SHREWSBURY, Massachusetts – Blue is no ordinary owl. She is the educational ambassador for Raptor Tales Rescue in Shrewsbury.

“Raptor Tales Rescue is a wildlife rescue organization specializing in helping birds of prey,” said the nonprofit’s founder, Jessica Zorge.

Animal rescue has always been a passion for Zorge. In the four years since the group started, they have traveled across the state and helped more than 350 birds, she says.

“There are no babies needing help right now,” Zorge said. “Anyone on the ground, not in flight, usually has a problem. Whether it’s gunshots or poisonings, hitting windows or lots of things getting stuck in nets, soccer goals, baseball goals, backdrops and things like that.”

In Zorge’s backyard, there is a raptor enclosure that can house eight to 10 birds. A recently rescued bird was sitting high up Thursday morning, but unfortunately all alone. Zorge says her vehicle is deteriorating rapidly and she can’t make as many rescue trips as she used to.

“It makes me feel sick to say that unfortunately we don’t have a vehicle,” Zorge said. “We try to provide as many resources as we can. We reach out to other networks, but a lot of these issues occur at night and on weekends when regular animal control may not be available and they don’t have staff on call.”

Zorge says they have missed 30 calls in the last ten days. She stresses that these are not easily caught animals like rabbits or small rodents. They are large birds.

“Birds of prey can cause serious injuries, they can be dangerous,” she said. “That’s why we will rescue them, capture them and transport them.”

That’s why it’s so important to get help sooner rather than later.

“The more we know that they are sitting out there and not getting help, the more it breaks our hearts,” Zorge said.