On September 19th Wildlife Prairie hosted our first annual off-road triathlon. The athletes enjoyed beautiful weather, a challenging course and a great meal. This event utilized a lake and trail system on a portion of the property that has been left alone for many years. We will start hosting off-road running races, mountain bike races, and triathlons from this area. The event could not have been such a success without the dedication of Laura Bertsch, Beverly Enslow, the Peoria Triathlon Club and PAMBA. Thanks again to all of the participants and volunteers!



For race results please go to itsracetime.com

The Triathlon consisted of a 500m Swim, 10k mountain bike trail and 5k trail run. The Biathlon included the 10k mountain bike trail and 5k trail run.

In 2010 this event could become an official Xterra Points Series race - the first Xterra in Illinois.

To view more photos from the race please visit us on Facebook

Yesterday Was Moving Day for Hillary the Cougar.

What could have been a cat-astrophe actually worked out pretty well. Our goal was to move Hillary cougar over to the ‘new' cougar enclosure and we were successful! After veterinarian Derek McFarland tranquilized Hillary we were able to get paint paw prints, clay molds of front and back paws, and she was also updated on her shots. (Some of the paw prints will be sold at our fundraiser next year, which is Year of the Cougar!)

The enclosure she was moved to is where Tipper has been recuperating from a broken wrist since last May. A lot of work has been done in the kennel/den area, and we still need to complete some tasks in the yard, but that should hopefully be done in the next few days. Hillary didn't need any reversal medication, she started waking up before we even had her completely in the den but it all worked out. She was a little ‘cranky', to say the least and was growling a bit at Tipper so the girls will need some time to get reacquainted. They're separated, but have visual and ‘nose' contact. We'll keep everybody posted as to the date they're released to the yard.

Jr. Girl Scouts earn "Hiker" Badge at WPSP

24 Jr. Girl Scouts hiked their way through Wildlife Prairie State Park to earn their 'Hiker' merit badge. Activities included tree, plant & animal tracks identification, nature grab bag guessing, building a shelter in the woods and more. It was a fun-filled day and the weather cooperated beautifully! Join us for the next Jr. Girl Scout Merit Badge Day on Saturday, Oct. 10th for 'Outdoor Creativity.'

Photo: The girls built a shelter in the woods.

Great Horned Owl Update 9/2/2009...

Caught-up Lefty, the rehab GHO, for its second physical. The catching-up was certainly more difficult than last time, but not near as difficult as I'd hoped. I was hoping to see more ferocity. At this point, I'm declaring him to be a her. She's almost 4 pounds now, which is almost double her time-of-admittance weight. Males usually top out at 3.5 pounds with females being approximately 1/3 larger overall. I was in hopes she would be ready for release this week, before my vacation, but she's still way too skinny and with very little breast muscle. She's eating anywhere between 150 and 350 grams (5.3 - 12.3 oz) of food each day. You have to feed them as much as possible when they're in rehab. Their bodies are burning the normal, stay-alive calories, plus the healing calories as well. We opened the second enclosure to give her a greater workout/flight area. Over the next couple of weeks, she'll continue to eat her fill and strengthen her muscles and later this month, or early next month she'll be flying in her own territory once again. Photo: Feeling the keel. When feeling the keel bone, the rehabber needs to place the bone between the fore and middle fingers and gently roll from side to side. Healthy would be indicated by a gentle dip to each side. A rise would indicate an obese bird. At Lefty's time-of-admittance, I could place each finger completely down into the sides of the keel. She was the most-hydrated, completely-emaciated bird I've ever seen. As it stands now, there remains a serious dip in the muscle and until that changes, she'll be flying with us.

Photo: Notice the extra leather gear. No body piercings today!

Blessed Sacrament Vacation Bible School Makes a Generous Contribution;

Last week, our new Native Species Owl Enclosure kicked off its funding with a generous donation from Morton's Blessed Sacrament Vacation Bible School!
Each day the kids brought in a different kind of money. Day one was pennies, day two nickels and so on. Their goal of $300 was reached in half the time and they just kept giving! The final donation amassed a whopping $663.20. Way to go kids! What an awesome job.

Also, an extra-special thanks goes to Christy Metzger who agreed to eat a worm for achieving their goal. Because they doubled that, she had to eat two worms! Oh no! Oh yuck! Way to go Mrs. Metzger! Thanks to everyone for such a phenomenal donation.

Pictured above: Christy Metzger, Zoe Gass, Maddie Gass (all of Blessed Sacrament) and Bonnie Cannon, WPSP Education Director