Video! Pelican, Chickadees, Raccoons and Finches, plus an important plea for help

Posted on September 29, 2018 by Monte Merrick

We’re at that time of year again when our coffers are depleted by our annual wild baby season, exacerbated this year by our record setting caseload! Nearly 1000 wild neighbors cared for already and still 3 months to go before the year ends! We need your help! Our goal: $10,000 by Halloween! Donate here if you already know you want to help, otherwise check out these videos presenting various patients from this very busy Summer…

Also, BAX is still in the middle of an avian botulism outbreak response at the Lower Klamath Basin Wildlife Refuge! Please help us meet the costs of caring for hundreds of impacted waterfowl there! Nearly 300 birds successfully treated and released so far!

Young Pileated Woodpecker Rejoins Her Family

Posted on September 25, 2018October 2, 2018 by Monte Merrick

Pileated woodpeckers (Hylatomus pileatus) are a common species of our region, but not a very common patient at all. In fact we’ve only treated 3 of these large, vocal woodpeckers in the last 7 years.

This young Woodpecker was found struggling on the ground. The person who found her was reluctant to intervene since he knew the parents were still around. He’d been watching over the previous week her early flights and learning to forage with her family. But when she was unable to maintain her perch on a nearby stump and fell to the ground, he knew she was in trouble. He scooped her into a box and brought her to Humboldt Wildlife Care Center.

Once she arrived at our facility, we found a relatively healthy young bird, slightly thin, who was unable to stand very well. Her left shoulder was swollen. We suspected that she’d collided with something. We started her on a mild anti-inflammatory and pain relieving medicine and offered her a dish of mealworms. We hoped the swelling alone was the problem, and considered that she may have also fractured her left coracoid, a bone that is part of every bird’s shoulder, which allows for flight. It’s developed far beyond the coracoid in mammals and other vertebrates. In either case, the prognosis for a full recovery was good, but a coracoid fracture would take longer to heal.’

Fortunately, the swelling in her shoulder resolved within a few days. After 4 days in care, she’d gained some weight, about 40 grams, and was trying to fly. We moved her to an outdoor aviary, where she demonstrated that her wings worked just fine.

Inside our large outdoor aviary, the young Pileated Woodpecker perches as high as she can get, out of reach of her human caregivers.

At her capture to be evaluated for release, after 7 days in care, her flight was strong and direct – exactly as a Pileated Woodpecker’s should be!

We took her back to where she was first seen. The kind man who found her met us there so he could see her release. HWCC intern Desiree Vang opens the box. Our former patient wastes no time putting distance between herself and her “captors”!

She immediately flew to the stump where she was found. It was obvious, that she recognized her old stomping grounds, – now that she’s two months old and all grown up!

After re-orienting herself to freedom she flew off into the woods – in a direction that her rescuer had seen her parents go just a few hours before. We’re confident that she was able to reunite with them for more time spent learning how to be an adult Pileated Woodpecker.

A last glimpse of this remarkable bird of the Northwest forests.

Right now, we are in the middle of the busiest year HWCC has ever had. We’ve cared for more songbird babies such as barn swallows and house finches, hatchling to release, than any other year. We’ve treated more skunks and opossums too. In the middle of it all, we’ve still provided care for individuals like this young Pileated Woodpecker, and others, who’ve run afoul of the buildings and machineries of the human-built world. We need your help paying for this year’s expenses more than we ever have. Your donation will go directly to the treatment and care for all our patients. It will also help us begin the repairs we need to make so that we’ll be ready for whatever this coming winter, and then next year bring our way. Thank you for being there for us in the past. We need you now and in the future too! Please donate today. Thank you!

all photos Laura Corsiglia/bird ally x

Rescued! The Luckiest Unlucky Raccoon Ever!

Posted on September 21, 2018September 23, 2018 by Monte Merrick

We take calls at Humboldt Wildlife Care Center every day regarding a wild animal in trouble somehow. Often we can help over the phone, but sometimes we have to go to the scene. Last Tuesday, a phone call came in just after we finished morning tasks, such as feeding all our patients and cleaning their housing. The caller was distraught: a raccoon had gotten stuck in their warehouse. Somehow he was trapped behind a structural member of the building and the siding. Unsure what to expect, we sent two of our interns Lindsey Miller and Bekah Kline, over to see what they could do. After arriving Lindsey texted this photo:

Trapped at the bottom of a corroded post, unable to climb back the way he came and no way to move forward, if his paws hadn’t been visible it is doubtful that anyone would have ever found this guy. This predicament would have killed him.

The building’s owner drilled into the steel post above where the raccoon was trapped to gain access.

It took less than an hour to make an opening large enough to free the raccoon.

Once the hole was large enough, Lindsey pulled the raccoon up out of his jam.

She and Bekah secured the rescued Raccoon for transport back to HWCC/bax for an evaluation. At this point we hope that he will be in good health, able to be released right away.

The raccoon was uninjured. We offered him some snacks and observed him for a few hours to make sure that he was able to properly use his limbs and was fully capable to return to his free life.

Very near to the warehouse where he was rescued there was a suitable release site. Raccoons live everywhere that we do. Industrial areas, residential neighborhoods, mountain retreats… Raccoons are truly one of our most common wild neighbors, with whom we share so much, including a habit of misadventure.

LIndsey, after releasing the Raccoon she’d helped rescue. Wildlife rehabilitation interns get a pretty remarkable view of the world, not one that many see. Interns, volunteers, staff – all of us spend a lot of our lives looking, or trying hard to look, at the world through the eyes of our patients. We learn to see that the wild is always here, always near. We learn that at our very core of minerals and cells, we are wild too. It’s a simple fact that’s right here to be seen, and raccoons are just the ones to point it out.

Freed from a certain death, thanks to the compassion and the actions of the people who found him, our lucky unlucky Raccoon patient disappeared back into the wilds of Eureka’s first ward, just a few blocks from where he’d been found.

Your support makes rescues like these possible. Not all of our patients are cut out of steel traps, but each of them faced a certain death, caused in nearly every single case by some human invention, were it not for the generous donations you make, that keep our doors opened and telephone turned on. Thank you! And if you’d like to support our work, just click on the donate button! Your gift goes directly to the care of our patients, and efforts to prevent injuries in the first place. Thank you!!

all photos: Bird Ally X

Mule Deer Fawns Released! (Pictures!!)

Posted on September 19, 2018September 19, 2018 by Monte Merrick

Fawn calls are the most difficult. When a compassionate person stumbles across a fawn bedded down near a road, or near a construction site, or some other hazard created by people, and with no doe in sight, it can be very hard to think they should just leave the fawn alone. If they call us, we can usually discover through questions and conversation the situation and determine if the fawn needs care. Convincing a concerned person to put a fawn back in what clearly looks like an unprotected location can be challenging, even though in many cases that is exactly what the fawn and the fawn’s mother need. Often however, there is no way to put the fawn back. The caller got the fawn from someone who got the fawn from someone, or a dog dragged the fawn to the porch and no one knows from where, or the person has had the fawn at their house for many days and now the mother is no longer nearby – in these situations, it often means a perfectly healthy family is broken up, but there is nothing we can do but raise the fawn as an orphan. But no matter how difficult these calls can be, the worst is when it is clearly obvious that the fawn needs help. The worst are when the fawn is lying next to her mother, who is dead, hit by a car or a truck.

[Our fawns are all Black-tailed Deer, a subspecies of Mule Deer, the deer of the West]

Fawns who are truly orphaned seem to be traumatized when they arrive at our facility. Sometimes it can take two days before the fawn will express any interest in a bottle of milk-replacer. Convincing a traumatized fawn to take a bottle of milk is the same task as consoling a heartbroken child, so that he can eat, sleep, and resume his life. In a way it forces the wildlife care provider to form a bond with the newly admitted fawn, an idea that is at the very opposite of wildlife rehabilitation. Keeping wild patients wild, with a healthy fear of people, is as important a piece of our work as providing a proper diet and treating wounds. So warily, we proceed with fawn care.

As soon as a young fawn takes a bottle of milk (in our case, goat milk donated by local goat-keepers – and lots of it! hundreds of gallons! thank you!) we discontinue contact and start to use a bottle rack that puts a barrier between us and our patient. Once a fawn accepts a bottle in a bottle rack, he is ready to join in with our “herd” – the fawns we already have in care who are housed outdoors, and who we rarely see during the four months it takes to wean them from milk to vegetation. But those two days of close contact early on, while the fawn puts them behind her, the care provider cannot forget what it feels like to have a young deer close, who suddenly decides to accept your care and your bottle and drinks hungrily after barely moving from her corner in 48 hours.

[Please help us pay for the expenses of our busiest year ever. Your donation goes directly to the care of our injured and orphaned wild patients. Please, donate today! Thank you!]

In contact only with other fawns, over a period of months our patients are gradually weaned from milk on to vegetation, “browse” we call it, that staff and volunteers collect each day. Young deer eat a lot of leaves! Toward the end of their stay with us this year, we were collecting several wheelbarrow loads each day!

Once weaned and when we are certain that they are eating enough each day to thrive, and their spots are fading fast, we look up from our hectic summer days and see that, yes, indeed it is turning autumnal and a deer release is imminent.

One fawn per crate, each is brought to the release site. We are lucky that a good release site, protected against hunting and full of choice deer habitat is remote but not that far from our clinic. A nearby pond, forest and meadow, and the presence of a deer herd make this a great spot for our youngsters to begin their second chance at wild freedom!

It’s a great moment when the crate’s door is opened and your patient immediately puts distance between you and her!

Once safely away, a newly released fawn stops to consider the change of scenery.

Another fawn bolts for the cover of the trees.

Another fawn turns to assess the danger her caregivers pose…

Six fawns were released!

After this fawn reached the pond he stopped to cautiously consider us.

Zoomed in, it’s easy to see that this guy just doesn’t trust us, even though we delivered him over 200 bottles of milk and scores of wheelbarrow loads of leaves. His mistrust is a terrific sign of our success!

Nothing brings smiles to HWCC/bax volunteers faces like giving our wild neighbors in need a second chance at freedom!

A healthy, independent wild youngster rushing to meet her own destiny on nature’s terms… this is always the best view to be had.

Providing a safe and healthy environment for our wild orphaned patients is a critical part of meeting our mission. Requirements are skill, experience, dedication, hard work and the resources to get it done. We bring what we can to the task, but without your support, your generosity, it would be for nothing. Thank you for making our work possible! Please contribute something today. Each gift matters in the lives of our wild neighbors.

All photos: Bird Ally X

One last picture:

This fawn, burned in the Carr Fire near Redding in July was brought to HWCC/bax for treatment. Sadly, after several days in care, this brave youngster succumbed to her injuries. She tried hard. We’ll always remember her.

Five Orphaned Raccoons Return to the Wild (photos!)

Posted on September 18, 2018 by Monte Merrick

Even in a world in turmoil, some things remain constant. One of those things is the time needed for baby raccoons to reach an age where we feel their ready for independence. Our most typical orphaned raccoon patient is admitted at the time when they’ve started to become vocal (which is how they’re found) which is right before their eyes open, somewhere around 200 to 250 grams. By the time they’ve grown to 350-400 grams their eyes open. After 6 more weeks of milk and slowly introduced natural food items, as they are weaned from milk-replacer, the babies are fierce, active, alert, and extremely curious – like any bright toddler.

(check out other raccoon stories on our website! http://birdallyx.net/tag/northern-raccoon/ )

In order to reduce the potentially fatal stress of captivity (no one likes their freedom taken!) as well as ensure that each youngster maintains her wild spirit, at this point, we handle them very infrequently. This also ensures that all keep a healthy fear of humans, who, let’s face it, have a poor track record with all things wild and free.

Raccoon orphans typically start coming in to Humboldt Wildlife Care Center/bax in early May… and 16 weeks later, in early September, those who were first admitted are ready for release.

Weight checks on raccoons who are nearing release can be challenging! Here HWCC rehabilitator Lucinda Adamson holds a young raccoon gently but firmly while intern Tabytha Sheeley (facing away) assists with identification.

Once weaned, all of our orphaned raccoons are moved to a 14 day weight check. The reduction in handling does them a world of good!

Raccoons who are ready to go wait for their ride to the release site.

At the release site: tentative faces peer out. Caution in the face of novelty is the hallmark of being wild!

And curiosity eventually overpowers! There’s a whole wide world to explore and raccoons, intelligent, investigative and irrepressible, soon leave the familiar crates for the limitless cosmos.

One by one, the five raccoons emerge from their transport carriers, the last box that will ever contain them!

Some elements of the natural world – rock, river, insect, leaf – are familiar to the youngsters. Our raccoon housing is built to introduce wild orphans to many of the the resources they’ll use once they’re independent and free.

In this group of raccoons, two are siblings, but all five have been housed together since they were first weaned. Raccoons form bonds – bonds of family, bonds of friendship – just like many of us.

Soon, they all start to look across the river to the ever widening world.

They cross the river together.

HWCC/bax volunteer Skylr Lopez (right) and intern Tabytha Sheeley watch the young raccoons move farther and farther away. Like sending our kids off to college, releasing our patients after four months of providing their care is a joy that is tinged with sadness.

Five raccoons facing their future, not looking back.

We often say that we raise wild orphans – but we don’t really. We provide milk-replacer at the appointed hour for those who would still be nursing – we feed insects on a tight schedule to baby birds who cannot feed themselves. We keep their housing clean. We keep them physically healthy. But teaching them to be adults of their kind is something each orphan patient must do for herself. Each baby is given housing in which he can learn safely. We don’t teach them anything. We provide the setting for them to make discoveries. In fact it is the orphan wild animals in our care who do the teaching. Everything that we know about their needs, we learned from them.

Their teaching and your support are what make successful raccoons like these five possible. So far in 2018 we’ve treated over 900 wild animals – our busiest year in HWCC history! Your support is needed now more than ever! Thank you!

all photos (Laura Corsiglia/Bird Ally X)

Bird Ally X Responds to Avian Botulism Outbreak at Tulelake Wildlife Refuge

Posted on September 13, 2018September 13, 2018 by Monte Merrick

In the middle of August, on the Klamath Basin National Wildlife Refuge Complex, which straddles the California-Oregon border, ducks began turning up sick and in many cases dead, due to an outbreak of avian botulism.

January Bill, co-founder and co-director of Bird Ally X lives in the area and was asked by US Fish and Wildlife Service, the agency responsible for the Refuge, to set up a functional wildlife hospital and care for the ailing birds. Marie Travers, another BAX co-director traveled from the Bay Area to help manage the response. Now, a month in, with hundreds of birds treated so far, from Northern Shovelers to American Avocets, the problem continues without abatement. Just as fast as birds recover and are released, new groups are rescued and brought to the growing rehabilitation facility on the combined wetland and sagebrush country northeast of Mount Shasta. So far over 170 ducks and shorebirds have been successfully treated and released. Humboldt Wildlife Care Center/BAX, which is relatively nearby, has sent supplies and staff to help out. Conditions that cause botulism outbreaks are expected to continue until early October.

We are asking supporters to help cover the cost of the supplies and staffing. The US Fish and Wildlife Service can pay for some of our costs, but not all. In the busiest year we’ve ever seen, we need your help. [Donate here].

A call for volunteers was also put out – you can read that here. https://birdallyx.net/avian-botulism-outbreak-in-klamath-basin-wildlife-refuge-call-for-volunteers/

As a small nonprofit, we couldn’t this without you, the wildlife lovers who make BAX exist. Thank you for being here to help ill or injured wildlife, whether it’s a Raccoon family down the block or a Black-necked Stilt in one of our great National Wildlife Refuges. Your donations make this lifesaving work possible – it’s that simple.

A Black-necked Stilt in care, one of the many species affected by avian botulism.

Bird Ally X is working with the Klamath Basin National Wildlife Refuges to provide care for these birds. We’ve mobilized to bring supplies and experienced wildlife rehabilitators to the response, to send some of our interns, and train community volunteers.

RESCUE

In the affected zone of the vast wetlands, rescuers search for sick birds. They cannot swim or dive normally but may be found struggling on the water’s surface or hiding in vegetation. Deceased birds are also collected to remove them from the environment and help break the cycle that fuels the outbreak. Rescued live birds are placed in a transport crate aboard the boat.

An airboat is used for rescue and recovery – a flat bottom makes it safe for use in shallow waters and around diving birds.

Huddled closely together, the rescued birds arrive at the hospital.

EXAMINATION

BAX co-director January Bill lifts a listless and weak Green-winged Teal from the transport crate. Despite appearances, this bird is alive and has a good prognosis for recovery with proper treatment.

The Teal’s eyelids are sealed shut as a result of botulism. January administers a saline solution wash.

Examining a Northern Shoveler.

BAX co-director Marie Travers examines a patient’s wing.

During the intake exam, rehabilitators assess each patient’s condition and decide on an individual treatment plan. Patients are given a temporary band and a case record is begun to track their progress.

TREATMENT

Critical care patients

Botulism in later stages prevents birds from maintaining normal body posture – these are ducks are critical care patients. They are housed in a heated enclosure and are propped up with supports. When unable to accept oral fluids, they are provided intravenous or subcutaneous hydration.

Two Ring-necked Ducks and a Northern Pintail showing the debilitating symptoms of botulism.

Fluid therapy is an essential part of treating botulism. Patients who can hold their head up, such as this Northern Shoveler, are given oral fluids.

Preparing hydration and nutrition tubings.

A Ring-billed Gull is assist-fed fish.

Patients are re-examined during the course of their treatment. The Refuge outreach and education coordinator observes an exam.

Small easily warmed enclosures house patients until they are strong enough to move to pool housing. To reduce stress for the patients, the enclosures are covered to form a visual barrier.

An indoor pool enclosure, lined with anti-fatigue mat substrate to protect the patients’ feet in care.

HWCC/BAX intern Courtney Watson, prepares food for patients.

BAX co-director Marie Travers enters notes on a patient’s case record.

January Bill assesses the waterproofing of a Green-winged Teal who’s been swimming in a therapy pool.

His condition much improved, a Ring-necked duck swims in a larger pool enclosure enriched with natural vegetation.

RELEASE

Lead Refuge biologist John Vradenburg fits each patient with a permanent band before release. John selected a release site free of botulism, within the vast Klamath Basin National Wildlife Refuge Complex.

These birds have come such a long way from the terribly debilitated state in which they were rescued – it’s a thrill to watch them fly, strong and healthy, back to their free and wild lives!

At the release site: healthy water, rich with aquatic invertebrates and duckweed, quality foods for ducks and other birds!

UP AND RUNNING: SCENES FROM THE EVOLUTION OF THE DUCK HOSPITAL

Wildlife rehabilitation is not just hard work, getting dirty, looking tragedy in the face and getting pooped on – it’s a source of joy and a privilege to be close to wild animals in their hour of need and offer real help.

Setting up housing in a hurry: BAX co-director Laura Corsiglia and intern Courtney Watson assemble the Refuge’s modular enclosures to create pool housing for ducks.

HWCC/BAX interns Bekah Kline and Courtney Watson traveled from Humboldt Wildlife Care Center to help at the site, putting in many days of long hours alongside BAX staff.

Bird Ally X is small organization operating on shoestring budget. Yet our mission is as large as our neighborhoods, our counties, our vast open spaces. The threats to our wild neighbors and places continue to mount. As always, wee need your help. Your contribution makes our lifesaving work possible. Please, donate today. Thank you!!

All photos: Bird Ally X