Paws 'N Claws
News from All Things Wild Rehabilitation, Inc.
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What's in this issue:
Why Birds are Amazing
2020 was a Wonderful Year
Watch Us on YouTube
Basic Wildlife Rehabilitation Class
Annual Wildlife Rehabilitation Education Symposium
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Why Birds Are Amazing
by Shan Donau
Shan with Lucy, an eastern screech owl.
Birds have captivated the human imagination for thousands of years from the calliope hummingbird, which only measures up to three inches, to the majestic whooping crane, which is an inch taller than the average 6-year-old child.
My interest in birds started when I first began working at All Things Wild a year ago. I had just moved from Arizona to Texas 5 months prior to this. The moment I laid eyes on two of our ambassador raptors at the time, Lucy, an eastern screech owl, and Harriet, a red-tailed hawk, it felt like something in me changed. Like a light switch. It was almost like something inside of me was saying, “This is what you were meant to study.”
You may be wondering what caused my mind to click the moment I met Lucy and Harriet. Well it’s this. When you actually get to know a creature, you get to know what they’re really like. You get to see a beauty in them that most people don’t pay attention to. When you look into a bird’s eyes, you are looking into the eyes of a creature that has been on this planet for 60 million years. That’s more than 59 million years before humans walked the Earth.
When I interact with birds, I observe everything about them; how they interact with their environment, how they communicate with one another, how they forage. When you study an animal, you build a unique connection with them. A connection like nothing else. A connection that’s unforgettable. When I go out to see our ambassador crows, Abbott and Costello, I watch and see how they react to the videos I show them on my phone. It’s almost human like. They are very absorbed in the videos and start showing signs of great interest in them. With crows, they can pick up on stuff like what you’re doing, what you’re watching on a tv or a mobile device, what you’re saying. If you repeat a phrase enough times around them, they may eventually pick up on that phrase and repeat it in a way that’s very similar to parrots.
So, the next time you see a bird, just think about how amazing these guys are. Even the tiniest ones have a huge story. They migrate thousands of miles, conquering wind, predators, and bad weather just to get to their destination. And nobody can figure out how they do it. That’s exactly why birds are so amazing.
Some birds are not meant to be caged, that's all. Their feathers are too bright, their songs too sweet and wild. So you let them go, or when you open the cage to feed them, they somehow fly out past you. And the part of you that knows it was wrong to imprison them in the first place rejoices, but still, the place where you live is that much more drab and empty for their departure. ---Stephen King
Sources:
About the Author: Shan joined All Things Wild a year ago and has become a valuable asset to our rehabilitation effort, especially the birds. As a high-functioning person with Asperger's Syndrome, which is on the autism spectrum, Shan has always been keenly interested in animals. She holds an associate’s degree from the University of Arizona and worked in the Entomology Department at the university. Currently, while learning about birds, she is documenting how many wild birds she can identify in one year, a personal challenge known as A Big Year.
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Would you believe 2020 was a Wonderful Year?
Almost no one thinks 2020 was a wonderful year. What with the pandemic, economy, and other problems, we were collectively happy to say goodbye and good riddance to 2020. However, it was a good year for many wild animals who got a second chance at All Things Wild.
Raccoons raised from tiny, orphaned babies are released along the San Gabriel River.
2020 was our second year to operate in our new wildlife rehabilitation center that we opened north of Georgetown in March 2019. During the year, we took in 2,012 wild birds and animals, helping many to heal and be released. Our supporters donated close to $140,000, and we spent over $110,000 caring for wildlife. Our largest expense was the payroll for our wonderful, dedicated, hard-working staff who provided compassionate care, cleaned cages, fed birds and animals, answered the phone, provided oversight of our volunteers, and literally knocked themselves out busy day after busy day. Our heartfelt thanks go to our Wildlife Veterinary Technician, Amber Ringwood, and Wildlife Care Technicians Kaela Jones, Ella Krail, April May Walston, and Sara Garcia.
Ella checks on our blind education opossum Stevie.
Our second largest expense was wildlife care where we spent over $21,000 on fresh food and baby animal formula along with medicine, wound care, and vet bill reimbursements. Other large expenses included repair, maintenance, and utilities.
Bowls of fresh food await delivery to wild animals in rehabilitation.
Our volunteers contributed immensely to our mission. Some of our volunteers have been with us since before our center opened, when we were still rehabilitating in our homes, and other volunteers, who joined us this year, have turned out to be kickass workers. We could not have done it without you! Thank you!
Our volunteers are invaluable when it comes to feeding babies.
The All Things Wild Rehabilitation Board of Directors met six times during the year on Zoom doing the business of the nonprofit and keeping things running smoothly. Our thanks for hard work and dedication go to Lisa Donau, Kim Fross, Maya Higa, Garth Hillman, Helen Laughlin, Vicki O’Connor, Michael Pazienza, Roger Rucker, Ruth Rucker, and Becky Vietz. Special thanks goes to Treasurer, Ruth Rucker, who not only kept our accounting books up to date but also maintained an Excel spreadsheet with data on every bird and animal that came into the center.
Our third annual Winter Party for Wildlife on December 5 raised close to $12,000, the most money ever raised for that event. The committee of Lisa Donau, Kim Fross, Maya Higa, and Michael Pazienza worked to make it a success, especially the virtual program on Facebook and the raffle. Much appreciation goes to Michael who set up the online raffle and who filmed and edited the virtual program seen on Facebook. The center tour and education programs on our ambassador raccoons, opossums, and screech owl can now be viewed on YouTube by searching for All Things Wild Rehabilitation. (See also the following article for links to the videos.)
Ambassadors Cricket and Mojang were two of the stars in the virtual program.
Maya Higa and Ella Krail started a wonderful enrichment program for our education animals, all of whom are non-releasable. Click here for a link to last month’s newsletter article about the enrichment program. Also, we built a beautiful new home for our ambassador raptors with funds raised by Maya. Since they have to spend their lives in captivity, the non-releasable birds and animals should have interesting things to do and a nice place to live. Now an integral part of life at All Things Wild are eastern screech owl Ginger; American crows Abbot and Costello; blue jay Mordecai; raccoons Mojang and Cricket; opossums Penelope and Stevie; eastern fox squirrel Ozzie; striped skunk Teddy; and tortoises Speedy and Gopher.
Teddy, the education skunk, investigates a jar of bells as part of his enrichment program
Because of Covid, we only did a few virtual education programs in 2020, but Roger Rucker, our education director, and the staff and volunteers are eager to provide more wildlife education programs in 2021 once life returns to normal. We started raising funds for an ATW Education Center and have set aside $12,500 to date. With a goal of $75,000, we hope to begin construction in 2021. Everyone is so committed to making wildlife education a huge priority as a way to conserve our native wildlife and to protect them from harm from people and their pets.
And, finally, our donors and grant funders made 2020 such a good year. One kind woman in Austin, who administers grant funds for her family charitable foundation, called in early 2020 and told us that she is sending us some money because she knew we would need it. We are so grateful to everyone who donated to us whether it was $1 or $10,000. Thank you so much! You are the BEST!
Here’s to 2021 and an even better year for wild animals and ATW!
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Watch Us on YouTube
Episodes from our virtual program streamed on Facebook on December 5 are now available to watch on YouTube. Click on the pictures below to go to the adult- and kid-friendly YouTube videos.
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Basic Wildlife Rehabilitation Class
February 17-22, 2021
ATW will be hosting a virtual class on wildlife rehabilitation presented by instructors from the International Wildlife Rehabilitation Council (IWRC). The lab portion of the class will be in person at our center in Georgetown or online, depending on your preference. The classes, which will be streamed live in the evening and taped for watching at other times, will include topics on:
- Introduction to wildlife rehabilitation
- Basic anatomy and physiology
- Calculating fluid therapy
- Handling and physical restraint
- Stress and the basic shock cycle
- Initial care and physical examination
- Standards for housing
- Zoonoses
- Euthanasia criteria and release criteria
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Annual Wildlife Rehabilitation
Education Symposium
Each winter, All Things Wild volunteers and staff travel to the annual education symposium held by the National Wildlife Rehabilitation Association (NWRA). Last year the symposium was at a hotel on the beach in South Padre, and many of us drove down for a week of excellent field trips, classes, labs, and networking with wildlife rehabilitators from all over the country. The 2021 symposium was scheduled for February 24-29 in Wilmington, Delaware, and we were looking forward to visiting Tri State Bird Rescue & Research in Newark, DE, and spending a week honing our rehabilitation skills; however, thanks to you-know-what, the symposium will not be in person this year but will be streamed online in February.
For more information on the 2021 symposium clink here.
FYI, the 2022 symposium is scheduled for Madison, Wisconsin, and 2023 will be in Wilmington, Delaware. Join us!
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