Animals in Trouble Archives | Pacific Wildlife Care

As I was paddling my SUP (standup paddleboard), checking up on wildlife in the San Simeon Cove, I noticed a very young deer on a hidden beach that is almost impossible to climb out of (steep and fragile)…I call it ‘paddler’s beach’ and have had many animals get stuck there or claim it during the…

Every spring, baby animals that have been orphaned or injured because their nests were damaged or removed arrive at Pacific Wildlife Care. Most people are appalled to find they have caused these accidents, especially when the injury to wildlife is so easy to prevent: just procrastinate! Wait until nesting season is over. It really won’t be…

AB 1031 NATIVE CA WILDLIFE REHABILITATION VOLUNTARY TAX CONTRIBUTION FUND AB 1031 was passed by the California legislature and signed by Governor Brown on October 5, 2017. This bill adds a checkbox under Voluntary Tax Contributions on your personal income tax form to designate a tax-deductible amount in excess of their personal tax liability that…

Most residents of San Luis Obispo County have no idea what would happen if there was an oil spill nearby either on the ocean off our county, or inland. The Refugio Oil Spill was a pipe disaster, which just happened to be close to the ocean. We have no oil pipes running through San Luis…

Journeys of Discovery with Tom Wilmer by Tom Wilmer, March 27, 2017 aired on KCBX radio Meg Crockett and Kathleen Dillon, board members of Pacific Wildlife Care based in Morro Bay, share insights about the organization’s mission and events surrounding the May 2017 30th anniversary celebration scheduled for May 13th in Mission Plaza San Luis…

If your trees and bushes will need pruning this year, now is the time to do that pruning, in between storms! Oh, but you want to wait until spring, don’t you? It will be warmer weather, and birds will be out singing and building their nests. Yes, that is exactly why it wouldn’t be a…

Our hotline received several calls during a four-day period concerning a cormorant with a large object hanging from his beak. Our volunteers and various other people tried to rescue him more than once, but he was elusive and often hopped into the ocean when approached. Finally he was seen near a street corner away from…

Story written by PAMELA HARTMANN in 2013. An eagle does not often crash through a windshield, nor is it often that Game Warden Teri Hickey happens to be driving by a scene at the perfect moment, exactly when needed. But both occurred the Monday before Thanksgiving, 2013. In the early evening of November 25, a woman…

BY MARCELLE BAKULA. It’s springtime, and with it comes an opportunity to remind San Luis Obispo residents what that means for our local wildlife and our human impact on them. We all remember learning in school about how spring is the time of renewal, including nests and every bird and mammal having babies! Well, this is…

Pacific Wildlife Care

21 hours ago

Freedom Friday! This Anna’s Hummingbird came into our clinic very lethargic after being trapped indoors. She was given a formula designed for hummingbirds and warmed up. She then started to improve dramatically. After a day in our care, she was ready to go back to her wild home.
Hummingbirds are fascinating animals with even more fascinating metabolic demands. Their wings can flap around 70 times a second and their heart can beat over 1,000 times a minute. In order to sustain all of this, they need to eat almost every half hour which is why most people always see them feeding. In times when they can’t feed, like at night or during a storm, they will go into a state of torpor which is essentially an energy saving mode where their temperature drops and their metabolism decreases.
We wish this female hummingbird a second chance at life and many more nectar filled flowers. 🌸🌷🌺

Thank you to volunteer, JoAnn S., for releasing this bird and to Sarah R. for the video. 🙂

#wildlife #hummingbird #annashummingbird #wildliferelease #freedomfriday #homesweethome ... See MoreSee Less

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That was great!

You all are amazing.

Is this the hummingbird from a Paso Robles winery vacation rental house?

So cute!🌸

Back you go, dear friend! 💚

Rhonda Sims

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Pacific Wildlife Care

2 days ago

If you have a travel trailer, horse trailer, boat, or camper please read this shared advice to help save nesting wildlife. 🐣 ... See MoreSee Less

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Pacific Wildlife Care

4 days ago

PWC has received several calls recently about a fox at Cloisters Park in Morro Bay. The Cloisters area is normal habitat for foxes. Grey foxes, especially the young ones, are curious and do not tend to have a great fear of people like other wildlife do.

PWC volunteers have checked on the fox and report that, other than the possibility of a mild case of mange, the fox appears healthy and is not currently in need of rescue by PWC.

Please do not engage with the fox in any way and avoid the fox if possible, in order to ensure wildlife stays wild and does not become habituated to humans which often has unintended negative consequences for wild animals.

For more information about wildlife, please contact Pacific Wildlife Care directly at 805-543-WILD (9453). ... See MoreSee Less

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Yes! Please give it space! Our friendly fox was euthanized in Arroyo Grande. Leave them be.

All wildlife needs to be left alone! People keep doing stupid crap that ends up getting the animal killed! Let them be free and happy!

This means do not feed them for those that do!

What a beautiful creature ! Kinda looks like a cross between a dog & a cat !

Just leave it be.❤

The is photo of Fox someone posted. Does the mange go away on its own?

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Pacific Wildlife Care

1 week ago

Freedom Friday! A special wildlife release and story by one of our volunteers...

Extraordinary Hawk of an Extraordinary Age

On a cold winter morning, four PWC volunteers gathered at the edge of a field for a big event in the life of Red-tailed Hawk 2681: release back to the wild. We set down the carrier, opened the gate, and stood back, silent, excited, and tense. This bird was enormous, the 747 of hawks, and there wasn’t the slightest breeze to help with lift.

On arrival at PWC two months earlier, this bird was far from enormous. The gender couldn’t even be determined. At only 890 grams, was this a male or a very skinny female?

Another mystery: the federal band on the hawk’s leg. Following regulations, veterinarian Shannon Riggs reported the band information to the USGS Bird Banding Lab at Patuxent Wildlife Research Center through their website. The lab responded with information that the bird had hatched in Solano County in 1999. From then on, everyone at PWC referred to #2681 as “our elderly bird.” However, given the extraordinary age of the bird based on the band information, the lab was initially dubious about the correctness of the information provided. Official recognition of the band’s information as legitimate was received recently on March 19.

The bird was emaciated, severely dehydrated, and depressed. Test results revealed parasitism and and liver dysfunction, but little information about the cause of the bird’s poor health. With so little evidence, Dr. Riggs says, it’s “hard to know what’s right for the bird,” but it was important “to give the bird a chance.”

Two weeks later, after fluids, medications, a blood transfusion, and a healthy diet, the hawk was “still very thin” but “snippier,” Dr. Riggs reported. In a raptor, snippy is good.

Three weeks after that, the bird had gained weight and responded well to treatment. Dr. Riggs called in the Creance Team to check flight ability and provide conditioning. (The word creance, from French, refers to the line to which the bird is attached for exercise.) Now at 1,680 grams (clearly a female), Red-tailed Hawk 2681 would have been challenging to handle out on the exercise field if she hadn’t been so cooperative. On all ten flights in this session and two subsequent sessions, she flew beautifully, with strength and perfect form. Our elderly hawk was cleared for release.

On the cold, windless day of her release, she weighed 1,740 grams. The huge bird emerged from the carrier . . . and stumbled. There was a sharp intake of breath from four anxious humans. But then the bird planted herself firmly on the ground and paused before lifting off. She flew low across the open field. Nearing the far side, like a 747 reaching the end of a runway, she pulled up just in time—and rose to the top of the highest tree.

Story by Pam H.
Video by Morgan N. and Kathy S.

#freedomfriday #redtailedhawk #wildlife #backhome #elderlybird #homesweethome #wildliferelease #wildliferehab ... See MoreSee Less

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I, too, recognized Pam's writing before I saw her name at the end. Pam isn't on FB, but I'll tell her we recognized her work!

Wow, 22 years old. Great job getting her back home.

interesting account.

Great post, thank you.

I could watch this on repeat all night!! May we all aspire to clear the tallest tree like a soulful 747, just as lucky RT 2681 has.

Amazing

Beautiful!!

Pam H.- I recognized your writer’s voice. Thank you for the wonderful story!

Just wonderful!

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Pacific Wildlife Care

1 week ago

We are thrilled to announce--with our friends at Oak and Otter Brewing Co.--a new brew starting in April: Keeping It Wild IPA! $2/pint will be donated to PWC to support our work to keep SLO County wildlife wild! Pouring now until the beer runs out. 🍻 Cheers! 🍻 ... See MoreSee Less

Animals in Trouble

A Nearly Impossible Rescue

Spring Reminders – Keeping Wildlife Safe

Helping CA Wildlife – AB 1031

What If There Were an Oil Spill Here?

Pruning Time is Here Again

Seabirds and the Hazards of Fishing

A Tale of Two Eagles

Springtime Reminders