Huge THANK YOU to North Berkeley BART

We'd like to acknowledge North Berkeley BART officials for their prompt action to reduce raptor casualties at their station.

Historically, small bird-eating hawks, like Coopers and sharp-shinned, would mistakenly fly inside the open building after prey, where they would become disoriented. Instinctively, looking to escape, they would fly upward, to what they perceived to be the sky, only to become trapped inside the glass 'top dome' of the station.

Thanks to Lisa Owens Viani, Development Director for Golden Gate Audubon Society and  WildRescue responder, for bringing this to the attention of BART officials. Thanks, also, to Rachel Whitman for documenting the last victim (shown here), and the resulting changes made to the station (below) to prevent such casualties.


As this photograph shows, netting now prevents birds from flying up into the dome.

THANK YOU, ONE AND ALL!

Celebration

We had a great turnout at our fundraiser yesterday at the Argonaut Hotel at Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco! Many thanks to everyone who showed up to support our efforts!

The program started just after 1:00 pm with a presentation of The Year In Rescues, which was a look back, through video and pictures, of the many wild animals rescued over the last 12 months.


It concluded with an awards ceremony, where individuals received Certificates of Recognition for their role in helping a wild animal. 








A few people received  the Purple Cape Award, honoring great acts of heroism. Only one Purple Cape recipient was present and able to receive his award. Dave Cogswell was honored for braving the silty bottom and shoulder-deep waters of the pond at the Palace of Fine Arts to save a young owlet from drowning. 


After the show, guests were treated to wild hibiscus champagne cocktails and an elegant display of hors d'oeuvres amid a fine selection of silent auction items. 

MANY THANKS TO OUR WONDERFUL VOLUNTEERS WHO WORKED THE EVENT, HELPING ENSURE GUESTS HAD A GREAT TIME!!!

After the event, in WildRescue fashion, responders, Winnie, Kelle, Duane, and Rebecca, set out in search of a reportedly injured female wood duck at Lloyd Lake. By the time they arrived and met with the RP, it was quite dark. Even so, they managed to find the duck, sitting on a log in the lake. After a few valiant tries, they lost sight of her and decided to call it a night and try again in the morning.

Cooper's Hawk rescue...

Today, Duane and Rebecca responded to a call about a Cooper's hawk that was stuck inside the large printing warehouse of the Wall Street Journal in Mountain View, CA. 

The bird was likely pursuing a small bird when it traveled into a loading dock before entering the cavernous building.

In the back, where the lights are on, the ceiling extends another
20' or so making it especially difficult to reach, or to flush out.

Thankfully, it was a Saturday and the web press was not in use - the facility was dark and quiet. One of the paper's longtime employees, Mitch, helped out with a forklift to get Duane high enough to reach the ceiling with a long-handled net. Confused in the darkness, the bird fell softly into the bag of the net.

Frightened, but in good shape, the hawk was immediately set free.

A new chapter in wildlife rehabilitation

WildRescue's director, Rebecca Dmytryk, spent the last few days at the International Wildlife Rehabilitation Council Symposium in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, where she gave a presentation on reuniting raptors. 


Rebecca was part of a seven-member panel of experts invited to speak and participate in a newly formed working group being sponsored by the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS). 

The group, spearheaded by veteran wildlife rehabilitator, Anne Miller, is hoping to make the process of reuniting of healthy wild babies an essential element of wildlife rehabilitation - not simply an option, but an obligation.

Entrapped Red-Shouldered Hawk RESCUED

It was first discovered Thursday - a young red shouldered hawk trapped inside a firetruck bay.

WildRescue was alerted Friday afternoon. On Saturday, one of our capture teams tried unsuccessfully to lure the bird to a trap. Finally, Sunday, the bird was captured and transported by WildRescue to Peninsula Humane Society.

After a couple of days under observation and treatment for dehydration, a WildRescue responder drove the hawk back to Half Moon Bay where it as released by Firefighter Bob. Check out the video below.

A huge Thank You! to PHS Wildlife Center staff for their quick and expert care of the hawk! 

Loss of a friend and colleague...

The world has lost a great human being - a kind, brilliant, smart-witted man who dedicated his life to the conservation of gibbons - the gangly, long-limbed arboreal apes of Southeast Asia - all endangered.

For those unfamiliar with his work, please visit the Gibbon Conservation Center web site.

Funeral services will be held at Groman Eden Mortuary, 11500 Sepulveda Blvd., Mission Hills, on Tuesday, November 8, 2011, at 10am.  In lieu of flowers, please make a donation to the Gibbon Conservation Center for its continued success.

WORLD LOSES LEADING APE CONSERVATIONIST
Alan Richard Mootnick, 1951-2011
A Savior of Endangered Apes  

Alan Richard Mootnick—one of the world’s foremost specialists and conservationists of gibbons—passed away on Friday, November 4, 2011, from complications following heart surgery.  He was 60 years old.

 Mootnick founded the non-profit Gibbon Conservation Center (GCC) in Santa Clarita, CA, in 1976, with the purpose to prevent the extinction of gibbons—small Southeast Asian apes—and to advance the study, propagation, and conservation of the species.

    

What started as a childhood fascination with gibbons developed into an important sanctuary, housing the largest gathering of endangered apes in the Western Hemisphere.  Completely self-taught in primatology, Mootnick was one of a team responsible for the identification and naming of the highly endangered Hoolock Gibbon.  

He published more than 30 articles in peer-reviewed journals and offered advice to zoos, government agencies, veterinary universities, and gibbon rescue centers throughout the world.  

Mootnick and his work touched countless individuals and institutions.  Hundreds of school children and students visit the Gibbon Conservation Center yearly, and the general public enjoys the annual “Breakfast With the Gibbons” fundraiser. 

Known for an eccentric style—gray-spotted beard, constant suspenders, and dry sense of humor—Mootnick was a person not easily forgotten... 

Red-Tailed Hawk Release

The red-tailed hawk that had been shot with a framing nail was returned to the wild on Wednesday. She had been in care at the Wildlife Center of Silicon Valley for about 10 days, undergoing treatment for her wound. 


The bird was returned to her home grounds at the San Francisco Botanical Gardens where she was captured on October 22. WildRescue's Director recounts the release:


It was an incredible release event - it could not have gone any better, and there are many people to thank for this. The Botanical Garden staff were wonderful. The Director of the Golden Gate Raptor Observatory went out of his way to be on hand to ring the bird with a federal identifying marker - a metal leg band. Her band number is 1957-02561.


We were also really honored to have Lieutenant Brown from the San Francisco Department of Animal Care and Control join us - his agency is continuing the investigation into the crime. We were also very pleased to have Phil Ginsburg, General Manager of San Francisco Recreation and Parks Department, who joined Lt. Brown in setting the hawk free.


After the door was opened, she hesitated a bit before taking off, landing in a tree just above a group of school chldren. She stayed in the tree for almost 20 minutes, much to the delight of the visitors and media.

While her behavior - her seeming indifference towards humans, might otherwise be cause for concern, this particular, individual bird seems to have adjusted to living around humans. This is just the way she is. Let's hope her acceptance of humans does not get her into more trouble.


We would like to keep track of her. Please feel free to report confirmed sightings to rescue (at) wildrescue (dot) org.

SF CHRONICLE 

SF EXAMINER

Continuing education

Deanna practicing gavage on a deceased grebe.

One of WildRescue's lead responders, Deanna Barth, attended an intensive, two-day course - Basic Wildlife Rehabilitation, offered by International Wildlife Rehabilitation Council. The class was held last weekend in Salinas.


While Deanna has been a veterinary assistant for 13 years, which came in handy during the workshop, she picked up some new skills that she can apply as a wildlife paramedic and wildlife SAR technician.

WildRescue will be offering Wildlife Search & Rescue training in beginning January, 2012. Click HERE for a flyer with upcoming dates and locations. Feel free to download and post it.


Click HERE to register for a training.

Entrapped hawks

This week we had two emergencies involving hawks that were trapped inside manmade structures. Unfortunately, it's not THAT uncommon a situation.


Accipiters, like the Cooper's hawk, can wind up inside buildings during their pursuit of small birds. Once inside, they instinctively head upward - often to the highest peak possible. Windows and skylights disorient and confuse the birds even further.

In some situations, it's possible for a hawk to find its way out - but it's very risky to delay a rescue. These high strung birds cannot last long - a few days, at the most, until they have exhausted themselves by flying around, looking for a way out, hitting against the ceiling and against panes of glass.

We lost a bird to this earlier in the week - a juvenile sharp-shinned hawk. 

The bird was first observed Monday afternoon at the North Berkeley BART Station. It was perched high up, in the tallest part of the building - a glass dome where the temperature during the day can become very high. 

Sadly, by the time a team of rescuers arrived, it was weak and in bad shape. It did not survive.

A second hawk - a juvenile Cooper's hawk, wound up inside the Whisman Sport Center gymnasium in Mountain View, CA, with a 45' high ceiling!

It was first observed Tuesday. We were alerted Thursday. No other entity in the area was able to respond - and we were only able to make the hour-long trek Friday morning. 

We knew the bird would be hungry and the best way to catch the bird would be to lure it into a trap. We set a spring-loaded box trap and a bal-chatri. We'd no more turned our backs after setting the devices, when he dove in.

This was our first time using this trap, but it worked pretty well. We need to make a few modifications, but it felt good to put the contraption to good use. You see, it was once used to trap and kill raptors. Authorities confiscated it as evidence - part of a sting operation. It was donated to WildRescue this year.

The hawk was driven immediately to the Peninsula Humane Society Wildlife Center, just down the street, where it received immediate care for dehydration. It was in good shape and was set free the next morning.

  

The doves employed in this operation have been adopted into a forever-home where they can live out their lives in a large aviary. Please read our live animal policy below:

POLICY ON USE OF LIVE ANIMALS FOR TRAPPING PREDATORS 

When attempting to rescue a wild animal that can only be captured using live bait as a lure, we face a secondary dilemma - how to employ the service of a live animal while maintaining the same concern for its welfare as we do for the animal we intend to capture. Below is WildRescue's policy on use of live animals in trapping exercises. 

1) During trapping exercises, WildRescue will employ the service of animals that are maintained in forever-homes. 

2) These animals, birds and small mammals, will be: a) personal pets; b) individuals that were spared euthanasia through a rehabilitation center; either because they are handicapped or nonnative - such as starlings, eurasian doves, pigeons, domestic or wild rats. 

3) Service periods will be limited - no individual animal will be placed in service two days in a row. 

4) During exercises, when not in service, animals will be provided adequate housing with appropriate food and water available at all times. 

5) All precautions will be taken to ensure animals are not physically harmed. If one is accidentally injured,it will be provided immediate medical attention.

We value any constructive feedback on our policies and procedures. 

Update on the 'nailed' hawk

Photo courtesy of Wildlife Center of Silicon Valley

Courtesy WCSV

We've had word from the wildlife hospital that the hawk is reportedly doing well - thin, but very, very alert and active. 

The nail that had been lodged in her head for nearly two weeks was found in the transport carrier - it came loose and dropped out during transit. Every once in a while during the drive to the hospital we heard a thump as she made an attempt to escape her padded carrier.

Photo courtesy of WCSV

We believe she sprang up and bumped the nail on the top of the carrier, dislodging it. There was no sign of additional trauma - no bleeding, thankfully. Since it had been about 2 weeks, the body encapsulated the foreign object, much like what happened with Pinky, the wild turkey that was shot through with an arrow. Read the story of his capture and recovery HERE.


The investigation into this act of cruelty is ongoing, being led by US Fish & Wildlife Service and the San Francisco Animal Care and Control.

Photo courtesy of WCSV

Radiographs and blood work revealed her to be in good shape. On Friday, she was moved to an outdoor flight enclosure so she can strengthen her flight muscles in preparation for release back to the wild, which is slated for Wednesday, November 2nd.

THANK YOU WILDLIFE CENTER OF SILICON VALLEY (WCSV)!!!

Check out WCSV's web site HERE.