Bridgette

Name: No reason
Date in: 5/20/94
Hatched: Spring 1994
Gender: Female
Age at arrival: Four to five weeks
Came from: Cropper, Kentucky

Story: Bridgette was hit by a car as a fledgling in front of the home of a fifth grader who had seen one of our programs. The boy called us, and when we picked up Bridgette, her left wing, left leg, and left shoulder were broken. Her right shoulder was dislocated, and she was blind in her left eye. Although most of her injuries healed, she is still blind in one eye and cannot fly well enough to survive in the wild.

For many years Bridgette had an extremely aggressive personality and would fight with other Kestrels in her cage. However, in the spring of 2001 she was given a nest of newly hatched Kestrel chicks. She immediately began brooding the chicks and feeding them tiny pieces of mice she had skinned. By the end of the summer, Bridgette had a total of 32 chicks that she had fed, brooded, and taught to hunt mice and crickets.