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The Montana Raptor Conservation Center: 26 Years of Bird Rescues And Education

Whitney Hall. Courtesy of the Montana Raptor Conservation Center

Montana's hawks, owls and eagles get injured by collisions with cars and windows (not to mention bullets), by electrocution, and by poison. In some cases, a young bird will "imprint" on humans, leaving it unable to live in the wild. Bozeman's Montana Raptor Conservation Centerworks to heal these raptors and return them to the wild; about 40% of the birds at the center get released. In 2013, 190 raptors spent time there, and plenty of students come through the center, too.  Director Becky Kean reflects on a recent bird release: "It's kind of unexplainable, when you see the state she was in when she came here and then seeing her fly free like that. It's hard to put it in words, I guess. It's one of the parts that makes our job all worth it, seeing her go."

(Broadcast: "Home Ground Radio," 11/23/14. Listen weekly on the radio, Sundays at  11:10 a.m., or via podcast.)

Beth Anne Austein has been spinning tunes on the air (The Folk Show, Dancing With Tradition, Freeforms), as well as recording, editing and mixing audio for Montana Public Radio and Montana PBS, since the Clinton Administration. She’s jockeyed faders or "fixed it in post” for The Plant Detective; Listeners Bookstall; Fieldnotes; Musicians Spotlight; The Write Question; Storycorps; Selected Shorts; Bill Raoul’s music series; orchestral and chamber concerts; lecture series; news interviews; and outside producers’ programs about topics ranging from philosophy to ticks.
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