Alert! Humboldt County Board of Supervisors to Consider Wildlife Services contract July 22

Posted on July 17, 2014 by Monte Merrick

Your voice is needed!

Humboldt County’s Board of Supervisors, after postponing discussion of the county’s contract with USDA Wildlife Services, also known as “the Killing Agency,” at their July 1 meeting, will re-open the discussion this Tuesday, July 22. (For more information, look here and here)

As regular readers of Bird Ally X know, USDA Wildlife Services has a long and ignoble history, dating back to the late days of the 19th century and westward expansion. From extermination of Gray Wolves to the senseless killing of baby Raccoons, no matter where we look, Wildlife Services is bad news for wild animals.

If you live in Humboldt County, please telephone your District Supervisor and ask that she or he votes to sever the contract with Wildlife Services.

Rex Bohn, District 1 Supervisor and Board Chairperson , 707-476-2391
Estelle Fennel, District 2 Supervisor and Vice Chairperson, 707-476-2392
Mark Lovelace, District 3 Supervisor, 707-476-2393
Virginia Bass, District 4 Supervisor, 707-476-2394
Ryan Sundberg, District 5 Supervisor, 707-476-2395

You can also send an email: (find your Supervisor’s email address here.)

Here is a sample letter that you can use, or write your own:

Subject line: Sever the Contract with Wildlife Services
Sample letter: I write to ask you to sever the Humboldt County contract with Wildlife Services.

I oppose USDA Wildlife Services’ involvement in lethal wildlife management for several reasons. The agency lacks a regulatory framework, and behaves like a rogue agency that is totally out of control and accountable to no one. Members of Congress are demanding accountability from Wildlife Services, which is now being investigated by the USDA Inspector General for mismanagement and is under increasing public scrutiny for killing over two million native animals and pets last year alone, including thousands of coyotes, black bears, foxes, mountain lions, and other animals in California. Wildlife Services cannot be trusted to carry out any lethal wildlife control, period.

Under the county contract, Wildlife Services would also kill raccoons and skunks that den beneath people’s homes. But as a recent incident in Humboldt County revealed, when a federal trapper trapped and killed a mother raccoon and left her babies to starve and die beneath a Humboldt County home, the program conducts these activities in a cruel and inhumane way.

Traps and snares for coyotes and other species jeopardize other wildlife in California including endangered Gray wolves as they return to their native range in northern California – an unacceptable risk that Wildlife Services would simply sweep under the rug.

There are much better ways for Humboldt’s citizens to co-exist with wildlife, without the killing and cruelty. I don’t want Wildlife Services targeting Humboldt County’s wildlife.

The main thing is to let your Supervisor know that it’s unacceptable to use our tax dollars for cruelty and ignorance. We’ve had enough shadowy, unaccountable wildlife killing! Urge your supervisor to seize the moment. Let Humboldt County be among those who leads the way to non-lethal humane resolution for human/wildlife conflicts.

Our wild neighbors on the North Coast deserve much better than USDA Wildlife Services. Thank you for your love of wildlife and thank you for taking action!

Your support makes our work caring for injured and orphaned wildlife, and advocating to prevent needless injury to wildlife possible. Please donate what you can. Thank YOU!

A young crow returns

Posted on July 9, 2014 by Monte Merrick

As if they were all on the same schedule, about 3 weeks ago young crows all over Humboldt County were making their first leaps toward independence by jumping out of their nests. As we remind everyone, this is wild baby season. All over the county, and everywhere, young animals are learning the ways of the world. For songbirds like crows, this means weak and a little clumsy flight long after they leave the nest. They are vulnerable to all sorts of dangers, and in our modern world many of these dangers are man-made – cars, windows, cats, and more. And some times they are at risk of false imprisonment.

When the Eureka Animal Control Officer Rob Patton pulled up in our driveway 2 weeks ago, we greeted him at the door.

“Got you a young crow,” he announced. We’ve worked with Eureka PD Animal Control for a long time. While many people might mistakenly nab a poorly flying young bird, thinking help is needed, Officer Patton knows whether a wild animal needs help or not.

Turns out the young crow landed in the equipment yard at the Police Station. They watched him for a week before deciding that no parents were nearby. So they booked him. Another lost fledgling – a definite youth at risk.

The crow was very underweight and quite excited to meet his food dish. Crows, like people, are omnivores – eggs, fruit, fish, mice, seeds, insects made up his diet. Gradually we moved him to larger housing where his flight improved.

Yesterday, we took him back to his old neighborhood. Not far from the police station, at the Eureka waterfront, is a common foraging place for crows and other birds. BAX/HWCC intern, Cheryl Henke and BAX co-director and photographer Laura Corsiglia scouted for crows.

Satisfied that this would be a good place for the young crow, they let him out of the carrier.

Almost immediately an adult crow came to him. The young crow gaped (opening his mouth wide to ask for food).

“I was astonished,” exclaimed Cheryl, “It was beyond belief. It was like they already knew each other!”

The adult quickly coaxed the bird from the ground to a nearby treetop. After some brief conversation, the two birds flew off together.

Your support allows us to sometimes pull off rescues as profoundly beautiful as this. Please donate what you can. Help keep wild families together, or perhaps, build new ones!

(all photos Laura Corsiglia/BAX)

Humboldt County Board of Supervisors Puts Contract Renewal With Wildlife Services on Hold

Posted on July 3, 2014 by Monte Merrick

EUREKA, Calif.— One day after a broad coalition of national animal and conservation groups urged the Humboldt County Board of Supervisors to terminate its contract with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Wildlife Services, the board assented to a citizen request to delay consideration of contract renewal for at least a month in order to reevaluate the issues.

At its meeting on Tuesday, the board had scheduled a vote on the county’s annual renewal of its contract with Wildlife Services, a federal program that kills tens of thousands of native wild animals in California every year. But on a citizens’ request submitted by local wildlife rehabilitator Monte Merrick, the board decided to remove the renewal item from its consent calendar, delaying it at least another month as the county considers the issues raised by Merrick and the coalition.

“I am elated that the board has agreed to consider whether to renew its contract with Wildlife Services,” said Merrick. “Wildlife Services is increasingly controversial and there are better options to address wildlife conflicts.”

The coalition groups sent a formal letter asking the county to undertake an environmental review and ensure proper protections — as required under California state law — prior to hiring Wildlife Services to kill any additional wildlife. Last year, in response to a similar letter from the Animal Legal Defense Fund, Sonoma County’s Board of Supervisors opted not to renew the county’s contract with Wildlife Services and is now conducting a review of its wildlife policies. Marin County cancelled its contract with Wildlife Services 14 years ago and implemented a nonlethal predator-control program. As a result the county has seen a 62 percent decrease in livestock predation at one-third of the former cost.

Since 2000 Wildlife Services has spent a billion taxpayer dollars to kill a million coyotes and other predators across the nation. The excessive killing continues unchecked despite extensive peer-reviewed science showing that reckless destruction of native predators leads to broad ecological devastation. The indiscriminate methods used by Wildlife Services have killed more than 50,000 “nontarget” animals in the past decade, including endangered condors and bald eagles. The program recently released data showing that it killed over 4 million animals during fiscal year 2013 using a variety of methods, including steel-jaw leghold and body-crushing traps and wire snares. These devices maim and trap animals, who then may take several days to die. In 1998 California voters banned several of these methods, including leghold traps.

“Humboldt County has a chance to be a leader in California wildlife management by eliminating their contract with Wildlife Services,” said Stephen Wells, executive director of the Animal Legal Defense Fund. “Nonlethal predator control has proven to be more humane, more cost-efficient, and more effective — it’s simply the right thing to do for the county.”

“We are glad to see that Humboldt County is pushing the ‘pause’ button on its relationship with Wildlife Services,” said Tim Ream of the Center for Biological Diversity. “We hope that the county will do the wise thing and terminate its relationship with Wildlife Services altogether.”

“Humboldt County has an opportunity to do what’s right here by reviewing their contract with Wildlife Services and shifting towards a nonlethal program that is ecologically, economically and ethically justifiable,” said Camilla Fox, Project Coyote founder and executive director, who helped develop Marin’s nonlethal program. “We pledge our assistance to the county toward this end and urge the Board of Supervisors to emulate the successful Marin County Livestock and Wildlife Protection Program that provides non-lethal assistance to ranchers.”

“The last thing the county that is home to such special places as the Lost Coast and Redwood National Park should be doing is allowing Wildlife Services to trap and kill its native wildlife,” said Elly Pepper, an NRDC wildlife advocate. “Using nonlethal methods to balance its incomparable natural beauty with its critters is a much better use of county residents’ money.”

“It is time to put aside the unchecked assumption that wildlife conflicts can only be solved via Wildlife Services’ draconian, outdated killing methods,” said Tara Zuardo, wildlife attorney at the Animal Welfare Institute. “We salute Humboldt County for stepping back to reevaluate its options — a move that will hopefully lead to more humane, less costly and more effective methods of wildlife management.”

Contact:

Megan Backus, Animal Legal Defense Fund, (707) 795-2533 x 1010 (office); (707) 479-7872 (mobile); mbackus@aldf.org
Tim Ream, Center for Biological Diversity, (415) 632-5315; tream@biologicaldiversity.org
Camilla Fox, Project Coyote, (415) 690-0338 (mobile), cfox@projectcoyote.org
Josh Mogerman, Natural Resources Defense Council, (312) 651-7909; jmogerman@nrdc.org
Tara Zuardo, Animal Welfare Institute, (202) 446-2148; carson@awionline.org
Tim Dunbar, Mountain Lion Foundation, (916) 442-2666 x 105; tdunbar@mountainlion.org
Monte Merrick, BAX/Humbodlt Wildlife Care Center, (707) 832-8385; mm@birdallyx.net

A letter to the Humboldt County Board of Supervisors #WildlifeServices

Posted on July 1, 2014 by Monte Merrick

27 June 2014

Humboldt County Board of Supervisors
Rex Bohn, Chairperson

re: cancel contract with USDA-APHIS Wildlife Services

Dear Supervisor Bohn, et al

I am writing to you regarding the County’s contract with USDA-APHIS Wildlife Services.

I am sure that each of you is aware of the controversial nature of this branch of the Department of Agriculture. The controversy stems, not simply from the use of lethal measures to address human/wildlife conflicts, but from the secretive nature of the program, from the documented cruelty practiced by some of its agents, from the documented instances of endangered species, threatened species and family pets that have been killed unintentionally, from the cases of illegal activity committed by Wildlife Services (WS) agents that have been exposed without repercussion, from the systemic lack of accountability of the program at all levels.

These problems are well known. They have also been documented over the course of many decades, beginning with the early 1930s (Olaus Murie’s internal report, 1931) through the Sacramento Bee’s 2012 series, The Killing Agency.

These practices, which are wholly unbefitting a government agency, are also in direct opposition to moral values, scientific knowledge, principles of adaptive management, and the desires of the American people.

My own experiences with Wildlife Services have forced me to conclude that the agency’s culture is prone toward rogue violence.

While responding to the worst petroleum pipeline spill in the United States – the Kalamazoo Spill in Michigan in 2010 – I worked in the field with WS. US Fish and Wildlife personnel eventually forced WS agents to partner with wildlife caregivers due to their consistently inhumane methods of capturing oiled wildlife. At one point the entire response was jeopardized by WS agents insistence that oiled Canada geese be shot rather than rescued. Fortunately, more intelligent and compassionate arguments prevailed. If they hadn’t this would have been the first time in US history that victims of an oil spill had been killed rather than rehabilitated – a violation of federal laws (e.g., Migratory Bird Treaty Act, Oil Pollution Act of 1990).

Sadly, we don’t need to leave Humboldt County to find examples of WS’s shadowy cruelty. In May, Humboldt Wildlife Care Center(HWCC) received a call from a member of the public who was angry and distressed about baby raccoons who had been left to die under her mother’s house.

Her mother had called Animal Control of the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office to seek assistance with an animal under her home. She was given the number of the county trapper. Identifying himself as Wildlife Services, he told the homeowner that the animal was a male raccoon with no babies. Now, this alone is highly suspicious. Why else would a raccoon be using a crawlspace in Spring?

After he had trapped and killed the raccoon, who of course was a female, and after the babies died and began to rot and smell, the homeowner tried to reach him, but to no avail. Then they called us. We went under the house, removed the dead babies, who were exactly where we would have looked if they had called us first – in the void between the built-in tub and the wall.

I have tried to reach the “county trapper” but he has not returned my calls. I have also asked the county for any reports that APHIS-WS submits regarding their contractual activity in Humboldt County. I have received no response.

HWCC, every day of the year, counsels members of the public who have wildlife conflicts. These problems are easy to resolve without resorting to lethal measures. We do this without charge! Our phone number is widely available. Our information is made public on the internet, through print journalism, through radio public service announcements and through word of mouth. This is our area of expertise – an expertise earned the old-fashioned way: on the front lines.

We maintain a Humane Solutions team that is available for everything from consultation to doing the physical work of humanely convincing a wild animal to leave an area and then making the necessary adjustments to ensure the problem is solved.

Of course it is true that most human wildlife conflicts are caused by poor human practices. Given this, resorting to lethal means, except in the cases of immediate threats to public safety (e.g, confrontations with Bears and Mountain Lions) is unjustifiably immoral.

On June 19, I started a petition on Change.org to the administrators of the Department of Agriculture responsible for APHIS-WS. The petition demands standards of transparency and accountability be applied to APHIS such as every other government agency is legally required to meet. After 11 days the petition has received over 70,000 signatures. It is safe to say that citizens of every stripe do not want wildlife assassins working without accountability, out of public view, free to use whatever lethal means they wish, and with no repercussions. I can certainly say that I don’t.

I encourage this Board, and its individual members, to dig deeper into what this agency does, what it reports, what it covers up. The agency’s culture of “shoot, shovel and shut up” is well documented if not well known. This is not an issue of right versus left or conservative versus liberal. The actions of WS, when they become known, are horrible to hunter and vegan alike. The repugnant actions of Wildlife Services do not fill a void, they create one. They create a void where our values would be.

Thank you for considering eliminating the $67,000 portion of our county’s budget that is set aside for cruelty and ignorance. I hope unreservedly that the amount spent in 2013-14 is the last time that Humboldt County spends taxpayer money on something so reprehensible. Humboldt Wildlife Care Center/Bird Ally X are available to help build a more humane future for human/willdife co-existence.

Sincerely,
Monte Merrick

For more information and for a list of some sources to look further please visit the Bird Ally X site and look at this post. http://birdallyx.wordpress.com/2014/06/17/opaque-and-obstinate/

To view the Change.org petition: https://www.change.org/petitions/wildlife-services-stop-slaughtering-millions-of-wild-animals

To view the petition to initiate rule-making that was brought by Center for Biological Diversity, Project Coyote, and others: http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/programs/biodiversity/pdfs/Wildlife_Services_Rulemaking_Petition_Dec_2_2013.pdf

A heron’s survival.

Posted on June 29, 2014 by Monte Merrick

At Moonstone Beach in Westhaven, about 15 miles north of Arcata, a small grove of tall Monterey cypress is one of the Earthly portals where Herons come into the world.

The 9th of May, right after a high wind, a tiny, newly hatched Black-crowned Night Heron, was brought to our Bayside clinic. The little bird still had his ‘egg-tooth,’ a small pointy extra bit at the end of his upper bill, that hatchlings have to help break through the egg from the inside. He weighed about 50 grams.

The trees at Moonstone are tall and branchless until their canopy. Without disturbing the whole colony of wild families there was no way to put the hatchling back in her or his nest. Although re-nesting baby birds is a lot better than raising them in captivity, we didn’t think we could do it. So we took the little guy on.

From the start the Heron was a voracious eater. At this early stage, 2-3 chopped smelt (a small ocean fish) would be eaten in about a minute and a half. In order to stave off mineral deficiencies that might lead to such problems as metabolic bone disease, calcium was sprinkled lightly on the fish we served. The little bird would devour the fish and then show off her or his calcium powdered bill to the constant companion in the mirror we provided for some sort of solace.

Unlike mammals, whether raccoon or human, birds grow very fast. This youngster was soon standing and eating whole fish. It’s always surprising how many fish one of these birds can actually swallow! As s/he grew we increased the amount of fish and gradually increased the size of the bird’s housing.

Eventually, the Heron was housed in our largest flight aviary. We set up a small pool with live gold fish. These birds are expert fishers and this one needed to learn the trade. S/he quickly became very proficient at snagging the quick fish from the water.

After 6 weeks of care, the bird was flying, fishing, and demonstrating a seething hatred for humans: each of these a crucial part of surviving the modern world. The young Heron was released at the Arcata Marsh, where the colony where s/he entered the world roosts year round.

Your support makes rescue of birds like this Heron and all our patients possible. Please contribute.

all photos: Laura Corsiglia/BAX

USDA Wildlife Services responds directly to BAX co-director over Change.org petition

Posted on June 27, 2014 by Monte Merrick

by Monte Merrick

Last week, I initiated a petition on Change.org, as an individual, to the three people responsible for the Department of Agriculture’s ‘wildlife damage control’ program, known as Wildlife Services. Secretary of Agriculture, Tom Vilsack; USDA-APHIS, administrator Kevin Shea; and APHIS Wildlife Services deputy administrator, William (Bill) H. Clay. (read the petition, read more about Wildlife Services)

Within a day, the petition had gathered 500 signatures. At about the time that it passed that number, 500, I received an email from Bill Clay, deputy administrator for USDA-APHIS Wildlife Services. While it’s odd that he has replied directly to me, rather than to Change.org, which also didn’t share my email address, I am glad that USDA staff are aware that public light is being cast on Wildlife Services.

In any case, Bill Clay wrote to me, and I wrote him back. Here’s what we had to say to each other:

On 20 Jun 2014, , at 12:39, Clay, Bill H – APHIS wrote:
Mr. Merrick,

In regards to your Change.Org petition expressing concerns over our program, let me address some of your concerns by clarifying the misinformation that you have heard or read about the Wildlife Services (WS). First, WS works closely with State and Federal wildlife agencies which regulate resident and migratory birds and threatened and endangered species and which set management goals for various wildlife populations. The professional wildlife agencies strongly support our program and recognize the need to manage wildlife damage as part of responsible wildlife management and the North America model of wildlife management. Lethal take is an important component of wildlife management.

While the concern expressed regarding the lethal removal of over 4 million animals during an entire year over the entire United States is noble, it indicates a lack of understanding of overall wildlife populations, mortality, recruitment and population dynamics. Quoting raw numbers, taken out of context, without indicating the overall wildlife population or other sources of species mortality is irresponsible. Although it generates an emotional response it does not indicate the overall impact to wildlife populations. For example, cats kill from 1.3 to 4.0 billion birds each year in the United States. Hunters harvest over 50 million mourning dove each year out of a population estimated to be well over 300 million birds. More than one million deer-vehicles collisions occur annually, often deadly to deer, which have a population of over 30 million deer. Disease, predation, age, and many factors all contribute to wildlife mortality.

Our lethal take last year involved the removal of approximately 3.5 million birds, nearly 80% of which were invasive species. A Presidential Executive Order 13112 on Invasive Species (Section 2) clearly directs Federal agencies to control invasive species and prevent their spread. I understand that many people object to the use of lethal control; however, regulated hunting and trapping is an important tool to manage overabundant wildlife populations and is supported by professional wildlife biologists and wildlife agencies that are mandated to manage them.

In responsible [sic] to the allegations of being a secretive and unaccountable program, anyone who has ever reviewed our website knows that Wildlife Services annually provides the Program Data Reports and other information, including budget information, (which your petition requests) and has provided this information for over 20 years. Through the website we seek to inform the public of actions as a responsible and accountable federal program. The recent Washington Post article criticizes our program because of the numbers of animals killed each year. It’s ironic that we make this information available each year regarding how many animals are killed, species, methods used, nontarget take, etc., and then are criticized for not being accountable to the public.

During the past 5 years, WS has invested more than $50 million to identify and develop new nonlethal methods of control. Most of the effective nonlethal methods currently used by farmers, ranchers, and the public has either been developed or tested by our program.
The implication that WS is mainly funded by Federal dollars is also incorrect. Over $100 million non-Federal dollars is provided to WS each year from the people that request our services. In fact, WS is one of the very few Federal agencies where the recipients of our services pay at least half, and in some cases 100 percent, of the cost of the project.

Articles about WS often fail to indicate that over 80 percent, or 18 million animals, are moved or dispersed each year by WS using nonlethal methods, or that we work at most airports across the country to protect airplanes and people; that we protect over 150 threatened and endangered species for other wildlife threats; or that we conduct one of the largest programs in the world to stop the spread of the Mid-Atlantic strain of rabies commonly carried by raccoons in the Eastern United States. The article also failed to document that the WS program is managed by professional wildlife biologists. To obtain accurate information on the WS program, please visit our website.

William H. Clay
Wildlife Services

Here is my reply:

Mr. Clay,

Thank you for taking the time to respond directly to me in regard to the petition I initiated on Change.org.

As you know, the 50,000 people who have signed this petition so far are not the only critics of the opacity of USDA-APHIS Wildlife Services.

In December 2013 Wildlife Services was petitioned by Center for Biological Diversity, Project Coyote, Animal Welfare Institute, and Animal Legal Defense Fund to begin the rule-making process for the same reasons I started the Change.org petition; that is, to bring transparency and accountability to WS, to ensure humane treatment of animals, and to protect public safety and interests. (read legal petition)

I am sure that you are aware of the highly regarded series published in the Sacramento Bee in 2012 that sheds light on a governmental branch that operates outside of the values of most Americans. Covering up unintentional kills, shooting animals from helicopters, irresponsible use of poisons, suffocating and burning young mammals in their dens – these are revolting, unnecessary and cowardly acts. Citizens have a right to know how their contribution through taxes (whether federal, state, county or municipal) are spent, and a right to object to these repugnant practices. Suggesting that such well-documented and long criticized practices are either necessary or insignificant is a failure to address our petition. We are petitioning for information regarding these kills, not excuses or rationalizations.

Transparency and accountability demand more than the assertion that critics are misinformed. As a wildlife professional, I am well aware of the numbers of birds, mammals, reptiles and amphibians that are killed or injured by various anthropogenic causes, such as feral and free-roaming domestic cats, vehicle traffic, windows, wind farms, toxic pollution and so on.

You reference the large number of birds killed by cats and imply that such a high mortality somehow absolves WS of wrongdoing for the lesser number of animals reported to be killed WS agents. These are unrelated issues. Mass fatalites are not judged against each other but against what is right. Besides this point, in regard to the numbers of animals reported to be killed by WS agents, the figures provided by your agency are not trustworthy, especially in light of former agents who have consistently described the culture of “shoot, shovel, and shut up” that permeates WS.

And none of these issues that plague WS are new. Multiple reviews and reports, from as early as Olaus Murie’s 1931 internal report, through the Cain Report from early 1972 (formally titled Predator Control 1971: Report to the President’s Council on Environmental Quality by the Advisory Committee on Predator Control, S.A. Cain, et al) have clearly indicated that Wildlife Services practices are out of step with science, decency and democratic values. While critics have consistently identified these key areas for reform, this agency, under various names, has consistently failed to enact these reforms in a meaningful fashion.

The history of Wildlife Services is not a noble one, nor has it met its purported mission. Even the federally mandated task of invasive species control that you reference (which is the reason for the existence of Wildlife Services, from its inception as the Division of Economic Ornithology in 1885) has been a failure. As an example, House Sparrows, which your agency’s first administrator sought to “attack and destroy*,” launching Wildlife Services’ official methodology, have been neither eradicated nor controlled.

Frankly, your response to this petition appears to be further stonewalling. It is easy to understand why Congress member Pete DeFazio has referred to WS as the “one of the most opaque and obstinate” agencies he’s encountered. Moreover, for the administrator of the WS program, with its history of wolf eradication, well-documented cruelty, and broadcast use of highly toxic poisons across our natural heritage, among other reprehensible actions both large and small, to accuse one who questions these practices of being “irresponsible” neither addresses the concerns nor is befitting your role as a public servant.

Sincerely,
Monte Merrick

(*) C. Hart Merriam, MD was the first director of the Division of Economic Ornithology, established inside the Department of Agriculture July 1, 1885. After a year, the division was expanded to include Mammology and soon after that the word Economic was dropped. In his first annual report Merriam discussed areas for USDA work, for legislative action, and for general recommendations. While regarded by his own Department as an impediment to its mission to eradicate avian and mammal economic threats to agriculture, here’s what Merriam had to say about House Sparrows: “The English Sparrow is a curse of such virulence that it ought to be systematically attacked and destroyed before it becomes necessary to deplete the public treasury for the purpose, as has been done in other countries.” https://ia601206.us.archive.org/33/items/reportofchiefofb1886unit/reportofchiefofb1886unit.pdf

Healing starts small and spreads…

Posted on June 26, 2014 by Monte Merrick

A relentless environmental journalist I highly respect posted a sorrowful account of what life doing his work is like.

As a man reaching his upper middle aged years, devoted to environmental and social justice for as long as I can remember (I hated Nixon – the sociopathic mass killer and 37th President of the USA – before I was ten), I’ve seen victories that matter – cleaner air, cleaner water, endangered species recovery (ironically all initiated during Nixon’s regime). And of course I’ve also seen the same irreversible losses we’ve all suffered, including our current failure to stop the causes of catastrophic climate change…

In any case, I sent this to him as an intended note of comfort and I am also sending it to you, for a slim thread to hang from in these days of justifiable environmental despair.

Here’s some small good news…

A red-tailed hawk, a big (1150grams) strong female, her tail just now turning red, was hit by a vehicle on US 101 between Eureka and Arcata. We picked her up from the side of the highway early Monday morning. She suffered no broken bones but her eyes were closed, she was barely responsive, her head tracked uselessly from right to left. Her conditon remained exactly like this for 36 hours. We administered anti-inflammatory pain medication and fluids. I checked on her frequently.

My dismay was mounting.

Finally, unwilling to prolong her suffering much further, I checked her again late afternoon Tuesday. Pulling the old, donated pillow case back from the clear acrylic door of the incubator where I’d housed her, there she was – facing me, her fierce stance returning, her eyes open, clear, prepared. She was ready to meet me, on whatever terms the blaze of reality dictates, regardless.

She’s not flying yet, but soon she will. And then she’ll be free.

41 other cases in care right now, raccoon kits, mule deer fawns, juvenile brown pelicans, striped skunks, a glaucous winged gull who ate a fish hook.

All of these animals have a good prognosis for release.

After that? Who knows? Against the 6th extinction? I have no answer. But against my one “wild and precious life,” everything.

take care,
monte merrick

Petition to USDA-Wildlife Services Receiving Broad Support!

Posted on June 25, 2014 by Monte Merrick

Click here to see Change.org petition

Petitioning USDA Deputy Administrator William Clay, Administrator Kevin Shea, and Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack: Take immediate steps to make USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Services, Wildlife Services program transparent and accountable.

This petition was initiated by Bird Ally X co-founder/co-director Monte Merrick due to shockingly high numbers (4.4 million reported in 2013!) of wild animals killed each year by Wildlife Serives, the well-documented culture of “shoot, shovel, and shut up” that permeate the agency, the repeated instances of shocking cruelty to wild and domestic animals on the part of Wildlife Services agents, including irresponsible trapping in BAX’ own community on California’s North Coast.

As of this post, the petition has gathered nearly 45,000 signatures in only 5 days, easily demonstrating that Wildlife Services practices are out of step with not only science, the laws that protect endangered species, migratory birds, and all animals from unnnecessary suffering at human hands, but also the core values of Americans from all walks of life, from hunters to vegans.

Bird Ally X supports this petition. We ask you to do the same. Help demand that USDA brings accountability and transparency to USDA-APHIS Wildlife Services program. Or shut it down.

Hermit Warbler Nestling Falls to Ground in the Arcata Community Forest

Posted on June 23, 2014 by Monte Merrick

A nestling Hermit Warbler is always ready for bugs! (scroll down for more photos)

As we’ve been mentioning at every opportunity, this is wild baby season. Wild animals all around us are busy raising their young. Step outside at any moment and watch Barn Swallows swoop and glide across fields, marsh, and highways (yikes!!) in their constant aerial search for the insects that are about to become this year’s model swallow.

Skunk babies might be seen playing in the front yard, freshly emerged from their den – yes, they were there the whole time, right beneath your feet, under the shed, growing, nursing and today – ta da! – exploring the wide world for the first time.

As with all life, in this one and only world of ours, things don’t always work out as planned. A young bird might step too close the edge of the nest and fall to the base of the tree, or the building, or the parking lot. In such cases, it’s almost always a one way trip. It may be that what goes up must come down, but what goes down stays down unless help comes.

But sometimes help does come. Today in the Arcata Community Forest a nestling Hermit Warbler was found on a trail through the Redwoods. Andrew, a wildlife student at nearby Humboldt State University, was birding in Arcata’s popular park when he heard the small bird calling and saw the adult Warblers feeding their baby there on the ground. Andrew knew this wasn’t right – without flight feathers this bird should still be in the nest. Left here, the tiny bird would never make it.

So he called Humboldt Wildlife Care Center to see if he could bring the bird to us. After a few questions, we felt that the best chance for the bird was to stay with his parents.

Andrew was worried. “There’s a cat nearby,” he warned.

This was easy to believe. Feral and free-roaming cats are everywhere. The truth about their impact on wild animals is so alarming that many people have a hard time accepting it. Even if this had been a case where the bird was supposed to be out of the nest, cats still pose an enormous and relatively new risk. It wasn’t that long ago that a Warbler could jump form nest to ground without worry that a cat was near. Still, all the birds flying today made it through their fledgling stage.

We sent a team out to assess the situation while Andrew stayed near to make sure the cat kept his distance.

Upon arrival, BAX/HWCC personnel, Lucinda Adamson, assistant rehabilitator, and Cheryl Henke, intern, found the baby under a shrub begging for food.

“Andrew came down to meet us,” Lucinda related, “and since the baby was healthy and uninjured, we put him in the nest basket while we searched for a nest.”

They couldn’t find the nest but both parents were seen repeatedly as they searched. Lucie said that, “the baby and parents were talking the whole time. So we put the basket in the tallest tree we could access which also happened to be the tree the parents kept perching in.”

The parents never left. Once finished Lucinda and Cheryl placed the baby inside and moved back to observe. Immediately they saw the parents rushing in to feed their little guy. After watching for a few minutes, our awesome team was sure that all was well. As they left, the parents watched them go, vocalizing the whole time. Was this scolding, thanks or something else? Who knows.

What we do know is that this little bird just got a second chance, thanks to Andrew for calling us, and thanks to you for supporting our mission and making rescues like these possible.

Cheryl scopes out the location.

Secured but not yet concealed.

Nearly invisible, our alternate nest will hopefully provide a safe place for this young Hermit Warbler to finish growing.

(Please consider making a contribution. Your donation goes directly to supporting our volunteer work caring for injured orphaned and displaced wild animals! It also gives us hope that one day we will be able to pay awesome teammembers like Lucinda and Cheryl a real salary.)

(All photos: Lucinda Adamson/BAX)

The star-crossed (and then uncrossed) Red Crossbill

Posted on June 22, 2014 by Monte Merrick

The Red Crossbill, with the self-explanatory name, is a seed cone specialist.

Cheryl Henke, an ornithology student at Humboldt State University is also working as an intern at Bird Ally X/Humboldt Wildlife Care Center. Between her studies, her part time job and her schedule at our Bayside clinic, somehow she still finds plenty of hours in the week to pursue her passion for birding.

Last Friday, June 13th, Cheryl headed down to the Humboldt Bay National Wildlife Refuge with the hopes of seeing Red Crossbills. As she made her way along Hookton Road, suddenly, she spotted what she had come for – a Crossbill. Unfortunately the bird was lying in the middle of the road.

Cheryl quickly pulled over. Almost immediately a truck sped past her (Hookton Rd. is like that!) nearly hitting the wounded bird.

As soon as she felt safe, Cheryl picked the Crossbill up, noticed that he was bleeding from his head, and brought him to our clinic.

Red Crossbills are a perfect example of how animals and habitats change to fit each other. With their unique bill structure, these birds are masters at prying open the cones of evergreens to get at the seeds within.

A small laceration above the bird’s right eye produced a fairly large amount of blood. After cleaning the wound and surrounding feathers, we provided a mild pain reliever and set up the Crossbill in his hospital housing with plenty of sunflower seeds and some spruce cones to make him feel more at home.

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Over the next few days we could see that the wound was minor and his attitude was major. He spent one day in our outdoor aviary flying frantically from one end to the other calling over and over. After three days in care, we decided the best course of action was release.

Cheryl was on the schedule that day and when she arrived we let her know her rescued bird was ready to go. She was thrilled. Cheryl and Laura Corsiglia (BAX co-founder and graphics director) took the Crossbill back to Loleta, off Hookton Road. As you can see in the photos below, this beautiful bird knew exactly what to do with his second chance at wild freedom.

Immediately, the Red Crossbill put his amazing adaptation to work!

(All photos Laura Corsiglia/BAX)