When the door is open, freedom is restored.

Posted on October 16, 2018October 16, 2018 by Monte Merrick

If you follow wildlife rehabilitation on social media or other locations you might see all kinds of release techniques. From throwing eagles into the air to tipping over a box and dumping its passenger out. At Humboldt Wildlife Care Center, we take a different approach. After selecting a release location as near to the patient’s original rescue location as prudent or possible, we set the transport vessel down, open the lid or door to an unobstructed avenue of escape and step back. At this moment, our patient ceases to be our patient. They are released from care and all the decision-making about their destiny is restored to them and their true autonomy. In other words, they leave the box when they are good and ready.

We waited for six minutes for this young female Striped Skunk (Mephitis mephitis) to emerge from her carrier and re-enter the dune world a few hundred feet from where she was first found, a few days before trapped in an outbuilding in Fairhaven. Uninjured, we took her back to a nearby location to release her. Six minutes is a long time when you’re stuck in traffic, but it’s nothing when you’re returning a wild neighbor to her home.BAX staff carefully places the carrier down so that our skunk patient can exit with ease once the lid is open.

So we patiently waited for our former patient to emerge, with one check to make sure that she is okay and not tangled in the bedding that’s also in the box. Eventually our young patient steps out of the box of her own free will (she begins to leave the box at 5:48) and then quickly makes her way to cover and then (out of view of the camera) up and over the dune along a trail that the we hadn’t noticed before she used it.

Rescuing wild animals who are injured, orphaned or otherwise caught in one of the myriad traps our human-built world has created, providing appropriate treatment, and releasing those who fully recover back to their wild and free lives is how we spend every single day of the year at HWCC/bax. But not without your support. We are in the middle of crucial fundraiser right now to help recover the costs of our incredibly busy year. We need to raise $10,000 by the end of October, in order to pay our rent and other critical bills! As of the 15th we aren’t even halfway there, which is cuaseing us some concern! Please help if you can! Donate today! Every little bit helps!

photos/video: Bird Ally X/Lucinda Adamson

Last American Wigeons from Klamath Basin Botulism Outbreak Released!

Posted on October 13, 2018October 14, 2018 by Monte Merrick

As we described in past posts, in the middle of August, staff at the Lower Klamath Wildlife Refuge, which straddles the state line between California and Oregon, discovered an outbreak of avian botulism that was killing ducks by the hundreds. Managed by BAX co-directors January Bill and Marie Travers, and working with Refuge staff, our response successfully treated and released 297 ducks and shorebirds. The last three ducks in care, each American Wigeons (Mareca americana) were transferred to Humboldt Wildlife Care Center because they weren’t ready for release and could take advantage of our seabird and diving duck pools.

[Our goal of $10,000 by October 31 has not been met! In fact, we are far from it. Our resources are emptied after a busy baby season. Thank you to everyone who has contributed during this drive. We need your help. If you want to donate now, click here ]

After a week in our pool, each duck was ready for freedom. Fortunately, at the nearby Arcata Marsh, there are hundreds of overwintering Wigeons with plentiful food available. It’s possible these three wigeons would have made it to Humboldt Bay this Winter anyway.

In any case, after a brush with death by botulism, a lifesaving trip through our rapidly manifested “Duck Hospital” set up near the Lava Beds, followed by some time spent in our pools, gaining weight, improving feather condition, restoring red blood cells, and gaining strength, these Wigeons returned to their wild and free lives, healthy and ready for a winter of easier times.

The first American Wigeon was released several days before the other two. She made short work out of getting hid in the vegetation of the pond.

Thick with duckweed and other food, the Arcata Marsh proved her a soft landing at release.

About thirty feet away scores of wintering Wigeons make use of the Marsh as well.

Providing a hiding place for our patients lowers their captivity-caused stress and helps them focus on recovering. This female Wigeon lurks behind her blind, hoping to avoid capture.

Of course, when that capture is intended for healing and release, we take liberties that ordinarily would be unethical, handling and housing without consent.

Rudimentary blood analysis will provide data that confirms our impression that she is ready for release. Here a small sample is collected to be given a ride in the centrifuge so that we can measure percentage of red blood cells – as the carriers of oxygen through the body, they are critical for all aspects of life. We can also get indications of possible unseen infections and other maladies which can affect total protein solids in the plasma that is separated from the red blood cells, which we also measure.

Here we examine a previously swollen foot to see if the problem has resolved well enough that she will be fine in her natural environment. The answer was yes!

About a week after being transferred from Tulelake, the two last Wigeons were released in to the same pond as the first Wigeon. Each bird is her own person and does what she wants. The first Wigeon we released dove for cover in the vegetation, this one flew as quickly away as she could.

The third Wigeon swam away, accompanied by a Mallard who we’d also treated at HWCC and released that day.

The Arcata Marsh is one of the gems of our neck of the woods. Knowing that these birds are making there way with quality food available and in the freely-chosen company of their kind after their long ordeal is very relieving. The habitat of our home is not just for show. It’s the actual living place of our wild neighbors. It’s our home too. Our wild neighbors aren’t just like some new family who recently moved here from Atlanta but who will soon be moving to Seattle. They are our kin. We have the same needs. Our shared home is worth loving and respecting.

HWCC volunteer Katharine (l) and 2018 Intern Desiree Vang (r) are displaying the typical expressions worn by members of their species who are experiencing fulfilling joy. Warm smiles. Successful releases of our wild patients are like that.

The challenge of 2018, so far the busiest year in HWCC history, has been at times a joy and at other times deeply stressful. The avian botulism outbreak in the Lower Klamath Basin, a region that is just on the other side of Shasta, just up the Klamath River, was difficult but also very fulfilling – launching a successful emergency wildlife response is a very gratifying experience. The privilege of doing our work is something no wildlife rehabilitator takes for granted. So far in 2018 we’ve met every challenge but the financial one. We need your help. In the midst of these ever greater demands, our resources aren’t merely not growing to meet them, but are shrinking. The world is full of demands for support, pleas for generosity. The world is in upheaval right now. We know, we work on the front lines of the devastation. And the only thing that keeps us here, keeps our pools functioning, keeps our facility’s rent paid, keeps our phone on, keeps our care improving, keeps our reach expanding, is you. Please donate today. We need your help. Thank you!

photos: Laura Corsiglia/Bird Ally X

After Being Ensnared by Derelict Fishing Gear, a Young Gull’s Second Chance.

Posted on October 6, 2018October 7, 2018 by Monte Merrick

Over the Fall and Winter months, as young gulls disperse from the rocky shorelines where they were raised and develop into mature gulls who by simple circumstance learn to use the unnatural resources that human cities and towns provide, at Humboldt Wildlife Care Center, we see a dramatic rise in gulls admitted for care – from birds that have been hit by cars somewhere along US101 as it delivers a steady stream, thousands daily, of cars and trucks close to Eureka’s gull-rich waterfront, to gulls found poisoned by rodenticide and other toxins and, of course, the common killer of so many marine and terrestrial wild animals, derelict fishing gear.

From the the drifting and sunken ghost nets and traps of the open sea to the tangles of mono-filament that cling to the branches of trees along nearly ever river in the land, derelict fishing gear kills an unknowably large number of animals. While the numbers of animals killed around the world by derelict fishing gear may never be known, we can measure the money lost when a “fishery” is impacted, and we can know that, as an example, their are over 85,000 lost lobster and crab traps ghost-fishing right now in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary.

[We interrupt this story to remind you that we are currently in the busiest year of HWCC history, with nearly a thousand patients, from Barn Owls to Raccoons, already treated. This is the most financially challenging year of our existence and we need your help. Please donate today! Thank you!! ]

In a world so polluted it makes sense that we routinely admit patients who’ve been ensnared in derelect fishing gear.

At the end of last week, just as staff was completing tasks and closing for the day, we received a call from the person working at the Interpretive Center at the Arcata Marsh. A gull entangled in fishing line was stuck on an island in the middle of Klopp Lake, the last big pond at the Marsh. Accessible only by boat, clinic staff got permission from the Arcata Environmental Services Office to put a boat in the lake. We are careful to get permission for rescues such as these – the people of Arcata enjoy the marsh and protect it. With permission, now if someone who saw our team paddling out to an island to “harass” wildlife reported us to the city, the city would already know.

Our clinic staff that day, Stephanie Owens, wildlife rehabilitator and Ruth Mock, volunteer coordinator, then sprang into action. Here’s Ruth’s description

“Stephanie and I drove to her house and stopped by to grab [Stephanie’s partner] Damian, from his work on the way. We loaded three kayaks up on two cars and deployed to the marsh. We were able to quickly get to the middle island and find the gull. Damian stayed in a kayak to block any attempt for the gull to flee into the water and to start cutting the lines that he was caught in. Stephanie and I cut off what we could just to free him and found a hook through his feathers. It wouldn’t budge. We got him boxed and sent him off with Damian to get him secured and calm in the car while we quickly removed the remaining line to prevent other entrapments from happening. On the exam table, we saw that the hook was a treble hook and was entangled in the shafts of the feathers only.”

HWCC/bax staff rehabilitator, Stephanie Owens at the scene of the rescue.

Our latest wildlife rescuing recruit, Damian, ferries the gull back to the mainland.

Part of what was removed – a ‘cute’ little device with it’s ghost fishing days now behind it.

The young Western Gull (Larus occidentalis) was in fairly good shape. Neither the fishing line nor the hooks had caused any significant injury. Constriction wounds caused by tightly wound fishing line, not mention the damage hooks can do, especially when swallowed, can make these cases especially heartbreaking. The gull did have several deep cuts, or lacerations, on the top of his head, which we cleaned and closed. These cuts were possibly caused by other gulls, who were reported to be pecking at him while he was trapped.

After a day inside, the gull was moved to our specially-built gull aviary (we also house Pelicans and Cormorants in this aviary, when necessary. We call it the PGC Aviary)

After five days in care, the gulls wounds on his head were healing well, and his weight had climbed to a healthier number. His flight, which had been impaired only by his initial exhaustion, was in excellent form. It was time for him to return to HUmboldt Bay and wild freedom.

Released at the Arcata Marsh, the young bird wastes no time getting out of the box.

Just a short stroll…

…to his favorite watering hole

And then goodbye…

Another gull, wild and free, with a second chance…

Over the last 7 years, BAX has worked hard to build HWCC into a facility for the injured and orphaned wildlife of our region that could provide high quality care as well as be a place to develop and train future wildlife rehabilitators for the enormous challenges, environmental and societal, that everyone, including our wild neighbors, will be facing in the coming decades. We’ve come a long way on very little. Our staff is currently the best we’ve ever had and our facility is able to meet the needs of almost all of our patients, but we still have a lot of work to do! Without your support none of our new capacity would have been possible, and without ongoing support, we won’t be able to sustain what we have, let alone improve on our work.

This gull is the recipient of our last 7 years of work. His second chance was provided by the skilled team that your support ensures is here, at the ready. Thank you for keeping our work alive! Thank you for your support. Please donate today.

all photos: Bird Ally X