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[…]Heermann’s Gulls, who often forage and hunt with Brown Pelicans. These birds are being doused in fish waste as they forage for scraps beneath the outflow of these polluting pipes. Fish waste and fish oil disrupt the feather structure that allows a seabird to remain dry and warm when entering the cold waters of the North Pacific. Without rescue they die. Multiple incidents of such contaminations have been documented with photographs and video by Bird Ally X rescue crews in Crescent City and Shelter Cove. California Department of Fish and Game code 5650 (a)(6) specifically states that it is […]
[…]be composted wherever possible. Many studies were completed on the feasability of composting fishwaste on small and large scales in the late 1980s, primarily as a way to eliminate the unsightly and malodorous nature of fish carcasses. These studies had very favorable findings. (here is one example) BAX and Humboldt Wildlife Care Center will soon meet with the Board Of Commissioners of the Humboldt Bay Harbor, Recreation and Conservation District to discuss ways to make the fillet table at Shelter Cove bird-safe. Fillet tables are well-used and appreciated. Often they provide a place for sport fishers to meet and share […]
[…]x 17″ At-a-glance information on keeping wildlife safe from the deleterious effects of the oily waste that comes from cleaning catch. Educational poster suitable for Marinas, Boat Launches, Fishing Docks, wildlife rehabilitation centers and other places. Designed by BAX and made possible by a grant from the Kure Stuyvesant Trust and support from the USFWS and California DFW. This poster is available for FREE while supplies last, plus shipping & handling. Available as a paper or all-weather vinyl poster. Free (plus $3.99 shipping & handling. Please note PayPal will charge $0.01 + […]
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[…]of the most stupid and ordinary things in the world – a barrel of society’s petroleum waste. Thanks to you this bat had a place to go when in a bad situation. Imagine the initial surprise the people at Humboldt Waste Management Authority felt when first discovering him in the bucket of oily rags. If not for you, they would have had no recourse. Everyday, your support makes that difference. Thank you! all photos: Bird Ally […]
[…]The cleaning station is an open table with a center trough that takes the fish waste into a grinder where it is processed and ejected into the ocean. Approximately 20 fish carcasses were laying on the table – no one was present. We captured the 4 pelicans and 1 gull before dark and brought them back to the Humboldt Wildlife Care Center (HWCC). As we caught these birds, by telephone, I was live on the local radio station, KMUD, describing what we were doing and seeing. The program host, Barbara Schultz said that the community of Shelter Cove would […]
[…]City and discovered at least 2 dozen juvenile Brown Pelicans heavily contaminated. Large bins of fish-waste at a local cleaning station were open to the young, inexperienced birds, eager for an easily gotten meal. It takes experience and maturity to get your living from the cold waters of the North Pacific and these birds, fresh from the nest, rely on bays and sheltered coves as training ground for a life at sea. Used to being fed by their parents, it is an easy switch to scavenging and begging. Securing the fish-waste bins was the first step toward solving the problem. […]
[…]fish beneath the sky expose their dreams to fly. The Osprey (Pandion haliaetus), the Fish hawk, an easily observed raptor who plunge-dives feet first from the sky to catch fish, lifting themselves and their prey straight back into the sky. A familiar sight: one of these large, long-winged birds carrying a trout or a perch, or any other of the over 80 species of fish that make up nearly all of their diet.(1) We don’t often see these birds in care. When we do, often we are only able to help them out of this world due to the severity […]
[…]national monuments, and wildlife refuges) number in the hundreds. The California Department of Fish and Wildlife deemed this effort to be too costly and devised a method to reduce the number of individual protected areas. The Department’s proposed method of implementation is to create two zones, northern and southern, outside of which all Bobcat trapping would be banned, reducing the number of protected areas by a factor of ten from over 300 to just over 30. At the meeting of the FGC in Van Nuys last December, CDFW staff stated that even with the number of sites in need of […]
[…]City harbormaster has been very supportive in our effort to resolve this problem. Lids on the fish waste bins and signs at the cleaning stations appear to have stemmed the problem. All the contaminated birds from Crescent City have been stabilized and cleaned. Because the Oiled Wildlife Care Network opened their facility at Humboldt State University for our use we were able to wash 25 contaminated birds there. BAX is very appreciative of the assistance that the OWCN and HSU provided. Their help made this response much easier. All of the patients in care from this incident are now housed […]
[…]in the service of avarice, which is what Bobcat trapping amounts to, be protected and enshrined in Fish and Game code? The third option, which was brought to the table at the aforementioned December meeting, is the only responsible action possible that will meet both the requirements of the Bobcat Protection Act and provide good husbandry of our limited resources. The Bobcat Protection Act makes explicit (sec 4155, (b)(2), (e), (f)) the Fish and Game Commission’s authority to implement this law and “impose additional requirements, restrictions, or prohibitions related to the taking of bobcats, including a complete prohibition on the […]
[…]permission from the NPS, although we’ve been invited to go out there with a commercial smelt fisher who doesn’t want the fisheries to take the rap for these injured Pelicans. This person has described what is likely to be feather lice as the culprit, and also believes these pelicans are somehow “tame.” He described them as suicidally diving into rough surf and being thrashed to the beach. Other fishers have described Brown Pelicans attacking their boats and “stealing” their anchovies. We expect to start washing these birds tomorrow here at HWCC. While we were initially prepared for the idea of […]
With your help, we’ll have all the fish we […]
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[…]with this resource should be easy and mutually beneficial. Pelicans in the spray of fish waste, Crescent City 2012 So far, there are no clear indications of what might happen this year. The discharge pipe that poured ground fish onto the waiting heads and backs of recently fledged pelicans in Shelter Cove still operates although now the pipe is submerged. It remains to be seen if this will be an effective solution. One thing is clear – it cannot be as effective as simply ending the practice of dumping what Cal EPA regards as sewage into state waters.
November 2012, […]
[…]the critical needs of wild animals. Some policies are easy to enact, like putting on lid on the fishwaste bins so that juvenile Pelicans can’t forage in them, while other solutions require changing hearts and minds, like banning cruel traps, stopping abominations like bear hounding and killing contests and promoting use of nonlethal measures instead of senseless slaughter to protect property from damages caused by wild animals. Advocacy work can be problematic. Political divisions are readily apparent when you attend a public meeting. Advocating for wild animals automatically puts on one side of the aisle and on the other side […]
[…]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 […]
[…]across the oceans are in trouble, of course. Rising sea temperatures, plastic pollution, over-fishing, agricultural waste run-off, acidification are all wreaking havoc on the marine environment and the health of Mother Earth. So, we got the fish that our suppliers could deliver: River Smelt, known here on the Northwest coast as Eulachons. Eulachons are a very nutritious fish, with twice as many calories as Night Smelt. They are also bigger. Not so big that they can’t be swallowed whole by a Western Grebe (see video below) but five times larger than night smelt. Mathematically, it’s easy to see how Eulachons […]
[…]steps as nearly 200 birds admitted to care center The Times-Standard 7/29/2012 Pelicans and fish waste don’t mix Oiled Wildlife Care Network (blog) 7/28/2012 Brown Pelicans in Trouble! The EcoNews, Northcoast Environment Center 7/2012 Déjà Rescue The North Coast Journal 7/19/2012 Brown Pelicans dying from fish oil contamination; Humboldt nonprofits rescue 70 birds, more expected Redwood Times 7/17/2012 Fish scraps are deadly to birds, officials warn Del Norte Triplicate 7/16/2012 Brown pelicans dying from fish oil contamination The Times-Standard 7/14/2012 From Humboldt Wildlife Care Center: Pelicans Dying, Again UPDATED Lost Coast Outpost 7/12/2012 What We Can Learn From Starving Pelicans […]
[…]means that a spill the size of the recent Refugio spill would generate around a million pounds of waste. Those numbers don’t even include the enormous amount of waste generated during the cleaning and rehabilitation of oiled wildlife, but I image the ratio is the same, or maybe even more. Anyone who has worked a spill lately has seen the barrels full of empty Dawn bottles, mountains of waste from food, water bottles, packaging, gloves and PPE. I don’t even want to talk about the water. All of it amounts to incredible amount of waste when there are a lot […]
[…]released 3 months later. photo Laura Corsiglia/BAX visit Project Coyote California Department of Fish and Wildlife California Fish and Game Commission Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife new definition of terms for California Fish and Game Code Adaptive management means management that improves the management of biological resources over time by using new information gathered through monitoring, evaluation, and other credible sources as they become available, and adjusts management strategies and practices to assist in meeting conservation and management goals. Under adaptive management, program actions are viewed as tools for learning to inform future actions. Credible science means the best […]
[…]out of our very small facility in Bayside. Trying to get the discharge pipe that was spewing fish waste into the water of Shelter Cove stopped was very frustrating. While some modifications were made, the outflow continued. It wasn’t until Brown Pelicans left the area and headed north that the contaminations stopped. (read about our 2012 efforts) The discharge pipe at Shelter Cove – July 2012 (photo Daniel Corona/Bird Ally X) Dead contaminated Brown Pelican – July 2012 (photo: Drew Hyland/Bird Ally X) Brown Pelican released at Shelter Cove, September 2011 (photo: Laura Corsiglia/BAX) Now, two years later, we are […]
[…]put in place in regional harbors to prevent birds continuing to suffer contamination with oily fish waste. Thank you to the many community members who stepped up to help these pelicans make it back to live their wild lives. Documentary Film Some of our work in the North Coast Fish Waste Incident is dramatically featured in the documentary film Pelican Dreams, directed by Judy Irving of Pelican […]
[…]bird” was ours no more. Now s/he was her own bird, just as s/he always had been. Looking of fish A colleague! An adult in background A fish for a youngster? Happy wildlife caregivers enjoying the beauty of their work An adult Brown Pelican does a flyby Sandpipers on the wing across the Jaws Your help is needed. The specialized care that seabirds require is made possible by your contribution. Please help us help wild wild animals in distress. Give today. all photographs: Laura Corsiglia/Bird Ally […]
[…]we’d rescued, cleaned and rehabilitated over 50 Pelicans who’d been contaminated by fish waste. Fish waste going directly into the ocean at the public boat launch in Shelter Cove, California. Brown Pelicans and other birds were contaminated directly by this unorthodox waste disposal. In order to meet that challenge, Bird Ally X partnered with the local wildlife care center, who we’d been assisting in small ways for years. With the facility they had in Bayside, we built the necessary infrastructure to take care of aquatic birds in Humboldt County – allowing for the first time in HWCC history for injured […]
[…]than adults, so our patient no longer needed to grow, only learn. We provided a pool with live fish fso the Heron could learn to hunt, an aviary big enough for improving flight, and perches and grasses so that the heron’s inherited desire to hide could be satisfied. After three weeks, the young bird was eating all the fish we offered and had lost the last of the downy nestling feathers. All that was left was release. We released the Green Heron into excellent habitat not far from the original nest site. It’s quite possible that the bird’s parents and […]
[…]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 […]
[…]spills, harmful algal blooms (often caused by agricultural “run-off”, sewage, fish waste. The wounds we’ve seen look like predator bites. Our working hypothesis is that sea lions are hunting these birds for food, or what seems more likely is that these grebes were bitten while pursuing fish in the same school with sea lions. There is precedent for marine birds injured by Sea lions while foraging. Whatever the case, currently we have no direct observations or conclusive results. The prognosis for the two birds in care is hopeful. While their wounds are severe they are healing and all other aspects […]
[…]issue swept under the rug. The most important point is that this crisis was caused by improper fish waste disposal that can be tracked directly to the discharge pipes and infrastructure at Shelter Cove and Crescent City. The harbor districts with jurisdiction over these cleaning tables had been made aware of this problem the previous year. Yet nothing was done in the intervening months before the Young of the Year Pelicans arrived this summer. Federal law prohibits harming Brown pelicans and other wildlife. State law prohibits discharging any substance harmful to fish, plants, birds or mammals into any State water. […]
[…]reduce the number of injuries to marine birds at boat launches and fish cleaning stations due to fish waste. There only a few hours left in 2012 for your contribution to help aquatic birds and the people who care for them to be tax-deductible this year. Our work for 2013 will depend on your support. Thank you for being a part of our accomplishments in 2012, we look forward to continuing these efforts and more in 2013. In alliance with wild birds and all wildlife,Wishing you a joyfulNew Year, Monte Merrickco-Director Bird Ally […]
[…]look like much, but this tiny concrete river is where the orphaned raccoons in our care learn to fish! Check out this video from last year of one of our released raccoons immediately catching a fish within her first minutes of freedom! A very young Opossum about to be fed replacement formula. Soon she’ll be weaned. Opossums grow up fast! In just a few more weeks she’ll be released to her wild and free life! Osprey uses new feathers to fly in our aviary. It won’t be long before we make the trek back to Lewiston Lake, where this intense, […]
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[…]year somewhere near this number. By about a 100 patients over 2012, the year we treated 250 fish waste impacted Brown Pelicans, 2019 is the busiest year ever in our 40 year history, and we had no huge emergency as we did in 2012 – this is just day to day work, answering the phone, going on rescues, treating those injured and orphaned wild neighbors that our human neighbors found in their yards, their basements, the beaches and the highways. Also in 2019, BAX rescued over 250 wild ducks sickened by another avian botulism outbreak on the Lower Klamath Refuge […]
[…]final report on the work we did for the Kure/Stuyvesant Trustee Council related to to fish waste contaminated wildlife, specifically juvenile Brown Pelicans on the Redwood coast in […]
[…]added excellent people to our crew. Lucinda Adamson, who was an intern during our second fish waste Pelican crisis in 2012 is now the Assistant Wildlife Rehabilitation Manager. Stephanie Owens, who began as a volunteer in 2014 is now a staff rehabilitator. Ruth Mock is volunteer coordinator. Recent additions to our permanent gang, who recently completed internships, Brooke Brown who works with our humane solutions program for co-existing with our wild neighbors, and Desiree Vang, another recently graduated intern who is helping us with our membership data and other administrative tasks. Both continue to work in animal care in the […]
[…]ago this week that Bird Ally X teamed with Humboldt Wildlife Care Center to rescue over 50 fish waste contaminated juvenile Brown Pelicans found at the public fish cleaning stations at Crescent City and Shelter Cover, on California’s beautiful and rugged Redwood Coast. What began as an emergency response developed into a permanent partnership, with Bird Ally X and HWCC merging into one organization. This began an intense period of infrastructure building. We’ve added seabird pools, a pelican aviary, a raptor aviary, raccoon housing, other small mammal housing, a waterfowl aviary, renovated our songbird aviary, and more! We have a […]
[…]in a wildlife rehab setting are regulated by state agencies, such as the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, or the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, etc. The state agency will have a fish and game code that dictate what is allowed in wildlife rehabilitation facilities. Included in this code is a Memorandum of Understanding, a set of rules for wildlife rehab conduct that were written in order to ensure that the practice is as ethical as possible. See an example of the California Memorandum of Understanding here: https://www.nativeanimalrescue.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/MOU-2020-2023-CA-Dept-of-Fish-and-Wildlife.pdf The National Wildlife Rehabilitators Association and the International Wildlife Rehabilitation Council: […]
[…]this book!” – Erica Miller, DVM, Tri-State Bird Rescue and Research Poster: Fish waste/Bird safe marina poster Poster suitable for Marinas, Boat Launches, Fishing Docks, wildlife rehabilitation centers and other places At-a-glance information on keeping wildlife safe from the deleterious effects of the oily waste that comes from cleaning catch. size 11″ x 17″ Designed by BAX and made possible by a grant from the Kure Stuyvesant Trust, this poster is available for FREE while supplies last. Available either on paper or on vinyl for durable outdoor use. Shipping and handling to be paid by the orderer. Request a poster […]
[…]campaign that does not include an educational message seems to me a waste of time and materials, a waste of your consideration. So we are scrupulous that our appeals to our community for support also carry practical messages regarding co-existence, regarding information on injured wildlife, and regarding the ways that we can make our collective voices heard to impact policy or procedure (or the status quo) when these things are killing wild neighbors or causing any to suffer. In strictly practical terms, our clinic staff is very occupied with our clinic work – we can’t work on unrelated tasks […]
[…]fish! 2016 on our coast was a bad year for Common Murres. There simply hasn’t been enough fish. Lack of fish, leads directly to fewer young seabirds. Common Murres are long lived and can absorb the occasional bad year. If fish populations recover, so will they recover. But current conditions don’t seem to be signs that we are living in a time of recovery. Agricultural runoff introduces nitrogen in to the sea which increases the frequency of harmful algal blooms. Plastics and other garbage pollutants wreak havoc on the food chain. Overfishing depletes the ocean of the resources which all species depend […]
[…]is possible because of mutual aid between wildlife rehabilitators, help from agencies like the US Fish and Wildlife Service and CA Dept of Fish and Wildlife, and most importantly, your support. Your donations pay for everything we do! Food, medicine, appropriate housing – all of the critical elements to these birds’ happy outcome is the direct result of your donation. We are a very small organization with a huge task to do. Please give what you can today! All photos: BAX/Laura […]
[…]Grebes get back on water – a must if they are to survive. Each bird eats about a pound of fish a day. Some tossed fish encourage our patients’ appetite while in the stressful captive environment. Fortunately Western grebes are highly social and prefer to be with others. Once healthy, the young birds are released into Humboldt Bay, where many species of prey-fish are abundant. Thanks to community support we have released 18 of these birds back into the wild. We still have 14 Western Grebes in care who need you to help cover the costs of their ongoing treatment. […]
We’ve fallen behind in reporting on our hectic Summer season, due in part to the global coronavirus pandemic, and also to our sudden huge increase in patients over previous Summers. So let us take a breath, slip away from the clinic and our never-ending tasks and catch you up with some of our cases and releases from over the hectic baby season. Here’s a little tune to accompany you. There is no getting around that 2020 has been a very difficult year, for our clinic, for our staff, for our community, for our nation, for the world. Yet, in these […]
[…]that while the forests of Concord had been mowed down that at least, “men cannot fly and lay waste the sky as well as earth,” yet here we are 150 years on and the naiveté of that sentiment, that somehow the sky would be safe, is little more than a tragic joke. The fight to protect the air, the sea, the land – to preserve these necessary things – we were hardly near winning before last year, but now it’s impossible to not fear the naked aggression against the natural world on current display. It’s been reported that the tax […]
[…]especially in our times, when ocean health is in a critical state. Over-fishing, agricultural waste run-off, plastic pollution, derelict fishing gear and the great onrushing disaster of climate chaos make the already challenging ocean into a rapidly unfolding disaster. When our staff arrived at the beach in Manila, they quickly found the bird, a juvenile Pacific Loon (Gavia pacifica), high up the beach above the line of wrack that marked the highest tide. Quickly scooping him up, they brought the young bird back to Humboldt Wildlife Care Center.HWCC volunteer heads back up the dune with a young Pacific Loon safely […]
[…]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 […]
[…]to discover the fish that we’d put in their housing with them. For piscivores in trouble, fish is a big part of the solution. For many patients, a small sample of blood can reveal a lot about their condition. Spinning the sample in a centrifuge separates the blood into cells and plasma, revealing the percentage that is red blood cells. This number is often called the “packed cell volume” or PCV. Red blood cells carry the oxygen that is part of the fuel of life – the lower the PCV, the more anemic the patient. While there is some variation […]
[…]these rules. Your voice is needed. Below is our letter to the FGC on behalf of Coyote. California Fish and Game Commission
Michael Sutton, President, Richard B. Rogers, vice-President Jim Kellogg, Jack Baylis, Jacque Hostler-Carmesin Dear Commissioners, Thank you for engaging in the hard work of bringing the will of Californians as expressed in Assembly Bill 2402 to bear on the California Fish and Game Code. BIrd Ally X fully supports the advances being made in our state’s relationship with, and regard for, our wild neighbors. The change in Californians’ appreciation for wildlife, wild lands, and wild systems over the decades […]
[…]to some fishing line. We quickly fed the last couple of patients and headed out to take a look. Fish hooks and fishing line cause numerous wildlife injuries. The toll fishing gear takes on marine birds, reptiles, and mammals (not to mention the targeted species!) numbers in the thousands along the California coast alone each year. (see study here) According to the Humane Society of the United States (link here) over a million marine animals are killed each year by “longline” fishing at sea. (a collection of hooks and other items removed from patients at Humboldt Wildlife Care Center) Hook […]
[…]are other causes of injury. Some of our patients this season were entangled in derelict fishing gear, and no doubt we will treat more. Derelict fishing gear is a global problem that makes itself known locally everywhere. Typically each year we treat waterfowl, geese and ducks, that have been legally shot by hunters, but not killed, that have been found later by someone else. And sometimes we admit aquatic birds with traumatic injuries that we can’t ascribe to any particular cause – wing fractures, leg fractures that may be from collisions with human infrastructure, boats, battering surf – we just […]
[…]leaving the search and rescue effort to USFWS and the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries (LDWF). IBRRC field staff were re-deployed in Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida. All Hands on Deck While the first oiled bird to be captured and rehabilitated, a Northern Gannet, may have been the most photographed bird ever to get a bath, the birds captured at East Grande Terre Island were barely seen in the press. A photograph of a group of oiled pelicans standing in a plywood box was repeatedly published, with few details of their care made known. In the absence of quality […]
[…]the country, all over California and here on the North Coast, derelict fishing gear, open bins of fish waste, poor angler practices, and more contribute to an environment with more hazards than ever for these iconic, magnificent birds. Humboldt Wildlife Care Center/Bird Ally X has the expertise and the facility to provide the specialized care these birds require – and these are not easy resources to come by. Years of experience, and a lot of effort go into acquiring skills and the infrastructure to provide excellent care. Yet even with these, still we aren’t complete. We need you. Your support […]
[…]to help us meet the challenges of our mission. In 2012 we featured Brown Pelicans, due to the fish waste issue that caused juveniles of that species so much trouble that year. Each subsequent year we featured a different species (All rendered by BAX co-founder and co-director, Laura Corsiglia!). This year, 2017 saw an increase of more than 100% in the Striped Skunk babies we admitted as orphans! We’ve treated 34 Skunks this year so far compared to 2016 when we treated 16 the entire year. So we present our 2017 mug! And this year’s is not only for our […]
[…]into Trinity Lake, and then muscle his way back from the water into the air, carrying off a large fish for a meal for himself or his young. In this condition, the Osprey was far from releasable. We gave him a safe aviary and plenty of fish and looked for signs that he was entering his molt cycle, the time of year when birds renew their feathers… Osprey do replace them at this time of year, so we hoped for a natural cure. After a few weeks though it became clear that waiting for a molt was going to take […]
[…]found in fish. During dry hot spells, as water levels drop and water temperatures rise, infected fish who are killed by the environmental conditions are then eaten by piscivorous (fish-eating) waterfowl. Avian botulism is neuro-toxic, causing paralysis and death. Infected dead birds contribute to the virulence of the outbreak, as their carcasses are also eaten by other wildlife. Because water is at the heart of the problem, managing the conditions is fraught with all of the political obstacles that water wars in the West have historically presented. As the world spins into its unsettling future, with fires raging across the […]
[…]Information Center (EPIC), and the Klamath-Siskiyou Wildlands Center to petition the California Fish and Game Commission to include the Gray Wolf as an endangered species in California under the California Endangered Species Act (CESA) as they make their anticipated recovery. Now OR-7 is possibly mated and raising pups in the Rogue River National Forest. If so, another layer of criticality is added to our concerns. Pups that eventually disperse from Southern Oregon will surely enter California. The need for protection of this obviously endangered species will be even more apparent. Bird Ally X/Humboldt Wildlife Care Center (BAX) stands with CBD, […]
[…]and trap/pot gear that is left to soak in the water unattended for long periods.”
NOAA Fisheries formed the Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction Team in 1996 to reduce injury and death of right, fin and humpback whales from fishing gear. While progress has been made, entanglement rates remain high, especially for critically endangered right whales. North Atlantic right whales swim from Canada and New England each year to bear their young in the Southeast’s warmer waters. Agencies including the DNR, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) and NOAA monitor whales, respond to injured, entangled or dead whales, collect genetic […]
[…]natural situation where a very temporary condition, a flock of birds feeding on a moving school of fish, were cruelly gunned down and left to suffering deaths, when clearly some knowledge, common sense, or observation, would have demonstrated that as the fish moved away from the airport, so would the birds. This is in fact what happened. No matter how you look at this it was stupid and senseless. In Michigan in 2010, a pipeline carrying tar sands oil ruptured leaking over one million gallons of diluted bitumen into Talmadge Creek and the Kalamazoo River. I worked with several WS […]
[…]Cormorants, with a few nestlings. An osprey made several trips to sea and back, on each return a fish realizing its old dreams of flight clutched in its talons. Single file, fifteen Brown Pelicans brushed soundlessly past me as they banked toward the surf. Bank Swallows and Cliff Swallows were acrobats flying up and down the face of the bluff. Loosened feathers raced in the wind and it was and it is a bird’s world. The sun got fat and red and then sank. Reluctantly I took my heavy body—solid and without feathers—ungainly and oafish—back down the trail to my […]
[…]Bittern was stable and able to be moved to a purpose-built outdoor waterfowl aviary, we added live fish to the marsh-like pool and tall reeds for comfort. Immediately, they began to eat all of the live fish we could get. Their condition rapidly improved. After 18 days in care, the Bittern was ready to go home. Two volunteers (this was only a few days before we changed everything for social-dostancing purposes, including suspending our volunteer program) and our newest staff person, Desiree Vang, took the Bittern back to the Wildlife Refuge for release. Now just a couple of weeks later, […]
[…]October. We are asking supporters to help cover the cost of the supplies and staffing. The US Fish and Wildlife Service can pay for some of our costs, but not all. In the busiest year we’ve ever seen, we need your help. [Donate here]. A call for volunteers was also put out – you can read that here. https://birdallyx.net/avian-botulism-outbreak-in-klamath-basin-wildlife-refuge-call-for-volunteers/ As a small nonprofit, we couldn’t this without you, the wildlife lovers who make BAX exist. Thank you for being here to help ill or injured wildlife, whether it’s a Raccoon family down the block or a Black-necked Stilt in one […]
[…]in care… we need to be ready for this at any time! Functioning pools and a freezer full of fish are mandatory! And then there is the task that so many of us dread. Yet without success here, all other work comes to a stop – the task of asking you, our neighbors, for help. We need you. And at this time of year, we need you the most. We still have babies in care from the summer – nearly two dozen juvenile raccoons! We have aviaries that need repair and this is the time of year to do it! […]
[…]with the organic know-how, responsible husbandry and sustainable practices needed to reduce waste and repurpose the material wealth of our world, BAX/HWCC offers a possibility for the future of wildlife rehabilitation that is adaptable and resilient in uncertain times. Most importantly, and most practically, this union allows us to streamline our efforts at outreach and education. Encouraging co-existence with our wild neighbors is as important as providing quality rehabilitative care. Because we reach out to a diverse community, our message of humane solutions for human/wildlife conflicts is one of our most effective forms of animal care! As one entity our […]
[…]how to keep water flowing through our aviary suitable for ducks, geese, Belted Kingfishers (Megaceryle alcyon), Herons, Egrets (family Ardeidae)and rails (family Rallidae). For the untrained eye, rocks and water, for the trained volunteer, each component here is critical to providing good housing for certain species of aquatic birds. Complex patients require complex solutions. Safely operating an aquatic environment requires skill and knowledge. Duckweed is food! Duckweed is a filter! And how that helps us in many ways! Part of operating pools correctly means controlling waste water responsibly! The frog pond that neighbors our facility doesn’t want pool chemistry dumped […]
[…]Treaty Act and wait until fall and the fulfillment of this year’s baby season. Don’t waste these innocent, young wild […]
Two days ago the US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) released the latest toll of the wildlife victims from the ongoing oil spill caused by the wreck of the Deepwater Horizon. (see below for post earlier today) So far, 66 live birds have been captured. 478 dead birds have been collected between Louisiana and the Florida Panhandle. The update from USFWS does not break these numbers down by species, but as of 22 May, Brown Pelicans and Northern Gannets constituted the majority of birds. Also reported, 16 live sea turtles have been captured, although only 3 of these were […]
[…]California is absolutely inevitable.** * Chuck Bonham, Director, California Department of Fish And Wildlife ** Richard Rogers, Commissioner, California Fish and Game […]
[…]was destroyed in the windstorm of mid-May. Now they are fully grown and able to hunt for their own fish. We’ll be taking them back to the Trinity River. For the last two months, four young Gray foxes have been growing up in our care. The stage where we provide them live crickets to begin their lessons in providing their own meals has begun. The joy of helping these young intelligent predators reach their true destiny is indescribable. Pictures help! Currently we also have 3 baby Common Murres in care, and several more brought to us as they were dying. […]
Fish hooks and fishing line cause uncountable wildlife injuries. The toll fishing gear takes on marine birds, reptiles, and mammals (not to mention the targeted species!) numbers in the thousands along the California coast alone each year. (see study here) According to the Humane Society of the United States (link here) over a million marine animals are killed each year by “longline” fishing at sea. From “ghost nets” that sweep silently through the sea, lost from their vessel, killing whales, dolphins, sea turtles, seabirds, fish and more, to wads of monofilament line that litter the shores of rivers and lakes […]
[…]with a healthy forest and a tributary of a local river that provides all the resources (like fish!) our former patients need. These two raccoons aren’t siblings, but they were admitted for care within a few days of each other. Once their initial quarantine period was over (to prevent transmission of disease or parasites) they’ve shared housing their entire time in care. Now they have the chance to spend time together by choice! After exploring the real river (our housing for raccoons has an artificial river where they learn to fish) this young male finds an interesting leaf, but as […]
[…]for a few days, eating chicken scratch. Weak and very thin, the bird was enthusiastic about the fish diet we served. After several days in care she was flying in our gull aviary. After 3 weeks she was ready for freedom! We met our August goal of $7000! Thank you!! Our goal for September is to build on that, pay summer bills and prepare for winter. You can help! Please click here to DONATE NOW! Thank you! Released with the adult was a juvenile gull who we admitted several weeks ago. His parents had the misfortune of nesting on the deck of […]
[…]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. 16 orphaned Raccoons, now weaned from our milk replacer, learn to hunt, fish, forage and climb in our specially-built raccoon housing. Brought in as orphans found in crawlspaces, or attics, disrupted by construction, or illegal trapping, soon the oldest will be ready […]
[…]housed her in our purpose-built aviary. Each day she consumed 3-5 pounds of smelt, a kind of small fish that is safe to feed in captivity to aquatic birds because it has less oil content than other fish and is less liklely to soil very important feathers. In all species of birds, clean feathers are critical, but for aquatic birds, contaminated feathers are a fast-acting death sentence. With routine checks performed every few days, we knew she was doing well and bouncing back to her normal weight. At each examination we discovered that her strength was returning as well. Soon […]
[…]Winter we admit wintering seabirds who struggle in occasional storms on our coast where dwindling fish make resources more scarce. We treat far more injured adult wild animals, many hit by cars as the shortening day brings rush hour traffic into the nighttime world. In large measure, Fall and Winter is our time to repair and improve to our facility, Humboldt Wildlife Care Center. But no matter the season, we are here each day, and each day is filled with many of the same tasks. Every morning we have a blinking phone to greet us: messages from overnight and the early […]
[…]dives in neat straight lines and will abort mid-dive if chances of successfully catching the fish worsen. Wasted energy doesn’t help fill the belly. Meanwhile juveniles thrash, and flap and hit the water from any angle every time they dive. The awkward failures of juveniles often seem comical, but those who don’t learn to conserve energy and wait for the auspicious moment may not survive to adulthood. This same juvenile headlong rush into action applies to attempts to defend themselves from threats. Whether struggling to escape or struggling to strike out, juveniles are simply much more of a handling concern […]
[…]perch high above the pool. No duck or goose would ever use it, but we know that occasionally a kingfisher will come into care. Kingfishers in their home plunge-dive, like a tern, an osprey, or a Brown pelican, for their fish. Small, powerful birds with an extreme amount of panache, in captivity they can be difficult to feed. This aviary was about to get its test. The next day in care we gavage-fed a liquid protein diet to continue her re-hydration. She was alert and attempting to fly so we moved her to the waterfowl aviary with the kingfisher perch. […]
[…]patients to forage for appropriate, natural food, become familiar with natural features, even find fish in a stream in our simulated river that runs through our raccoon housing! Fruit is found on trees, insects in logs, fish in streams – this knowledge plus a healthy fear of human beings is our recipe for raccoon success. In some ways, we are in the same boat as our raccoon patients, struggling to live right, facing a separation from Mother Earth that we didn’t ask for yet need to cross in order to survive and thrive. Your support allows us to teach and […]
[…]our extensive oil spill experience, and the infrastructure we built at HWCC for the 2011 and 2012 fish-oiled Brown Pelican response, we were able to clear up his troubles quickly. BAX/HWCC staff Lucinda Adamson and Elissa Blair wash Western Gull. It didn’t take long to get his bath water dirty! Now that’s a clean tail. Rinsing the soap out – the magical moment when clean water appears to make feathers dry! Internal code, and some happy talk! (all above photos: Carol Andersen/BAX) A few days after his bath, his feathers were waterproof and he was flying around the aviary. A […]
[…]began in July. That’s a lot of work for our small facility and it’s a lot of fish, too. [Help support our efforts to raise healthy, wild orphans and provide quality care for all marine wildlife caught in civilization’s many snares. Please contribute to our Fall campaign today. $ = Fish, medicine, water. Every donation helps!] We posted earlier this Summer when we had a pool full of these beautiful elegant birds. Now as the season turns cool, many are ready for release back to their oceanic lives. Thank you for being a part of this life saving work. Your […]
[…]near the coast – that is, stand around, float some, fly to higher look outs, and eat fish. While the she did not have the immediate company of other gulls, she did have cormorants and egrets as housing mates. Privacy was maintained. Handling was reduced. Fish, supplements and weekly physical examinations kept her on the right track. She grew on schedule. We’d hoped that once she began to fly it would mean that her siblings back at her nest would also be flighted and that we could reunite her with her family. It was nearly two weeks before she was […]
[…]and alert, with a normal body temperature, dry and able to stand. Lucinda offered a handful of fish and privacy for the rest of the night. Come morning, the Egret was alert, standing, distressed by captivity and full of fish. All of the night’s dinner had been eaten. Now stable, we performed a full examination. The Egret was in good shape. Well muscled, hydrated, – even the bird’s blood was well within healthy parameters. The only thing amiss was that her (or his) feathers were very disheveled. We placed her back into our large bird recovery housing and misted with fresh water all of […]
[…]of stress. Fortunately, the coot found his appetite. Between the right mix of dietary items (fish, krill, mealworms, aquatic vegetation, and aquatic invertebrates) and his own impulse to thrive, he slowly began putting the weight he’d lost back on without us having to increase his handling and therefore his stress. This was the beginning of his real recovery. Wounds heal. It’s one of the ordinary, everyday miracles of our world. Tissue grows back together. Bones mend. Even psychological trauma eventually recedes. Some wounds take more time than others. It took this Coot nearly five weeks to fully recover, from both […]
[…]floating slaughter-houses, perhaps those who know them best are whalers and commercial fishers. Infrequent visitors to land, they are less commonly admitted for care than other seabirds who stay close to the coasts. As with all tasks, increased exposure improves our skills. So for many years, Northern Fulmars were regarded as a difficult species to treat, and many of these birds died while in our care. When caring for a wild animal, besides treatment for whatever the injury or condition, the primary care given is husbandry, which amounts mostly to diet and housing. When we tried to find how to […]
[…]is a project of Bird Ally X, permitted to rehabilitate wildlife by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife and the United States Fish and Wildlife Service. Joining Forces HWCC was founded in 1979, serving the region as a network. HWCC began working with Bird Ally X in 2011. The two entities merged in 2014, to better serve the community together as one nonprofit organization. We have a wonderful team of skilled and dedicated staff, interns and volunteers. How to help Give securely online: Donate […]
[…]last ten years, with ocean conditions largely the cause according to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW), the warmer surface temperatures that reduce ocean productivity may become the new normal. Any long term depletion of the Pacific Herring population will also have a negative impact on the entire ecosystem that they feed. After three weeks in care, both of these geese were cleared for release. We returned them to Humboldt Bay. We don’t know yet how Herring are doing this year. We don’t really know if conditions are improving. We only know that the pressures that industrial society […]
[…]gulls too!) The gull is in care now, treated with pain medication and offered healthy hook-free fish! The bird has an excellent prognosis. Thanks to Julie and friend who made the call and stayed to help, to the onlookers who watched from a safe distance, to the older gull whose competition for the french fries made our soon-to-be-patient less wary of our net, and to everyone who supports our work and makes it possible for us to go on these rescues and provide the necessary care! To learn more about fishing line and how it effects local wildlife check out […]
Early Monday morning the phone rang at Humboldt Wildlife Care Center. It was Lynn Roberts of the US Fish and Wildlife Service, a biologist who specializes in locally threatened Marbled Murrelets (Brachyramphus marmoratus). Tourists in Prairie Creek State Park, an important area for these seabirds who nest high in the strong limbs of old-growth Redwoods, had found who they believed was a Marbled Murrelet fledgling in the middle of Newton B. Drury Scenic Parkway, which wends through the park’s ancient groves. Lynn was going to bring the young seabird to our clinic as soon as she had him in her care. Marbled […]
[…]into a world without walls. As kits, as soon as they began eating solid food, they were offered fish, mushrooms, plant material, small rodents, small birds, vegetables, fruit, eggs and insects, hidden under rocks and logs, hanging from branches. They know where to look for food. It isn’t frivolous to consider the seriousness of raising orphaned babies of a species this complex, this storied, this ordinary, this mysterious. Here we are, as removed from “universal nature” as any species has ever been, yet it’s up to us to provide an education for these wild young things. When we commit to […]
[…]story from last year’s raccoon release – awesome video of a young female catching a fish her fist time in the river!] Orphaned raccoons in care learn that fish is found in the water, that bugs are found in the dirt, that fruit is found in trees, and that eggs are found in nests – all things they would have learned from their mother. Next comes the real river! It’s healthy to approach new things with caution! A young raccoon takes her time leaving the crate. The wild is much bigger than any of us dream. The gravel floor of our […]
[…]stayed warm, dry and looking good, feathers unruffled, spirit unflappable. S/he was a major fish enthusiast, eating everything offered in short order. Convincing a bird to eat in captivity can sometimes be challenging, but this gull knew the meaning of a plate of night smelt (Spirinchus starksi), the fish of choice that we feed most of our piscivore patients. After 10 days, the gull began making short flights, using both wings, that gave care providers a reason for optimism. By 2 weeks, the gull was flying from perch to perch in our large aviary, clearly on the re-bound. After a […]
[…]from the nest high above the beach at Moonstone during a wind storm. This yung bird ate a lot of fish! Every summer we save lives, preserve wild families, and give unfortunate victims of accidents and human intervention a second chance. This juvenile Hermit Warbler (Setophaga occidentalis) whose nest was disturbed in the Arcata Community Forest. An improvised substitute made from a basket lined with twigs and mosses was placed high in the tree above where the young not yet flighted bird was found. Soon parent birds were seen bringing food and resuming care. Reuniting wild babies with their families is […]
This Western Gull, entangled in fishing line and hooks at Trinidad Pier, was recently in our care (photos and story soon to come). You can help Bird Ally X/Humboldt Wildlife Care Center rescue and provide the necessary care for wild animals, like this gull, who encounter the modern world at its worst. No one wants a fish hook for dinner. Please contribute. Thank you for being a part of this life-saving […]
[…]very thin. Right now she’s resting more comfortably with an easy to digest diet of fish, eggs and canned cat food. She’s not out of the woods yet, but thanks to the quick and good action of Pocket Trash, she is out of the trailer park and out of the cup. And thanks to you, we are here, 7 days a week, 365 days a year, to provide care for injured and orphaned wild animals. Your support gives people who’ve found an animal in serious trouble, like this fox, a place that can help. Please support us during our late […]
[…]in Pelican Island National Wildlife Refuge The daily report from the US Fish and Wildlife Service breaks the two categories of live and dead down into visibly oiled, no visible oil, and pending. Pending describes those animals whose oiling is not obvious in the field, according to information gotten from the Deepwater Horizon Response website, and is meant to be resolved into either of the other two categories in the clinic, or lab. 69 of 74, or 93%, of the live birds rescued were visibly oiled. Strikingly, among the 494 dead birds collected, only 29, or 6%, were reported […]
[…]ranch a mile from the nearest saltwater. Fortunately she accepted our diet of krill and small fish purchased at the pet store as a workable substitute for barnacles and tiny crabs. A deep laceration on the Harlequin’s face would likely have lead to her death had she not been spotted and rescued. While a Western grebe (Aechmophorus occidentalis) is not one of her own kind, housing patients with others, usually helps reduce the stress of their temporary captivity. After more than three weeks in care, she was at last ready to go home. Her wounds fully healed, in good body condition, […]
Today’s update from US Fish And Wildlife – these numbers include some of the birds that were photographed yesterday at East Grande Terre Island, […]
[…]lions https://www.sfchronicle.com/california/article/sick-sea-lions-18357033.php Oregon Dpet of Fish and Wildlife asks public to ignore suffering Common Murre chicks https://www.dfw.state.or.us/news/2023/08_Aug/081623.asp Avian Botulism outbreak in Tulare […]
With a 3-2 vote, the California Fish and Game Commission opted for a complete ban on Bobcat (Lynx rufus) trapping in our state as the most sensible way to implement the Bobcat Protection Act of 2013. (for more information on the Bobcat Protection Act) With two new members of the Commission, the outcome of today’s meeting was anything but certain. However, they both came to the meeting well-informed, and prepared with excellent questions. At the end of discussion, it was the new guys who made and seconded the motion to implement a state wide ban on the cruel practice. Assemblymember […]
[…]glad to see our profession grow, even in this manner. Two years later, while caring for scores of fish-oiled Brown pelicans with Bird Ally X, an organization I co-founded with others who left IBR in 2009, Jay sent me an email that he was glad we were “out there” working for wildlife. We exchanged occasional emails after that, until his death. It may be odd to say that in Jay’s sickness was an opportunity, yet knowing he was gravely ill gave many of us a chance to reach out to him, to re-kindle warmth and to acknowledge and celebrate his […]
[…]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’ […]
[…]Can you help? $1800 will cover our rent and water bill, our electric bill and our part of our fish bill. Long term, of course we’ll need more, but right now, $1800 will go a long way toward keeping our mission on track! Help us continue to provide care and advocacy for our wild neighbors on the Redwood Coast! Please help, you’re all we’ve got! Thank you!!! CLICK HERE TO DONATE NOW! […]
[…]had been killed. The two young birds of prey had been taken to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife office in Eureka. A Department employee brought them to us. You might wonder: how could you hit a hawk’s nest with a weed whacker? That’s the question we asked! But these two birds were Marsh hawks, as Thoreau would have called them, or as we call them today, Northern Harriers (Circus cyaneus). Northern Harriers nest on the ground, in clumps of vegetation, such as grass and vines. Marsh hawks are easily identified by their distinctive white feathers on their lower […]
[…]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, […]
[…]enjoyments – deer hunting, waterfowl hunting, small game hunting, ocean fishing, river fishing, bass fishing, harvesting maple, raising dairy cows, marking the seasons and following the infinite cycles of life, all the small things we do when our lives are spent out of doors – I feel a stab of sorrow when I consider the actual circumstances of radio-collared hounds pursuing bear and bobcat through wild lands. There is no more call to accommodate the very small minority of people who find this practice entertaining than there is to accommodate those who would torture housecats – regardless of whatever political […]
[…]with 168 recovering and being released. Support for the effort came from many sources, the US Fish and Wildlife Service, CAL- OR Waterfowl Association, long time BAX volunteers and donors, Sonoma County Wildlife Rescue, Wildlife Emergency Services, and staffing support from Humboldt Wildlife Care Center, the wildlife hospital operated by BAX as both an important part of wildlife care available in Northern California and a teaching facility introducing the next generation of wildlife care givers to our profession. January Bill and Marie Travers, who co-led this response have done another fantastic job of providing quality care for the innocent victims […]
[…]to rats and other predators, but the biggest recent mortality threat is bycatch in longline fisheries. Thousands of miles of fishing lines, carrying hundreds of millions of hooks, are set by longliners throughout the world’s oceans each year. Albatrosses, petrels, shearwaters, and fulmars are killed when they become attracted to the bait attached to the hooks, and either swallow the hooks or become snagged and pulled under the sea to drown.For many years, ABC has campaigned to end seabird deaths from longlining in U.S. fisheries with significant success. Following ABC’s report: Sudden Death on the High Seas – Longline Fishing, […]
[…]white with long necks, pointed bills, and red eyes, are rarely seen on land. Evolved for pursuing fish beneath the waves, on beaches they are in serious trouble. Once rescued, they will receive expert care at our facility in Bayside. Please help us provide food, medicine and clean water. Your contribution will go a long way toward giving these birds another chance. Thank you for being an ally in this life saving […]
[…]that they are fed on schedule. Soon we’ll add egg, squash, and then bits of slivered fish. Preparing healthy wild diets is one of the pleasures of our work. Your support makes it possible! In their outdoor housing, young Opossums learn to climb, recognize appropriate food, exercise, and dig for insects. As soon as they are the right weight and exhibit the necessary skills, they venture out into the world, making their way. If you see an opossum, remember, we are each sojourners in this world, and there are none abiding… Give an opossum a break. It is impossible to […]
[…]the course of the next few months, we admitted for care nearly 30 of these elegant and ferocious fish-eating birds. Of these birds, however, only 2 were able to be fully rehabilitated and released. Most had injuries too severe to ever be able to heal well enough that they could thrive in the wild. This is without question one of the hardest parts of wildlife rehabilitation; – the repeated exposure to devastating injury. Because aquatic birds need to be on water while in care this can make treating wounds below their waterline difficult. Only recent advances in aquatic bird wound […]
Thank you to everyone who supported us throughout 2018, and especially those who made donations during our crucial year-end fundraising efforts. We matched the amount we’ve raised other years, and we enter 2019 in the black! Your support is very alleviating of stress and worry!!! Now for some real talk: 2018 was a very difficult year, with a workload that was nearly 50% greater than 2017, but over a 10% dip in available resources. If not for in-kind donations such as milk replacer for the orphaned fawns in our care last Summer (Thank you Anita and Jed!!!) we might not […]
[…]will show them the ways of the world, orphaned raccoons in care must learn to hunt, forage, climb, fish in rivers and most importantly remain wild and “untamed.” One of the cutest animals, people often try to raise raccoons as pets. This is never a good idea. Raccoons are wild animals, not pets, and deserve their freedom as much we deserve ours. At BAX/HWCC we put a lot of effort into making sure the raccoons we care for eat the most natural and nutritionally complete diet we can provide. We place great emphasis on keeping a solid barrier between them […]
Documentary filmmaker Judy Irving (Pelican Dreams, Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill) premiered her short film, Cormorants in the Crosshairs, the 19th of August in Portland at a benefit for The Audubon Society of Portland’s legal effort to stop the slaughter of Double-crested Cormorants at East Sand Island in the mouth of the Columbia River. The short film was done in collaboration with Bird Ally X co-founder/co-director Marie Travers and offered to Portland Audubon as an outreach tool. After its premiere, the film was made available online (see below) to help spread general appreciation of the often maligned Cormorant as well […]
[…]40,000 crows were “harvested.” That same year the state’s Department of Fish and Game rejected a proposal to extend the crow season to year-round and to eliminate the bag limit, ostensibly to help the citizens of Yuba City “offset the nuisance caused by crows.” The grounds for rejection cited were that the 124 day season was federally imposed, that the popularity of the crow hunting had declined over the last 20 years, and that the relative low numbers of the yearly “harvest” of crows at 40,000 individuals, and the low number of crow hunters, 3,100, made alteration of the existing […]
[…]Laura Corsiglia and one of our long time volunteers met a Warden from California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) in Willow Creek to accept a Bald Eagle who’d been in care in Weaverville since June of 2016. Our first glimpse of young Bald Eagle, after meeting CDFW staff in Willow Creek. Although young and disabled, this bird is still formidable! It is unknown how the young Eagle was injured. According to the Trinity Journal, the fledgling was found at Trinity Lake at the bottom of a tree with an Eagle nest, suffering with multiple fractures of his left wing. […]
[…]after their mother was killed by a trap. We need your help! Want to help buy the formula, the fish, the supplies, the water, the electricity and more that we need? Click here to make a contribution through paypal, or send a check! Thank you!!! Every day our phone rings dozens of times with calls from our neighbors near and far who’ve had an encounter, a conflict, or a question about a wild animal they just saw. Most people who call want to find help for an animal in need. Not every one who calls is a friend of the […]
[…]getting back to the water isn’t that easy. Evolved to a life of diving in pursuit of fish, their legs are positioned far back on their bodies. Walking for these birds is nearly impossible. They also need a fair amount of open water to get into the air. In this vulnerable state, it was fortunate s/he was found by a kind-hearted person rather than a dog, or some other animal known to harm to wildlife… After two weeks in care, the grebe was ready to get back in the ocean. Lucinda Adamson and a couple of our beloved volunteers, Matt […]
[…]to present orphans with a wide variety of natural foods: insects, fruit and vegetables, rodents, fish make up their diet. Not only do their meals sustain them, but they also must continue to teach. “What’s this?” each item asks… the answer: It’s Opossum food. Yet still, these gentle, unobtrusive animals are persecuted. Opossums are frequently hit by cars and sadly, sometimes this is intentional. (Want to see how normal it is to disrespect an Opossum family? Click here for an LA Times story from 1994.) Routinely trapped, killed, even tortured, Opossums face myriad threats in their daily lives. Opossums are […]
[…]our raccoon housing, we have an artificial river which we use to help them learn that fish and other aquatic creatures are delicious and found in water. When taken to a real river, they know what to do! Exploring the new world takes time… both raccoons exhibited a very cautious approach after they came out of their carriers. Studies have shown that wild animals who approach novel situations with caution and even fear, do better at avoiding the dangers of the human-built world. Protecting the wildness of our patients is as important as treating their injuries. Our last glimpse of […]
[…]nearly 700 patients, answer over 7000 phone calls. We’re going to feed over 1000 pounds of fish, over 300 pounds of squash, over 200 pounds of milk replacer and use $2500 worth of electricity. Our goal is to raise $25,000 to help cover the costs of our season and provide a buffer against any emergency that arises. We’re not going to do this without your support! In this video, Humboldt Wildlife Care Center director, Monte Merrick takes you on a video tour of our facility and makes a plea for your support. We can’t do it without you! Thank […]
[…]we are happily able to credit her invaluable work. Other changes include an updated fish slurry recipe, as well as updated resources. (If you have the 1st edition and would like access to these updates, let us know. We’ll send you a pdf file.) The book is still $38 and still available right here. Written by wildlife rehabilitators for wildlife rehabilitators this book can get you through the very basics of treating these beautiful and demanding birds. Order yours […]
[…]list in 2001. In fact, their numbers have recovered to the point that the California Department of Fish and Wildlife has given waterfowl hunters a special 16 day season late February through early March strictly for the purpose of hunting the geese who use private land in an effort to drive them off, just as tens of thousands of individuals are arriving from around the state in a pre-migration staging here on the North Coast. Pasture land in our region is dedicated to ranching and the geese are seen as direct competitors with beef cattle for grass. The dates of […]
[…]lost or killed in the hunt. Even the lead bear scientist working for California Department of Fish and Wildlife, Marc Kenyon, is on record stating that California’s bear population is managed only for recreational purposes. There is no need to kill bears in our state. Bird Ally X sent a letter in opposition to AB 2205, as well as asked our Humboldt County Board fo Supervisors to oppose this bill. While our Board of Supervisors chose instead to support this ill-advised plan, predominantly in an effort to “grab” local control wherever possible (according to chair Rex Bohn), our representatives in […]
[…]dollars more!! your support makes our work possible! Our August goal of $7000 will allow us to buy fish to feed our growing seabird caseload, as well as continue providing care for all of this season’s orphaned wild babies – raccoons! swallows! hawks! jays! and more! Please contribute what you can! Every donation helps! Click here to donate now!] The bird happened to be a Red-shouldered Hawk (Buteo lineatus), an easily recognized member of our community. These magnificent small hawks can be seen along almost any rural road, working over almost any open field, perched in nearby trees, hunting for […]
[…]we moved her to a cold pool. She dove immediately. We rigged a food dish in her pool – fish, mealworms – and gave her a small platform made of netting in case she needed to get out of the water. We planned to leave her in the pool overnight. While the duck swam in the cold pool, the young man who rescued her called. We let him know she was in good condition, no wing injury, no fractures. “So, you found her at the river?” “Yeah, she couldn’t fly away.” “Well, you know ducks like her are mostly on […]
[…]after release, make her way downstream about 50 yards and then, to our happy surprise, start fishing! We are thrilled to see our hard work pay off and to see this young raccoon demonstrate that she knows what to do when presented with a real field and stream. Check out this 3 minute video of our latest release (including the act of catching her first wild fish) and enjoy it too, because it’s your support that makes this work possible. So THANK YOU!! Exploring the wide and wild world! Agility and strength – fostering these while in captivity is […]
[…]California coast. Less than two weeks old, the bird still had hatchling feathers. We offered him fish and safety and as soon as s/he began to fly, the company of other gulls. The adorable nature of hatchling gulls can sometimes test the resolve of professional caregivers. “Please can I keep him?” says the smitten rehabilitator. “No!” says Mother Earth, and she quotes Henry David Thoreau, “All good things are wild and free!” Four weeks after the hatchling Gull was admitted, an adult Western Gull was brought to our clinic who was unable to fly. Upon admission we discovered the bird’s […]
[…]North America., edited by J. C. Bartonek and D. N. Nettleship, 227-239. Wildl. Res. Rep. 11: U.S. Fish Wildl. Serv. (2) Anderson, Eric M., Rian D. Dickson, Erika K. Lok, Eric C. Palm, Jean-Pierre L. Savard, Daniel Bordage and Austin Reed. (2015). Surf Scoter (Melanitta perspicillata), The Birds of North America (P. G. Rodewald, Ed.). Ithaca: Cornell Lab of Ornithology; Retrieved from the Birds of North America: […]
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 […]
[…]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 […]
[…]her first ten days in care, she was hand fed a regular diet of insects, berries, and small bits of fish. As soon as she was able to feed herself, after nearly three weeks in care, our schedule was reduced until she no longer wanted anything to do with the food we offered by hand. In our aviary, after 5 weeks, she is the size of an adult, with all of her feathers, self-feeding, and fully flighted! The last time she’ll be handled! She passed her release evaluation with flying colors! After 5 weeks in various sized boxes, from transport […]
[…]and amphibians are some of the least protected by law. In California as long as you carry a sport-fishing license you may legally possess anywhere from one to an unlimited amount of turtles, frogs, salamanders, etc on any given day. Western Pond Turtles (Emys marmorata), however are listed in by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife as Species of Special Concern, due to their restricted range and relatively small population. (see more info about CDFW’s special species list here.) True to his word, the caller came by the next day with a Western Pond Turtle. After an exam, we determined […]
[…]none of our wild neighbors had been impacted. However, early Monday morning, local Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) personnel spotted two Ruddy Ducks that appeared to be contaminated by diesel. By Monday afternoon BAX staff along with other responders from CDFW and the Oiled Wildlife Care Network (OWCN) were in the field searching for any wild animals impacted by the spill. Lucinda Adamson, BAX/HWCC wildlife rehabilitator at the Big Lagoon spill last week. (photo: Bird Ally X) BAX responder, Elissa Blair surveys Big Lagoon early in the morning searching for oiled wildlife. (photo: Bird Ally X) By late Wednesday, […]
[…]rodenticides (SGARs), sold in retail stores as D-con. Although the California Department of Fish and Wildlife had submitted an opinion that the rodenticide needed to be more tightly regulated, it still took 3 years to get the toxin off the shelves of neighborhood stores. However, the ban was not total. Commercial applicators and farmers can still buy and use this poison – and they do. Killing rats with a slow acting poison, as it turns out, is a very effective way to spread poison through an ecosystem. Rats sick and dying from ingesting rodenticide are caught by wild predators – […]
[…]Combined they made this bird’s life a daily struggle with pain. With the approval of US Fish and Wildlife Service, the young Eagle’s suffering was ended. When we open our door each morning to be available for injured and orphaned wild animals, we don’t know who is going to walk through … Each day brings new cases, each case brings new challenges. Every patient has her or his own story, their own needs. Some species, due to our society’s atrocious history of abuse, are more strictly protected. All patients however deserve the best care we can provide. While this Eagle […]
[…]for observation and flight testing. At this morning’s check, the gull had eaten all of the fish we’d offered and was flying laps around the large aviary. We decided that captivity was doing this guy no good at all. During an enjoyable break in the winter weather, the gull was released this afternoon. HWCC Rehabilitator, Lucinda Adamson releases Glaucous-winged Gull at Arcata Marsh, Christmas day. One of our happiest sights, a released patient moving quickly away from us back into the Wild. When a neighbor calls us on Christmas day because she or he has found an injured animal, often […]
[…]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 […]
[…]be frustrating to those who want to advance on some project, or inject the latest fad into farmed fish, but it is the proponent’s obligation to prove those positives as false – it is not the public nor the agencies charged with protecting the public’s health, well-being, and rights, mission, let alone obligation, to protect companies and governing bodies from the demands of due diligence. At least the same respect is owed to the autonomous lives of our wild neighbors. We must consider them as sentient and with the same rights of existence as our own. It is the burden […]
[…]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 […]
[…]year! If you become a Sustaining Member who gives $10 each month you will provide 100 pounds of fish! 100 pounds will feed a recovering Brown Pelican for 20 days. $20 each month will cover the gasoline for 12 trips to Crescent City or Laytonville or Weaverville to transport an orphaned or injured wild animal. Want to bowl us over? A monthly gift of $1000 will cover the cost of our tenancy at Jacoby Creek Land Trust! So, how do you sign up? Easy! Just click on our Donate Now link and when you make your contribution, check the box that […]
[…]not allowed by law. If you use a trap, you have to register it with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife and obtain written consent from all neighbors within 150 yards. The dangers of trapping are many! Pets and other non-targeted animals can easily be caught, and any animal in the trap can become seriously injured trying to get out – especially if she’s a mother trying to get back to her babies. Please, call us before resorting to such lethal measures. Keep wild families […]
[…]fluids, vitamins, a dose of a mild pain relieving/ anti-inflammatory drug and a healthy diet of fish, fruit, seed and insects. Within a day, the Raven was standing normally and ready for an outside aviary. Checking feathers and wing function at his release evaluation. After four days we gave another complete exam. Lynda Stockton was able to be on hand. She was astonished at his recovery. Six days later we released the Raven, hopefully wiser now, back to his habitat. We invited to Lynda to join us. She called him Edgar. We called him free. Lynda Stockton of the North […]
[…]their parents can. Not only is trapping cruel, California requires a permit from the Department of Fish and Wildlife to use these traps. Written permission from all neighbors within 150 yards of the trap site is also required. Many people are not aware that relocation is illegal, and worse, usually fatal. Consider how you would respond if you were trapped and taken far from your home, and released to fend for yourself in a community where you don’t know anyone. The law is simple: once an animal is trapped, that animal is to be released on site or killed. Beside […]
[…]makes a big difference for our wild neighbors. The food and water our raccoon kits need, the fish we provide all of our patients, the thousands of insects we feed baby orphaned songbirds. Our medicines and supplies – all of these real things cost real money – money we wouldn’t have without you. Want to make a donation now? Follow this link! Thank […]