Every Spring it’s the same story: a Raccoon is seen around the home, going into a crawlspace, maybe heard in the attic… and the human resident opens the phone book to find help. A quick call to the pest control company and soon they’re spending a couple dollars paying for that company to trap the Raccoon.
The Raccoon, eager to find food, is easily trapped (maybe not on the first try though, maybe first some other animal is trapped and loses his or her life too). The pest control company takes the Raccoon away (to be killed) and soon after, a day, two days, three days, Humboldt Wildlife Care Center gets a call: Raccoon babies can be heard behind a wall, next to the tub, in the attic – somewhere, making their small chattering sounds, hungry, cold and dying. We take those orphans into care. Without charge. these are the lucky ones, the ones who are found. How many Raccoon orphans starve to death under houses and in attics after their mother has been trapped or shot is just anther unknowable tragic cost in world full of them.
This is exactly how our first Raccoon babes of 2017 came into care this weekend. Two days without their mother, who was trapped and killed, these babies are facing a terrible deficit. Warmth, fluids, and a gradual introduction to formula, which will sustain them until they are weaned in approximately 6 weeks, is the first step. If they make it through this process and recover from hypothermia and dehydration they’ll have another 10-12 weeks in captive care, learning to climb, hunt, fish and forage: in short, all the skills that their mother would have taught them. If all goes well, sometime in September or October, hopefully we’ll be posting a story like this one from a past Summer:
Killing mother Raccoons can be costly to a homeowner, and obviously the cost to the mother Raccoon is the greatest that can be paid, and the cost to her babies is higher than we’d wish on any youngsters. Yet, it happens every year, in every community, in every county, in every state. Every year we put out messages and pleas to not trap wildlife, especially in the Spring. In Spring, trapping a wild animal invariably leads to orphans. It is senseless, stupid and needs to stop. We need your help. Spread the word. Trapping is cruel, costly, immoral and ineffective. If you have a conflict with a wild animal, seek humane help, such as we offer every day of the year.
On this Mother’s Day, how about spreading some of that love and appreciation to wild mamas who need us to learn to live with them peacefully and humanely.
If you’d like to contribute to the cost of caring for this unfortunate mother’s young, please donate here now. Thank you!!
Orphaned Mallard patients from 2016, learning about 
Our three young Mallards who are currently in care, under a heat lamp in our indoor housing. Soon they’ll be old enough to be housed outside.
Describing the resources we rely on so that our volunteers are confident that they can give sound advice.
Demonstrating a typical call.
Because of the nearby Humboldt State University and the attraction of the Redwood Coast, our volunteers and neighbors come from around the world and around the state, bringing a wealth of experience and commitment to our work. Without volunteers, there would be no care for wild animals in need.
In the real world, you can always “phone a friend.” A workshop participant seeks advice while in the middle of his call.
Nestling Swallows (2015) receiving their regular feeding – soon these birds would fledge into our Songbird aviary where they continued to be fed while they learned to fly and eat on the wing. 
Every year for the last 5 years we’ve provided safe haven and bits of mouse for a 
Every year we care for several 
The most common reason for young 
A 
Every summer we save lives, preserve wild families, and give unfortunate victims of accidents and human intervention a second chance. This juvenile
Each year 
On examination no broken bones or other traumatic injuries were noted.
Raven and one of four Steller’s Jays in an aviary under quarantine. Eventually, the quarantine was lifted and all birds were given a clean bill of health.
Our new aviary is good place to learn to fly, but a bad place to live forever!
What this Raven doesn’t know is that this will be the last time she will ever suffer the indignities of the net!
A thorough examination on release is the bookend of the thorough examination we give on admission. Here her feet are inspected to be sure that no captivity-related problems are going to interfere with her ability to thrive in the wild. Captivity is very hard on wild animals. We resort to it only when their lives depend on treatment.
Is there anything more beautiful than a healthy young Raven?
All Ravens think “outside the box.”
Freed from us and far enough way to stop and consider what next she might do with her hard won freedom!
Thin and dehydrated upon admission, the Western screech-owl quickly accepted the offered bits of mouse we fed, gaining weight daily.
The forested ridge of Rohner Park, Fortuna, home for Western Screech-owls and many more wild neighbors.
BAX Wildlife Rehabilitator, Lucinda Adamson briefly holds the owlet so that he can call, hopefully bringing his parents to ivestigate. This method can be a very effective way to locate families. Imagine our own children calling, who we’ve missed.
An excellent flier now, his ability to evade the net was impressive. Soon his skills will open up the dense branches of the forest for his silent passage. 
The aviary of his youth will soon be only a memory.
A cautious young owl hopefully grows to be an old wise one.
The young owl’s first flight, free in the wild.
Perching relatively near after his first wild flight, the youngster gets his bearings.
At dusk he was perched much farther above – alive to the night. 
In our newest aviary, these four Steller’s Jays safely gained strength and replaced feathers.
By the time of their release, they were very difficult to catch in the aviary – an excellent indication!
Not all of dark horizontal lines in these tail feathers are natural color. Some of tose lines are “stress bars” which mark the time in this juvenile’s life was not getting physical needs met. These bars are weak points where the shaft might break. Too many and the bird would be unreleasable without some kind of intervention or the natural growth of new replacement feathers.
After a 2 hour drive, the birds are brought to heir release site along the Klamath River.
The first whiff of freedom (and a real river!)
Over the river and into the woods, to Grandmother’s house they go.
Just a few steps from the cloaking device that mother Earth provides all her children…
Taken with a zoom lens, one last view before these youngsters ‘disappear’ into the real world!
