Close to 80 golfers came out to support the Wildlife Haven Rehabilitation Centre (WHRC) at Glendale Golf and Country Club for our third annual charity golf tournament a couple of weeks ago.
The day was a huge success and a lot of fun. Our hole sponsors pulled through — nobody is going to forget the sangria and sliders at the JOEY Restaurant hole, and the samples from Torque and Fionn MacCool’s. Everyone tested their golf skills at the Waverly Mitsubishi hole, but unfortunately, nobody got a hole in one and won the car, maybe next year!
We were all reminded why we were at the tournament when we had our photos taken with the Animal Ambassadors from the Wildlife Haven Rehabilitation Centre.
Ash is a Great Grey Owl. She came to the WHRC in the summer of 2018 as a fledgling after being found in a ditch. Her rescuers kept her in their home for two weeks before they brought her in, which caused her to be severely imprinted. She looks at humans as her family, and she has no fear of people, which makes a safe release an issue. Her boldness around people could lead to her putting both herself and humans in danger. The WHRC decided to keep her as an ambassador for this reason, and she does very well in their centre.
Avro, the one-eyed hawk, is a Swainson’s Hawk. A car in Saskatchewan hit her, and because of the physical damage, she had to have her right eye removed. Her left eye is almost entirely blind. Since hawks use their incredible sight for hunting, she would not be able to survive in the wild being blind.
R2 is a Red-tailed Hawk. He is our oldest ambassador at 18 years old. R2 was kept as a falconer’s bird for the first year of his life, but unfortunately, his owner lost him and did not report it. He was found in a tree, tangled by his jesses. Because R2 was kept with his owner for his whole life, he was imprinted as well, and the WHRC keeps him as an ambassador.
The money raised at the golf tournament will go towards finishing the Wildlife Hospital’s outdoor patient and ambassador enclosures. Completing these enclosures will allow the Wildlife Haven Rehabilitation Centre to take in and care for more wildlife patients.
The new hospital, located north of Île des Chênes, will be a destination of choice for schools and open to the public to learn about wildlife. Visitors will leave with a unique experience.
We would once again like to thank our golfers and sponsors for coming out to support our third annual charity golf tournament.
“What a great day for golf and a wonderful opportunity to raise money for a local cause,” says Wellman.