Nov. 8, 2008 — Crucians can rest assured that their feathered friends, when they run into trouble, get some of the best medical rehabilitation in all the Caribbean.
It isn't a hospital, but Toni Lance's two-acre homestead on the south shore of St. Croix is a sanctuary where egrets, kestrels, boobies, pigeons and hawks find loving care. Large wire cages are neatly tucked away in shaded areas all around the property.
"It's lovely that she opens her place to the public providing this wonderful learning experience," said Linda Martin, a visitor from Massachusetts.
Lance told a group of 20 bird enthusiasts sponsored by the St. Croix Environmental Association that taking care of injured birds was not her plan when she arrived on St. Croix 30 years ago.
She had begun her career as a wildlife photographer and biomedical illustrator in California. Though she had taken classes in birds of prey at the University of California at Irvine, she had no knowledge of bird rehabilitation.
But she found no one was taking care of injured birds on the island, so she began to pitch in. She started reading more about birds and taking classes and became licensed. Now, it has reached the point where not only residents who have injured birds come to her, but the V.I. Fish and Wildlife Service also seeks her help.
"I'm so glad someone has a passion like this for the birds," said local resident Gwen Hazard.
Lance, who is also a trained falconer, showed the group a beautiful peregrine falcon that was rescued from the tarmac at Henry Rohlsen Airport after colliding with a plane and sustaining a broken wing.
Like many other Crucians, Lance was taken by surprise when Omar was revised from a tropical storm to a hurricane packing 100 mph-plus winds. As Omar took aim at St. Croix, she was rushing from cage to cage in the rain, checking on the birds and bringing in those she thought might not make it. She said she had birds in her bathroom, her guestroom and her laundry room.
"I knew it would be a mess to clean up, but I figured I would just worry about that when the time came," Lance said. Some of the birds were left outside and they weathered the hurricane fine.
Feeding the birds daily is a labor of love to Lance, some babies are even fed with an eyedropper.
She has six fishermen who bring her fish parts and sprat (sardines). One local lady brings her zip-lock bags of frozen rats.
"The birds of prey need bones at least once a week," Lance said.
Lance said some birds, such as sea birds, do better at rehab on their own and can't stay at her home. "With some birds it is a question of their quality of life," she said.
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