Category: Wildlife Rehabilitation
Barn Swallows on the Wing
September 19, 2015By Anna Lehr Mueser, Public Relations Manager
This summer our wildlife clinic enjoyed treating a number of young barn swallows. These graceful birds, iridescent blue on their backs and wings, live almost their entire lives on the wing, explains wildlife rehabilitator Michele Wellard. Once released, the barn swallows in the clinic’s care will take to the skies, landing only in their nests. Several groups of baby barn swallows were brought into the wildlife clinic on July 31, likely from several nests. The babies had fallen from the nest and the people who brought them in explained that they were unable…
Bird is the word at the wildlife clinic
June 4, 2015By Anna Lehr Mueser, Public Relations Manager
When we say the baby birds have been pouring into our clinic, we mean it. Earlier in May we were receiving as many as 40 patients a day at the clinic. So, we wanted to share a few of the baby birds we’ve been caring for:
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Drunk Cedar Waxwing at the Wildlife Clinic
December 8, 2014By Michele Wellard, Assistant Wildlife Rehabilitator
The woman who brought the waxwing in said he seemed "tame." He just sat on her finger and wouldn't move, and that's what prompted her to call the clinic. She was convinced the bird had been raised by humans. When she brought him to me, perched on her finger, I thought he had a sort of 'faraway' look about him - like he wasn't entirely present. There was just sort of an odd affect about him. Additionally, he also was in absolutely PERFECT feather, and he was in great body condition - upon palpating…
Four sounds from early May
May 8, 2014By Anna Lehr Mueser, Public Relations Manager
This week the forests and fields are alive with sounds, all manner of animals calling out and leafy trees rustling in the breeze. This is also the time of year when our Wildlife Rehabilitation Clinic is brimming with baby animals of all sorts. So, here are four samples of what May sounds like at the Schuylkill Center.
Toads, singing in afternoon sunlight. A basin in this field fills with water most of the year, creating a nice habitat for toads and other amphibians. Around the field and basin are vines, grasses, and flowering trees.
[audio m4a="http://www.schuylkillcenter.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/Toads-and-birds-singing-May-1.m4a" preload="auto"][/audio]
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Baby Squirrels in November: Unusual Wildlife at the Clinic
March 27, 2014By Rick Schubert, Director of Rehabilitation, the Wildlife Clinic
Anyone who has worked on a farm in a temperate climate knows that winter is no time to take a break; wintertime is a race against the clock, reorganizing, repairing, cleaning, planning, and preparing for the upcoming busy season. Wildlife rehabilitation is no different. Although we take in injured adult wild animals 12 months a year, our business spikes in the spring, summer, and fall with the addition of orphaned and displaced neonates. Usually, winter is a slower time for wildlife patient intakes, but it’s a critical period to spend getting…
From tailess to tail in a matter of hours…
March 27, 2012[caption id="attachment_187" align="alignleft" width="200"] "Imping" a Cooper's hawk's damaged tail[/caption]
Last week the staff of the wildlife clinic did something remarkable, especially for those of us who make our living working at a desk. They rebuilt a bird's tail.
The bird in question, a Cooper’s hawk, was brought into the clinic in February with multiple injuries, including head trauma and a severely damaged tail. The clinic nursed the bird for several weeks as it recovered from a concussion and regained its strength. The bird’s tail feathers, however, were still in tatters, preventing proper flight. As I learned from our clinic director,…
Those cute little baby bunnies and birds are tougher than you think…
February 16, 2012
“Baby animals fall out of trees all the time. But that doesn’t necessarily mean they need rescuing." -- Wildlife rehabber and clinic director, Rick Schubert
Spring is our wildlife clinic’s busy season, as the wildlife baby boom hits, and people bring in baby birds that have fallen from nests or bunnies seemingly abandoned in their backyard. Out of the over 12,000 phone calls the clinic handles in a year, hundreds involve questions or concerns about baby animals being orphaned. That's more spring babies than our clinic-- or most similar clinics, I'd imagine-- can treat onsite. The good news is, many of these "orphans" really don't…
A Thanksgiving Tale
November 17, 2011[caption id="attachment_123" align="alignleft" width="225" caption="The wildlife clinic is caring for this sick turkey"][/caption]
By Naomi Leach, Marketing and PR Coordinator
As the gobble, gobble holiday approaches, at least one turkey has reason to give thanks, to the staff at the Schuylkill Center’s Wildlife Rehab Clinic, who are working hard to save its life. The turkey was brought into the clinic Wednesday injured and very sick. Clinic staff are working to rehydrate and feed the emaciated bird and evaluate its condition, with the hope of eventually releasing it back into the wild.
The story began with a call to the clinic…
Saving Animals: The Coolest Thing We Do
June 30, 2011By Mike Weilbacher, Executive Director
The Schuylkill Center does a lot of exceptionally cool things: we teach thousands of people, protect hundreds of acres of habitat.
But just maybe the coolest thing we do is save animals. Lots and lots of animals.
Yesterday, WMMR’s Pierre Robert was given the honor of releasing a snapping turtle—a remarkably ancient predator—into the Schuylkill River, the same turtle he brought to our Wildlife Clinic almost 14 months ago. After 14 months of TLC—at great cost to the center—the world is richer by one turtle.
[caption id="attachment_61" align="alignleft" width="200"] Pierre and Thomas Share a Parting…
