WildCare

Here’s some turtle-y awesome local wildlife news!

Nearly a decade ago, a female Western Pond Turtle was hit by a car in San Rafael, and, although she couldn’t be saved, WildCare was able to salvage her eggs. We sent them to the San Francisco Zoo to be hatched and raised for release. One of the resulting hatchlings was called “Turtle No. 9” and he was spotted hanging out in a patch of sunshine in recently-restored Redwood Creek, within the beautiful Muir Woods National Monument.

While it’s always nice to see a wild turtle, this sighting is particularly momentous because, although Western Pond Turtles are native to the area, none have been spotted in Muir Woods in over thirty years! These semi-aquatic omnivores can live up to fifty years in the wild but have been threatened by habitat loss and the encroachment of invasive species, and are currently listed as a “species of special concern” in California.

SF Gate reminds us that restoration and conservation efforts like this one take a proverbial village, saying that, “For Turtle No. 9, his entire life journey involves a “village” that spans multiple agencies, including WildCare, the San Francisco Zoo, Sonoma State University, Golden Gate National Recreation Area, park restoration crews, plus the efforts of dozens of volunteers and interns.”

During the past couple years, conservation organizations have begun scent-training dogs to locate and help protect vulnerable turtle nests. To aid in this effort, WildCare’s own Western Pond Turtle patients have donated samples of their urine!

Read more about Turtle No. 9’s epic journey and the terrific conservation efforts being made to protect our native turtles at https://www.sfgate.com/local/article/rare-animal-return-to-national-monument-19664663.php.

📷 Marla, WildCare's own Ambassador Western Pond Turtle

While patients are recovering in WildCare's Wildlife Hospital they receive a very specific and specialized diet to meet all of their nutritional needs. Unfortunately, sometimes they are fed inappropriate food items by well-meaning rescuers before they arrive and can quickly develop severe nutritional issues, such as angel wing.

Young birds who eat a high carbohydrate diet are susceptible to developing this condition because the feathers grow too quickly and put excess weight on their carpal (wrist) joint. This causes the feathers to grow sticking straight out and away from the body inside of sitting flat against it as they should. While this is thought to be a painless condition, it renders the birds flightless and makes it very difficult, if not impossible, for them to compete and thrive in the wild.

In this photo you see one baby turkey with normal wings held against the body and the other with "angel wing," where the wings are clearly protruding outward. Fortunately, when the birds are still this young we can often place special wraps to correct the condition while providing a more appropriate diet to stop it from progressing. This turkey will have these special wraps placed, checked daily, and changed often while we monitor improvement.

This is one of the many reasons that it is important not to feed wildlife. While it may feel like a kind act, when wild animals are fed the wrong food items it can create a multitude of issues and angel wing is only one of them.

📷 Turkey Chicks by Brittany M

We are always out here reminding you to secure your compost bins and check them for trapped wildlife, because guess what: it happens to the best of us. Well… what we mean to say is that it even happens to US! 👀

Last weekend, when one of WildCare’s interns was taking out the trash, she noticed some strange trilling sounds emanating from around the bin enclosure by our back gate. It sounded a bit like a bird, and the outdoor aviaries ARE right there, but this wasn’t like any bird she’d ever heard before. Upon further investigation, she was startled to find herself face to face with a young raccoon who was trapped and struggling to try and escape from the bottom of an empty green bin!

Because this compost bin had a badly broken lid, it had long gone unused and sat empty. That is, until last weekend when this curious juvenile raccoon found herself inside it!

WildCare’s Med Staff carefully secured the raccoon and brought her into the hospital for a full exam to make sure she was okay. Besides being somewhat dehydrated, this little one appeared totally healthy, but what would come next? Because she’s too young to be on her own we can’t just release her, and because she’s too big and mobile to stay inside an unsecured container, and we don’t know exactly where mom is, we can’t safely attempt a reunite.

Fortunately, WildCare has a small group of juvenile raccoons currently in care who are just around her age and happy to accept another buddy into the mix. After providing some preventative care like vaccines and flea treatment, and doing a distemper test to make sure she was healthy, she was added to the group!

It’s never a desired outcome for us to take in a new patient here at Wildcare, as we wish all wildlife could live safely and happily without experiencing any unnecessary conflicts, injuries, or illnesses. But it’s safe to say this raccoon inadvertently came to the right place! And yes, we have gotten rid of the offending green bin! 🦝

The WildCare Gala is happening on Saturday, September 7, 2024 at the beautiful Hoytt Theater at the Osher Marin JCC in San Rafael, California! Tickets are available at https://discoverwildcare.ejoinme.org/attend.

This year's event will feature a glittering Live Auction and a stunning Silent Auction, both full of fun, fabulous items and even once-in-a-lifetime experiences on which you can bid, like EXCLUSIVE, Front Row, Courtside Golden State Warriors seats in the VIP section, or the opportunity to be “Vet for a day” at WildCare!

The Silent Auction will open for bidding on Thursday, August 29, 2024.

Go to https://discoverwildcare.org/wildcare-gala-silent-auction-preview-2024 to visit our WildCare Gala Auction Preview page and learn about Proxy Bidding for the Live Auction. We're still adding items and refining the page, but you can enjoy this sneak peek!

If you enjoy using eggs sourced from happy, healthy chickens here in Marin County, enterprising 10-year-old Sam Dolkas would appreciate your business, and so would we, as he has decided to donate a portion of the earnings from his egg stand to support WildCare!

The box at the corner of Maestro Road and Wilson Avenue in Novato is regularly stocked with fresh, beautiful eggs provided by Sam’s hens.

Stop by and support Sam’s chickens and WildCare’s work at the same time!

Can you smell the upwelling?

Reminiscent of the dank, briny smell of a very low tide, some have compared it to the scent of old cabbage. We like to think of it as the smell of a California summer, also known as upwelling season! These upwelling events are caused by the Coriolis Effect.

When currents generated by wind and the Earth’s rotation push warm surface waters off the coast, cooler, nutrient rich waters rise to the surface. Although the smell may be less than desirable to us humans, for marine creatures it is the smell of a bountiful buffet! For this reason, upwellings bring a wide variety of wildlife very close to shore.

If you’re craving a bit of the brine and a peep at wildlife, check out the Mori Point Loop Trail in Pacifica, CA. It is an easy to moderate hike (with one steep climb, and one more gradual one) that offers breathtaking views! On your hike, keep an eye out for Caspian Terns, gulls (can you spot all the varieties?), Sooty Shearwaters, Ashy Storm-petrels, Brown Pelicans, Grebes and even Humpback Whales.

Ah, we can smell the anchovies already; don’t forget your binoculars!

Learn more about the Coriolis Effect at https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/87575/california-coastal-current and find the details of the Mori Point hike at https://www.parksconservancy.org/parks/mori-point.

📷 Humpback Whale off Pacifica by Alan Grinberg

It's time to enter your best California nature and wildlife photos in WildCare's Living with Wildlife Photography Contest!

WildCare's photo contest is a great opportunity to share your favorite wildlife shots with a wide audience of appreciative nature lovers. Your photos will also help WildCare advocate for and educate about the wild animals with whom we share our environment.

The judged Best in Show photograph will win $500 and be featured in WildCare's print newsletter.

Prizes will also be given for first place in each of the four entry categories and for a People's Choice winner to be determined by an online vote. Our top five finalists in each category will also be printed in the WildCare newsletter.

To find out more about rules, entry fees, deadlines, and more, go to https://discoverwildcare.org/living-with-wildlife-photography-contest and enter your photos today!

📷 Pileated Woodpecker by Alok Singhal

We are so grateful for the kindness that Cavallo Point: The Lodge at the Golden Gate has shown us over the years. From hosting our annual Talons event to gifting us wonderful in-kind donations for our upcoming Gala, we are truly fortunate to be among the organizations they are proud to support.

Like the hills and trees, 17 historic lodgings have been preserved under our stewardship of this ancient land once known as Horseshoe Cove.

Our green philosophy spans over 75,000 acres of national parkland, with sustainable benchmarks that have earned LEED Gold certification from the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC). Our Cavallo Point Fund also gives back to local non-profits in the region: Turning Green, WildCare, Environmental Traveling Companions, The Marine Mammal Center and Bay Area Discovery Museum.

At the following link, explore all our green initiatives – from conscious operations to energy & water conservation: https://heyor.ca/rdI48g.

Nox the Peregrine’s healing progress x-ray!

Only 10 more reviews needed for WildCare to become a Top Rated Nonprofit!

If you love our work, please tell the world! Right now you have the opportunity to help WildCare make even more of a difference in our community.

GreatNonprofits-–a public review site like TripAdvisor–-is honoring highly reviewed nonprofits with their 2024 Top-Rated Awards. Will you help WildCare raise visibility for the important work we all do by posting a review of your experience with us?

All reviews will be visible to potential donors, rescuers, and volunteers. It’s easy and only takes 3 minutes! Go to https://greatnonprofits.org/org/wildcare-1 to get started.

In poker it’s pretty rare to get four of a kind, but not in wildlife rescue!

These curious quadruplets arrived at WildCare in the springtime as tiny newborns and have already been in care with us for over three months. After a misguided rescue attempt that turned out to be more of an inadvertent kidnapping, followed by multiple unsuccessful attempts at reuniting the babies with mom, we knew these little ones would be in care for the long haul.

Orphaned raccoons need to stay with us for almost six months before they are ready for release! Raising intelligent, impressionable, and curious young wildlife like baby raccoons in managed care must be done with the utmost consideration to ensure that the raccoons grow up wild, and with a healthy distrust of humans. Baby raccoon care starts with round-the-clock bottle feedings and frequent transport trips to the Wildlife Hospital for check-ups. As the raccoons get older, our team must provide various enrichment options that keep them entertained, happy, and healthy while they’re growing and learning raccoon skills. Our team does all of this and more with the goal of a successful release in mind.

A testament to the responsible practices of our staff and volunteers, these four fuzzy youngsters are brave and inquisitive, but won’t allow a human to get anywhere near them when it’s time to tidy up the enclosure or drop off the next round of meals!

Between our Raccoon Foster Care Team and onsite and offsite outdoor enclosures, WildCare still has more than twenty raccoon patients who are still not quite ready for release, but when they are, we expect them to be as wild as can be!

“I love being a Wildcare Nature Guide at Muir Woods National Monument. Sharing time with the students, chaperones, and the other nature guides and being in such a magical location is the highlight of any day!”
~ Linda Saint Amant, Terwilliger Nature Guide

Imagine the lasting impact you could make by sharing your passion for wildlife conservation and stewardship of the natural world with the next generation! Through WildCare’s Volunteer Program you could became a trained Terwilliger Nature Guide and use your expertise to inspire curious young minds to follow in the footsteps of the remarkable “Ms. T.”

You’ll learn to observe and identify local plants and animals and share your knowledge and skills with children during discovery walks through some of Marin’s most beautiful open spaces. This is one of the most unique and fulfilling volunteer opportunities at WildCare and applications are open now! Learn more and apply at https://discoverwildcare.org/volunteer/nature-guide-volunteers.

We are right in the middle of coyote denning season, which runs from February through the fall, meaning the coyotes in your area likely have pups in the den.

Coyotes have ONE thing that is precious to them: their pups. Their whole social system and territoriality is geared for successful raising of their litters.

The main takeaway to understand about coyote denning behavior is that it is protective territorial messaging behavior, not unprovoked aggression, although that is how it might appear.

Learn about coyote denning behavior and why just walking away is the best response to a concerned coyote at https://discoverwildcare.org/understanding-coyote-denning-behavior.

Hungry for more information about local Bay Area urban coyotes? Join Janet Kessler for an engaging and informative program about San Francisco's coyotes at the San Francisco Public Library! ��Where/when: Park Library, 1833 Page Street, San Francisco, Saturday 8/31 at 3pm

Reserve your seat at https://sfpl.org/events/2024/08/31/presentation-citizen-coyotes-san-francisco.

📷 Janet Kessler

Mirror, mirror on the ground, who is the fuzziest gull around?

Every year we see various highs and lows when it comes to certain species as seasons and weather patterns change and wildlife populations naturally fluctuate. This year, for instance, we are seeing far fewer squirrels than we’d generally expect (though we predict a potential baby boom in the fall!) but we are currently treating a higher number of gulls than we would usually have in care at this time of year! At this point in 2023, we had admitted 36 gulls total for the whole year. As of today THIS year we have admitted 60, with 36 of those coming in just since the beginning of summer.

Most of these patients are young birds that hatched this year and have fledged and left the nest. Juvenile gulls are at the bottom of the (literal!) pecking order in a gull colony, and many of these patients are coming in with abrasions or injuries on their heads from being pecked and chased away from other birds' established territories. Others run afoul of cars, fishing line, or other human-caused hazards as they venture further from the colony to find food and resources.

The two young Western Gulls pictured here were orphaned from separate nests but have been growing up together at WildCare as surrogate siblings. While our Director of Animal Care, Melanie, was moving this pair from a smaller enclosure into one with a pool for swimming, she caught this charming moment on camera as one of them seemed fascinated to discover his own reflection in the water!

📷 Melanie Piazza

WildCare’s Raptor-rama fundraiser comes to an end soon and we are so close to hitting our goal!

Your support helps provide vital funding for the many raptors and other wildlife that WildCare helps each year. We are proud to be able to help these magnificent aves and just had the 100th raptor of 2024 come into our Wildlife Hospital after flying into a window - a Red-Shouldered Hawk!

Help us reach our goal at: https://www.facebook.com/donate/902226128616438/

📷 Red-Shouldered Hawk by Robert Hughes

It's that time of year again!

Tickets are now available for the fabulous WildCare Gala, happening on Saturday September 7, 2024.

You won't want to miss this elegant event and the opportunity to celebrate all things wildlife and WildCare.

Mingle with our live Wildlife Ambassador animals, peruse exciting silent and live auctions, and much more, and enjoy excellent wines paired with a delicious vegan dinner exquisitely catered by McCalls!

The event will be held in the beautiful Osher Marin JCC in San Rafael, California.

We hope you'll join us for this extraordinary evening! Go to https://discoverwildcare.ejoinme.org/attend to purchase tickets now, or learn more about sponsorship opportunities at https://discoverwildcare.org/events-2/wildcare-gala-2.

This tiny hatchling Barn Swallow was rescued after his family’s mud nest was destroyed (probably by a predator.) This baby is much too young to be out of the nest, and his parents wouldn't have been able to care for him in his vulnerable position on the ground. Clocking in at a mere 4 grams at intake, about the same weight as a single nickel, he was hypothermic and hungry, but otherwise healthy and unharmed!

He is now recovering in foster care with our dedicated swift and swallow specialist, receiving a hand-fed insectivore diet from sunrise to sunset. When he’s old enough, he will be placed with conspecific swallow buddies to help him learn how to fly and hunt to make sure he’s ready to thrive in the wild when he is eventually released.

📷 Dion C

STRIKE A POSE! Who wants to show off their awesome nature and wildlife photography and help wildlife at the same time?

Enter your best California nature and wildlife photos in WildCare's Living with Wildlife Photography Contest!

WildCare's photo contest is a great opportunity to share your favorite wildlife shots with a wide audience of appreciative nature lovers. Your photos will also help WildCare advocate for and educate about the wild animals with whom we share our environment.

The judged Best in Show photograph will win $500 and be featured in WildCare's print newsletter.

Prizes will also be given for first place in each of the four entry categories and for a People's Choice winner to be determined by an online vote. Our top five finalists in each category will also be printed in the WildCare newsletter.

To find out more about rules, entry fees, deadlines, and more, go to discoverwildcare.org/living-with-wildlife-photography-contest and enter your photos today!

📷 Elyse Omernick

Happy International Owl Awareness Day!

Maybe you’re totally fascinated by these mysterious nocturnal predators, or maybe you’ve never even stopped to think about your silent nighttime neighbors. No matter how you look at them, owls are an integral part of our local ecosystems and worth considering, conserving, and protecting!

There are 19 owl species in North America alone and over 200 around the globe. Many, like the elusive Northern Spotted Owl, live in incredibly small, specific, (and often shrinking) habitats, but others, like the Barn Owl, have prolific populations that span entire continents.

Owls, like most natural predators, contribute to healthy stability and balance in the food chain within their habitat ranges, but also play an especially important role in our shared, human/animal ecosystems by serving as a natural form of rodent control, thus limiting the perceived need to use dangerous rodenticides or inhumane traps, while also helping control the spread of rodent-associated diseases like Hantavirus or Lyme. It is estimated that a single barn owl can eat over 10,000 rodents in their lifetime.

Did you know: It is a bit of a myth that owls can turn their heads ALL the way around! These charismatic carnivores can’t rotate their enormous eyes within their sockets like we can, so in order to see what’s around them, owls have 14 neck vertebrae (compared to a human’s 7) allowing them to move their head 135 degrees left or right, adding up to an astonishing 270 degrees total rotation!

📷 Northern Spotted Owlets by Sylvia Hunt

Are you planning on beating the heat by going on a walk in the woods? Watch out for poison oak and make sure you know how to identify it!

The leaves of the poison oak plant (Rhus toxidendron diversiloba) grow in groups of three. They are lobed and usually shiny, varying in color (greens, reds and oranges) with the seasons. This time of year many of the leaves have turned beautiful shades of orange and red. It is a deciduous plant; the leaves drop off in the late fall and only bare branches remain through the winter.

Like the leaves, the branches also carry the oil containing urushiol, the chemical that is responsible for the notorious allergic reaction of the skin. All parts of the poison oak plant, including the root, should be avoided. If you are exposed to poison oak during an outdoor adventure, use cool water and soap to thoroughly wash affected areas of skin and be sure to wash your clothes and anything else that may have come in contact with the plant.

📷 Stock // Jeffrey Banke

“The good news is he’s a real champ,” said Dr. Michelle Hawkins, director of the California Raptor Center at UC Davis, where Nox had surgery earlier this month. His weight is back to what it was pre-surgery, she said in a livestreamed Q&A on Wednesday with Cal Falcons, and although he’s lost some muscle mass in the past few weeks, “we’re really pleased with where he is right now.”

Hard knocks for Nox, UC Berkeley’s youngest peregrine falcon But thanks to UC Davis Veterinary Hospital veterinarians and other helpers, his broken wing is mending.

This young Gray Fox was stuck, impossibly tangled in nylon soccer netting for at least three days before she was finally rescued. In the scorching heat, she survived without food or water, while the thick, strong strands of netting only tightened further every time she struggled against them. Thankfully, a concerned Mill Valley resident noticed her plight and called Marin Humane for help with the rescue. Right away, our partners at MH dispatched an officer to the scene who was able to safely cut a wide swath of net around the fox to extricate her before bringing her straight to WildCare for further treatment.

As you can imagine, the fox's dehydration level was severe, so our Medical Staff couldn’t administer standard anti-inflammatory medications right away without risking kidney issues, despite her injuries. Her front and back limbs were riddled with constriction wounds from the tight sports netting, but before further treatment and x-rays, she needed to undergo several rounds of subcutaneous fluids. Imagine what a relief it was for this young fox to feel hydrated again and to receive pain medications and treatment! After over a week of rehydration, syringe feedings, appetite stimulants, and many varieties of enticing foods being offered and subsequently ignored, she finally started eating on her own!

Today, the wounds on her legs are healing well and she’s running, jumping, and climbing almost like a normal young fox! Her weight is increasing steadily and she’s getting more feisty by the day, which is just what we want to see!

📷 Jessica Jacobson

Help us soar through the rest of wildlife baby season! Your donation to our Raptor-rama summer fundraiser ensures we can provide essential care to orphaned and injured birds of prey, like this young Western Screech Owl, and all the other wildlife patients in our hospital who desperately need our help.

This owl was found on the ground in Fairfax, unable to stand up or even open his eyes. You can imagine what his fate may have been if WildCare was not here to step in and help, providing continuing top notch medical care every day of the week. Today, he is improving daily alongside other Screech Owl buddies who will help him recover, fully prepared to thrive in the wild.

Together we can offer thousands of animals like him a second chance at life in the wild, and EVERY contribution counts! Go to https://www.facebook.com/donate/902226128616438/ to donate now and support our important work.

Nox is looking great!

Equinox (Nox) update: Here's a recent photo taken by one of our Operations Managers! Nox's latest radiographs showed healing progress and we'll be sharing more updates in the coming weeks.

If you'd like to help support the care of Nox, you can make a donation online at: give.ucdavis.edu/VRAP/V160000

Of the many emergency animal response certifications our Director of Animal Care, Melanie Piazza holds, she is also a trained Evacuation Team Volunteer with North Valley Animal Disaster Group (NVADG.) She spent her weekend deployed with their Evacuation Team to assist in domestic and farmed animal rescues during the massive Park Fire in Butte County, about 3 hours northeast of Marin.

In addition to assisting with evacuations, NVADG operates tirelessly to provide shelter for evacuees' domestic pets and livestock, evacuate those who were inadvertently left behind, and provide routine food and water provisions for those who have to shelter in place. NVADG currently has over 180 animals in their two shelters, and are providing provisions for roughly 800 animals in the field while continuing evacuation runs daily.

The Park Fire has grown to over 383,000 acres—that covers more than 600 square miles—making it the 5th largest wildfire in CA history to date, and is only about 14% contained.

Melanie left for Butte after her shift at WildCare late last Friday night and was on deployment through Monday night, resting up just in time to come back to WildCare to begin a week of busy hospital shifts. Assuming the Park Fire is still raging and creating the need for NVADG’s continued services, she will return to her deployment again next Friday night for another 3 day stretch.

WHOO wants to show off their awesome nature and wildlife photography and help wildlife at the same time?

Enter your best California nature and wildlife photos in WildCare's Living with Wildlife Photography Contest!

WildCare's photo contest is a great opportunity to share your favorite wildlife shots with a wide audience of appreciative nature lovers. Your photos will also help WildCare advocate for and educate about the wild animals with whom we share our environment.

The judged Best in Show photograph will win $500 and be featured in WildCare's print newsletter.

Prizes will also be given for first place in each of the four entry categories and for a People's Choice winner to be determined by an online vote. Our top five finalists in each category will also be printed in the WildCare newsletter.

To find out more about rules, entry fees, deadlines, and more, go to discoverwildcare.org/living-with-wildlife-photography-contest and enter your photos today!

📷 Steven Manfre

Do you love to learn everything you can about nature and wildlife and teach your friends and family tidbits of knowledge whenever you get the chance? Consider getting in on one of the most rewarding volunteer opportunities in the Bay Area and become a WildCare Terwilliger Nature Guide!

A background in science is not necessary—we will teach you everything you need to know to help elementary school-aged-children connect with nature in a fun and engaging way. Training sessions will familiarize trainees with WildCare’s hike locations and the plants and animals you may find on trail. Topics will include fascinating facts about local plants and animals, Coast Miwok culture, as well as basic redwood forest, grassland and oak woodland ecology. Just bring your interest and enthusiasm for sharing nature with children and we will guide you through the rest!

Go to https://discoverwildcare.org/volunteer/nature-guide-volunteers to learn more and apply today!