As you can see Bird Ally X now has a NEW website! We are still under construction, but many of the areas are functional. Take a look around, let us know what you think! Thanks to Schildbach Design of Seattle for working hard to get this site up!
Month: April 2015
Pelican Dreams on DVD! Become a member and get a copy!
Released in 2014, we are excited to announce that Pelican Dreams, the latest documentary by award-winning filmmaker, Judy Irving (The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill) is now on DVD.
Centered around the story of “Gigi” – a very young (4 months old!!) female Brown Pelican who landed on the Golden Gate Bridge one afternoon in August 2008, the film follows her rescue and rehabilitation. Brought to International Bird Rescue in Fairfield, California the story is helped along by “Gigi’s” primary caregiver (BAX/Humboldt Wildlife Care Center’s co-director, Monte Merrick). As the Pelican’s primary caregiver, the film spends some time with him, as well as wife and partner and fellow co-director, Laura Corsiglia.
The film took over 6 years to make and includes footage from Bird Ally X/Humboldt Wildlife Care Center rescue work, and uses footage shot in Crescent City harbor by Arcata’s own Ishan Vernallis (Medicine Baul).
Right now, thanks to Judy Irving and Pelican Media, Bird Ally X has a limited number of DVDs which we will happily sell for $25 or offer free with any membership pledge of $50. (Become a member!) UPDATE! We have no more Judy Irving signed copies. Also, we have a small number of DVDs signed by Judy Irving as well as Monte Merrick and Laura Corsiglia which we are offering to the first 4 donations to Bird Ally X of $100.
Join us at the Redwood Curtain on Earth Day
When: Wednesday, April 22nd!
Come out on EARTH DAY next Wednesday, April 22 to drink good beer and support Bird Ally X/Humboldt Wildflife Care Center. Live music by Kingfoot, and the awesome feeling of knowing you’re helping us feed and treat our injured and orphaned wild neighbors! A great time to be had doing the crucial work of getting right with Mother Earth!
OR7, The Journey – Northern California Premiere!
May Day!! Celebrate one of America’s hardest working dads! OR7-The Journey will have its Northern California premiere at the Arcata Theater Lounge, hosted by Center for Biological Diversity, Northcoast Environmental Center, EPIC, and Bird Ally X.
Following the film, a chance to talk with director Clemens Schenk, powerful wolf advocate Amaroq Weiss, and representatives from the hosting organizations! Come on out to see this remarkable film of a very remarkable wolf!
May 1, 2015 – 7pm – $10
This movie has sold out in most other locations, so it’s a good idea to purchase tickets in advance here! See you there!
Mendocino County Suspends Contract with Rogue Federal Wildlife-Killing Program
County Will Review Tactics of Wildlife Services, Which Kills Millions of Wild Animals Annually
For immediate release:
April 13, 2015
Contact:
Megan Backus: ALDF, 707-795-2533, ext. 1010 (office); 707-479-7872 (mobile); mbackus@aldf.org
Amey Owen: Animal Welfare Institute, 202-446-2128; amey@awionline.org
Amy Atwood: Center for Biological Diversity, 503-504-5660 (mobile); atwood@biologicaldiversity.org
Kimiko Martinez: Natural Resources Defense Council, 310-434-2344; kmartinez@nrdc.org
Camilla Fox: Project Coyote, 415-690-0338 (mobile); 415-945-3232 (landline); cfox@projectcoyote.org
Mendocino, Calif. –In response to legal pressure from a coalition of animal protection and conservation groups, Mendocino County officials agreed today to suspend the renewal of the county’s contract with the notorious federal wildlife-killing program known as Wildlife Services, pending an environmental review that will include consideration of nonlethal predator control methods. The county’s decision came after the coalition, and a Mendocino resident, filed a lawsuit against the county in November for violating the California Environmental Quality Act. As a result of that agreement, the coalition has agreed to dismiss its lawsuit.
Mendocino County’s previous $142,356 contract authorized the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Wildlife Services program to kill hundreds of coyotes, as well as bears, bobcats, foxes and other animals in the county every year, without assessing the ecological damage or considering alternatives.
Today’s agreement was set in motion in July 2014, when the coalition, which includes Animal Legal Defense Fund, Animal Welfare Institute, Center for Biological Diversity, Natural Resources Defense Council, and Project Coyote, urged the Mendocino County Board of Supervisors to terminate the taxpayer-funded contract with the Wildlife Services program and conduct a legally-required environmental review. As part of that settlement, the county has agreed to fully evaluate nonlethal predator control alternatives submitted by the coalition. The benefits of nonlethal tactics like those used in Marin County will be highlighted during a coalition presentation by Project Coyote’s Camilla Fox on May 5. The community is encouraged to attend.
###
Background
Nearly 15 years ago, Marin County replaced its Wildlife Services contract with a nonlethal predator control program that decreased predation by 62 percent at one-third the cost. And in 2013, in response to a letter from the Animal Legal Defense Fund, Sonoma County’s Board of Supervisors opted not to renew that county’s contract with Wildlife Services.
In California, 80,000 animals are trapped and killed each year by Wildlife Services on behalf of commercial agriculture. Nationwide, Wildlife Services has spent approximately $1 billion over the past 15 years to kill 1 million coyotes and a host of other wild animals. In 2013 alone, it killed at least 4 million animals. And former employees have reported that the program dramatically underreports the number of animals killed. Peer-reviewed research shows that such reckless slaughter of animals, particularly predators, causes broad ecological destruction and loss of biodiversity.
Wildlife Services has been the subject of increasing controversy in recent years. Its employees have drawn public attention to the program’s routine acts of reckless cruelty. One was charged with animal cruelty for intentionally maiming his neighbor’s dog with a steel-jaw leghold trap. Another posted pictures on social media of his hunting dogs mauling coyotes caught in traps. More than 120,000 people signed an online petition demanding this employee’s termination and requesting an investigation into reports of animal cruelty by other Wildlife Services employees. The program is currently under investigation by the USDA’s Office of the Inspector General.
The coalition was represented in the lawsuit by Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati.
Copies of the complaint and settlement are available upon request.
++++++++++++++++
As many will recall, last summer the same issue was brought before Humboldt County’s Board of Supervisors by the same coalition of environmental and wildlife advocates, plus Bird Ally X and Humboldt Wildlife Care Center. Unfortunately that body voted unanimously to continue violating the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and renewed the county contract with this killing agency.
We are very heartened to see this development and we are working to bring a similar result in Humboldt (and the rest of California!). The era of killing our way out of human wildlife conflicts, which is ineffective, costly and morally repugnant must end. Let’s hope that our local elected representatives step to the new times and make some serious changes to the way they regard our wild neighbors. Co-existence is the only way forward. Restoration and rehabilitation of our relationship with Mother Earth is the only real work left to us. Let’s not delay.
Preparing for wild babies…
Yesterday we admitted our first wild babies of 2015. For these little ones though we have almost no worries. Why? Because we admitted them while they were safely tucked into their mother’s pouch.
About ten days ago, a kind woman, Wendy, was driving back to her home in Eureka when she saw an all too familiar sight – an opossum (Didelphis virginiana) lying in the middle of the road.
Wendy pulled over to move the opossum. “I think it’s an insult to leave them to bloat right where they’ve been run down,” she explained. “I always move them off to the side, into the bushes.”
But this ‘possum wasn’t dead. She was twitching. So Wendy scooped her up to take her someplace where she could die in peace, back at her place, away from the busy road.
But the opossum didn’t die. In fact, she seemed to be waking up. So Wendy gave her some cat food. And after ten days, she realized that she couldn’t actually provide the care the little marsupial required so she found us.
Of course we were concerned that the young female had been badly injured. It was easy to imagine a pelvic fracture, a broken leg, or some other injury that might render her unreleasable. And at this time of year, we of course were concerned that she might have babies in her pouch.
Well, upon examination, her injuries were minimal, the worst being a fractured jaw. However the fracture is healing and she’s able to chew and feed herself. And yes, she has a pouch full of very young babies.
As it happens we’ve just completed a new addition to our facility, an improved opossum house (we call it the Opossumary).
Designed by staff and built by our dedicated volunteers (many of whom are college students learning to use power tools for the first time!) our new housing for opossums will be sent on its maiden voyage with this young mother and her babies at the helm.
While this opossum family was relatively lucky, many are not. The number one mammal that we treat at our Bayside clinic is the Virginia Opossum. Most of these patients are babies whose mothers died when they were hit by a car. Please! – the damage people do with their cars is already more than our ecosystem can take. Drive carefully, drive like we share the world. And if you find a wild animal in trouble call us. We can help.
And as always, thanks to our supporters who make it possible for us to provide quality care for injured and orphaned wildlife. Your support gives wild neighbors like these a second chance. If you have the means, a financial contribution goes a long way for us. (you can use donate button at top of page)
Scroll down for photographs of our recently added opossum housing! Your support and our use of recycled materials makes these improvements possible! Thanks!
