The one-eyed red-tailed hawk stared at the new volunteer, who walked slowly toward the bird holding one end of a rope in a heavily gloved hand. The hawk hopped a few feet away, but was then held by the rope attached to its legs.

The volunteer stopped two feet away from the bird, then quickly pulled on the rope, pulling the hawk into the air and turning it upside down. The volunteer jumped back, and then gave a nervous laugh as the bird flapped its wings in an attempt to turn right side up again.

“This looked so much easier when you did it,” Kathie Taylor, a sophomore in animal ecology, said to Tim Hanks, the volunteer coordinator for the Iowa State College of Veterinary Medicine’s Wildlife Care Clinic.

“You’re doing fine. It just takes a little practice. Now pick him up, and watch his wings,” Hanks said.

With a slightly trembling hand, Taylor placed her hand on the hawk’s stomach, sliding one finger between the hawk’s legs and cradled the bird in her arms.

“Great!” Hanks said. “Now turn him perpendicular to the ground, and throw him back in the air.”

Taylor complied, and as the wind suddenly gusted, the bird soared, looking like the strong raptor it used to be. Then the wind died, the bird flew a few more yards and landed.

As the bird panted, out of breath, Hanks said it was time to quit and picked up the bird, returning it to its cage. “You did good,” Hanks murmured to the bird. “You’ll soon get your strength back.”

Back inside the Wildlife Care Clinic, Hanks explained what had happened to the hawk.

“He was found scavenging near some train tracks. We don’t know if he was hit by a train or a car, but it broke his wing. The missing eye was probably an older injury. We’d like to return him to the wild. Red-tails are supposed to do fine with just one eye. But we’ll have to wait until that wing heels.”

Stories like the red-tailed hawk’s are common at the Wildlife Care Clinic, Hanks said. Animals that were injured by automobiles, power lines and hunting accidents are common. So are baby animals, brought in by well-meaning people who do not see the animal’s parents.

“Most baby animals brought in would probably do fine without our help. The mother is usually around somewhere but is hiding from the people. We don’t mind, the babies are usually easy to care for and a lot of fun,” Hanks said.

A squeak from a large incubator announced the presence of another baby animal, and Hanks grinned. He picked out a few large meal worms from a bucket, opened the incubator, and placed the worms in a food dish. The towel in the incubator moved, and two pairs of bulging eyes peeked out from beneath it. Two young opossums saw the food, and wasted no time in cleaning out the dish.

“I like my job,” Hanks said with a grin.

While the vast majority of animals are brought in by the public, occasionally the WCC makes a special effort to retrieve an animal.

According to Malia Schepers, a Wildlife Care Clinic rehabilitator, an American white pelican was captured from Big Creek State Park in September after a two-hour chase involving Wildlife Care Clinic employees and volunteers, as well as boats from the DNR.

“We were all soaked after that,” Schepers recalls. “We kept going in over our chest waders. It was cold, but it was worth it.”

Schepers said the bird had to be removed from the lake because it could not fly south with the rest of the pelicans. Because Big Creek freezes in the winter, the bird could not stay.

The pelican has since been given to the Blank Park Zoo as part of its pelican collection.

Occasionally an animal must remain in captivity, however, as many as possible are released into the wild as soon as they are healthy. As part of the College of Veterinary Medicine for at least 14 years, the Wildlife Care Clinic has had its part in healing and rehabilitating many animals over the years, Hanks said, but those that never heal properly stay on with the WCC as “permanent” animals. They are used in programs the WCC gives to local schools, organizations and on special occasions.

“We just don’t have the room to keep all of the animals we would like,” Hanks said. “Funding is always a problem, and we just can’t afford to find larger cages or give every animal special care if it needs it.”

The WCC is always in need of funding. As a non-profit organization that does not charge people to take in the wild animals they bring, there is no reliable source of income, Hanks said. All finances used to run the WCC come from concerned members of the public.

General donations, contributions to the WCC “Adopt-an-Animal” program, and money from T-shirt and mug sales comprise the WCC’s annual funding.

“The Adopt-an-Animal program is a great one for people or groups interested in wildlife. People can call up and find out which animals are being cared for here, then they pick one, and send in a donation that goes specifically for the care of that animal. Then they get to watch it freed when it’s well again,” Hanks said.

The Adopt-an-Animal program costs $100 for a group to adopt an animal, and $15 for an individual.

Those who are interested in becoming volunteers can call the Wildlife Care Clinic, call 294-4900.