WORK DAY at the WILDLIFE CENTER

26. March 2006 · Comments Off on WORK DAY at the WILDLIFE CENTER · Categories: Thank Yous, The Rescue Life

Today was a very productive day at our wildlife center.
We met new volunteers and were reunited with ongoing volunteers.

We FINALLY got one of the new squirrel pens even closer to being functional with a new fresh bed of level soil inside the retaining wall frame, and concrete around the posts. New nestboxes were built, cages and dishes were cleaned, brush was cleared….

It was a good day.

Thank you to David and Mike for driving far, far away, early in the morning to haul dirt.

Thanks to Paul for providing the dirt and the bulldozer.

Thanks to Slade and Manuel and Santiago, for providing even MORE dirt and also concrete blocks, and for performing the grueling task of hauling all the soil down the hillside and into the cage.

Thank you to Galen for pouring cement and digging post holes (and for those Wonderful Strawberries! )

Thank you to Jim for going up and down the slope, cleaning brush and hauling it away!

Thank you to Leslie B. for building 2 wonderful squirrel nest-boxes!

Thank you to Angela M. for cleaning cages and clearing brush and designing our new intake sheets!

Thank you to Leanna for cleaning animal dishes, making sandwiches and clearing brush.

Thank you to Helene for signing on as a new volunteer with many ideas on how to get more support!

Thank you to our neighbors for their ongoing patience with juggling cars on this narrow cul-de-sac.

Thank you to Richard for lugging dirt, cement, lumber and more up and down the slope (for days) and a BIG thanks for sweeping the mud out of the carpet, which inevitably gets tracked inside, after these events.

Our thoughts are with the volunteers who wanted to be here today but were unable to due to their housefire early Sunday morning. We are so grateful no one was hurt.

There is still TONS to do. If you want to help, PLEASE contact me and we can set up another workday!

I thank you, but more importantly, the orphaned wildlife who will learn how to survive in these cages before being released back into the wild, thank you.

Wild Turkey Update

09. March 2006 · Comments Off on Wild Turkey Update · Categories: Animal Stories

After spending 3 days in our deck recovery cage, broadcasting his gobble all the way across the hills from such a height, our young boy turkey returned within 3 days of his release with 2 young hens! Where did they come from? We have no idea!

That was last week.

Today, he was seen at the usual feeding area, strutting his stuff for….a total of….. FIVE HENS!

Where did five wild turkeys come from in the middle of Oakland?
I have no idea but I think it’s really neat!

Here is a bad photo.
I will replace it with a good photo when they are more cooperative.
Turkeys

Look who visited today!

03. March 2006 · Comments Off on Look who visited today! · Categories: Animal Stories

Boy Turkey

Our beautiful boy turkey came back for a visit, after his release last Wednesday.

What are the odds?

03. March 2006 · Comments Off on What are the odds? · Categories: Animal Stories, The Rescue Life

For the last three years in a row March 3rd has been THE day that the first baby squirrel orphans of the year have come in to our wildlife center. This year was no exception.

March 3rd, 2006 was once again the date of the first orphaned squirrel babies of the year!
Three beauties came in, from a kind gentleman who found them in the gutter, after the powerful windstorm last night. One was icy cold and the kind soul did his best to get her warm and active like the other two. Unfortunately, she was just too cold for her internal organs to keep functioning properly and despite our best attempts, she passed shortly after their arrival.

The surviving two babies are good and strong.
A boy and a girl. The girl has some bad bruising and a broken leg and tail, but the boy is almost untouched!

Aren’t they beautiful?
Squirrel Babies
Please be on the lookout for your local squirrels.
The Mothers will be more frantic than normal and more likely to engage in daredevil behavior to get what they need to take good care of their little babies.

If you find babies, please be sure to see if Mom is around. The best person to care for the babies is their mother. And believe me – baby squirrels are HARD to care for and Easy to kill with kindness. They eat special food (not cows milk) and eat a special way – if you feed them wrong they can die. If you find them and there is no mother around looking for them, please contact your local wildlife center as soon as possible. Or call me for advice:) 510-421-9897

Think good thoughts for these little ones!
And THANK YOU to David, for caring enough to drop everything to save these little guys!

Turkey Talk

01. March 2006 · Comments Off on Turkey Talk · Categories: Animal Stories

BALSAM WAY UNITED OVER TURKEY ABUSE

Our Wildlife Center is now located in the Oakland Hills and when we first moved here back in 2004, there was a lone female wild turkey living in the area. Seven months ago she had her first nest of babies, only one of which survived to adulthood.

The Wild Turkeys are loved by everyone in the neighborhood. They are watched and cared for by many of the residents on this street. During the holidays, visiting relatives and neighbors from all over the Oakland Hills travel to our little cul-de-sac to watch the wild turkeys. They enrich the environment here and bring happiness to a lot of people on this little street, and beyond.

A few days ago a survey team was here, measuring the property 2 lots away, in preparation for it’s sale. The young male turkey was gobbling at the new people and following them around. The survey team was laughing about it and a few times the neighbors herded the young male away because one of the surveyors in particular was frightened by him and was being teased by his fellow surveyors.

The following day, the survey team came back and as their truck pulled up, the surveyor who had been teased the previous day for being scared of the turkey, hopped out of the car and when the turkey gobbled at him, he pulled out this long metal rod and struck the turkey with the metal rod on his neck and head.

This was observed by a neighbor and the surveyor also confirmed what happened himself, he was openly talking about it, in fact.

Luckily, this happened 2 doors down from our wildlife center and we were alerted to it by our neighbors and collected the turkey for examination.

The male turkey had a swelling on his head and eye, was minimally conscious – head drooping, had raspy breathing and was breathing open-mouthed. The veterinarian overseeing our wildlife center said he had a possible concussion and bruising in his throat. We treated him according to instruction and have had him in care during his recovery.

Into day 3 of his care and his head swelling had gone way down and his breathing was back to normal. He was still sleepy and droopy from the possible concussion but it was also the first day he showed interest in food.

Finally on this sunny day, Wednesday, March 1st, 2006, 5 days after the incident, this boy was gobbling constantly and trying to dig his way out of the enclosure to get to Freedom. His eye swelling was completely down and he had full vision in both eyes again. He was no longer sleepy or drifty and was in fact, very active and eager to get out and on with life. We agreed he was ready.

At noon on this fine sunny day, we gathered and released the recovered turkey back into his territory.


Do I Haaave to go? You Sure?….


Oooo Fooood……


I remember this place!


Wheee!!!


Freedom feels Good.


See you soon!

On a sad note, the very same day that the beating took place, the mother turkey, being so freaked out by the incident, had an accident and disappeared, leaving only a pile of feathers and many drops of blood. We are anxiously awaiting any news or sightings of her and we hope that the return of her boy to their territory will draw her out of hiding if she is still with us.

The residents of Balsam Way were all united, both in their outrage that someone would treat this beautiful creature this way, and in their concern over the welfare of this young turkey we have all watched grow up. They were supportive of our wildlife center’s efforts to help by providing care, supplies and lots of good thoughts towards his recovery. Thank you to the Balsam Way Turkey Team for their great work!

No legal action has been taken against the surveyor who attacked this bird. The various authorities who were contacted, concluded that it was “self-defense”, and refused to take any written reports of the incident.


WHAT TO DO IF YOU ARE CONFRONTED WITH A DISPLAYING TURKEY

If you are confronted with a displaying turkey, stand up to your tallest and wave your arms around and shout. If you have an umbrella, try opening it and closing it repeatedly. This should scare off the Tom Turkey enough that he won’t consider you a challengeable threat to his territory.

There is no need to beat him with a metal rod or anything similarly dangerous. He is only a bird and you are a human. Stay calm and use common sense and you will be fine and may get a good story to laugh about with your friends later, one in which nobody got hurt.

Spring Has Sprung…..

01. March 2006 · Comments Off on Spring Has Sprung….. · Categories: Animal Stories, The Rescue Life

Please watch out for wildlife at this time of year. They are more crazy, with mating on their minds and may not be as watchful for cars or passerbys.

Please DON’T trim your trees unless you are ABSOLUTELY certain there are no squirrel nests in their branches. Babies are born and mother’s are hiding them in nests. This is when we get the most number of orphaned baby squirrels from tree trimming projects. The mothers will NOT leave their nests and may get killed when the branches fall.

IF YOU DO FIND BABY SQUIRRELS, check to make sure their mother is not around, looking for them. If she is, place the nest or babies at the base of a tree near the mother and back away, but watch to make sure no predators get the baby(s).

Baby SquirrelsIF MOTHER IS DEAD or Doesn’t Take back the babies, PLEASE CALL US ASAP. Baby squirrels are difficult to care for and easy to kill with kindness. Please call us so we can help. We can take the babies into our care and you can be as involved as you want to be in their recovery. (510) 421-9897

Thank you for caring about wildlife!

Here are a few pictures of Wildlife we currently have in care so far this spring….

Hummingbird

Windblown in the storm. Recovering well…
Opossum Mom

Shop at Albertson’s?

01. March 2006 · Comments Off on Shop at Albertson’s? · Categories: The Rescue Life

Did you know that Albertson’s will give our wildlife center a percentage of every dollar YOU spend when you shop at their store? This is an easy way to help our wildlife center and it costs you nothing but a moment of your time to sign up!

All you need is your Albertson’s Club Card Number (from the bar code on the card OR from your receipt next time you shop – ask the Clerk to circle your number) AND the phone# you used to sign up with.

http://www.albertsons.com/cp/

Click on Shoppers login or register with your Preferred Savings Card first. This is where they will ask for your current card# and phone number. Once you log on, you will be asked for a Community Partner Number of the organization you would like to support.
Our number is: 49001007352 or alternatively, if you would prefer to search for us, simply put in Yggdrasil.

Last month we received $12.00 from Albertson’s because of this program – and that with only 2 people signing up. If we can get more people to sign up this could really help us.

Please tell your friends!

Thanks for your time.