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Friday, December 15, 2006
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Students help stranded loon
Outdoors Editor Thanks to the students at Cuyuna Range Elementary School, a young loon that never migrated south will soon be released in Florida.
The loon was found Dec. 3 swimming around in a hole in the ice on Rabbit Lake near Crosby. It was rescued by an ice fisherman and taken to Garrison Animal Hospital, where it received a clean bill of health. Veterinarian Deb Eskedahl said she could find no reason why the loon couldn't have migrated.
Wild and Free, an organization that saves orphaned and injured birds and animals, periodically sends birds south, but at a cost. In this case it was $180, the price of an airplane ticket.
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Three students at Cuyuna Range Elementary School who helped collect donations for the stranded loon were Megan Nephew (left), Noah Gindorff and Ally Sabyan. Some donations were as little as a penny and others were $10. Brainerd Dispatch/Steve Kohls
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When word got out that the rescued loon was in need of donations, the students in Becky Munn's second-grade class at CRES got involved. Most of Munn's 24 students or their parents donated money, and Jamie Skjeveland, school superintendent, gave a "very generous" donation, Munns said.
"They carried around the donation cans, made a chart and counted the money," Munns said of her students' involvement. "They're still bringing in money today. It's been real exciting."
Munns said the kids rounded up $218.20. The portion of the money not used for the loon's ticket will go to Wild and Free.
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Becky Munns, who teaches second grade at Cuyuna Range Elementary School, showed Cody Hermanson, a student, a book about Wild and Free, the wildlife rehabilitation service that operates out of Garrison Animal Hospital. Though the students could not visit the loon they helped save, they will enjoy a free wildlife program by Wild and Free in the future. Brainerd Dispatch/Steve Kohls
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The kids never got to see the loon, Munns said, because Wild and Free has a policy of not displaying rescued birds. But the organization has offered to put on a wildlife presentation for the kids at a later date. In the meantime, they have the satisfaction of knowing they helped a stranded bird.
"We didn't name him," Munns said. "That would have been fun. But I was wary. What if he had died?"
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With a photo like this staring at you, how could anyone resist donating to the cause? Students used these cans to collect $218.20, or $38 more than was needed to get the loon to the Gulf of Mexico. Brainerd Dispatch/Steve Kohls
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