After the Babes of Summer Have Gone

Posted on November 27, 2018November 27, 2018 by Monte Merrick

Each Spring we wonder if we’ll survive the challenges of our looming season of caring for hundreds of orphaned wild animals. Each Spring we do what we can to reduce the number of trapped or killed wild mothers, stop needless nest destruction and anything else we think of to keep wild families together. Still, each year we admit more babies each year than the year before, and 2018 was no different. In fact we broke records this year for wild orphans treated.

And we are close to surviving the challenging pace!

[Help us pay our remaining 2018 bills – please, on this #GivingTuesday, donate to HWCC/bax and help us finish the year and prepare for 2019! Donate HERE]

Last week, we released the last of the babies we’ve been caring for at HWCC since the Summer – two late season raccoons (Procyon lotor) and a Black-tailed Deer fawn (Odocoileus hemionus) who also was brought to us unusually late in the season.

As the last babies in care from this very hectic year, we are so glad that they made it home to their wild freedom. Please take a moment and look through the photographs from their releases. They’re the reason for the season.

Simply transporting an older fawn in a crate to the release site is highly stressful! Once sagely arrived, opening the door is a thrill! HWCC/bax intern, Tabytha Sheeley does the honors!
A tentative glance – can it be true? are there really no walls to confine me?!
Just a hint of spots remain for this young deer, who was found near Blocksburg huddled next to his dead mother. Nearly every fawn we admit is traumatized by their mother’s death and requires a couple of days of supportive before they will accept a milk substitute.

One last look back to see if we are still a threat…

And then away he goes…

… quickly putting distance between himself and our release team. So long young deer!

Just as with our fawns, raccoons are admitted in a typically helpless state. Roughly four months of care are needed to until these guys are old enough for independence. Our favorite release site is several miles form the nearest house, with a healthy forest and a tributary of a local river that provides all the resources (like fish!) our former patients need.

These two raccoons aren’t siblings, but they were admitted for care within a few days of each other. Once their initial quarantine period was over (to prevent transmission of disease or parasites) they’ve shared housing their entire time in care. Now they have the chance to spend time together by choice!

After exploring the real river (our housing for raccoons has an artificial river where they learn to fish) this young male finds an interesting leaf, but as you can see, the forest has suddenly captured the attention of his superb raccoon intelligence…Soon both raccoons leave the release and head up into the woods, where insects, mushrooms, and more await them.
Another successful release of successfully raised wild babies!

As we conclude baby season 2018, we are very grateful for the support we’ve received. We couldn’t have gotten through this Spring, Summer and Fall without you! We still have expenses to cover and we also need to begin making necessary repairs and other maintenance so that we’ll be ready when it starts all over again in only four months!

We’re publishing this story on #givingtuesday. Now, like you our inboxes are filled with pleas for support on this day, and we appreciate the mounting alarms of our era, but truly, without you, we’d no longer be able to keep our doors open, our raccoon river flowing, our deer milk on tap and our 1200 patients that we treat each year would have nowhere to go. Your support keeps the abyss closed. Please, help us help our wild neighbors! Thank you!!!

all photos: Bird Ally X/Laura Corsiglia

One morning on the 101, two sibling Hawks cause more than a few to take notice.

Posted on November 22, 2018November 23, 2018 by Monte Merrick

It was an ordinary Wednesday morning at Humboldt Wildlife Care Center, including the ringing phone and the person calling who’d seen a hawk by the side of US101 in the “safety corridor” between Arcata and Eureka. That section of highway, from the Eucalyptus trees that are slated for destruction to the bridge over the Eureka slough is a favorite hunting place for Red-tailed Hawks (Buteo jamaicensis). We frequently gets calls from concerned commuters about hawks on the ground – in the median, or by the side of the road – who seem unable to fly.

Rarely is the hawk actually in trouble. After eating it can take a raptor a while to be ready to fly again. For some reason the passing traffic does not seem to threaten the birds as they recover from a large meal (not exactly asleep in front of a televised Thanksgiving Day football game, but similar.). However, just because it usually isn’t an emergency, and just because the hawk is almost always perfectly fine doesn’t mean we don’t take these calls seriously. We treat plenty of hawks and other birds each year who’ve been hit by cars, and until we investigate we can’t know what the situation is.

As we mounted a voyage of discovery to that area to see what was going on, the phone rang again – and again. And again. Within an hour we’d received close to 30 calls about the hawk!

Soon our team was back. They’d caught the hawk easily. She’d been standing very close to traffic on the side of the highway beneath the eucalyptus trees. A juvenile whose tail was far from being red, she had no injuries that we could find. We set her up with a safe place and some mice as a meal. Immediately, she ate them.

Meanwhile, the calls kept coming! Apparently another hawk was near the same location, but in the median and closer to the bridge.

Another staff member went to check the second reported hawk out, finding a healthy looking bird that did not seem to need assistance. However, the calls did not stop coming in and with rush hour approaching, concerns about people trying to stop to help the hawk in heavy traffic, as well as the hawk’s safety during that time prompted us to try and catch him as well. Using a lucky break in the traffic we were able to safely net the hawk and bring him to our clinic for evaluation. Our staff noticed that a large adult Red-tailed Hawk, quite likely mother to both of these youngsters, was perched on a light post nearby watching as our captures unfolded.

Neither hawk had any injuries. Both were in relatively good condition although mildly dehydrated. We gave supportive care (i.e., food and fluids) and housed them for the night. The next day we moved both siblings (by their sizes, we believe that one, the larger, is female and the other is male) to an outdoor aviary in order to evaluate their flight.

On Friday, both hawks were evaluated for release. Both were flying very well, but the male was still mildly dehydrated, moreover, he hadn’t eaten while in care. We released the female and gave the male another day to eat and also to get more fluid therapy. The next day, he’d eaten and his hydration was returned to normal, and he was also released.

We took them near to their capture site, in the Fay Slough Wildlife Area, a safe distance from the freeway and very likely close to where they’d been raised. In fact on the first release, the adult Red-tailed Hawk we’d seen watching these birds’ capture was present. The female juvenile was released in her view, and both birds ended up flying off together. The next day, when the male was released, he was joined by his sister as soon as he took flight into nearby trees.

The power, the grace and the single-minded devotion to raptorizing… she’s got it all!

Even with all those advantages, she’s still just a juvenile with a lot to learn. In captivity or by the side of the road, young hawks sometimes find themselves in very awkward situations.

One of the best moments in a rehabilitator’s day – opening the box!

The young female takes flight, not yet aware that her mother can see her.

Perched in nearby vegetation while her mother watches from a much higher perch behind her, our former patient surveys her re-gained freedom.

The daughter…
… and the mother, last seen flying off together…

Volunteer Katharine Major enjoys giving a wild hawk her second chance.

Alone in our aviary for a day, the male ate well.

An additional day in care was all the brother needed before he could be released. Dehydration, even mild, is serious enough to address and well within the scope of what we can immediately do for our patients. Caution rules the day!

A minute on the ground to get his bearings… it’s not unusual for a young patient to need a moment out of the box to see which way the wind blows… see if there’s any food in the field and woods rat burrows.

And then he goes! Birds flying away is a favorite thing of ours…

Our ex-patient flies to the trees where his sister is waiting.

The siblings, free and together again, in the wild.
Happy interns Brooke Brown (left) and Tabytha Sheeley enjoy the fruits of their labors!

Intent, strength, and nearby parent – this young aerial ballerina (and her brother) has everything she needs – including this second chance – for a live well lived on the shores of Humboldt Bay.

While these hawks weren’t injured they were in a very dangerous location. Their reluctance to fly away on their own was causing all kinds of commotion with our human neighbors. It was prudent to catch these birds to make sure that all was well with them, as well as making sure that no one was harmed trying rescue them themselves. These two sibling hawks illustrate that we serve our wild neighbors first, but we also serve our human neighbors as well. Your support makes our mission possible!

As we near the end of this very challenging year, with so many demands on our attention and resources, we are forced to ask over and over again for your financial help. Keeping our clinic open to the myriad phone calls and emergencies isn’t easy and with out you it would even be a possibility. On this day, when we celebrate with gratitude our lives, our loves, our families and our shared world, please keep in mind the wild – without which none of anything would even exist.

all photos: Bird Ally X/ Laura Corsiglia

Barn Owl Hit By Car and Left for Dead Treated at Humboldt Wildlife Care Center (VIDEO)

Posted on November 14, 2018November 14, 2018 by Monte Merrick

One of our biggest challenges at Humboldt Wildlife Care Center is the sheer enormity of the region that we serve. From the Oregon border to northern Mendocino county and from the Pacific Ocean to Weaverville, our region is more than double the size of each of the 9 smallest states in the union.

(scroll down for release photos and video!)

When we got the call that an owl was found on the side of the road in Smith River, about 100 miles north, right at the state line, we set into motion a dedicated group of volunteers to start the relay to bring the injured bird south to our clinic in Bayside.We routinely admit patients from all over the North Coast. Volunteers in Del Norte County met volunteers from Humboldt in Orick, between Patrick’s Point and Klamath, to hand off the owl. Just another day meeting the needs of wildlife in a territory larger than many states!

It turned out that the bird was a Barn Owl (Tyto alba) who’d likely been hit by a car. Although there is always some degree of guesswork to figure out what happened to our patients that caused their injuries, because the owl had been found on the side of the road, was suffering from severe dehydration, but was in relatively good body condition, had no broken bones, but was unable to fly, we deduced that the s/he’d been hit by a car. Often smaller owls and other birds who are hit by cars escape serious injury, suffering only a concussion that can still be debilitating for the first few days. Without treatment they will likely die, but with treatment they recover quickly. The degree of dehydration, suggested that the owl had been on the ground for at least a few days. If the owl hadn’t been seen, dehydration would have likely been the immediate cause of death. We treated with fluids and anti-inflammatory medicine.

[We need your help! Please donate today!]

For severely dehydrated patients, the most critical treatment we can give is fluids.

After fluids, medicines, warmth and a safe pace to recover are next on the list.

Within a couple of days, with continued fluid therapy, we were able to move the owl to an outside aviary, which would reduce stress and give us the opportunity to observe the bird’s recovery. With hydration restored and with a good appetite for the mice we offered, the owl’s health had improved quickly. After 6 days, we evaluated the owl for release.

When a patient recovers we have ways of analyzing their health. Sustained flight and ability to evade capture is definitely part of what we look for!

A small blood sample lets us know how things are going physiologically. In order to be released, a patient needs to have plenty of oxygen-transporting red blood cells!

The moment of release is always quite thrilling. After 6 days in care, this owl was ready to go back to Smith River!

Birds flying away is a very gratifying sight.

This Barn Owl’s rescue, treatment and release was the result of a dedicated team of staff and volunteers working across two counties and scores of miles. Every aspect of care, from the medicine to the gasoline spent in transport, was made possible by community support. In these difficult times, when so much needs our attention – elections, fire disasters and more – your gift, no matter the size, is critical to our survival. Please help. Contribute something today! Thank you!!!

photos/video: Bird Ally X/ Laura Corsiglia

Aleutians Falling Down Like Hail (in other words, we’re admitting a lot of Cackling Geese!)

Posted on November 2, 2018November 3, 2018 by Monte Merrick

Each Autumn, the common sadness of Summer’s end is brightened by the return to our region of many species of aquatic and semi-aquatic birds who find our temperate winters a good place to live away from breeding grounds further North or inland. Many ducks, loons, grebes, and shorebirds arrive here with the rains that turn meadows and mosses green again in a kind of second Spring.

One of the most visible of our winter neighbors is the Aleutian Cackling Goose (Branta hutchinsii). From when they depart in late April and early May bound for the Aleutian Islands to raise their young of the year, until they return in late September and early October, the meadows and pastures of the bottom lands of Humboldt and Del Norte counties can feel very empty. All winter we enjoy the splendor of their melodic high pitched voices as they rise and fall in flocks sometimes numbering in the thousands throughout our winter days.

The higher numbers in their populations is a relief. Aleutians were initially listed as endangered under the 1973 Endangered Species Act, but since their decline was reversed, they were taken of the list in 2001. In fact, their numbers have recovered to the point that the California Department of Fish and Wildlife has given waterfowl hunters a special 16 day season late February through early March strictly for the purpose of hunting the geese who use private land in an effort to drive them off, just as tens of thousands of individuals are arriving from around the state in a pre-migration staging here on the North Coast. Pasture land in our region is dedicated to ranching and the geese are seen as direct competitors with beef cattle for grass.

The dates of this year’s waterfowl seasons are posted on our dry erase board at HWCC so that staff is aware of conditions that might threaten wild neighbors. We usually admit one or two geese per year who were shot but not killed or recovered, found near a road, or on the beach. Depending on the nature of the wounds, we’ve been able to treat and release several gunshot victims.

Since 2012, Humboldt Wildlife Care Center/bird ally x has treated 66 Cackling Geese as of November 1, this year. In 2018 alone, so far we’ve treated 19 individuals, 10 in the last two weeks!

While it’s typical that we admit a few cackling Geese at this time of year, the numbers we’re treating this year are clearly spiking up! It’s ordinary for some of the young of the year to meet difficulty when completing their first migration from breeding grounds on the Yukon Delta, say, two thousand miles south to Northern California. All geese use a significant amount of their own muscle-mass to fuel their journey, which is conducted non-stop.

Upon arrival, nourishment is the first order of business. Only those birds who are in excellent condition can make the trip, and only those birds who, through luck, guidance, intelligence, instinct and timing, arrive and find immediate food will survive. Most cackling geese who we admit at this time of year are juveniles, often found on the regions beaches, rolled by the surf. It’s possible that they just couldn’t fly the last leg and resorted to paddling ashore. In any case, a young Cackling goose being rolled in the surf is not going to recover from this dilemma alone.

And that’s where our community comes in. People on the beaches, or in the parks, or even driving along the roads of our region will find geese in trouble, often doing what they can to capture and bring the goose to our clinic in Bayside. Other times people call us and we go out to find the goose. We don’t always find the wild goose on these chases, but usually we do.Upon admission each goose is given a physical exam and treated for many of the basic problems that all face. They are treated for both internal and external parasites, such as tapeworm and feather lice. While all while animals carry some parasites without a negative impact, a young bird starving death needs all of the calories s/he can get. We make sure to reduce the competition.

Usually each new goose patient we admit comes in cold and dehydrated. Stabilizing the patient is mostly a job for fluids and warmth. We take a small sample of blood of which a rudimentary analysis can let us know basic parameters such as total protein solids in the blood and percentage of red blood cells. This knowledge helps us plan the patient’s recovery, from housing to diet to any additional medications required.

HWCC/bax intern Brooke Brown (left) is learning from wildlife rehabilitator Lucinda Adamson on how to procure a blood sample from a newly admitted Cackling Goose patient.

After a day in a climate controlled environment, provided with a regular schedule of warmed fluids delivered orally, or intravenously or subcutaneously depending on the needs of the patient, often the debilitated geese will be ready to be housed outdoors with access to water. Eating, maintaining a consistently good body temperature and restored hydration are the main criteria for moving forward in treatment at this time. Until then though, it’s strictly indoors where caloric expenditure is kept as small as possible.

Rehabilitator Stephanie Owens gives a brand new Cackling Goose patient the first of series of hydration tube feedings. This method getting fluids into a patient is very reliable as long as the patient is awake and alert and can hold up their own head. Otherwise other routes of delivering fluid therapy are needed.
Warmed water is a critical part of our patient’s early treatment, just as a cup of hot tea would aid a lost hiker.

Our treatment board… if you can’t decipher it, it says that we have 5 Cackling Geese (CACK) in care, 3 housed outdoors in an aviary and 2 indoors in “room 3”.

Once stable and ready, the geese are moved to an outdoor aviary, housed together and left alone for longer periods of time between checks. It takes between two and three weeks for a cold, emaciated, dehydrated goose to recover well enough to be released. During that time we keep them well fed, in as stress-free of an environment as we can create, that still allows us to provide care. Slowly, yet really pretty quickly when you think about it, our patients go from cold, wet sandy and dangerously close to death to flying, strong and anxious to return to their wild lives! Healing and recovery are as common as life and just as wondrous.

Being housed with others of their kind is a comfort to animals in care who prefer flocks. Each on of these geese is helping the others recover.

It’s a wonderful feeling to step into the aviary with breakfast and see that someone is now string enough to fly. It’s just a matter of time now. Only the stress of captivity could cause anything to go wrong at this point.

With heat support, fluid therapy, medicines, food, and an environment built to encourage recovery, a time comes when we evaluate for release. Each goose is given an examination similar to the one they each received upon admission. The differences are astounding – a typical emaciated goose gains 300-400 grams in care – going from 900 at admission to 1200 or 1300 at release. Another look at their blood work is important. The presence of red blood cells in sufficient quantity indicates that the patient has a much improved oxygen carrying capacity, critical for strong, high altitude endurance flyers like Cackling Geese. As long as all of the parameters are met, the only thing left to do is take the patient out to the bottomlands and find a flock of geese… open the box and let nature take her course!

Proper housing for all our patients of myriad species is the foundation of the care we provide. Our aviaries are critical for the care that we provide.

A small amount of blood is drawn one last time.

An open box!

And take to the sky…

And then the young goose, on his second chance (thanks to your support!) joins in the flock and is our patient no more.

We don’t know exactly why we’re admitting so many more Cackling Geese this year compared to other years. It’s a mystery that may take a while ti understand, a few years before a more clear pattern emerges. What we do know is that we have commitment to be here each and every door for them and for all of our region’s wildlife in trouble. It’s been a hard year. And we need your help more than ever. Please donate and help us give innocent injured animals a second chance. Thank You!!!

all photos: Laura Corsiglia and bird ally x