WHAT A WONDERFUL WORLD!
The gorgeous young coyote you see here being released did not look so great when he was admitted to the Suisun Wildlife Center. He was orphaned, thin, and weak, and would not have made it much longer on his own.
Thanks to the devoted care of Wildlife Center staff, he was able to be released as you see here back to his wild, free life. He will be able to fulfill his function in the ecosystem of being one of the best rodent carchers around!
It is a pleasure and a privilege to care for wildlife, especially in peak moments like this release. But we never forget that it would be impossible for us to perform our work without your help! As a non-profit, your donations make it possible for us to save wildlife – and we are very grateful!
THANK YOU SO MUCH!
Our heartfelt thanks to everyone who has donated to support hummingbird care – we were able to purchase all three formulas! Fun facts about hummingbirds: their wings beat at 40-50 times per second, and because they possess a unique rotating shoulder joint, they are the only birds that can fly backward!
Humingbirds have been given names as bright as they are – a group is not called a flock, but a bouquet, a glittering, a shimmer, or a tune of hummingbirds. Our favorite is the Brazilian name “beja-flor”, or “flower kisser”.
Watch closely and you will see in the video not just one but two species of hummers, our resident Anna’s Hummingbird and the Rufous Hummingbird, which comes through our area in spring and fall on its amazing annual migration spanning the distance from Alaska to Mexico - not bad for a bird no larger than a ping-pong ball and no heavier than a nickel!
YES, WE STILL HAVE BABIES!
While many birds and animals have completed their reproductive season by now, some go longer than others! Squirrels particularly seem to have expanded the season into earlier in spring and later in fall each year for many years now.
Ground Squirrels, like the one seen here, are still in home care as well as Fox Squirrels like the tiny baby that was admitted in July weighing only 20 grams. Now our task is to try and get them raised and into outdoor caging soon enough so that they can be released this year – wish us luck!
THERE ARE NOT ENOUGH WAYS TO THANK YOU!
Thank you for responding so generously and kindly on Giving Tuesday to support wildlife rescue and care! We will continue to work toward to restoring both care facilities and display enclosures until we are fully equipped and able to welcome all of you back as visitors!
Every day, with your help and that of so many volunteers and wonderful groups, we get closer to normal as it used to be. But every now and then, it feels like it’s one step forward, one step back. Recently our Wildlife Center dryer, which is only used when laundry can’t be hung out, (under pain of death😊) decided to go wherever dryers go when they die. To replace it was, of course, an unexpected expense, along with some repairs needed for our alarm system.
So we are, as always, tremendously grateful for your support for this labor of love we are lucky enough to be able to do. Again, there are not only enough ways, but no way to be able to tell you all how much you mean to us – our Wildlife Center family!
WILD WEDNESDAY – WE’RE CRAZY ABOUT BATS!
We love bats for their beauty and mystery, and for all the wonderful things they do for us. They are insectivores, who eat their weight in insects every night; pollinators that ensure the survival of many species of plants; and fruit eaters that aid in the distribution of plant seeds. They are the only flying mammal, and there are over 1400 species – only rodents have more species! We have 16 species in the Bay Area.
A group of bats is called a cauldron (double, double, boil and bubble) and the largest known group is found in Bracken Cave in Texas, not only the largest colony of bats but the largest concentration of mammals on Earth – over 15 million!
Bats live in the wild up to 20 years, and a tiny bat in captivity in Siberia set the world record at 41 years. Their speed varies, but some bats can fly at 120 miles an hour, echolocating their weight in insects!
There is this device called a Botbox - which is actually a bat detector. The box picks up the signals from the bats and converts them to audible sounds. The user can set it to different frequencies used by bats. We found out that the Big Brown Bat (Eptesicus fuscus) sends out frequencies of 45-50Khz. We set the box to 48Khz while on a recent trip and recorded the audio (turn up the sound!) – Big Brown Bat pictures added. It was a thrill to be able to hear them.
After rain after many days without rain,
it stays cool, private and cleansed, under the trees,
and the dampness there, married now to gravity,
falls branch to branch, leaf to leaf, down to the ground
where it will disappear - but not, of course, vanish
except to our eyes. The roots of the oaks will have their share,
and the white threads of the grasses, and the cushion of moss;
a few drops, round as pearls, will enter the mole’s tunnel
and soon so many small stones, buried for a thousand years,
will feel themselves being touched.
Mary Oliver - “Lingering in Happiness”
WILD WEDNESDAY – BONUS BABIES!
It’s not too often that we see something we’ve never seen before. That happened recently when a native Western Pond Turtle was in the Center for care. Imagine our surprise when one morning we found eggs in the tank she (obviously) was housed in!
We decided to see if we could hatch out some of them, which would not be possible in a tank, and transferred them to a small incubator. The eggs are not supposed to be moved after laying, but she had already moved them around in the tank, so we felt there was no harm in trying.
Everyone was delighted when two of them hatched out perfectly! Since turtles receive no parental care after hatching, the babies were released back into the marsh where they would have naturally started life – we wish them long lives!
WILD WEDNESDAY – FUN WITH A FOX!
WILD WEDNESDAY – FUN WITH A FOX!
This baby Grey Fox was raised and released by us a couple of years ago. It is easy to see what special and wonderful animals these are in this video!
Foxes, like much of our wildlife, are being especially hard hit in this summer of drought. We have had several come in that died very quickly, so they were sent to a lab for testing. These tests are expensive but can help us determine what is happening with the animals.
All costs associated with wildlife care are going up, as well as basic costs like water and power. If you can help with a donation, we would be very grateful. Without all of you, we would not be able to continue the effort to care for wildlife!
A DELIGHT FOR KAIU!
With the assistance of one our supporters, LaVonne Joyce, we have been able to make significant improvements to Kaiu’s cage! The first step was to take down the barrier between his cage and the neighboring cage, giving him twice as much room and a structure in the back for him to rest under. This required quite a bit of work, but the results were great – he was a happy Coyote!
Misters were also installed in the cage to help him deal with the heat. And what you see here was from his reaction his favorite part of all, putting in some sod! Like everything else right now, the sod was not easy to get, but we think he’s showing us that it was well worth the effort!
READY, SET, GO!
Tune in tomorrow morning at 9:00 to help us celebrate our 2021 BABY ANIMAL SHOWER! Everyone has been faced with difficulties in the last year, and it is time for a celebration!
We are so grateful for all of you, and we are working on getting things going again so that we can enjoy programs with you soon. Watch our posts tomorrow to find out what we’re planning!
WILD WEDNESDAY – BABY ANIMAL SHOWER SATURDAY!
Hey! Join us on Facebook this Saturday to hear about this year’s babies (so far!), how rebuilding is continuing, and our plans (fingers crossed!) for reopening – we miss you!
We’ll check in Friday night at 8:00, and then the fun will start Saturday at 9:00 am! Items can be dropped off between noon and 3:00 pm on Saturday- if possible, please mail in or send any donation you might wish to make online – thanks!
