Wildlife Rehabilitation in Utah/Second Chance Wildlife Rehabilitation: It's sure busy around here.........

Tuesday, June 2, 2009

It's sure busy around here.........

Sorry for the delay in posting, but it's spring and that means baby season.

We have a lot of little orphans of many species, such as magpie's, squirrels, prairie dogs, finches, starlings, robins and more. This post will show a lot of those babies and Diane, one of my volunteers, feeding many of those babies. Diane is living on coffee right now!

The newest golden eagle has been named Zuma. He has quickly gotten his strength back and is now in the flight with Ivy and Fremont. Hopefully Ivy will be having surgery sometime in the next week or so. Right now due to how busy we are, scheduling surgery will be difficult. Once her pins are out, we can determine more about her prognosis.

We were finally able to get Glory transferred to the Zuni people. I've included pictures of that transfer. Nelson Luna, with Zuni Fish and Wildlife, New Mexico, met us in Moab, Utah for the transfer. It went great and I'll be checking in with Nelson in a few days

to see how Glory is adjusting. I hope she'll be happy in her new home.

We also got our little duck, Bubbles, released. After a lot of sub-cutaneous fluids and Dawn bubble baths, she finally got her strength back in her legs and became waterproof again and floated like a duck should float. I was glad we could help her get through this. It was a lot of work, but well worth it. Her release pictures will be in the next blog.
Last, but not least, a raven that was found by Diane that should

have still been in his nest, was rescued and brought here. There was no way to put him back into the nest, so we brought him here and cared for him. Diane had mentioned that she thought she knew where the nest was, so she and I took a drive and indeed, a large raven nest was near where Diane first saw the baby.

I decided to go back in the evening as the parents may return to the nest area to roost and after a little wait, there they were, so Connie went and picked up the baby and when she arrived, our raven started calling and the parents flew towards us. I told Connie to toss him and as she did, he joined his parents, flying and calling back and forth. It was wonderful. You could hear the joy and excitement between them. After awhile, they flew back to the cliff area near the nest and I sat and watched and listened to the exchanges between them. As I drove away, you could still hear the cawing back and forth; a family reunited. I love it when things work out like that!
Well, I'll get to the photo's. I will soon have to feed babies again!

Debbie

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ATTENTION

Spring is a very active wonderful time for all animals. Babies are born and learning what it takes to be wild from their parents. Unfortunately, many may end up in trouble and often times humans may try to intervene, whether or not it is necessary. The inexperienced human finding a baby bird, for instance, more than likely cannot tell if the bird is truely in need of help, or is learning to fly, something that can take a few days to master. Leaving the baby to learn what it needs is something an experienced birder can spot, but taking that baby home, thinking you're helping, when in fact, it is the worst thing possible for that baby, has now changed it's life forever.
Call a rehabilitator for answers. Yes, we want that baby to be safe from predators, but give that baby a chance. The worst thing that happens in these situations is an improper diet being fed by the 'rescuer'. This will result in death, if not right away, then in time, due to improper development. Different birds require different diets and different amounts of food at different times. Here is where a wildlife rehabilitators knowledge and experience makes all the difference. Don't try to do this yourself, only to attempt to find a rehabilitator as the baby is dying due to your 'efforts'. When they are at this stage, there is very little that can be done AND it is also illegal to attempt raising wildlife. Only a permitted wildlife rehabilitator can do this legally, for we know how to keep them wild and ready for release as well. Making them pets, besides being illegal is very selfish and is not what's best for the wildlife. They need to be free and have learned how to find the food they will need to survive in the wild and know what to avoid and learn the language of their species. There is a lot that goes into a successful rehabilitation and the orphans out there deserve the best chance possible. Don't you agree?

DID YOU KNOW...........

Wildlife rehabilitation is a profession borne of a love and concern for wild things everywhere. We wildlife rehabilitators have taken this many steps forward, increasing our knowledge, skills and techniques into a career that most people do not know exists. Most people assume that the work that a wildlife rehabilitator does is something all state wildlife agencies perform as state employees. This could not be further from the truth.
The reality is, all wildlife rehabilitation is done, in all 50 states, by us, wildlife rehabilitators. State and federal officials MAY occasionally pick up the patients that come to us, but they bring them to us at our homes and facilities, not their state or federal offices or vets offices.
Ours is a specialized field that primarily involves vet/medical expertise. No, we are not veterinarians, but many of us have extensive backgrounds in medicine (people and animals).
We also have vast backgrounds in the natural history of the patients we care for. Our work involves many fields. State and federal wildlife folks just don't have that training or background.
The other aspect of our work that is not known, is that we are not paid by anyone. Our patients don't 'belong' to anyone. They are wild beings. So when they have medical needs, there is no one to step up to this challenge except wildlife rehabilitators. Most of us work basically 24/7. Holidays are no exception. When an animal is hurt, it needs help now!
To top it all off, whatever expenses these patient incure, the bills are paid by us, for vet care, surgeries, medications, all of it. We build their homes and repair them as needed. All of our patients need something. They are not here to visit, they are in trouble. So imagine if you will......going to work everyday, driving your own vehicle to do that work and never getting a paycheck. OK, so maybe you can do that.....now imaging having a source of income from somewhere, now, this is where things get really different. When you get that money, you just turn it over to other people to pay for what your patients need, regardless of your financial needs!
This is wildlife rehabilitation.
We also are constantly pursuing continuous education of the latest finds in our field. We strive to be the best we can for those entrusted to us.
So please, support your wildlife rehabilitator in your area. They need it and believe me, it is very much appreciated.

Wildlife Rehabilitation in Utah/Second Chance Wildlife Rehabilitation

Tuesday, June 2, 2009

It's sure busy around here.........

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