WildCare April 2010 eNews
Table of Contents
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Wildlife Rescue GuideSpring is baby season for wild things. It is also the time of year when people are outdoors enjoying the Bay Area's lovely weather. Whether on a trail, in the garden or under your deck, it's inevitable that people and wildlife will meet at this time of year. Sometimes an animal needs help, but often you are just observing a natural process and the animal may not need help at all! If you are uncertain whether an animal needs help or not, always call WildCare for advice at 415-456-SAVE (7283). Evaluating Adult Animals If an adult wild animal lets you get close to it, something is wrong. Virtually any adult wild creature that allows you to approach and capture it is indeed in need of help. If you are certain it is safe for you to capture an injured or orphaned animal, always protect yourself with gloves and safety glasses. A towel and a secure, ventilated, carrying box will be useful. Remember, even seemingly-calm wild animals are actually frightened and stressed, and can be extremely dangerous. Birds that have flown into windows and are momentarily stunned are the only adult animals that may not need hospital care if captured. If a bird hits your window and you see no injuries on the bird, place him in a ventilated cardboard box that is "just the right size" and close it. Put box and bird somewhere safe and quiet, then, in 30 to 60 minutes, take the box outside and open the lid. If he still cannot fly away, then he needs to come into WildCare. If he takes off on his own, congratulations on your first rescue! If you know an animal needs help but are uncomfortable handling it, you can often call your local Humane Society (click for a directory of Humane Societies nationwide.) Animal control officers have special training and equipment to handle wildlife. Evaluating Baby Animals Is the baby you have found hurt or sick? Is it cold to the touch or bleeding? Are there insects on it? Does it have a broken limb? Has the animal been hit by a car or caught by a cat or dog? If the answer is yes to any of these questions, the animal needs medical attention. Read "How to Transport a Wild Animal" in the right-hand sidebar and bring the animal to WildCare or take it to your nearest wildlife rehabilitator (click for a list nationwide.) Is the baby warm and healthy-looking? It may not be truly orphaned. You may be able to return it to its nest or leave it hidden where you found it. Many wildlife parents leave their young for long periods of time while they forage for food. If you're near their baby they are probably watching you from afar. Observe the baby from a distance, or leave and return later; the parents will not come to their baby if predators (YOU!) are near. Keep all pets and humans away! It is crucial that the returning parent is not threatened by your good intentions into abandoning its young. Deer, Rabbits and Hares Deer and hares (Jackrabbits) have one or two young at a time and hide twins in separate locations for up to twelve hours, returning to nurse in the early morning and early evening. Brush Rabbits have larger litters in a single nest, but those, too, will be left alone for long periods of time. If you are uncertain whether the mother is around, you can lay small twigs in a pattern across the entrance to the nest, and check the next day to see if they have been disturbed. A warm, quiet baby found in the grass with no obvious injuries is probably not abandoned. Fawns and rabbits remain quiet and still so that predators will not find them. If all is well, the mother will likely move her baby after the next feeding. Call WildCare if the baby is still there after 24 hours, if a fawn is bleating and walking around in the open, or if you are certain the mother has been killed. Opossums Neonate (just-born) opossums are sometimes found alive inside the pouch of a dead mother. If you see a dead mother and it is safe to do so, always check the pouch and surrounding grass for straggling babies. If you find live babies in the pouch, or if you are uncomfortable checking, you can bring the mother's body to WildCare immediately. Don't try to detach live babies from a dead mother. Opossums cannot be reunited with their mothers, and an opossum shorter than ten inches (excluding tail), will need warmth and care. Juvenile opossums are fully furred and have outgrown the mother's pouch. By instinct, they cling to her as she forages, and eventually they fall off. If unable to get back to her, a baby is then on his own, a natural dispersal strategy. If healthy and ten inches or longer, he is old enough to take care of himself. Neonate raccoons are helpless for about six weeks, and are usually quiet and kept well hidden, unless their nest is disturbed or their mother is interrupted while moving them. Raccoons are very attached to their young. If a mother is alive and she has been separated from all her young, she will try aggressively to retrieve them for several nights. If allowed to reach them she will move them to an alternate nest. Call WildCare for assistance in reuniting a family or rescuing a single newborn raccoon. For safety reasons, never handle a raccoon with your bare hands. Juvenile raccoons leave the nest at about eight to ten weeks of age and begin to travel with their mother. From then on they have no permanent den site. If exclusion is a goal (preventing animals from setting up housekeeping), this is when it is safe to have the den site professionally inspected and sealed (call WildCare Solutions for help 415-453-1000 x23.) Raptors Hawks, owls and vultures of all ages have sharp talons and beaks. Adult raptors can be very aggressive when protecting their young. Nestlings (still-fluffy babies) found on the ground should be brought to WildCare immediately. Branchers are fledgling raptors. If the bird is healthy and on the ground, chances are it is just learning to fly and should be left alone. Call WildCare if it appears injured, or you are uncertain. WildCare's Hungry Owl Project has experienced tree climbers who are able to put young raptors of all ages back into their nests. Songbirds Nestlings are sometimes found on the ground below their nest. If the baby bird appears healthy and warm, gently place it back into the nest, feet tucked under it. Parent birds will accept a warm baby returned to the nest, even if you have touched it. If the parents do not return after more than two hours, or if the baby is pushed out repeatedly, keep the baby warm and call WildCare. Click for an excellent chart to help you determine if a baby bird needs to be rescued. Fledglings are feathered birds with short tails that have hopped out of the nest to the ground. Fledglings are able to stand, hop and even run. They have left the nest and are learning to fly, which can take five to seven days while their parents continue to feed them. At this stage, they are sometimes "bird-napped" by well-meaning humans. If they appear healthy and have not been caught by a cat, leave them where they are and call WildCare (415-456-7283) for observation guidelines. Squirrels Neonate squirrels are usually found when a nest (called a "drey") has been destroyed. Squirrels often have more than one drey. If one or more baby squirrels fall to the ground, their mother will often retrieve them. If you find uninjured babies and think the mother is around, nestle them in a warm, shallow box at the base of the tree they fell from, and leave the area. Call WildCare if the mother has not returned by dusk, babies won't survive the night on their own. Juvenile squirrels are still dependent on their mother. Call WildCare for advice if a juvenile squirrel approaches you, as it may be a sign that it needs medical care. Never handle a squirrel without gloves. |
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Easter Eggs and March HaresEaster and Passover, like many of our favorite holidays, have their origins in the natural world. The name Easter evolved from Eostre or Ostara, an Anglo-Saxon goddess of spring and is also the root of the word oestrus, the fertility cycle in animals. Most European languages use a term derived from the Hebrew pasch to mean Passover, but long before our cultures supplied the names, nature supplied the cycle of death and rebirth. At WildCare, these just other names for baby season! Fertility Eggs are fertility symbols of extreme antiquity. Since birds lay eggs and rabbits and hares give birth to large litters in the early spring, these became symbols of the earth's rising fertility at the Vernal Equinox. Some species are known for their prolific breeding abilities. Rodents, of course, and in most parts of the world (although not in California as much) rabbits and hares. The really prolific species are usually the prey species that have evolved to survive by counting on the numbers game. Rats live on nearly every part of the planet, and are a favorite food source for almost every carnivore, but who wants to get treats from the Easter Rat? Rabbits it is, then. Rabbits and hares are both prolific breeders. The females can conceive a second litter of offspring while still pregnant with the first. (Opossums can do this too, but Europeans don't have opossums, so no one seems to have created any folklore about the Easter Opossum.) Lagomorphs (rabbits and hares) mature sexually at an early age, and can give birth to several litters a year (hence the sayings, "to breed like bunnies" or "multiply like rabbits"). It's not surprising that rabbits and hares should become fertility symbols, or that their springtime mating antics should enter into Easter folklore. The saying "mad as a March hare" refers to the wild caperings of hares as the males fight over the females in the early spring, then attempt to mate with them. Since the females often rebuff the males' advances until they are ready, the mating behavior often looks like a crazy dance. Normally timid animals, this bold behavior makes the hares much more noticeable in the spring. This led early observers to believe that spring made the hares "mad." Mating rituals make the best of us a little crazy! |
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Kids Helping Wildlife at Spring CampScholarships available! Call today 415-453-1000 x12! Register your first and second grade children now for WildCare's 2010 Spring Camp. This year we'll explore ways kids can help our wild neighbors. Campers will examine the effects of an oil spill, and take a close look at the inside of an owl pellet. They'll also meet WildCare's resident educational wildlife up close. We'll also (weather permitting) spend Wednesday hiking at China Camp State Park, exploring and playing in one of Marin's beautiful natural habitats. WildCare camps make it fun to learn how to help native wildlife stay wild and healthy. To register, contact Anya at (415) 453-1000 x12 or anya@wildcarebayarea.org or download a registration form from our website at wildcarebayarea.org/springcamp. Camp dates are April 12-16, 9am to 3pm. Camp fee is $250.00 – if you're a WildCare member, be sure to ask for your 10% member's discount! |
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Hummingbird ArtsFairfax artist Brenda Sherburn has a hobby. She saves the lives of hummingbirds. This work is perfectly suited to someone as detail-oriented as Brenda is, but it is demanding work that occupies much of her time from April through August. Brenda has been rehabilitating orphaned hummingbirds for more than ten years, and as you can imagine, she's become very good at it. She was trained by WildCare under our license with the California Department of Fish and Game, and has become our resident expert on the species. Brenda is a full-service hummingbird care provider. She feeds baby hummingbirds every 20-30 minutes from dawn to dusk in a spare room she has dedicated to their needs. She has also built an aviary where fledglings can learn to fly and feed themselves, and she has even created a hummingbird garden where she can release them. In June of 2008, author Sy Montgomery visited Brenda to learn what is involved in caring for a bird that weighs less than a quarter and has a metabolism so high it can go into shock if it misses a meal. The result of that visit was a chapter on hummingbirds in Sy's newest book, Birdology. Excerpt from Birdology, by Sy Montgomery Hummingbird rehabilitators are unsung heroes. Toiling away with their syringes and Kleenex, each is a Mother Theresa, a Saint George, a little Dutch boy with his finger in the dyke – desperately trying to fend off the hoards of monstrous perils facing these tiniest of all birds. Hawks, roadrunners, crows, jays, squirrels, opossums, raccoons – even dragonflies and preying mantids – eat them. Bass leap from ponds to gulp them whole. Fire ants and yellow jackets sting babies to death in the nest. Flying adults get impaled on the stamens of thistles. They are killed by unseasonable freezes -- and by other hummingbirds. They spar with needle-like bills, but most hummers kill rivals by chasing them away from nectar sources. The losers starve. They die from infestations of mites. They get blown off course on migration and run out of energy. They fly into spider webs while hunting for bugs, or while gathering the silk for nest-making. They fall to the ground with their wings bound, mummy-like, in sheets of sticky silk, unable to fly or feed. One woman found such a victim on the floor of her barn, so dirty and lifeless-looking that she kicked it with her shoe before realizing it was not a clod of dirt, but a glittering, still-living hummingbird, imprisoned in a robe of cobwebs.
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Terwilliger Environmental AwardEach year, WildCare awards the Terwilliger Environmental Award to an educator who, in the tradition of Mrs. T, is actively involved in teaching the public (adults and children) to appreciate and protect the natural world. Terwilliger Environmental Award winners are people who have made a significant difference and a real impact on the Bay Area. We are seeking nominations for the 2010 Award! Do you know someone who inspires children and adults to love nature by making the study of nature interesting, fun and exciting? Someone who demonstrates a commitment to responsible action and a sustainable world? Someone who shows consistent interest and determination in both the length and variety of his/her environmental activities and leads with new insights and methods for environmental education? Nominate that person for the 2010 Terwilliger Environmental Award! Please help WildCare identify the educators who are making a difference for our children today and tomorrow. The winner of this year's award will receive a $2,000 grant to help further their work, and to continue the legacy of Mrs. Elizabeth Terwilliger. The award will be presented at a very special event on Friday, September 10, 2010. The Terwilliger Environmental Award winners in the past have been an exemplary group of individuals. Help us find the amazing educator to win the 2010 award!
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Living with DeerIn many parts of the country, where deer are hunted, people rarely get to see them as closely as we do in the Bay Area. It is charming to see a mother and her fawn living their lives in the open spaces around us. It may not be quite as engaging, however, when they have just eaten all the flowers and buds off your prized rose bushes. Living with deer is now a fact of our lives in the Bay Area. We eliminated their major predators, mountain lions, and now urban sprawl has crowded them into less and less space. This combination, along with fences, have made these foraging mammals a common sight in most neighborhoods, and overpopulation is a big problem. Nowhere is this more apparent than in places surrounded by water like Angel Island and Belvedere. Population control in these places inspires heated debate over how to coexist humanely. This is happening in other places, too. An Elephant Parable Human overpopulation has often been called "the elephant in the room" that no one wants to talk about, but this example is one from actual elephants. A presentation given at the 15th Annual Wildlife & Aquatic Animal Medicine Club of U.C. Davis by Dr. Jeffery Zuba of the San Diego Wild Animal Park outlined the problem of population control in elephants in an African reserve. The elephant herd had gotten larger than the reserve could accommodate, and the elephants were destroying the habitat for all the other species that lived there. In a fascinating and amusing talk, Dr. Zuba outlined the problem: elephants are generally in decline, so culling the herd was unacceptable to the entire international community, but it is not possible to create more space for them without taking it from another endangered species. Because he understood elephants' natural biology, Dr. Zuba's solution was field vasectomies for the males (read the article). Bull elephants guard their harem of cows jealously, and prevent other males from breeding with them. A vasectomy on just the dominant male prevents fertilization but does not affect his libido, so he still keeps the other males away. Humorously, this was somewhat successful (if tricky to accomplish), but the side effect was that all the cows came into oestrus much more frequently. Normally, conception would prevent that for three or more years after a birth. Between keeping his harem happy and fending off other males, the bull is kept pretty busy. This has been hard on him as well as on the veterinarians that had to perform a vasectomy on a 17-ton elephant. A Study of Birth Control on Deer A similar but opposite approach studied the use of surgical sterilization of female White-tailed Deer in Highland Park, Illinois from 2002-2005 (read the article). The study, prepared by scientists and veterinarians from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the Milwaukee County Zoo found that "tubal ligation, by ventral laparotomy, provides a safe, humane form of sterilization with low mortality in White-tailed Deer. The ability to capture, chemically immobilize and perform surgery on wild deer, under field conditions, was highly successful." Again, this approach uses the natural biology of the deer. In the Bay Area we live with Black-tailed Deer, classified as a subspecies of the Mule Deer. Mule Deer are generally more associated with the land west of the Missouri River while White-tailed Deer are the dominant species in the midwest and eastern U.S. Although deer are found throughout the continental U.S., in general those in urban envionments use extremely small home ranges, so sterilization techniques used in a particular area tend to affect only that area. What About My Roses? Black-tailed Deer rarely travel far from water or forage, and tend to bed down within easy walking distance of both. Most Black-tailed Deer are "browse" eaters, feeding on the shoots and leaves of woody plants, instead of grasses. They like young plant buds, flowers and shoots, leaves, succulents, shrubs, bark, berries, and other fruits. Black-tailed Deer can survive for several days without water by getting moisture from succulent plants. They also help trim back poison oak. Six- to eight-foot fences will protect your roses and vegetables by keeping deer out. If you want to plant outside of a fenced area, there are many ideas for deer deterrents, including mixing bad-tasting flowers like daffodils or alliums among the more delectable tulips and other tasty plants. Sometimes just protecting new plants with temporary fencing until they grow beyond deer reach is all that is needed. Resources for Deer-resistant Plants While no plants are deer proof, there are many that are far less attractive to deer. Deer tend to dislike plants that are thorny, poisonous or sticky, that have cottony leaves, or that just taste bad. Droughts and other extreme weather conditions can create a serious food shortage for deer, and consequently cause them to lose their inhibitions and eat plants which they would otherwise ignore. Under normal circumstances, however, planting your garden with less-preferred plants will help protect its beauty. The following sites offer resources and information on deer-resistant gardening: Las Pilitas Nursery: Gardens with Deer Problems
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Dining for Wildlife – 25th Anniversary Event!Reservations open Monday, April 12, 2010!WildCare's 25th Annual Dining for Wildlife event, scheduled for Tuesday May 25 and 26, 2010, offers guests the opportunity to dine at restaurants throughout the greater Bay Area and support WildCare at the same time! Participating Restaurants (click for more information)
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Great Gift Ideas for April
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