Tag: werc

This has been a difficult summer for wildlife and the folks who care for them. Northern California is once again in the midst of a record-setting drought. The Santa Clara Valley Water District reports that Santa Clara County's reservoirs are at less than three-fourths of their average August capacity. As early as April, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration reported that our temperatures in the coming months were expected to be above normal and our rainfall considerably below normal. That prediction has been accurate; despite some cool days this summer, we are in the midst of one of the driest, warmest seasons on record.

Morgan Hill is becoming THE summer destination for some really adventuresome wild animals. Just last month, I wrote about the yellow-bellied marmot who hitched a ride on a car from the Eastern Sierra to Morgan Hill. This month's adventure story is about a backpacking peregrine falcon who found our south Bay Area location a perfect spot for a little R & R (rest and recuperation).

Last week the California Council for Wildlife Rehabilitators reported a major positive step, albeit on a small scale, toward protecting wildlife from rodenticides.

As volunteers walked down the driveway after a day of feeding wildlife and cleaning enclosures at the Wildlife Education and Rehabilitation Center, they were mystified to hear an unusual whistling-chirping sound coming from underneath a parked vehicle. Getting low on the ground and peeking up under the car, they were astonished to see a large face staring right back at them. Looking and sounding like a super-sized ground squirrel (which in truth, it is), it turned out to be a yellow-bellied marmot, normally a denizen of the Sierra and Rocky mountains. We quickly learned why they're nick-named “whistle pigs” - they whistle when alarmed by predators, such as wolves, foxes, coyotes, badgers, bobcats, golden eagles, hawks, owls, weasels, humans and dogs (one of which had just chased this particular marmot under the car).

“Are you my mother?” the two downy little owlets appear to be asking Owlivia (left). Alas, Owlivia, WERC's non-releasable educational screech owl, can only be a surrogate to the babies who were orphaned last month and will never see their real mommies again.

Those of us who are old enough to remember the “Ghostbusters” film from 1984 recall this catchy refrain.  Who are you going to call for help when your house is haunted? Ghostbusters!

Since 2005, I've been writing monthly tales about the animals that have been cared for at the Wildlife Education and Rehabilitation Center in Morgan Hill. Eagles, owls, hawks, falcons, song and water birds, opossums, bobcats, rabbits, turkey vultures and snakes have been featured. But it took all these years to have a repeat of the very first “Animal of the Month” – a long-tailed weasel. The original was a healthy but hungry six-inch long orphan found abandoned in San Juan Bautista. WERC's latest arrival had a much more inauspicious circumstance: it was caught by a cat in a Gilroy resident's backyard and suffered puncture wounds on his head. It was feared the tussle might have caused grave trauma to the weasel's spinal cord, possibly paralyzing the back legs.

Lead is a naturally occurring metal and has been around since the earth was created. Why all the fuss about its toxicity?

Welcome the first babies of the Wildlife Education and Rehabilitation Center's “baby season” – six tiny opossums just four-inches long (not counting their tail), all under 50 grams (the weight of two AA batteries) when they arrived with their eyes still closed. They were found on the ground in Gilroy, possibly abandoned because their mother had been killed or maybe she had simply left them for a short time while she foraged for food.

Coyote Ridge, the hills east of U.S. 101 near Coyote Creek Golf Club, is once again ablaze with native wildflowers. Public tours are offered by docents from the Santa Clara County Open Space Authority (www.openspaceauthority.org ). I can tell you from experience that the hike is well worth the sight of the flowers and the breathtaking views of the Santa Clara Valley.