Kate Davis

Winner of the Ben Meadows Company 2004 Outdoor Pro Award
Founder and executive director of Raptors of the Rockies, Kate Davis, is doing her life's work 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Kate is goodwill ambassador, educator, artist and physical therapist to all things avian.

Take a peek at the nomination we received regarding Kate's work:
I've been flying hang gliders for several years now and have shared the air with many different hawks and eagles. They have briefly given me the gift of their presence as we turn tight circles, wing-tip to wing-tip, flying away into the summer sky. I am completely convinced of their supremacy in the natural kingdom and feel they are some of the most beautiful creatures I've ever seen. Yet many of us never get that close to them. Most people only see small black shapes and perhaps someone telling them they are seeing a red-tailed hawk or bald eagle. So when I met Kate Davis, I was fascinated by her chosen profession, or professions I should say. You see, Kate is goodwill ambassador, educator, artist and physical therapist to all things avian. To Rocky Mountain raptors more precisely.

Here is a woman devoting her entire life to birds of prey. Morning, noon, and night Kate is tending pygmy owls, peregrine falcons and goshawks among others. Her passion for these awe-inspiring creatures leads her to educate the rest of us about their beauty, talents and place in the world. Through her rehabilitation efforts, Kate has helped injured birds return to the wild and also gathered a rouge's gallery of delightful little characters into a troupe of top-notch instructors. They carravan the west in search of schools and community centers spreading the word of raptordom to young and old alike. All this educating isn't cheap as there are many mouths to feed and mice cost money. So Kate produces wonderfully artistic prints and drawings of her birds and sells them at auction to offset the cost of running the operation.

I was lucky enough to see one of her raptor presentations recently, given to a group of school kids from western Montana. How incredible to see the lights of imagination and wonder fire in the kids' eyes as they're introduced to Kate's feathery lineup of taloned teachers. What thoughts and dreams were being fostered by these most inaccessible of birds as the kids listened to Kate tell their tales. That was when I knew I wanted to do something to help her continue to create that magical spark and educate the masses about raptors. The opportunity to tell Ben Meadows customers about Kate Davis and her birds has given me that.

We spoke with Kate about some of the hows and whys of the important work she does. Click here to read this interesting interview from a fellow outdoor professional.

We caught up with and followed Kate Davis, Ben Meadows Company Outdoor Pro Award winner, as she went about her full-time, all-consuming, live-eat-breathe, never-leave-town-because-I-need-to-take-care-of-the-birds passion, in the Bitterroot Valley of western Montana.

Photo credit: Janice Stroud