Pelican Man's Bird Sanctuary

Did you know?
• Under ideal conditions a brown pelican can weigh between five to
seven pounds and live up to 35 years?
• The brown pelican has a wingspan between six and seven feet.
• A pelican can fly up to 35 mph.

Too often, when a fisherman snags a pelican, they cut the line. The line then gets tangled around the bird's legs and wings, causing the bird to get caught up in the branches of trees. If this happens, the bird will starve.
In 1981, while Dale Shields was out fishing along Florida's West coast, he came across such an injured bird. After discovering there wasn't an organization available to assist the injured bird, Shields took it upon himself to nurse the pelican back to health in his home and released it a few weeks later.
Later that year after Shields suffered a severe heart attack, he made a promise to himself that if he survived, his life would be dedicated to the care and rehabilitation of wildlife. True to his word, and despite suffering three more heart attacks, Shields devoted the next 22 years of his life to creating the largest and leading wildlife rehabilitation center in Florida.
On average, the sanctuary's animal hospital admits 15 new patients daily and treats more than 5,000 sick, injured and orphaned birds, mammals and reptiles annually. The sanctuary is home to 275 permanently disabled birds that represent 70 species of Florida's native and migratory birds year-round.
The purpose and goal of the sanctuary is to care for all wildlife, without taming or imprinting, to preserve their function, to treat all wildlife so they can be released to the wild and to end the suffering of an animal that can't recover.
The sanctuary is open daily to visitors from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Adult admission is $6, children (12-17) is $4 and children (four-11) is $2.
For information and directions contact the sanctuary at (941) 388-4444 or visit www.pelicanman.org.