Paso Hawk-2 (in flight) and San Simeon Hawk say hello in the flightcage at Pacific Wildlife Care volunteer, Kelly Vandenheuvel’s Cayucos ranch.
For the past 40 years, she’s been helping save, rehab and release back into the wild, countless animals — from baby raccoons, opossums and deer, to owls, eagles, falcons and hawks, lots of hawks.
But Kelly Vandenheuvel, an original founding member of Pacific Wildlife Care, hasn’t had many critters more famous than one she’s got right now.
San Simeon, a red tail hawk that became famous when a pair of bald eagles living in a giant tree aerie in San Simeon, brought him home likely for dinner back in May for their two eaglets.
Instead of the eaglets tearing the hawk apart and gobbling it down, the tiny, even scrawny-looking hawk (compared to eagle babies), became part of the family.
Paso Hawk-2 (in flight) and San Simeon Hawk say
hello in the flightcage at Pacific Wildlife Care volunteer,
Kelly Vandenheuvel’s Cayucos ranch.
The bald eagle parents started to feed it; a situation that lasted a few weeks, before the eaglets evicted the little hawk.
The little orphaned hawk was seen falling out of the nest and landing in bushes on the ground. Someone took the little guy (girl?) to Pacific Wildlife Care, but San Simeon’s fame had already grown.
Paso Hawk-2 flies past Pacific Wildlife Care volunteer rehabber, Kelly Vandenheuvel. The juvenile red-tail hawk was brought to PWC from Paso Robles and is one of three red tails that will soon be released back into the wild.
The eagle-hawk bonding drew birdwatcher crowds, “like paparazzi,” Vandenheuvel laughed while walking up to a large flight cage on her and husband Art’s rural Cayucos ranch property.
Paso Hawk-1 gives the evil eye to a photographer.
It’s a trek this reporter has made numerous times over the years, as Vandenheuvel, a former colleague at The Sun Bulletin and The Bay News, has worked with various birds of prey —bald eagles, golden eagles, peregrine falcon, owls and hawks — helping them regain their strength for flight before being released back into the wild.
Actually, there are three red tail hawks in the flight cage at this time, the San Simeon hawk, plus two others that came in from Paso Robles — Paso Hawk 1 and Paso Hawk 2.
‘Look how BIG I am!’ Paso Hawk-1 seems to be saying in this photo.
“I have had the red-tailed hawk from San Simeon and one of the two from Paso since July 3,” Vandenheuvel said, “the second one from Paso joined the others a week later. All three are in the flight enclosure to condition and learn how to hunt live prey.” Though the two Paso hawks are near in age, they were found on opposite ends of town, so they are not related.
Learning to hunt live prey is just that, as live field mice are placed in a water trough filled with dirt, sand, a few rocks and such, a mini habitat of sorts.
Paso Hawk-2 could win any stare down contest, hands down.
The hawks are then free to swoop down and catch a snack, learning a very important lesson of survival in the process.
Vandenheuvel noted that in the wild their parents would be teaching them about hunting, mostly from observation. These three birds came in very young and have never flown free in the wild; so, any hunting skills are instinctive rather than learned. And the roomy flight cage with the 20-foot ceiling and various perches, offers protection and room to grow strong.
San Simeon Hawk cuts a fine figure soaring through the air.
“They build their strength by flying in the large enclosure,” Vandenheuvel said, “so that they will be ready to fly in the wild before too long. As we discussed the objective of the live prey hunting is to teach them how to hunt in the wild.”
It’s a delicate balance, teaching them things parents would normally show, and yet not spending too much time with them, so they stay wary of humans.
Paso Hawk-2 stretches his wings.
When the birds first came to PWC’s rehab center located on the Morro Bay Power Plant property, they saw the group’s resident veterinarian, Dr. Shannon Riggs, who treated them for malnourishment and dehydration. After a time, Dr. Riggs cleared them for the flight cage. She will also examine the trio before they are released.
Dr. Riggs, “is the one who will determine if they are ready to be released back into the wild,” Vandenheuvel said. “I will catch all three in about 10 days and bring them to her to assess and evaluate.”
Once they are cleared for release, Vandenheuvel said she plans to simply open a door on the flight cage and let the birds find their own way out. Since all three were born this year, they don’t have territories to go back to and they don’t want to release them where they’d intrude on another hawk’s territory.
Vandenheuvel said at the ranch, there are plenty of ground squirrels and of course field mice. Plus the vast oak forest lands of the Los Padres National Forest are just over the hill.
“I will bring them back to the flight enclosure where we will do a soft release,” Vandenheuvel said. “This enables the young hawks to leave the flight cage when they’re ready. They can also come back for food as needed. In the wild, 50% of young raptors do not survive their first year, so it is very important that the birds we rehabilitate are conditioned, know how to hunt and will continue to be fed as they learn to hunt in the wild.”
These birds will get a fresh start, released into a world they don’t really know yet. “If they were mature, adult birds,” Vandenheuvel said, “we would bring them back to where they originally came from since they have an established territory, and possibly a mate waiting for them.”
What ultimately happens to the birds will be left to nature, but there are a lot of dangerous things out there. PWC doesn’t “band” the birds they rehab (beyond a temporary paper tag for identification), as that requires a special permit and would be done as part of some kind of continuous study or program.
Banding the birds, however, could help complete their stories when they eventually die, which one hopes is years from now. In the past, a bald eagle that was rehabbed and successfully released, was later found dead, electrocuted in high voltage power lines. That bird came into PWC already banded, so they were able to learn of its demise.
As an organization, PWC is looking to get its flight wings in shape too, as the group long ago out-grew its rehab center at the power plant.
A few years ago, someone donated a sizable piece of vacant land out by the SLO County Airport in rural San Luis Obispo and plans are to build a new, state-of-the-art rehabilitation center there.
PWC Executive Director, Kristin Howland, said, “We are so excited to celebrate our 40th year of rescuing and rehabilitating wildlife in San Luis Obispo County [and beyond]!”
PWC is taking in as many animals as ever. “This year,” Howland said, “is turning out to be a record breaker. Our patient intake is up over 20% in comparison to 2023 with over 400 animals currently in care.”
She added, “It is more apparent than ever that San Luis Obispo County needs the services of PWC and that we, PWC, need our new center!
“We have outgrown our current facility in Morro Bay,” Howland continued, “and are excited to launch into our next phase of growth. Pacific Wildlife Care is currently in the permitting phase for the new location on Buckley Road in San Luis Obispo. While we have a long way to go, we are confident that with the support of our amazing community, we will get there.”
Pacific Wildlife Care will celebrate its 40th Anniversary at the organization’s Annual Wild at Heart Fundraiser, set for Saturday, Aug. 24 at the Octagon Barn on South Higuera Street in SLO. The event is a champagne brunch, and tickets are available online at: www.pacificwildlifecare.org.
