Mercedes Lackey - The Official Website

Ask Misty Archive - Birds

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2005

Q: Actually not a question, but I saw an article on the BBC website regarding Eagle Owls, and thought she would like to see it, but have no way to send it to her directly.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/northern_ireland/4444296.stm

I hope you can forward it to her, as I find it very neat that the owls are making a comeback. :) A: Wow, interesting! Mind, most eagle-owls in the UK are likely to be escaped falconry birds.

2003

Q: Misty was kind enough to let this be posted.
Teri A: Under the heading of, living in the country....
Apparantly my latest unwanted visitor to the chicken yard is a skunk. Said skunk sprayed under both the studio and the boys' place just before we left, and while we were gone, Rudi encountered it on the back porch. Tonight, the chickens were screaming rape, I went out just now to find out what the hubub was about, and there was the skunk, probably going after eggs. Hmm. How to drive it off and discourage it from coming back without triggering the dreaded....
(I was very proud of myself for this).
I got a can of air-freshener and sprayed it right in its face. Continued to spray it, herding it around the yard, until it escaped without ever once trying to spray me back!

Q: First, Thank You for writing wonderful stories that capture our hearts and bookshelves. I have been hooked from Arrows of the Queen. My question concerns your companion animals. I know you have birds and re-hab raptors. Do you have any other animals as pets in residence? A: I'm not sure if you would count our protection dog Xito von der Berg Haidstein as a "pet." He's more like "hired muscle"!

Q: Like most of your fans, I have enjoyed your work ever since I was in high school (which is yikes!! too many years ago)- It it one of my favorite hobbies (introduced from my book-worm sister long ago.) I do have to say that reading your books have cemented my love of animals. I have actually met you several times (and a discreet fan, as I was doing my internship at the vet hospital).

Anyways, I thought of you the other day when my husband brought home this owl- I'm the vet, so I should fix it, right?. He found it on the side of hwy 266, and put it in his trunk. I go out and expect a broken wing, or something!!! So we open the trunk, and pick up the blanket that I swear should have smothered the poor thing- well, he just looked at my husband as if to say- thanks for the taxi service, dude. Amazingly, off he went, flying silently as owls do.

I don't really have any questions- just really wanted to let you know that I appreciate your hard work as a writer. It certainly gives me alot of pleasure (although my husband would wish you might stop, so that I will get my nose out of the book and give him more attention!)

A: Cathy, that is a great story! As a rehabber, I can tell you that what probably happened was that the owl probably flew into the side of a car and, as my vet says, "got his bell rung." When they are chasing something, they don't pay much attention to anything else, and they don't have particularly good brakes!

Thanks so much for the compliments; if we had anything to do with getting another vet into the world, that's a great thing!

Q: I just wanted to say that your books are the best. My husband and my daughter both like reading your books as well. You have a talent that draws the reader into whatever world you are writing about and for the length of the book, that world seems real. To me that is the sign of really great writing. (However, that does not mean that I don't know the difference between fantasy and reality.)

I also wanted to tell you that I admire the work you do with re-hab. My mother-in-law did re-hab for many wild things before she died. (We always said you never knew what you would find at Jacqui's, lions, and tigers, and bears, oh my.) In the baby season, she would have times where the whole day was a round of feeding, and cleaning. To be able to take a day off was not in her schedule. (She wasn't just my mother-in-law, she was also my best friend.) She raised a lot of animals to go back to the wild, and some that ended up in zoos, because they would not be able to go back to the wild. So, you have my admiration for more then just the writing.

A: Thank you very much, and kudos to your mother-in-law, wherever she may be now. Rehab is an expensive "hobby," both in terms of time and money, but those of us in it think it's worth it.

2002

Q: I was introduced to your books when I was working as a police dispatcher by one of my coworkers. That was in 1992, and I have steadily been working my way through all of your books since. I have read every work I have been able to get my hands on (in the case of Valdemar I am working on my third trip through the series) but I have found one work credited to you listed on Barnes and Noble that I can't find anywhere. It is called Trophy Widow and I am very curious about it. Is that something you wrote, or is it an error on their web site?

True to form I must say that I love your work and it has meant a great deal to me over the years. I love to introduce new people to your work whenever I get the chance and I delight in their enthusiasm when they realize how truly wonderful the worlds that you and Larry have created are. I have also been a volunteer firefighter/EMT for 13 years with one of our small mountain departments near my home, worked as a Fire/EMS/Police dispatcher for 6 years and spent a short tour as an animal control officer.

The best discovery I made as an ACO were the wildlife rehabilitators. They are a wonderful bunch of unique folks and I truly admire the dedication you all show to our wild nation. Thank you so much for everything you do. Wind to thy wings. A: I believe that attributing Trophy Widow to me was due to a typo on Barnes and Nobles' part which they have not corrected. You will find that this book is written by Michael A. Kahn.

Q: What kinds of parrots do you keep? Me and my boys (Sam and Braynon, the white capped and blue head pionus respectively) would like to know? A: Well, we have quite a flock!
Little Blue: Dutch Blue Lovebird
Visyr: Blue Streak Lory

Q: i just love misty's books, but this is on a different subject- my mother and i live in the tulsa area and we do a lot of volunteer work at three forks nature center in seqoyah state park, we get a lot of birds that need rehabing and were wondering if misty would be interested in helping out when she can? we get a lot of hawks, owls, etc... thank you for any help or suggestions you might have, A: The best place to take injured birds in the Tulsa area is Dr. Paul Welch at Forest Trails Animal Hospital. He is one of those saintly souls who treats wildlife for free; he knows all the rehabbers, and he knows who has cages empty.

Q: Misty, I don't know whether you and Larry have done this yet, but are there any plans for you to co-publish a wildlife text for the lay-person? I paraphrase your stories for my kids understanding (5 & 7)and they are fasinated by Larry's drawings and your avian descriptions. A: There are so many good wildlife books for laypeople that there doesn't seem any need for us to put our two cents in. I strongly suggest "The Really Useful Owl Book" by Jemima Parry-Jones for small kids.

Q: Where can I get feathers from hawks or ravens? 4/14/99

A: From time to time people ask me how they can legally get an eagle, owl, hawk, or other bird feathers.

The shortest answer is, you can't. Possession of a feather from a wild bird carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in a federal prison and $50,000 in fines. Mind you, most Fish and Wildlife departments won't go after you for quite that much, but I have heard perfectly true horror stories about zealous officials pressing charges for the maximum against little old ladies who made pretty pictures with the wild bird feathers they picked up in their backyards. So ask yourself---are you feeling lucky? Probably not, and for most of us, a $1,000 fine and court-costs would put a hefty dent in the old bank account, and that is the least you can expect to have to pay. All it takes is for someone who is mad at you to turn you in to Fish and Wildlife, and the next thing you know, federal agents will be tearing up your house looking for the feather.

It is easier to tell you what feathers are legal to have: all parrots and cockatoos with one exception: Thick-billed Parrots. All domestic fowl, meaning swans, chickens, ducks, geese, turkeys, peacocks. All ratites; emus, ostrich. All game birds---wild ducks, wild geese, wild turkeys, quail, pheasants, prairie chicken---if there's a season on it, you can have the feathers. Starlings and English sparrows. That's it.

Now it's time to get creative. If what you want is a raven feather, try a black chicken or swan. Eagle, hawk, or owl---there are painted turkey feathers so realistic that they can fool experts quite close up. Or, you can trim and paint a white turkey feather yourself; you'll want to use fabric paints and a good photo-reference. Another option is to cross-stitch or embroider a feather; do two mirror-images and mount them wrong sides together. By the time you are done, it will be really and truly yours!

Misty

Q: I heard that Ms. Lackey has a wild bird preserve. Is it open to the schools or general public?
A: That's a pretty exaggerated version of what we do have---two flight cages in the side yard. No, it's not open for viewing---60 percent of the time the cages don't have anything in them, anyway!

Q: Hi. I was just wondering if you could FAQ how she became interested in birds.

A: I first became interested in birds when I had pet budgies as a child, but I really started getting into them---getting parrots and doing raptor rehab---after I met Larry, in part because of his interest in them.

Q: In werehuter - I think - you wrote a longer Introduction talking about your experiences as a rehabitator. Did you ever write or do you intend to write a non fictional book about this issue?