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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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!
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.
Two baby Common Murres we raised and released this year at HWCC.
House finches, whose nest was destroyed by badly timed pruning, were raised as hatchlings until old enough to be released. Still on the formula that we feed these strict granivores (seed-eaters) in this photo, soon they were finding their own food and wanted nothing more to do with us.
We raised two Western Tanager babies this year, the first we’ve had in our care in over 7 years! (and that’s HWCC/bax’s indispensible Assistant Rehabilitation Manager, Lucinda Adamson’s capable hand offering the worm!)
When workers at PG&E replaced an old utility pole in Blue Lake they were surprised to find five nestling Chestnut-sided Chickadees in a cavity at the top end of the pole. For three weeks we made frequent trips to the aviary to make sure they had all the mealworms they could swallow.
Four Brewer’s Blackbirds were found along a drainage ditch in Loleta. While such an odd place is a normal nesting area for these birds, the closeness to the road was more than the compassionate rescuer could take. Unable to find their parents, we raised them until they could be fostered to a flock of adults of their species near our facility.
A nest of Acorn Woodpeckers, above as featherless hatchlings and then as their colors begin to show. Now they are mostly self-feeding and are close to being releasable.
Because our patients need nutritious, healthy food, and because everyone deserves to be treated with respect, we offer the mealworms we feed out as good a life as possible in the short time they’re themselves, before they become songbirds, raccoons, opossums, or doves.
A very young orphaned raccoon is fed a milk replacer with a feeding tube. From when their eyes open until they are weaned usually takes about six weeks, which is followed by another ten weeks learning how to be adult raccoons. Staff and volunteers who tend the raccoons in their housing call themselves “raccoonnookkeepers”, which sets a record in the English language for number of consecutive double letters (6!).
In our raccoon housing, fish is presented in an artificial river, fruit is hung on tree branches, eggs are hidden in fake nests, all so that our young orphans have a chance to learn what they need to know in order to succeed as adults in the wild.
Two BAX co-founders, Laura Corsiglia (left) and January Bill, while scouting release sites on the shore of Lake Superior for rehabilitated oiled wildlife in Wisconsin.
BAX co-directors Marie Travers (left), January Bill (center) and HWCC/bax intern Courtney Watson (right) admit a Northern Pintail suffering from botulism at the Klamath Basin Wildlife Refuge.
BAX co-director and co-founder January Bill leads the effort to rehabilitate botulism impacted waterfowl and shorebirds at the Klamath Basin Wildlife Refuge.
Our admission examination found no injuries or problems – just a healthy fledgling bird who happened to be seen by a curious young kid while vulnerable during first flight attempts.
The dune forest where the young bird had been found.
Adult hummingbirds were seen immediately in the area.
We placed the fledgling on a nearby branch
Our reunite team backed up to allow the adults to feel more comfortable in approaching the young bird. 
In moments an adult female came down the fledgling and began to offer food.
The top ten locations where our wild patients where found.
Mallard ducklings released in June 2018
One of our dedicated HWCC//bax interns prepares to release the Osprey along the bank of the Trinity River.
Into the sky!
And away!
After a long recovery, the door to wild freedom is opened!
Some part of us always soars with our patient.
It was amazing how quickly the larger owlet accepted and formed an alliance with his new roommate after the smaller guy was admitted.
Boxing the young owls up for travel. Transport of wild animals is fraught with difficulties. We’re as cautious as we can be…
As close to paradise as some will ever get, a small farm by the edge of the North Pacific Ocean. Our two Bran Owl patients will learn to fly here…
HWCC/bax volunteer coordinator, Ruth Mock, brings the owls and supplies to the scene of the reunite.
The active nest holds other small owls. Soon they will all be fledged 
Ruth places the birds back in the box…
Checking the feather condition of the small seabird after 2 days in our 1000 liter salt pool.
Cleared for release!
Another ocean voyager leaves the safe harbor for destiny!
Soon after arrival at HWCC, their eyes began to open.
Everyday we make formulas for our patients to replace their mother’s milk. 
Once a chipmunk knows where the food is, they eat very well.
Once their eyes opened, we began to offer the young forest dwellers remnants of home and an expanded menu.
While out of their housing to be fed, our patients are provided with any treatments they need. Daily weight checks at this time help us track their progress and health.
Not yet fully weaned, they are given even more room, more comforts of home, and more diet options.
A last glimpse… we transported the chipmunks to their release site in the small shelter we’d provided them in their outdoor housing – now when they emerge the only difference will be freedom!
