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At St. Francis Sanctuary, Pat Jackson fulfills a lifelong mission of saving birds

As a little girl, Pat Jackson was the kid who’d put injured birds into shoe boxes bedded with crumpled-up tissue paper and holes punched in the lid.

Now, all grown up, she runs St. Francis Sanctuary & Wildlife Rehabilitation, a sprawling 160-acre property near Arboles, about 50 miles southeast of Durango. Since 2004, she has tended to injured birds of all species and sizes.

“We’re set up for anything to come in here,” Jackson said on a tour of the sanctuary last week. “From hummingbirds to eagles, anything with feathers is in my domain. I’ll even take in pigeons.”

Jackson said she’s always had the need to care for others, joking that she’s rescued things all her life, “whether they needed it or not.” She and her husband, Rolly, moved from Albuquerque to Pagosa Springs in 1982 to escape the city and now own a strip mall in town as well as a couple of Papa Murphy’s franchises in the area.

In 2004, a wildlife officer and acquaintance suggested Jackson explore the field of wildlife rehabilitation. Not long after, she was licensed as a wildlife rehabilitator by Colorado Parks and Wildlife and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Jackson estimates she’s rehabilitated 600 birds, which averages to more than 50 a year. But far more have been euthanized for unrecoverable injuries.

Always on call

A typical call goes like this: Jackson, at any hour of the day or night, is contacted by a person who has discovered an injured bird, oftentimes hit by a car or caught in a barbed wire fence.

She’ll pick up the bird and make the drive to Durango Animal Hospital to see if veterinarian Chuck Hawman believes the bird can recover from its injuries. (Hawman did not respond to requests for comment for this story.)

If the bird has a chance, Jackson will bring the animal to St. Francis, named after the Catholic saint known for his affinity for animals, where it will begin a long path to recovery.

This fall, usually the quiet months for the sanctuary, has seen higher than normal intake of injured birds from around Southwest Colorado.

Right now, Jackson is housing a pigeon found behind the Ignacio Community Library. In another cage, a dove, which was hit by a car near Chimney Rock National Monument and rode in the grill of the vehicle back to Pagosa Springs before it was discovered, is slowly growing back its flight feathers and should be fully healed within a couple weeks.

But by far, Jackson is most awe-inspired by the birds of prey.

She currently is rehabilitating two horned owls, both nursing bruised wings. A red-tailed hawk, which just came to the center with a strange wound on its wing, is slowly trying to hold down water and regain weight.

‘A big commitment’

The animals in Jackson’s care seem to be recovering, but over the past decade, she’s seen some seemingly good situations go bad, fast. She recalled another red-tailed hawk that was doing well before she went to sleep, but the next morning, it was found dead.

“I’d say it’s a tough way to make a living, but I don’t get paid,” Jackson said, noting the sanctuary runs entirely on grants, donations, volunteers and, at times, private funds. “It breaks your heart sometimes.”

Michael Sirochman, Frisco Creek Wildlife facility manager in Del Norte, said almost all wildlife rehab in the state of Colorado is done by volunteers.

“We really applaud these people who take it upon themselves to contribute to the conservation of these species,” he said. “There’s a lot of time involved. It’s a big commitment, and a lot of expense as well.”

Sirochman said “by and large,” most species of birds in the state are doing well, though some have more trouble than others surviving. Rehabilitation of injured birds, while noble work, doesn’t necessarily affect overall populations, he said.

“It’s unfortunate so many are injured and killed on roads,” he said. “But to survive in the wild, the bird must heal up perfectly, the wings must be perfect to fly and hunt. Less than 50 percent submitted will ever be released again into the wild.”

For Jackson, the sanctuary is a small way to help ease some of the harsh realities of humans and wildlife coexisting in the same habitat.

“People sometimes don’t see the connection between wildlife in general,” Jackson said. “And especially with birds. They don’t see their importance in the circle of life, but luckily, there are some out there that do care.”

Also, Jackson made a point to say: Pet owners absolutely have to put bells on their cats, which are responsible for killing an estimated 3.5 billion birds a year.

jromeo@durangoherald.com



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