Author: Melissa Hill

While earning her Bachelor's Degree in Wildlife Management at the University of Wyoming, Melissa began volunteering at Laramie Raptor Refuge and was instantly hooked on birds of prey.

Since those early days, she has worked with nearly 70 different raptors at four different raptor education groups in three states. She is a former member of the Education Committee for the International Association of Avian Trainers and Educators (IAATE) and a National Association for Interpretation's Certified Interpretive Guide.

When she's not "playing with the birds" she enjoys spending time quilting, crocheting, and exploring the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem with her non-bird family.

Melissa is in heaven! A turkey vulture for our program

July 27, 2011 by Melissa Hill

The bird I have wanted the most for this program is one that few people appreciate—the Turkey Vulture. I never even gave vultures a second glance myself…until I met one. […]

Siding for the mews – Thank you, Susan!!!

July 27, 2011 by Melissa Hill

Holy cow! It actually looks like an official building—the siding is on! The original plan for the mews for our Draper Museum Raptor Experience didn’t include siding due to budget […]

The innards of the mews!

July 27, 2011 by Melissa Hill

Periodically, the work on the mews for our Draper Museum Raptor Experience would come to a stand still. While waiting for the electrical and plumbing to be installed, we started […]

Special thanks to our Raptor Experience interns

July 27, 2011 by Melissa Hill

As the summer progressed, I began to stress more about the fact that my interns from the University of Wyoming weren’t actually getting the internship they were supposed to have. […]

Red-tailed Hawk for our Greater Yellowstone Raptor Experience.

Hawk Heaven

July 22, 2011 by Melissa Hill

The state of Wyoming limits the number of birds you can have for an educational program to five individuals, and they steer you toward having one bird from each “family” […]

A Building for the Greater Yellowstone Raptor Experience!

July 22, 2011 by Melissa Hill

Things are moving right along here for the Raptor Experience. We have two birds lined up for the program and the mews are starting to look like a real building. […]