State 42 - Tennessee

Middle Tennessee Raptor Center - Tullahoma, TN

This center isn’t open to the public yet, but they are working on existing the center to include public visits in the future. They do have occasional events though for you to meet some of their ambassadors.

Lucy is a tough but loving bird, who held her own against 4 dogs before being rescued and patched up.

Always the star of the show, Lucy is a female Great Horned Owl that got into a tussle with four dogs when she was very young. She was left with a wing and leg injury that prevents her from flying normally. Great Horned Owls are the apex predator of Tennessee’s skies, but Lucy is a sweetheart who loves to show off her species to everyone she visits.

Their Facebook has many stories of rescues and info about events and the center itself, so check that out off you’re interested.

Just as a warning though, their Facebook is the most honest rescue feed I’ve seen. They do show some injuries in the rescue photos, and they also show animals suffering from secondary poisoning from eating animals that have consumed rat poison, and those birds ultimately had to be euthanized. Poison kills indiscriminately, and not instantly. Poisoned rodents are easier for the birds to catch, and then when they eat them, they in turn get poisoned too. This is an issue all bird rescues are very vocal against. Please never use poison!