OH THE PLACES WE SHOULD GO - ALABAMA WILDLIFE CENTER

ALABAMA WILDLIFE REHABILITATION CENTER

200 Terrace Drive

Pelham, Alabama  35124

(Writing and photography by Sheila Gail Landgraf)

My eight year old grandson just LOVES animals; especially turtles.  

He is fascinated with the way injured animals can be rescued and rehabilitated.  

He seems more interested in this subject than most kids; so for his last visit to our house; I decided to share The Alabama Wildlife Rehabilitation Center with him.  

I could not have picked a more wonderful thing!  He absolutely loved it! 

I had no idea that a place just a short distance from our home would provide him with so much fun and enjoyment.  The Alabama Wildlife Rehabilitation Center is located inside Oak Mountain State Park, which provides lots of amazing entertainment for people living in the area, as well as visitors from other parts of the country.

I had never been to this particular part of the park, so I really did not know what to expect.  I was pleasantly surprised and amazed at the discoveries we uncovered.  We followed the long wooded park road drive to the center, and as we drove I explained to him what we would be doing on the visit.  I didn’t see much reaction on his face at first; but I knew I had made the right decision when we arrived and he skipped out of the car and held both arms up high in a victory dance.  

He was so interested in everything that was going on there.  He took it all in with wide eyes, noting the information on the signs as we entered, and liking the rustic outdoorsy look of the building surrounded by beautiful and natural woodlands.  This was his kind of place!

Upon entering we could hear the sounds of birds singing and chirping “hello.”  

It seems that they receive over 1,800 birds from over 100 different species at this center.  They rehabilitate the injured and orphaned birds by providing them with food, shelter and medical care while they heal.  Of course the goal is for each of them to be able to return to the wild.

We arrived just before the morning feeding started.  We had to wait a bit; so we took in the curious books, pamphlets, stuffed animals and T-shirts in the lobby.  There were some very interesting items and I told him he could pick just one.  He very carefully chose a sweet little stuffed animal; a little wood owl.

As we were walking around looking through the glass walls at the birds who had found temporary homes in the shelter, a young girl approached us who worked there.  To our delight she had a miniature wood owl on her arm!  He was just adorable and Vinny actually got to touch him and gaze at him up close!  

 How cool was that!  We wondered around more and took in some of the nicely labeled and very informative exhibits, and looked through the glass walls to observe what was going on outdoors.

These people are really serious about their work.  They are open and working at this center every day of the year.  

The tables inside the building held lots of interesting information and great children's story books about birds and nature in general.  We got to go back to the feeding room and watch how they were feeding and caring for those birds who could not move around on their own.  

Later, we drove down the hill a bit to Terrace Drive and turned left.  We went past the park Headquarters on our right and made our way to the Wildlife Center's Treetop Nature Trail, on the left.  This was a wonderful 300 foot elevated boardwalk set among mature hardwoods in a stream-fed valley close to the lake.  There we visited with injured birds living in gigantic elevated cages.   These are the homes of the non-releasable birds of prey.  There were workers feeding the birds when we arrived.  They took time to chat with us and explain all the different species living in the large cages.  My grandson was glad to know that they still could live in the woods and have lots of room to try to fly if they wanted to.  I didn't have the camera with me for this leg of our journey, but I hope to go back to this awesome boardwalk again one day and get some great photos of the birds of prey and the boardwalk.  

At the beginning of the trail we saw two turkey vultures.  One had black feathers and one was an albino.  We immediately knew who they were because we had read about them.  We read that "Logan" the turkey vulture with the black feathers was found in 1997 near Hayden, Alabama.  He was suffering from wounds that impaired his ability to hunt for food.

We had also read about "Princess" the white albino turkey vulture who was brought into the center emaciated and starving in 1994.  

These two had to leave their home in the Oak Mountain forest for a brief period of time once as the extensive repairs and renovations were made to the Treetop Nature Trail.  Now they have completely remodeled new homes!  Their remodeling happened because of a partnership between the Shelby County government and the State's Department of Construction and Natural Resources.  The Alabama Wildlife Center is partnering with many community leaders, groups and organizations and corporations in order to accomplish continued support for making the Wildlife Center the best ever.  They provide a very important public outreach to our community and all of those living in the area are appreciative of their constant efforts and hard work.  

After viewing the vultures we saw some red tailed hawks, some great horned owls, barn owls and barred owls.  All of these birds have names now, which the public has helped to recommend.  You can make suggestions for names of any new birds by visiting The Alabama Wildlife Center facebook page or going to their website at www.awrc.org.

As we were leaving my grandson waved goodbye to the dedicated workers and thanked them for helping all the birds.  They smiled grateful smiles.  Without their hard work none of these birds would have survived in the wild.    

I highly recommend this great part of Oak Mountain State Park.  Any age would love visiting; it is interesting and informative.  We certainly had a great time there!