
The American Bald Eagle Foundations outdoor aviary facility from across the half-paved highway on Monday, June 24. Roadwork is slated for completion July 15.
While the highway roadwork in town has been inconvenient for some this past week, it’s been downright deafening for others.
On Friday, Hans, the Eurasian eagle owl that lives at the American Bald Eagle Foundation‘s outdoor aviary, looked skeptically at his trainer, Sidney Campbell, with a posture she described as “alert.” Campbell was 50 feet away on the far side of the aviary, signaling Hans to fly to her. In her hand was fish bits to make it worth his while.
On the other side of the fence, about 100 feet away, bulldozers clamored and trucks beeped as they layed new pavement for a road improvement slated for completion by July 15.
“It’s not ideal,” Campbell said of the roadwork. “Owls have much, much more sensitive hearing than any other raptors.”
But trainers at the American Bald Eagle Foundation are making the best of a loud situation.
“Distractions give us an opportunity to teach (the birds) to focus on us,” Campbell said. “Our philosophy is you can’t train in a vacuum.”
University of Minnesota’s Raptor Center professional Gail Buhl said this is an industry norm.
“It is really common practice to take a look at what might be happening in the environment and use that to your advantage to make your ambassador animals more comfortable,” Buhl said. Their raptor center sits next to the Minnesota state fairgrounds, she said. “By the end of the summer, we have worked with them enough that noise is not a problem.”
According to Campbell, Disney’s Animal Kingdom Theme Park in Orlando, Florida, intentionally worked their birds during construction to acclimate them to what otherwise might be high-stress environment.
The idea, Campbell said, is to work the birds within their comfort zones and hopefully expand those comfort zones. “We do sometimes ask them to work in really challenging situations, but only to the degree they are comfortable,” she said. “If the birds are truly stressed and frightened, they don’t have to participate.”
For training, Hans has a slack cord, called a creance, tethered on his foot, which leads to a longer spool employee Josh Sanko holds. When Hans spooks and flies off his intended path, Sanko gently pulls the creance to ground him.
Paving will finish June 26, according to a representative from Southeast Roadbuilders, with an additional day or two for striping on July 15. From there, the construction company will move to Front Street for a sewer replacement project.
Campbell said the American Bald Eagle Foundation will continue training their birds in the outdoor aviary.
“In general, nothing more scary than that (roadwork) is going to be happening in the environment in the future,” she said. “If they can confidently handle big loud noises, they can handle anything.”