Giving Wildlife a Second Chance

In years past, we have reliably received in our first baby squirrel on March 3rd. Opossums and raccoons come later in march and april.
Last year was slow to start.
This year is making up for that.

We just received in 6 of the cutest baby opossums.

Unfortunately, their mother was hit by a car and died.

Fortunately, this happened right in front of a good samaritan who went to aid the mother opossum, saw her die and realized she had babies in her pouch. She got her babies to safety and brought them to the Oakland Animal Shelter, where they were warmed and kept comfortable until they could be transferred to our wildlife center.

Now they are in the capable and caring hands of Livia, one of our foster-moms, where they are prospering.

Here is a photograph taken by Livia of a couple of these cuties.

On Sunday, February 22^nd, the Bay Area was immersed in a torrential storm. Rain. Wind. Even thunder in places. While the human world moved along, weathering the storm as best we can, a tragedy was unfolding in the squirrel world.

In a palm tree in Fremont, CA., 100 feet up into the storm’s wrath, the top of the tree whipped around in the angry wind. The violence was enough that, although built with great care and devotion, the nest of Mama Squirrel could not resist the call of gravity and was blown out of the protective fronds. Mama and her babies plummeted along with the nest into the street below.

By luck or Fate, at that very moment, passing underneath the palm tree were some children, hurrying home for dinner. They saw the nest drop, the frantic mother squirrel running in terror as the oncoming traffic threatened to destroy all she cared about. The children bravely retrieved the nest from the street. They wanted to leave it so Mama Squirrel could come take her babies back, but the rains were so intense. They went home and got a cardboard box and a tarp then hurried back to the nest. They placed the nest in the box, and put it back where the mother squirrel could find it.

Unfortunately, dusk was fast approaching. Squirrels know that when night comes, death stalks. A good squirrel is safe in their nest by dusk if they want to awaken to a new day. Mama Squirrel was unable to come back for her babies and must have retreated to nurse her injuries in a back-up nest somewhere nearby. Somehow, despite a nighttime marauder ripping away the rain tarp and tearing the nest apart, searching for a yummy snack, the little babies hidden in the depths of the squirrel nest survived the wet and wild night all alone.

By the next afternoon, the children had taken note that the babies were still in the nest and their mother called a friend who was a known animal lover. This friend, Cathi, retrieved the babies, and with the help of her son’s warm hands, proceeded to revive these little ones with warmth and care. Once they were looking viable, she made the long drive to Oakland and placed them into care with us.

Now, 24 hours later, they are rehydrated, and recovering, enjoying a warm incubator and regular meals and some cuddles.

These little ones, so new to the world, were only 20 hours old, or so, when they lost their mother. They are so young that their fingers are still fused and their ears still flat against their transparent skin, a sign of being newly born to the world. Yet somehow they survived long enough for humans to step in to help.

There is a boy and a girl, and at intake, they weighed 15 and 14 grams in weight. (The birthweight of a newborn Fox Squirrel is 14grams.) Their injuries are mainly bruises from the fall and are healing with amazing speed. Because they are so young, they are technically still in critical condition and will remain so until they are 20grams in weight. They are on round-the-clock feedings until they are over 20grams.

I will post updates when I can.

Thank you to the families who went out of their way to save these little beauties.

After 7 weeks in care, the Peregrin Falcon rescued from the Lakeshore area of Oakland, CA, following an electric burn to his wing and a leg dislocation, was released back into Oakland, in the company of the concerned citizens who lead to his rescue.

You can view the entire saga on YouTube at:
http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=generatech

This hawk was found in East Oakland, sitting in a backyard on the ground. The residents who found him didn’t know who to call to report that he was in trouble so they watched him for a couple of days while they hunted for a contact number for someone who could help. By the end of day two they had been given my phone number and spoke with me.

The hawk had been on the ground for the first couple days. he then was able to jump/fly up to the fence and then into a tree. When I spoke with the residents, I expressed concern because I do not have equipment to retrieve birds from trees and it was already so late in the day that it was getting dark. We hoped he would be OK til morning and agreed to talk the next day.
The following day the Hawk had managed to climb up to the rooftop of a warehouse. The residents banded together and agreed to take action to save this hawk. They got into the warehouse, went up to the rooftop and threw a blanket over the hawk. The hawk flipped onto his back, in a defensive posture and grabbed the blanket with his very sharp talons. The residents were able to then bundle him up in the blanket and get him safely into a carrier. They called me and I went to pick him up and get him to the Vet.

Montclair Veterinary Hospital treats all our wildlife patients, squirrel and hawk alike. They examined our hawk and found him to be malnourished and with a compromised wing. He needed cage rest and to be fed up.

During his cage-rest, we determined that his wing was broken. He had a head injury and swelling, and one of his toes was also broken. 2 weeks of cagerest and regular meals did wonders for his recovery. He was ready to try flying again so he was moved to the OHS wildlife center in Fremont. They have an excellent flight cage and caregiver, David, at OHS Wildlife. The hawk had another thorough exam. His wing was Xrayed and was healing well. 2 weeks later he was ready for release!

He was driven back to Oakland and released in an area close to where he was found.

He flew over the hills, up the air currents, higher and higher with obvious delight at his freedom and ability.

We feel confident he will live long and well now that he is recovered.

Thank you to A.J and the Residents of 79th Ave, who saved this beautiful bird. Thank you to Montclair Veterinary Hospital for treating him. Thank you to Jenny and Diana and Lois for ongoing support and advice. And Thank You to David Anderson (and OHS Wildlife) for his 24/7 dedication and care.

On February 6th, we were referred a call from Wildcare of Marin, from a woman in Albany who had been watching a Grey Fox behave oddly and had been able to wrap he fox in a blanket and put him in a box to get him into care. She drove to us in the middle of the night to bring us this beautiful fox.

The fox was lethargic, dehydrated, and in really bad shape. We were concerned that it was either distemper or poison. Foxes do occassionally get rabies but it is so rare and the symptoms were wrong for it, that we were not concerned.

Angela, our head vet tech, came to the center at midnight to help with the fox. She consulted with the veterinarians from Pet Emergency in Berkeley, and proceeded to give the fox IV fluids and care which saved his life. We also began treatment for Rat Poison, in case it was that. We felt confident to stop at 5am and went to get some rest.

At 8am I drove the fox to the Montclair Veterinary Hospital, where a blood panel showed that he was indeed toxified. Distemper was still a possibility but we continued treatment for the poison nevertheless.

The fox was responding. The signs of warfarin poisoning were receding ( red speckled gumline, colapsing veins, slow clotting ) He was standing up and eating (ravenously) and even hiding food in his cage for later.

At one point, he took interest in a nectarine and buried it in the corner of his cage, making a big mess of his blankets. I waited til he was asleep and retrieved the nectarine, placed it back into his food dish and straightened the blankets again. No sooner had I removed my arm then he woke up. grabbed the recently replaced nectarine from his food dish, and proceeded to bury it again but this time he lay on top of it to prevent me from retrieving it!
What a funny guy!

Despite his seeming recovery and response to the rat-poison treatment, about 72 hours after intake, he died from the poison.

Everyone here at the wildlife center was touched by this amazing creature who came to stay with us. His death, despite our best attempts to save him, brought up many issues which needed to be investigated. Here is what our researched revealed:

This fox lived in an area that was surrounded by the Sunset View Cemetary, and Saint Jermone Church and Elementary School. Often, rodent bait boxes are placed around areas such as these to control mice and rats who are attracted to food and garbage left around the premises. Animals such as foxes, raccoons, opossums, hawks, and owls, eat mice and rats. They are the natural predators of these animals. If a mouse or rat goes into the poison bait box, eats the poison, leaves the box, goes out and get caught by any of these natural pest controllers, the predator animal has just eaten a baited meal and has been poisoned.

Now-a-days, poison-makers are using something called “Super Warfarin” for rat bait because rats and mice have become resistant to the original warfarin products. These “super warfarin” poisons are much harder to reverse and an animal poisoned with these “Super warfarins” are less likely to respond to treatment.

Our fox died from secondary super-warfarin poisoning.
He did what all good foxes should do, and ate mice and rats. Unfortunately, these mice and rats were sick with poison from the bait boxes laid out at the Sunset View Cementary or Saint Jermone Church and Elementary School.

This is an unfortunate cycle because we are killing the natural predators of the pest animals we don’t want around. The rodents will become resistant even to the super warfarins eventually but the predators, the natural rat and mouse controllers, will die.

What can You Do?

If you want to help, perhaps a letter to the Sunset View Cemetary asking them to stop using Rodent Bait would help.
Sunset View Cemetery – P.O. Box 187 El Cerrito, CA 94530

A letter to the Saint Jermone Church and Elementary School would also help. St. Jerome Catholic Church, 308 Carmel Ave., El Cerrito, CA 94530

Saint Jerome Elementary School 320 San Carlos Ave, El Cerrito CA. 94530

Also, there is new legistlation in comment period right now regarding the restriction of certain types of rodentcides due to frequent secondary poisoning problems for endangered and other wildlife birds and mammals who eat rodents. If you feel strongly about this, please express your views to the committee by email or letter. Thank you! http://www.fedcenter.gov/Articles/index.cfm?id=6409&pge_id=1854

You can read more about it here: http://www.defenders.org/releases/pr2007/pr011707.html

Today a Peregrin Falcon was resting on a rooftop in Oakland near Lake Merritt. It was unable to fly for any distance and was going from Rooftop to rooftop, in obvious distress.

After tracking the peregrin all afternoon, I lost sight of him and went home to rest and wait for the inevitable call.

The call came at 9pm from John Gordon. A Peregrin Falcon is sitting on my doorstep and not moving.

I called David from OHS Wildlife we and went to help the bird.

The entire event was filmed by the Rescuer, John, and he later posted it on YouTube for all to see.

Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wnb-kJ-7pnQ

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!