Eleven animals were taken from their enclosures and released during a break-in at West Coast Falconry.
West Coast Falconry
A puzzling crime has left the owner of a falconry center on a mad dash to save 11 of her animals after they were removed from their enclosures during a break-in.
Kate Marden opened West Coast Falconry in Marysville back in 2006. It is home to 13 birds of prey, including eagles, falcons and owls, and provides lessons and education demonstrations on falconry. On Friday, she had just returned home from vacation when she was alerted that something was wrong.
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“My housemate woke me up at 6 a.m. and said all the birds were gone,” she said of the 11 birds in the outdoor enclosure.
Marden went outside to find some of her property had been damaged and her animals were missing. She told SFGATE she has never previously worried about crime.
“Twenty years, you become a little bit settled in, and we’re rather remote from any large communities,” she said.
They “cut all of the equipment off of the birds,” Marden told SFGATE. “And then chased them all out into the dark, and then closed all of the chambers, all of the different enclosures, so that the birds could not get back in, especially the night birds like the owls.”
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The missing included hawks, an eagle, falcons and owls.
“Somebody had to have that experience working with raptors, because they got our eagle out of there,” she said. And “we didn’t find any blood, and they didn’t find any reports at the hospital from being, you know, squished by a big eagle. … He’s got about 2,000 pounds per square inch of gripping pressure.”
After the break-in, her team started searching for the animals. They found three Harris’s hawks on or near her property.
“We refer to them as the black labs of the raptor world,” she said. “They’re the only raptor that lives and hunts in an organized pack, so they have a little bit more of a ‘Hey, I like you. You fed me before. I’m going to stick with you.’”
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Two other animals were also located on the property shortly after the break-in was discovered. Marden said the Yuba County Sheriff’s Office is investigating, and the California Department of Fish and Wildlife have been alerted to the missing birds.
CDFW spokesperson Peter Tira told SFGATE the department is “monitoring” the situation and said that because the birds “imprinted” on humans, meaning they identify humans as their own species, it’s not certain they can survive in the wild.
Currently, searchers and volunteers for the animals have been bringing food to areas where the birds have been sighted in the hopes the animals will return to their handlers. Marden said neighbors and other bird-watchers in the community have flagged multiple sightings.
“We get calls from everywhere with people telling us about the raptors that they’ve seen,” she said. “Within those false alarms, we may have one gem.”
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The day after the break-in, a neighbor about a mile away alerted Marden that a bird resembling her eagle had appeared on her property.
“My housemate, who’s terribly bonded to the eagle, went out with another friend of ours who works helping to rehabilitate golden eagles, and they found him,” she said. The pair were able to get the animal to come to them and they were able to reattach gear and bring the bird named Mavro back to the falconry center.
The birds of prey may not be able to survive in the wild due to their time in captivity.
West Coast Falconry
“That bird flew right into his chamber, got on his perch and shook out his feathers and looked at us like, ‘OK, I’m home, where’s dinner?’” she said.
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On Monday afternoon, Marden was fielding calls about a sighting of a red-tailed hawk that appeared skittish.
“She’s very close to home so it’s almost like she’s working her way back to where she feels safe,” she said.
Marden said she’s very concerned about the remaining birds, including a peregrine falcon that’s able to travel long distances, and a great horned owl.
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A barn owl is the latest animal to be recovered after the bizarre break-in at West Coast Falconry.
West Coast Falconry
“It’s breaking my heart, my great horned owl has been with us since he was 2 days old,” she said. “He’s only 3, so it’s like taking a toddler and putting them in Times Square and telling him to find his way home.”
A barn owl was recovered safely as of Tuesday morning, leaving three birds still missing.