"I ran out here in the storm, I saw the damage, I rushed into her cage and she stepped here on my fist and I was able to evacuate her," said Leah Stallings, the executive director of Aark Wildlife Rehabilitation and Education Center in Chalfont, Bucks County.
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A tree snapped in Wednesday's storm, and the staff at Aark Wildlife say it fell in the worst possible place: on the homes of two rare birds.
"She's only had it for a few months; now we're going to have to start all over again and completely rebuild it," said Stallings.
Both of the birds are permanently disabled which is why they were living in cages in the first place. Both had been hit by cars and the bald eagle has lead poisoning, so when the tree fell on their home, it took away the only freedom they have.
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"It took us months to outfit this cage. We spent many, many hours putting the proper netting up, putting these proper platforms up reinforcing the cage to make sure Quinn is absolutely safe," said Stallings.
Now, it will cost thousands of dollars to rebuild, which is a tall order in the height of this pandemic. The wildlife center says it's lost out on $50,000 so far this year in fundraising while also taking in double the animals it normally sees.
"Since January we have already seen 5,000 animals here at the Aark," said Stallings, "When they see something in their yard that they don't normally see because they're at work, they rush it over to us and we are able to care for it."