In mid-February many of us are dreading the long wait for the return of warmer weather, and all of the joys of Spring and Summer. Here at Humboldt Wildlife Care Center, we are not dreading the long wait at all. For us, it’s right around the corner! By the end of next month, we need to have all of our ducks in a row and be prepared for the arrival of the first wild orphans of the season.
In the past, we’ve admitted our first orphan Raccoons (Procyon lotor) as early as March 31st. Meanwhile, we are keeping busy during our so-called downtime taking care of the injured hawks, seabirds, raccoons, songbirds and more. We’ve already admitted over 80 injured wild patients in 2019.
We have important projects to complete before Spring madness fully kicks in and we need your help.
- Our main building, a double wide modular that’s been our primary facility and office since 2006 is in need of critical repairs that will cost us over $2000.
- Our Seabird pools need a thorough rejuvenation – liners need to be replaced and pumps and filters need to be repaired, costing approximately $500.
- Last year we admitted close to a dozen orphan fawns, about the maximum we can handle. We need to increase that capacity and add a better yard. This will cost approximately $2000
- Not a project, just a regular fact of our existence, but we need to pay to use the land our facility is on at the Jacoby Creek Land Trust – our annual rent is $6000.
- All of this is in addition to the cost of caring for each of our patients. We accomplish a lot on very little. We have one full time paid staff person and two part time staff, whose contributions to our mission are invaluable. Already underpaid, if we were to be unable to maintain their positions, the care we provide our patients would suffer.
We operate on the proverbial shoestring. Each year we raise the funds and resources to complete our mission as we go along. So far, we’ve managed to get through each year with our bills paid. And each new year, we start again. It’s stressful, certainly, but it’s the only thing we can do.
So for 2019, we’ll be mounting three major efforts to gather the support we need to meet our challenges.
This Spring, our goal is to raise one third of our annual budget by the end of April. That’s $50,000! If we raise $50,000 by April 30, we will have paid not only the expenses of February, March and April, but we’ll enter May with the resources on hand and the facility prepared to begin meeting the following months, our busiest time, Half of the animals we treat in any year are admitted in June, July, and August. Your support this Spring will give us a strong place to stand as we enter the most difficult part of our year.
Our community’s support is how we meet the challenge of treating hundreds of wild neighbors each year, helping resolve thousands of wildlife conflicts peacefully and prepare the next generation of wildlife caregivers.
Thank you for helping us help our wild neighbors.
