Senior couple struggles to maintain bird sanctuary

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Don Gibson, 79, and his wife, Marge, 63, were hoping to be retired by now, but the Great Recession has reduced donations and tax money they need for taking care of sick and injured birds at their Raptor Education Center in Antigo.

The Gibsons say they’ve used about half of their retirement savings to keep the center running. They’ve operated the facility for 22 years and say some of the state’s most famous and severely-injured birds have been treated there.

Marge says there’s no way she and her husband can fail the birds that need help. The facility has around 200 to 350 birds a day from Wisconsin and neighboring states. About 29 of the birds now at the center are bald eagles.

Gibson says her center has taken on more animals because of state budget cuts and other-bird rehabilitation centers shutting down. The DNR said 59 bird rehabilitators had state licenses this year, but a bookkeeping change makes it impossible to compare numbers from a decade ago.

Officials said there was also a change in bookkeeping requirements in 2006, and that might have discouraged some from continuing their efforts.

Tags: outdoors, environment, money