thousands of years. Their images are found on huge rocks there in the form of petroglyphs. Honestly, I don't want these owls to one day NOT be raptors. I want them to stay the way they are, because that is the way God made them.

Lola said...

Hi again! Love the post!

Thanks for stopping by. Have a great weekend and look forward to *seeing* you again!

Susan Anderson said...

What a great post. And I loved the animal pics!

=)

SarahBeth said...

Wonderful pics, especially the last one of the wolf! I didn't know that about feathers -- I don't pick them up, but my granddaughter does! We'll have to be careful that they are only feathers from doves or various songbirds!

Anni said...

wow....that would be thrilling!!!

Jenny said...

Wow. I didn't know that about the feathers.

I really enjoyed this wonderfully wild link for the letter "W".

There's something about wild animals in captivity that always makes me sad.

Even when it's a rescue situation!

Thanks for linking.

A+