House sitter becomes unexpected hero, saving four protected raptors during Trout Fire

Yahoo

8 hours ago

NEW MEXICO (KRQE) – As the Trout Fire threatened homes, two neighbors and a house sitter became unexpected heroes, jumping into action to save a group of protected raptors.
Within days of starting her house-sitting gig in Mimbres, Jayden Jones learned a wildfire had sparked only a few miles north. 'I went there Friday and I was like, wow, the smoke is getting pretty bad here,' said Jones. 'We were watching that Watch Duty app and making sure the fires weren't anywhere near us.'
As the flames from the Trout Fire moved closer, the neighborhood hit GO status Tuesday afternoon. Jones knew it wasn't as simple as just getting herself out of harm's way, as she was also watching the homeowner's four birds of prey.
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'We all ended up booking it out there as fast as we could. They had already closed 152, so we ran into a blockade and I was like I'm house-sitting, there's eagles and the birds, and he was like, yeah, go, just be safe,' said Jones.
Jones, along with two neighbors, reached the house in time, but there's still one problem: none of them has experience handling birds.
'I actually took a big sheet with me in case we had to just throw it over them and grab them that way I thought one way or another we're going to get the birds out for them,' said neighbor, Janie Epperson.
They quickly got to work as officers drove by, telling people to evacuate. 'I went into a mode where I was very aware,' said Jones. She said she put on the raptor gloves and talked to the birds, getting them out one by one and over to the Gila Wildlife Rescue in Silver City.
'I was glad that Jayden was so confident about handling them and having the glove on and grabbing the jesses, you know, I was so impressed with her because she was fearless,' said Epperson.
'It was definitely a team effort, and I'm really grateful that we were able to pitch in together, you know, and make this work,' said Jones.
Jones says the homeowners were able to pick up their birds from the rescue today and are waiting for the ok to return home.
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