island wildlife

N A T U R A L C A R E C E N T R E
Salt Spring Island, BC winter 2013

caring for bcs wildlife year

17

Broken owlet makes a remarkable recovery

photo-Jill Binder

What better way to kick off our 2013 newsletter than with our 1st rescued baby of the 2013 season! This Salt Spring Island nestling fell from its nest, and somewhere between the security of the nest and the harsh reality of the ground, sustained 2 broken wings and a broken leg. In case you are wondering, our patient in the tiny straight jacket is a Great Horned Owlet. Despite the perilous fall, luck was on the side of the owlet as x-rays revealed that none of the 3 fractures were life threatening and being such a young bird we were optimistic that she could overcome her injuries. After 2 surgeries by 2 separate veterinarians, long term expert care from the team at OWL (Orphaned Wildlife Rehabilitation Society) a bird of prey centre in Delta and as always, helicopter transportation courtesy of Norm Snihur, the once tiny broken owlet was returned to us, a fully flighted night hunter of the Salt Spring skies.

Its not easy being wild

If you love the Islandsyouve got to love our wildlife. Thousands of people live here and thousands more flock here just to be a part of island life for a few days. One of the many attractions is the opportunity to get up close and personal with our wild creatures. And to love our wildlife is to share a sense of responsibility for their well-being. It is exactly that sense of responsibility that drives Island Wildlife Natural Care Centre. Now well into our 17th year, we are one of only two marine mammal rescue and rehabilitation facilities in the country and the only one that rescues all speciesfrom songbirds to birds-of-prey; land mammals to marine mammals. We see healthy animals all around us, but every year there are thousands that become the tragic victims of being a wild thing in a modern world. Our cover girl, La Nia, was on her way to becoming one of those tragic victims. The Salish Sea offers spectacular natural environments for marine mammals. However, in recent decades Harbour Seals have frequently chosen to give birth on floating log booms outside of sawmills. For a tiny 14 pound orphaned pup, these log booms are treacherous. La Nia, a newborn Harbour Seal pup was observed alone all day by our faithful rescue volunteers Mony & Marinus Vesseur. As the tide ebbed and flowed the pup bobbed up and down between the massive logs narrowly escaping numerous crushing blows between the shifting logs. It is both extremely dangerous and illegal to walk on the booms, so the Vesseurs bided their time until the unsuspecting pup could be netted from the water. By evening, La Nia was safely tucked into her isolation tub back at the wildlife centre for the first night of a three month rehabilitation journey. Running a wildlife hospital is no simple task. Its a long journey from rescue to release for the hundreds of seals, otters, beaver, eagles, hawks, owls, songbirds, herons, raccoons, squirrels, deer, ducks and geese that make it to our centre each year. This year alone saw 600 patients admitted. It takes money and our patients have no owner to foot the bill. We rely on private donations now, more than ever before. Private donations are truly our lifes blood, making up more than 50% of our annual operating budget. We thank you for all your past help and we cross our fingers for your continued support in the coming year.
(La Nia photos - Mony Vesseur)

A few feathered & furred patients

As children of the 1950s know, cartoons always depicted the birth of baby animals as a stork gently placing them at the doorstep of Mrs. Raccoon or Mrs. Bunny. But when the stork left a tiny squalling bundle on Hedis doorstep on Galiano Island, he must have had a serious glitch in his GPS. (R) Hearing the high pitched wailing of a babe in need, maternal instincts drew her from the warmth of her home out into the night where she found a tiny, freshly born raccoon kit. On our advice, she made a cozy little box for the kit and followed the hardest advise of all - left it alone outside to see if mom would return and find her newborn. Well mom didnt return and the life of the kit was now our responsibility. Many wildlife centres simply wont admit newborn, eyes closed mammals. The time commitment and feeding regime is just too intensive. Our staff and interns were scheduled and the 8-to-10 feedings 24-hours a day began. Days and weeks passed. Protein and fat content in the formulae were tweaked according to his digestion and daily weight and gram by gram we slowly and meticulously grew a healthy, young raccoon.

(L) One of the cutest patients of the year was this tiny Western Fly Catcher. It was one of four nestlings in a nest that fell from a tree. All four survived and are now snapping up insects on the wing, somewhere on Salt Spring Island. (R) This young Bald Eagle from Thetis Island had been upgraded to our large flight enclosure for some badly needed exercise space to learn new flight skills. He was then transferred to North Island Wildlife Recovery to be with more eagle companions and to learn a little more about being a Bald Eagle before he was released back on Thetis. (L) Birthday girl Piper Douglas was not happy about giving up her feathered gift, found during her party this spring in Bright Angel Park in Duncan. This nestling Barred Owl was in good condition, however, due to circumstances, locating its nest was not feasible. Piper did a very good deed when she presented the Wildlife Centre with the owlet. She in fact, gave the Gift of Life. (R) Rarely seen by the casual observer, this young palm sized Virginia Rail was brought home by a house cat. In adulthood it will sport a long curved beak ideally suited for probing deeply into mud flats and marshes.

After rescue, critical and supportive care, many of our non-seal patients were transferred to neighbouring facilities for their long term rehabilitation. This was done so that we could focus our resources on this years Harbour Seal pupping season. The demands of rescuing and rehabilitating marine mammals is unlike that of any other species. By mid summer we had 9 interns and 3 staff members working around the clock solely to care for our seal patients and to arrange rescue, critical care and transportation for all other species. To this end, we owe a deep debt of gratitude to North Island Wildlife Recovery, Orphaned Wildlife Rehabilitation Society (OWL) and most of all, for so graciously accepting from us all manner of wild animals, the SPCAs WildArc.

Harbour Porpoise

Pacific Harbour Seal

Northern Fur Seal

California Sea Lion

Northern Elephant Seal

egacy September of l s a k i M & Zac back in

More than 1,200 pups rescued!

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Since 1997 when IWNCC became the first wildlife rehabilitation facility to also be granted a permit by Fisheries and Oceans to rescue and rehabilitate marine mammals, we have rescued, transported and administered intensive care to more than 1,200 orphaned Harbour Seal pups. And just to keep life interesting, weve also responded to distress calls for the occasional Elephant Seal, Fur Seal, California Sea Lion and we even rescued our 1st cetacean, a young Harbour Porpoise. As we think back over those hundreds of bedraggled sea creatures, they are surprisingly not just a 17 -year blur of around the clock tube feedings, intricate rescue and transport scenarios and hundreds of thousands of pounds of frozen herring being unloaded from trucks to be blended into herring smoothies. In fact, the details of so many of these cases are as clear as if the phone just rang. And one very critical aspect common to all of these struggles for life, is our rescue network. All of our expertise is meaningless if we dont bring in the animals...and bring them in quickly. Please take a couple of minutes and read the names of the kind folks that make all of this possible.

Cowichan Valley 17% Mainland 2%

Where did all those pups come from?

Were wild about our interns

Our summer intern program is always a global affair, with stellar representation this year from Canada, US, Brazil, Wales, The Netherlands, New Zealand and Portugal. A chorus of accents and languages added a certain je ne sais quoi to our regular cacophony of tweets, honks and splashes. We couldnt have asked for a better team than our interns of 2013. They were abundant in personality and skills and despite their diverse backgrounds and nationalities all became fast friends and a caring and conscientious wildlife team. We miss them already and cannot thank them enough.

Nanaimo & North 12% Saanich Pen. 4% N. Gulf Islands 5% Victoria 7%

Southern Gulf Islands 53%

Our 911 rescue team

911ers of Special Note
Thanks always to some very special people who always go above and beyond to help our creatures in need: Ed & Linda Harris; Tawny Molland; Mony & Marinus Vesseur; Reg Kirkham of Island Water Taxi; Dan Smith; Peggy & Jo Brackett; Mike Hoebel; Mike Kowalchuk; Robert Henriksen; GROWLS (Liz Ciocea; Shirley Highfill and all the Gabriola volunteers); Barbara DeBurgh; Bob Bobo Czarnowski; Michael & Carol Octoman

Pender Coast Guard Aux.; SSI school boat drivers; Thomas Schnare; Elizabeth (Bunny) Wilkes; Chuck & Marian Rennie; G.I. Marine Rescue Society & Royal Canadian Marine Search & Rescue Station 25 Ganges

Rescue By Air

Norm Snihur & Don Arney, helicopter pilots; Salt Spring Air; Harbour Air ; Hawkair; Tofino Air

Invaluable Vets

Rescue By Land

Catherine & Jim Atkinson; Brenda Axon; Claire Bouchard; Kristen Burrows; Eric Carlson; Jim Chapman; Kim Christie; Joan Colwell; Essa Comeau; Candace & Gordon Cornock; Charrone Douglas; Trysh Douglas; Susan Ellis; Robin Ferry; Bruce Field; Kris Fullbrook; Ishbel Galloway; Andreas Gedeon; Meredith Gedge; Sara Gibbins; Cindy & Ted Gnam; Jennifer Goodbrand; Terry Hansen; Diane Hardacker; Meredith Hawkins; Barb Biagi & Paula Courteau from Hornby Eagle Group; Patricia & Mel Huggins; Stephanie Human; David Jackson; Dr. Elizabeth Jaren; John Jefferson; Jennifer Jenkins; Deanna & Jason Kerr; Brian & Louise Krasowski; Isabelle & Nelson De Launiere; Fitz Lee; Patrice Leslie; Birthe Levie; Blythe MacDonald; Jen MacLellan; Doug Maynard; Deb McGovern; Beth Morris; Mill Bay Marina; Mike Miller; Sophie Miller; Dr. Martin & Pawli Model; Jackie Morton; Taryn Muldoon; Amanda Muller; Joanna Pollard; Cynthia Pronick; Seonaid Renwick; Diane & Paul Repath; Sally & Bill Roberts; Lynda Rowland; Elaine Shaw; David Smith; Jean Stewart; Joanne Stephenson; Theresa Stockman; Kassy Stockli; Sandy Stonge; Bette Tanner; Terry Valley; Megan White; Elka Wilhelm; Leigh Willis, Michelle Williams

Dr. Derrick Milton; Dr. Justene Tedder & staff of Gulf Islands Vet Clinic; Dr. Ken Langelier and staff of Island Vet Hospital; Dr. Ian Lawrie of Chase River Vet Hospital; Dr. Marnie Ford & Dr. Charlotte Keller of West Coast Veterinary Eye Specialists; Dr. Martin Haulena of the Vancouver Aquarium; Dr. Karina Skelton; Prevost Vet Clinic; Duncan Animal Hospital; Cobble Hill Animal Hospital; Chemainus Animal Hospital; Ladysmith Animal Hospital; Mill Bay Animal Hospital

Behind-the-Scenes

Growler Cove (Jim & Janice Kearly) our always reliable fish suppliers; Greg Dombowsky our webmaster; Arlene Nikiforuk for tallying our Country Grocer receipts every week; Pretzel Motors for keeping our vehicles roadworthy; our Salt Spring RCMP constables; Bryce & Romy Chapman for the valuable helicopter landing site; and for the generous donation of 3 additions to our rescue vehicle fleet this year: Bow Mel Chrysler Ltd. in Duncan, Charlotte Bowman & family and Georges Gagnon & family

Financial Support

Rescue By Sea

BC Ferries (esp. the Crofton-Vesuvius crew); Cpt. Nick Boychuck & staff of Eagle Eye Marine; John Cowan; Miranda & Kim Darwin; Ian Gidney; Dave Hargreaves; Ken Hunter; Trevor Mathews; Bill Mattin; Sheila and Peter Midgley; Kiyo Okuda

We are indebted to our major contributors: The Brigitte Bardot Foundation;The Eden Conservation Trust; BC Gaming; Pilar Bauta and W. Garfield Weston Foundation; and always our Salt Spring Angel. We are deeply thankful to many groups who have given generously during the year: Kern Partners; Physica Energetics; SEI Industries; C o u n t r y Groc er; Kathi Allinson & Alex Hope Elementary School;GROWLS ( G a b r i o l a Rescue of Wildlife Society); PAWS (Pender Animal Welfare Society) and all of the loyal donors w h o live in our communities.

Follow us on FaceBook and enjoy our year in photos! www.facebook.com/sealrescue

From rescue to release

About 10 days old with nothing to eat or drink since birth, this Harbour Seal pup is alone and dying from dehydration and starvation. Her life is hanging by a thread and the only thing that can make a difference is whether the people who found her get involved and call the Wildlife Centre, or just walk away.

Island Wildlife responds to emergency calls 24 hours a day, throughout the Gulf Islands, Vancouver Island and beyond. By car, boat, ferry or helicopter, animals in need are rushed to our facility. Unfortunately orphaned pups are frequently observed for many days before being reported to the Wildlife Centre.

After an initial weigh-in, each pup receives a thorough examination and health assessment, and is assigned an isolation tub where it will spend the next few weeks. Each tub is equipped with plumbing for warm baths, an infrared heat lamp to help skinny pups keep warm and a screened lid to keep pups in and insects out.

The most immediate threat to an orphaned pups life is dehydration. To counter this we administer an electrolyte solution. The most effective method to rehydrate a pup is via a tube directly into the stomach. Frequently additional fluids are injected under the skin at the back of the neck, and the most critical cases will receive fluids directly into a vein.

Within 4-to-6 hours a pup is on its way to becoming rehydrated. It is now time to add a little nutrition to the tube feedings. Our famous herring smoothies are made up of a recipe of ground herring, salmon oil, lecithin, vitamin supplements, herbal tinctures and additional fluids. This is all whipped together in the largest blender in the Gulf Islands.

Around the clock care is an expression thrown about commonly, but at Island Wildlife it is our mantra. In addition to our 26 isolation tubs theres the isolation chair. Frequently a staffer sits tub side and observes a critical pup. It is not uncommon for the seal crew to arrive at work the next morning to find that chair still occupied.

Once a pup has completed a mandatory isolation period, has had all of its health issues successfully dealt with and poses no health threat to the other pups, it is time to move to one of our 7 rehabilitation pools. It is at these fresh water pools where the pups transform themselves from skinny orphans to robust Harbour Seals.

Eating herring off the bottom of a blue swimming pool is not the most natural thing for a seal to do. Often it is a long, painstaking task requiring gentle force feedings which graduate into hand feedings. Free feeding is a milestone in the rehabilitation process. It is from this point on that the seal pup begins to pack on the pounds.

In the wild, 55 to 60 pounds is about the weight that a pups mother would wean her offspring by swimming off and leaving it to fend for itself. We too choose that weight to return our pups back to the sea. With all of the care and nurturing behind, it is now up to the pups natural instincts and good fortune to see it through the coming months and years.

Creating a myth

by Jeff Lederman
Renowned scientist John Calambokidis, from Cascadia Research says, I do think agencies overplay the chances that pups will be reunited with their mothers. There have been anecdotal reports of mothers returning to get their pups but I am not sure on the validity of these. I also think it is important to consider whether there is a rehabilitation center able and willing to take pups. In most areas there are far more orphaned pups than could ever be cared for. These factors have made the exaggerated statements about the chances of pups being reunited a convenient excuse for leaving the animals alone. Occasionally members of the public pick up pups in distress without first seeking official approval. Upon admission to a care facility, these pups are frequently logged in as an unauthorized pickup or human intervention. In no way do these classifications indicate that these were not seal pups in desperate need of rescue. However, when trying to build a case against rescuing orphaned pups, these unauthorized pickups conveniently become pup-nappings and the myth gains more momentum. This summer the website of a major BC animal welfare organization stated: Like many other wild animals, seal mothers leave their pups alone for short periods of time while they return to the water to look for food. For this reason, wildlife rehabilitation centres care for many kidnapped seal pups each year healthy pups that are mistakenly thought to be orphaned or abandoned. Now Im used to reading that moms supposedly leave vulnerable newborn pups alone on the beach, but what caught my attention was, wildlife rehabilitation centres care for many kidnapped seal pups each year! As the founder of one of the two permitted marine mammal rehabilitation facilities in Canada, I would know if this was happening at my facility and it is not. I made a casual inquiry to the other permitted seal facility and as I would have guessed, their experience mirrored ours. So why is this erroneous information so persistent and why do we even care? We care because we are human and as humans we should always be outraged by the needless suffering of any animal. And as for the persistence of this misinformation; perhaps it is just the power of mythology.

If you touch a baby bird, its mother will reject it and the baby will die. How many of us grew up believing that little bit of mythology? Some of you still may, but let me assure you, it is a myth. Birds for the most part have a poorly developed sense of smell and just dont know that youve touched their baby. This myth probably began as a very effective way to keep children from bringing home little wild things. And once something is repeated often enough, it just becomes fact. Most of us here on the coast have been told that seal mothers routinely leave their newborn pups unattended on a beach and go off in search of fish, allowing misinformed do-gooders the opportunity to rescue the animal, thus making an orphan of it. Sounds feasible I suppose. Repeated often enough through sources, like government agencies, animal welfare organizations, and the internet and it too becomes fact. My passion for seals and my participation in the rescue and rehabilitation of seals began over twenty years ago. From my first pupping season, I became immediately aware that what I had been told was fact, was being contradicted daily by the reality of the pups that were being admitted into the rehabilitation centres. These pups were not fat, healthy victims of pup-napping, they were suffering from life threatening infections and serious traumatic injuries. They were undergoing hypoglycemic convulsions, levels of dehydration and malnutrition that defy survival and were on a beach alone, motherless and enduring vicious dog attacks, birds pecking their eyes and tourists posing for pictures and pushing them back into the ocean. Now, 20 years and well over 1,200 seal pups later, I could not feel stronger in my convictions that pup-napping is largely a myth in British Columbia, and that we have been knowingly misinformed. Marine mammal rescue centres are an expensive proposition and prior to Island Wildlifes opening in 1997, there was only one such facility in the country. So, how would you deal with the hundreds of orphaned pups that locals and tourists happen upon during the summer months? Like the child that wants to bring home the baby bird they just found; you say if you touch it, it will become an orphan. And when you speak to the media you drive that point home again and again. And before you know it, you have created a myth.

photo - Mony Vesseur

Jeff Lederman....Founder, Jackie Ballerone....Director, Marielle Bonnet....Marine Mammal Specialist Pedro Baranda ....Marine Mammal Rehabilitator, Tawny Molland.... Rehabilitation Assistant Board of Directors: Dr. Derrick Milton, Diana Hayes, Rosemary Partridge, Dawn Henderson 2013 Interns: Sanne Waterval, Laura Martinelli, Kelly Beffa, Colleen Dwyer, Jill Binder, Jacque Wilton, Valter Gonalves, Barbara Righetti, Lauren Hughes, Simone Davidson, Amy Klein
322 Langs Road, Salt Spring Island, BC V8K1N3 Phone: 250-537-0777 E-mail: [email protected] Facebook.com/sealrescue

Thank you to the following organizations for their critical and continuing support:

Please join our rescue efforts

We know many people would love to assist in our efforts to save wild lives, but not everyone can rescue an animal or provide its care. You can help though in a way just as important as stitching a wound, pinning a broken bone or feeding an orphaned baby from dawn till dusk. Through a tax deductible donation, you will help ensure our centre continues to operate and that we never have to turn away a needy animal. As grants from foundations continue to dwindle, we have come to rely more and more on private donations. Now our community donations make up nearly 50% of our annual budget. We know how fortunate we are to live and work surrounded by such caring individuals and we are often overwhelmed by your generosity. We want you to know that 100% of all private donations go directly towards the cost of animal care. Thanks to a great deal of volunteerism, our administration costs are always very low, but nonetheless we use operating grants not donations to cover them. So please join us by making a donation today, either by cheque, credit card or through CanadaHelps. And well keep stitching those wounds and feeding those orphans.
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We are now able to accept automated monthly donations through CanadaHelps on-line at www.sealrescue.org 322 Langs Road, Salt Spring Island, BC V8K1N3 Phone: 250-537-0777 E-mail: [email protected] www.sealrescue.org Facebook.com/sealrescue Charitable #888706140RR001