
"Ben Schwartz with his Raptor Rehabilitation Van"
Ben Schwartz started his company, Raptor Rehabilitation, in 1999 after the idea hatched in northern Minnesota around a campfire. His friend said to him, “Life in the Wild is Seldom Mild” and the rest is history.
Raptor Rehabilitation started out as a rehabilitation program, but quickly grew into an opportunity to educate the public about these misunderstood and fascinating critters. Schwartz traveled all around to schools in Arizona and eventually moved on to Minnesota after he realized the intense interest kids had in his “foreign” reptiles there.
He carried a total of 10 critters with him around the country using an animal transportation van Quality Vans built specifically for him. To mention a few, he carried two falcons, a Gray Horned Owl, a Western Screech-Owl, and a tarantula. Schwartz has enough Federal and State permits to set up a large scale zoo. Schwartz said the work Quality Vans did for him really helped him over the years. The A/C units installed in the van withstood all kinds of climate and temperature change. According to Schwartz, 80% of birds of prey die within the first year and that number is amplified when you introduce captivity. In the seven years Schwartz transported his critters, he didn’t lose a single one.
His journey to educate the nation on reptiles peaked in 2007 when he did 150 programs in one year. Schwartz has since started a new leg of his business. He uses birds of prey to chase away nuisance birds from airports and vineyards. Over a couple hours, a flock of nuisance birds can decimate a vineyard’s crop by 30%. Schwartz’ job is to fly his falcons every couple hours to protect the crops.
So, what’s next for Raptor Rehabilitation? Schwartz is on his way to Tucson, Arizona to train two falcons for abatement; then he’s off to follow the grape harvest across the country.