Osprey Rescue – California Wildlife Encounters

Today we received a report that some local kayakers noticed an injured Osprey in a remote canyon along the South Fork of the American River in Lotus, California. The Osprey was at the river’s edge near a famous landmark called Gorilla Rock and had a wing injury. Laura Morin and myself responded immediately. Due to poor cell and GPS reception of the remote location, we had difficulty at first finding the Osprey and it took us 2 hours of climbing through steep poison oak terrain. I decided to carry as little rescue gear as possible because of the rugged location. My ArmOR Hand Gloves were one of the few items that I brought with me. We finally found the injured Osprey next to the water but he was on high alert. I had the kayakers distract the bird while I snuck around a rock and was able to net him before he jumped into the river. Once safely captured, I had to hand carry the Osprey out of the steep rocky canyon. Laura and I then transported the injured Osprey to Gold Country Wildlife Rescue. I am grateful for the concerned kayakers and Stefanie who called us so we could help this beautiful bird. It will be a miracle if I don’t get a major poison oak infection after this rescue.