In our latest episode of New Wild Review we look at the sudden changes the global pandemic caused by the outbreak of coronavirus disease – 19. As states, counties and municipalities move to slow the spread of the virus, through shelter in place orders and social distancing, essential services, including wildlife rescue and rehabilitation, continue. How does the pandemic effect our work? How will the pandemic effect wildlife? We don’t know. But we can ponder it while we work.
If you’re at a facility that is open and admitting patients, check out this World Health Organization document on preparing your workplace to keep yourself and co-workers safe.
Found lying face down along a trail on the Humboldt Bay Wildlife Refuge, this American Bittern (Botaurus lentiginosus), the secretive cryptically colored cousin to the haughty Herons and elegant Egrets was in rough shape when brought to Humboldt Wildlife Care Center in Bayside. With feathers torn out, puncture wounds, and damaged air sacs (for a quick video tour of avian repsiration, evolved for flight click here ) we were pretty certain the bird had been mauled by a dog.
Fortunately, the Bittern suffered no broken bones. Unfortunately, these birds are very private, and time in captivity is highly stressful for them (it is for all wild animals, but this species especially so.) They often won’t eat. For the first week, we had to “assist feed” our patient, carefully sliding whole fish down their throat. Once the Bittern was stable and able to be moved to a purpose-built outdoor waterfowl aviary, we added live fish to the marsh-like pool and tall reeds for comfort. Immediately, they began to eat all of the live fish we could get. Their condition rapidly improved.
Intern Val Rodriguez prepares to administer oral hydration while Nora Chatmon, long time volunteer and intern, as well as newest member of our Board of Directors, instructs and assists.
After 18 days in care, the Bittern was ready to go home. Two volunteers (this was only a few days before we changed everything for social-dostancing purposes, including suspending our volunteer program) and our newest staff person, Desiree Vang, took the Bittern back to the Wildlife Refuge for release.
Now just a couple of weeks later, everything at our clinic and in our community and in the world has changed due to Coronavirus Disease 19. Our volunteer and intern programs have been suspended at our facility until social distancing and “shelter in place” orders are lifted. We are at the very start of our hectic wild baby season and how this will be impacted we’ve yet to discover. But even with a skeleton crew and reduced resources, we are still here, still open, and in need of your support more than ever… Please contribute something… all donations big and small make a huge difference for our wild neighbors. Thank you for helping us during these difficult times.
Right now, around the world, borders are closing, air travel is coming to a stand-still, across the country schools are closing, universities are teaching online, weddings and whole sporting seasons are being cancelled, primary elections have even been delayed in some states. The governor of our state, California, like many others, has called for the closure of bars and taverns.
Today in Italy, they suffered the largest single number of deaths, 368, in one day in any country so far, even China. In other words, though we are only in the early stages of this pandemic, it is quite serious, and communities around the world are doing what they can to stop the exponential spread of this virus, including staff at Humboldt Wildlife Care Center.
This is soon to be the time of year when the bounty of nature is expressed in wild babies. This is our busiest season, when our mission to help injured and orphaned wild animals is in most demand. We cannot forsake them. We will remain open.
Precautions we are taking are simple. We’ve temporarily asked our volunteers to not come in, to stay home. We are reducing staff to a skeleton crew. When you bring us wild neighbors who need help, out of respect for you and your health and well-being, we’ll be wearing gloves and facemasks. We are sanitizing our facility multiple times each day.
We don’t have the option to cancel Spring and the rhythms of our beautiful Mother Earth. Our mission to help our wild neighbors in need isn’t rescinded when times get tough. We can’t simply leave orphaned and injured wild animals to suffer and die.
Soon young Raccoons, orphaned for a variety of reasons, will need our care.
So we will be here, proceeding into these uncharted waters, but vigilant! We may further reduce staffing if necessary. But we intend to meet our mission regardless.
Of course, as always, in good times or bad, optimistic or fearful, we won’t do this without your help.
Scores of baby Mallards are gleams intheir parents’ eyes right now, but in 6 weeks will be here due to cars, dogs, cats and more.
This is a time of year when we need to raise more resources, money, food, medicine, than ever – and now we need to purchase much of our summer supplies now, in case shortages make them hard to get when we need them most. We need you now. Anything and everything helps. $5, $10, $25, or more… all of it will go toward making sure we can be here for the hundreds of wild Mallard, Opossum, Raccoon, Barn Swallow, and Owl babies who will be soon in our care.
We aim to get through this crisis while continuing to serve our community of human and wild neighbors, as we always do, with your support. Please help.
In our fourth episode, I read an essay, Letting Nature Take Its Course, which was first published on this website in 2016 and again in the beautiful magazine, Wild Hope in 2019. Also included in this episode is a reading of the poem, Deer Skull.
As always, thank you for supporting our work. I hope you enjoy this episode.
A significant amount of the music in this episode was cmpossed and performed by Erica McCool. more of her incredible music can be found here: https://pezhed1.bandcamp.com/
