Gray Fox is Free!

Posted on October 4, 2015October 4, 2015 by Monte Merrick

[Fall Fundraiser: Bird Ally X/Humboldt Wildlife Care Center need your support! Summer bills must be paid. Winter maintenance must be done. Food and medicine for patients must be purchased. Utilities too! Without you we cannot keep our doors open, ready to accept into care all native California wildlife, orphaned or injured by the impact of our towns, our highways, our trash, our reckless disregard for our wild neighbors. Please contribute today. Any amount helps. Please give what you can.]

Early September, during a Sunday morning shift, this Gray Fox (Urocyon cinereoargenteus) was brought to Humboldt Wildlife Care Center with her head caught in a hard plastic cup. Her rescuer, a traveler passing through, was able to catch and restrain her, locate us on the internet and walk her over. He and his companions brought her in just past 10am. (read more of her first day in care here)

Over the course of her treatment (read about her time in care here) she rebounded quickly. Although at first we worried that the trauma to her ears was too severe for her to be returned to the wild, soon she was alert, ears up, wounds healing quickly and snarling mad!

We kept our hands and eyes off her as much as we could during her course of treatment, balancing her need for wild privacy with our need to monitor her recovery.

On a diet of fish, thawed rats, eggs and occasional car-killed pigeons, her weight shot up from 2000 grams to 2700 grams (4 1/2 pounds to 6 pounds – a big gain for a small animal!). Her agility and energy increased dramatically as well. (see photos below!)

After nearly a month in care, her wounds were healed, her fur growing back in nicely, and her body strong and lithe. It was time for her to be released. She couldn’t have agreed more.

In the Gray fox’ housing to catch for her release examination

Flying fox? No, just anxious to be free.

Nabbed!

In the net for less than a minute, this is still a stressful moment for all concerned.

Onto the exam table for a look at her condition.

Bird Ally X/HWCC volunteer staffperson, Stephanie Owens, restrains our patient. Her job is to protect both patient and examiner. 6 pounds of fury can bite pretty hard!

Hard to believe how quickly her condition improved. Her ears are nearly perfect now. Compare with the next photo of her on admission day!

Raw, flattened by who knows how long in that cup, and infested with fly larvae (maggots) we were worried her ears would not heal well enough for her to hunt again. Thankfully she made a full recovery! (photo: BAX/Heather Freitas)

At the release site, close to where she was rescued. Freedom’s just a box top away!

Buh-bye! Our favorite moment in the care of any patient!

The last glimpse we had before she disappeared into the Wild.

This Gray fox was a dramatic patient. She exemplified all the frustration and all of the reward of caring for injured and orphaned wild animals. Her injury was caused by something easily prevented. Reckless and irresponsible action by humans in society, one little piece of litter in a world full of toxins, traumas, challenges and threats nearly ended the life of this fox. But with accessible care available for her, and a dedicated staff, she was able to be treated successfully and returned to her wild and free life. Although the causes are the same for most of our patients, not all are so lucky. Most aren’t.

Thanks to your support, we are able to be here 7 days a week, every day of the year. Dedicated volunteers, very limited paid staff, and our Bayside clinic – we don’t have much by way of resources, but we make the most of what we’ve got! Your donation goes a very long way in keeping us going and making sure that the North Coast has a place for injured and orphaned wild neighbors to be treated – treated for injuries and treated with the respect that all wild animals deserve. As Henry Thoreau elegantly wrote, “All good things are wild and free.”

all photos: Bird Ally X/Laura Corsiglia except where noted.

Your support matters.

Posted on September 2, 2015 by Monte Merrick

Your support makes our work possible. Thank you for helping us give injured and orphaned wild animals a second chance.

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Heermann’s gulls – not intrinsically funny.

Posted on August 28, 2015August 28, 2015 by Monte Merrick

A little “humor” to begin the weekend! Heermann’s gulls – a close companion of Brown pelicans. These birds were successfuly rescued, treated and released by BAX/HWCC! egull

Western Screech-owl in care shows his finery right before release to the wild

Posted on August 24, 2015 by Monte Merrick

One of the lesser known side-benefits of working at a wildlife hospital is the intense and privileged proximity caregivers have to wild freedom. Want to help give injured and orphaned wild animals a second chance? Volunteer with your local wildlife rehabilitator!

weso wingspread aviary

Young Common Murres in Care

Posted on August 22, 2015August 22, 2015 by Monte Merrick

For Northern California and the Pacific Northwest, natural conditions (i.e., deep, cold nutrient rich water) are excellent for seabirds, many of whom we rarely meet. Even the Common Murre (Uria aalge), a species with a breeding population well over a million in the Northeast Pacific ocean, is not so commonly seen after all, except by ocean-going anglers and others aboard vessels.

Common Murres spend their lives on the open ocean coming to land only during the nesting season, when they lay eggs and raise their young on sea stacks and rocky cliffs – Devil’s Slide just south of San Francisco, the Marin Headlands, on sea stacks and rocky cliffs all the way to Alaska, including Flatiron Rock just off Trinidad, Humboldt County and Castle Rock near Crescent City at the Oregon border in Del Norte.

A periodic physical examination makes certain our young Common Murre patients are developing into healthy young adults.

While their wild salt lives may be a mystery to those who stay ashore, unfortunately Common Murres are all too familiar with human action, especially when it comes to ocean health. Common Murres are regular victims of oil pollution, derelict fishing gear, overfishing, agricultural runoff which can produce harmful algal blooms that coat prey fish in poison, and of course, the general industrialization of the sea.

Because of these threats, Common Murres are regularly admitted into the many (but too few!) wildlife care facilities that are found along the Pacific Coast.

Humboldt Wildlife Care Center is no exception. Each year approximately 3% of our patients (roughly 30 birds) are admitted for care. Half of these, typically, are juvenile birds who have become separated from their parents before they were ready. In our seabird pool right now we are caring for 6 juveniles and 1 adult.

Common Murres are colony nesters who enjoy the proximity of their cohorts.

Unlike many birds (e.g., pelicans, albatross) who are nearly full grown when they leave their nest, Murre chicks leap from their rocky colonies weeks before they can fly. The chicks are led to sea by their fathers, who continue their care, feeding them and showing the young birds how to dive for fish. Fathers and young congregate in large feeding areas off the coast.

Chicks and fathers recognize each other by call, with voices that are evolved to resonate across waves and wind. Should the father be injured or killed, or a large vessel plow through the feeding area, scattering the birds, it is possible the chick will be orphaned or unable to survive alone. How often this happens, we don’t know. What we do know is that when an orphaned youngster makes it to the beach – usually weak, cold and exhausted – if found, we can raise them in our specially prepared saline pool and release them when they are able to fend for themselves.

For this year’s Murre chicks, fate has provided an adult Murre, whose prognosis for recovery is very good, and who for now has the role of surrogate parent, or at least favorite aunt or uncle. The presence of this adult bird greatly reduces the stress of the youngsters. We hope the benefit is mutual.

As always, your support makes our work possible. Each Common Murre chick eats a little over a pound of fish a day. After 6 weeks in care that’s about 50 pounds. With 7 Murres, you can see how quickly our fish bill adds up! Keeping salt pools for the young birds takes resources too! Thank you for your support! If you would like to contribute to their care, please click on the donate link. Your tax-deductible support goes directly to the rescue, treatment and release of injured and orphaned wildlife on the North coast and beyond! Thank you for being a part of this life saving work!

(All photos: Laura Corsiglia/BAX)

Mendocino County Sued Over Wildlife Services Contract Renewal

Posted on July 28, 2015July 28, 2015 by Monte Merrick

MENDOCINO, Calif.— Animal-protection and conservation organizations filed suit today challenging Mendocino County’s contract renewal with Wildlife Services, a notorious federal wildlife-killing program that killed close to 3 million animals in the United States in 2014.

“Mendocino County is using taxpayer money to kill its native wildlife, which is highly valued by many Mendocino residents,” said Elly Pepper, Natural Resources Defense Council wildlife advocate. “Instead, it should put that money towards nonlethal practices, which preserve our native wildlife while effectively deterring predators from livestock.”

According to the complaint, the county’s renewal of the contract violates the California Environmental Quality Act and a previously signedsettlement agreement, in which the county agreed to comply with the Act before renewing its contract with Wildlife Services. The coalition consists of the Animal Legal Defense Fund, the Animal Welfare Institute, the Center for Biological Diversity, the Natural Resources Defense Council, Project Coyote and a Mendocino Country resident.

“By claiming exemptions from CEQA, Mendocino County is attempting to avoid performing any environmental studies on Wildlife Services’ environmental impacts,” stated Tara Zuardo, wildlife attorney with the Animal Welfare Institute. “Through this lawsuit, we hope to ensure Mendocino County officials follow through on the obligations they agreed to in our settlement agreement.”

Mendocino County’s previous $144,000 contract authorized the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Wildlife Services program to kill hundreds of coyotes, as well as bears, bobcats, foxes and other animals in the county every year, without fully assessing the ecological damage or considering alternatives.

Although hundreds of county residents sent postcards and letters to the Board of Supervisors and showed up to make public comment at two meetings, the Board renewed the contract without taking the time to fully investigate the program, learn about the public’s concerns, and consider alternatives, as required by the Act.

”Unfortunately, despite the county’s promise to consider nonlethal alternatives that are better for wildlife and taxpayers, county supervisors decided to do an end run around the law,” said Amy Atwood of the Center for Biological Diversity. “They have misled and disappointed hundreds of their constituents.”

Wildlife Services’ indiscriminate killing of millions of animals annually has many damaging impacts on the environment. Peer-reviewed research shows that such reckless slaughter of animals — particularly predators — results in broad ecological destruction and loss of biodiversity. The program’s controversial and indiscriminate killing methods are employed largely at the behest of ranchers to protect livestock and have come under increased scrutiny from scientists, the public and government officials. In addition the agency has been responsible for the countless deaths of threatened and endangered species, as well as family pets.

“We are encouraging Mendocino County to explore and adopt alternative, nonlethal models (like the Marin County Livestock & Wildlife Protection Program) that are more ecologically, ethically and economically defensible — and more effective at protecting livestock,” said Camilla Fox, founder and executive director of Marin-based Project Coyote.

“ALDF and its allies will continue to push for CEQA compliance and wildlife protection in Mendocino County,” said Stephen Wells, executive director of ALDF. “California deserves more than shady dealings from their elected officials.”

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The Animal Legal Defense Fund is a national nonprofit organization dedicated to protecting the lives and advancing the interests of animals through the legal system through litigation, legislation, supporting prosecutors, and advancing the emerging field of animal law. For more information, visit aldf.org.

The Animal Welfare Institute is a nonprofit charitable organization founded in 1951 and dedicated to reducing animal suffering caused by people. AWI engages policymakers, scientists, industry, and the public to achieve better treatment of animals everywhere—in the laboratory, on the farm, in commerce, at home, and in the wild. For more information, visit www.awionline.org.

The Center for Biological Diversity is a national, nonprofit conservation organization with more than 900,000 members and online activists dedicated to the protection of endangered species and wild places: www.biologicaldiversity.org.

Project Coyote is a North American coalition of wildlife educators, scientists, predator friendly ranchers, and community leaders promoting coexistence between people and wildlife, and compassionate conservation through education, science, and advocacy.
Visit: ProjectCoyote.org

The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) is an international nonprofit environmental organization with more than 2 million members and online activists. Since 1970, our lawyers, scientists, and other environmental specialists have worked to protect the world’s natural resources, public health, and the environment. NRDC has offices in New York City, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Bozeman, MT, and Beijing. Visit us at www.nrdc.org and follow us on Twitter @NRDC.

When Wildlife Needs a Bath

Posted on July 19, 2015July 19, 2015 by Monte Merrick

In 2012, Bird Ally X/Humboldt Wildlife Care Center responded to a wildlife crisis – hundreds of juvenile Brown Pelicans (Pelecanus occidentalis) were contaminated by fish waste in various ways all around the North Coast. (Read more about the causes and what has been accomplished to prevent this problem here and here and here)

The Northcoast Fish Waste response had several positive outcomes: first we released 80% of our patients – 4 out of 5 impacted Pelicans were returned to their wild lives! Second, as seen at the links provided above, major improvements to public fishing infrastructure radically reduced the potential for injury to Pelicans and other wild animals. Third, we were able to use and demonstrate that more environmentally conscious soaps can be used to clean wildlife, and that the soap we used also reduced stress suffered by our patients during the cleaning process.

pelican 7gen BAX staff and volunteers wash a fish-oiled young Brown Pelican in 2012. photo: Bird Ally X

Bird Ally X was founded by seasoned oiled wildlife response personnel. Each of us has worked many years in this field and we are very familiar with the best available care for oiled wildlife. Our founding staff has responded to oil spills all over the country and internationally as well.

With over 200 Pelicans to wash, we were reluctant to use a detergent that might have a deleterious impact on the enivronment. Fish waste is a natural organic substance, but the detergent that is most closely associated with oiled wildlife response is not exactly something you’d want to dump in the frog pond! So we began to search for detergent that was far less toxic.

After trying several brands advertised as natural, we found Seventh Generation® Free and Clear to be the most effective at removing the fish oil. This soap was far less irritating to the person using it as well. The detergent most commonly used on oiled wildlife can be very harsh to work with over an extended period of time and some people have a very adverse reaction to it, developing rashes, or experiencing burning sensations in their eyes and other unpleasant side effects.

As an excellent, unexpected bonus, Seventh Generation® rinsed out of feathers in half the time it takes to rinse out the standard detergent. This is a huge improvement. Typically, it can take nearly as long to rinse soap from a bird’s feathers as it takes to wash out the oil. While significantly less toxic than petroleum, detergent is also a contaminant to feathers. All of the soap must be rinsed out in order for a bird to be waterproof and able to withstand the challenging marine environment.

We have to balance the need for clean feathers against the patient’s ability to endure the stress of the cleaning process, a process so demanding that it requires each animal to be in relatively stable condition before being washed. Cutting the rinse time in half was an enormous reduction in the stress our patients endure.

Every pelican we washed during that spill was washed using this soap.

That was three years ago. Since then we’ve washed a a large number of wild animals who were contaminated by a wide range of contaminants – fish oil, motor oil, crude oil, vegetable oil, butcher shop waste, food waste from dumpsters, and petroleum distallates. In each case Seventh Generation® performed excellently, as good as any other soap at removing the contaminant. Our first impression, that the soap rinses in half the time as others, still holds true.

In fact, our most recently washed patient, a Common Loon contaminated with crude oil most likely from a natural seep such as occurs on the California coast, was washed with Seventh Generation® and instead of doing the intensive hands-on rinsing procedure, after we were confident the oil was removed, we put her immediately into a warm water pool. Within a day she was fully waterproof! Within a week she was released.

So, while the commercials on television might lead you to believe that only one soap saves wildlife, at Bird Ally X, we disagree. Until we discover a better option, Seventh Generation® is our soap of choice when animals need a bath or they’ll die.

(Are you a wildlife rehabilitator with questions about our experience with this detergent? Please contact us at info@birdallyx.net Thanks!)

(Note: during the Northcoast Fish Waste response, BAX reached out to Seventh Generation for help providing the amount of soap we needed to wash 250 birds… we received a case of their dish detergent at that time – we have received no other support from Seventh Generation in any form since then. This is not an advertisement for their products but a report on the improvements being made in oiled wildlife care.)

Young Peregrine Falcon Re-united with Family!

Posted on June 25, 2015June 25, 2015 by Monte Merrick

Late in the evening, June 5 our facebook page for Humboldt Wildlife Care Center received a message. A paddle-boarder had rescued “a hawk of some kind” who had been struggling in the water of Humboldt Bay.

The next morning, right after we opened the clinic, the kind person brought in a young Peregrine Falcon.

After an examination, it was obvious that the bird must have fallen from the nest. Her primary feathers, which are needed for flight, weren’t grown in sufficiently for a fledgling – a real shame. She had no injuries except for dehydration and exhaustion from her watery ordeal. If she had been old enough to fly we could have provided her with fluid support and some nutrition then released her back to her family. But this bird was about a week shy of that and would need to go back to her nest, which we couldn’t accomplish, or we would have to raise the youngster until she was old enough to reunite with her family.

The young Peregrine Falcon in our purpose built aviary, the Merry Maloney Raptor House

A Peregrine Falcon is a very special kind of animal that presents steep challenges to successfully raise. While every species has its own advantages and unique characteristics, some animals represent the outermost limitations of life – the Blue Whale is largest, the Ocean Quahog is a clam that can live to be 500 years old, and the Peregrine Falcon can top 200 miles per hour when diving toward prey. Providing the environment they need to become successful wild adults is filled with special problems. Simply offering thawed mice and room to fly, while critical for her care, wouldn’t be enough for such a specialist to learn to how to survive on her own.

Learning to fly

Unfortunately, by the time our patient was flying, her family had already left their nest. In fact, we’d even responded to a call from a Eureka resident about a bird of prey exhibiting strange behavior near the Humboldt County Library. When we’d arrived on the scene we found an adult Peregrine Falcon (now saddled with a radio transmitter) protecting one of her young ,who had fledged from the nest and was still getting the hang of flight.

If the parents weren’t at the nest, and if we weren’t able to predict where they would be, it looked like we wouldn’t be able to re-unite this family after all.

Raising self-sufficient predators is a task best left to their parents. But if re-uniting wasn’t going to be possible, then we had to start planning for this one’s education. So we began developing the curriculum for our new course, Becoming a Peregrine Falcon.

She was doing quite well, regularly finding and eating the mice we provided, as well as developing better flight skills. In the middle of designing a method to simulate hunting ducks on water, which is one of the Peregrine Falcon’s specialties, both she and we got a lucky break.

While running errands, we saw the parent falcon near the nest site, days after having been sighted at the nearby library. Given that our patient had already demonstrated rudimentary hunting skills and that the parents were staying close to the old nest site, we seized the opportunity to release the young falcon with confidence that the bird would have ample time to rejoin her parents.

BAX/HWCC staff rehabilitator, Lucinda Adamson, captures the falcon for release.

Last Saturday, after 2 weeks in care, we took the falcon to the area where we’d last seen the adult. We chose a spot where she would have plenty of opportunities to hunt while waiting for mom or dad to show up. When the box was opened the bird jumped out to the ground, took a quick look around, then launched into flight. The bird crossed the water, making a beeline for the library.

From the car as they followed, our release team was able to see the youngster flying toward an adult Peregrine Falcon, who was up above the library building. The two birds immediately began calling to each other and circling nearer. Less than ten minutes out of our hands, this wild family was together again.

The parent falcon, in a photograph enlarged many times

The young falcon in flight, far from our team, close to her parent.

Thanks to the support you provide, Bird Ally X/Humbodlt Wildlife Care Center helps keep wild families together all over the Redwood Coast, and beyond. Thanks to your support, this falcon will learn to be a falcon from the best in the business, her mother. If you want to help us directly feed our predator patients, you can support us through our supplier of frozen rodents at Layne Labs, with a gift certificate, or you can use the donate button on this page. Thank you for being a part of this life-saving work!

all photos: Laura Corsiglia/Bird Ally X

Eat Delicious Chocolate, Save Wild Animals in Trouble

Posted on May 14, 2015May 14, 2015 by Monte Merrick

Humboldt Wildlife Care Center’s chocolate tradition gets a re-boot!

For many years our chocolate bars have been available around the county with all proceeds going toward the care of injured and orphaned wild animals… well, now a local chocolatier (Thank you Sjaak’s in Petaluma/Blue Lake!) has teamed up with Bird Ally X to bring new flavors and an informative label to help us treat your sweet tooth while you support our work!

With labels designed in house by BAX art director, Laura Corsiglia, and with new flavors that are “wildly delicious” it’s now tastier and more interesting than ever to support your local wildlife rehabilitators and advocates. Plus, our new chocolate is certified organic, fair trade and vegan! Look for our new chocolate bars in area stores or stop in to our clinic in Bayside and get one or five today! (or tomorrow, or the next day…)

Mallard Mothers Want Your Help.

Posted on May 11, 2015May 11, 2015 by Monte Merrick

Helping Wild Mothers on Mother’s Day (and every day)

mallard 2015 - 2

This year’s Mallard babies at HWCC. We have two dozen mallard babies in care already!

Every year wildlife rehabilitation facilities admit huge numbers of orphaned ducklings for care. In California, Mallard ducklings top the list annually for numbers brought in to our state’s permitted rehabilitators. This amounts to tens of thousands of young Mallards each year who are raised by people instead of their mothers. The number of ducklings who die without being found is unknowably large.

The most common cause of separation is the death of their mother. Often, Mallard nests are far from water, safely hidden. But the journey to a pond, stream or river bottom that a mother duck must lead her babies on is fraught with hazards, and human activity is the most dangerous.

Automobiles and dogs are the primary reason the mallard ducklings are brought to our facility on Humboldt Bay. Humboldt Wildlife Care Center, because of our rural location, sees far fewer ducklings than facilities in San Francisco, Sacramento or the Los Angeles area, but still we get over two dozen each year.

So how can you help? There are many ways!

• See Wild Animals: Wild animals of all species need to be able to move from one area to another. Our complex of roads and highways makes simply getting around the world a life threatening activity. Watch out for wild animals. Don’t hit them with your car!

• Contain and Control Your Pets: Wild animals have natural rights to live and thrive on Mother Earth. Be a responsible pet owner and don’t allow dogs and cats to roam unattended. The fawn your dog brings back to the porch, or the ducklings who are orphaned when your dog attacks the mother, songbird babies left behind from your house cat’s carnage would have fared much better if left to live and learn form their mothers.

• Share the Wonder of Nature: Wild nature, of which we are a part, is a beautiful mystery. Happiness depends on our participation in this wonder. Wild animals have better chances when they are loved and respected by the humans who share their world. Be sure to love from an appropriate distance, though!

• Help Wild Animals Caught in Society’s Traps: If you see a wild animal in trouble, call us! 707 822 8839 If you have a conflict with a wild animal, call us! If you have time, volunteer with us! If you have money, help us pay for our wild patient’s care. The injuries that our human world causes to wildlife is OUR problem. Help us fix it!

Juvenile Mallards in our specially built Waterfowl Aviary enjoy their duckweed!

Thank you for a being of our lifesaving work!