On November 12th, nearly 30 people came to the rescue of our wildlife center by spending the day working at our facility, repairing erosion problems, clearing brush, transporting dirt and gravel, and completing a squirrel enclosure.
More thank you’s are on their way, but in the meantime, please enjoy the photos of that day.
A very special thank you to OneBrick.org, Abby and Peter, as well as to Renee and Michelle Snyder for providing lunch for all these folk! Good job!!
We found this amazing grove of Oak trees, off a path in a park near where this group of orphaned squirrels was found. We set their nest box down in the sandy gravel of the dried stream bed and watched as the wind whipped acorns out of the trees all around us. Squirrels love acorns….
They sniffed the fresh air and smelled the acorns and green leaves for a while before venturing out of their nestbox and into the trees.
Once in the branches, they went as high as they could go and looked out over the treetops all around them. Some let out a challenge and flicked their tails in something more than just excitement, as they experienced freedom for the first time.
And all the while, from his resting place in the dried streambed, a grinning buck watched over them…
We found the Perfect place!
Oak trees, waterfalls, fish jumping out of the stream.
Trilling and pacing their carry-kennel, they were ready…
Out they dashed, and immediately feeling around in the sandy mud for crustaceans and bits of minerals they couldn’t get anywhere but from the wild.
Then Up Up Up!
Into the trees for the fun of racing to the top and climbing down again.
Right-side-up or Up-side-down, it didn’t matter.
They could go any way they wanted now that they were free.
Soon they found a cave of sand under a branch of the trees and in they went to find a den for their first night of freedom.
Good luck little ones!
After a while of doing this work, rescue stories all start to blend together.
From time to time there are some rescues that stick out in one’s mind. The 3 boys on this last release were one of those memorable rescues. It was harrowing too!
They were eyes-closed babies – but HUGE. Unusually so.
Their mother had done an miraculous job – she must have produced TONS of milk for her beautiful boys. Unfortunately, they were taken from her and she was chased off, injured, when the tree she was nesting in was cut down, somewhere in East Oakland. Her babies were grabbed because they were cute and they were crying. A girl who lived in the housing project nearby called me and gave me the address, concerned for the babies. By the time I got there, the girl was gone. She had been told not to talk to me. The adults, staggering and wild-eyed from being under the influence of something, didn’t want to give me the babies and were annoyed that I was there. They wanted to sell the cute little squirrel babies as pets. After 45 minutes of negotiating, explaining that squirrels need very special care and that they are not legal pets, the owner of the property showed up to supervise the tree removal and intervened. I had the babies at last and I snuggled them and looked them over as soon as I got into my car.
They were gorgeous. HUGE! Only 4 weeks old but the size of an 8 week-er.
Not only were they big but they were also really sweet.
Grunters and players from beginning to end. They were extra-special.
They grew and grew and after the normal course of things, were ready for release.
Here are the photos of their victory towards freedom.
My husband carries them to their new home, in a park off of a cul-de-sac.
We enter the park through a small footpath at the end of the street and travel through a glowing gate of greenery, into the park…
We travel for a time, til we find the Right Tree. And here it is…
Once settled, we set the nestbox at the base of the tree and scatter fresh nuts and goodies all around, so they have food when they need it. There were so many acorns and other natural foods around that we realized the scattering of the food was more a ritual for us than for them.
Once the food was scattered it was time to open the nextbox and step back to watch what happens…
They sniffed and watched for a moment, they one by one, my 3 boys jumped out of the nestbox and up into the tree! They frolicked and danced in the treetops for 3 hours before heading off deeper into the woods. A few times they looked back at us, as if to say goodbye…
Goodbye my friends. Thank you for your gifts and lessons. Be safe!
Saturday, November 11th was a rainy day.
But it was a very special day too.
On Saturday, November 11th, 16 people drove over an hour away to do back-breaking work out in the fields of a Walnut Orchard on the Gursky Ranch. For hours those people worked, gathering walnuts to donate to our wildlife center to feed the animals in our care. By the end of the day we had gathered nearly 600 pounds of walnuts!
A very special Thank you to Roy and Lynn Gursky, owners of Gursky Ranch in Brentwood, CA. The Gursky Ranch is more than just a walnut orchard. It is a wonderful country store packed full with confections and candies, nuts and dried fruits and special food items. Visit them for special gourmet jams, jellies, chutneys and much more! They are only open from October through December so don’t miss it!
A Huge Thank you also, to those dedicated people who went above and beyond to help the wildlife center under difficult circumstances.
Thank you also to Starbucks for providing hot coffee to our hard workers through-out the event, and to Safeway for donating lunch.
