OUR MESSAGE:
Well here we are again. Another year just about at an end. It’s been a rather hectic year with over 1700 animals coming through our doors. This is about 300 more than last year and we still have a couple of months to go. And the strangest thing is we’re still getting babies and baby season was technically over more than a month ago. We’ve gotten in a few raccoon and opossum babies over the last two or three weeks. Wish we knew what was going on out there – it’s just not environmental change taking place I think.
This year’s two major fundraisers, our 20th Anniversary Gala in April and our Open House in July, proved to be huge successes. We are so very appreciative to all who came out to these events with such wonderful support. As I always say, it’s this kind of support that allows us to continue to help and care for our native wildlife.
Gail Martin is working hard to provide for all these animals and is now scrambling to raise enough funds to build not one but two large enclosures with one being dedicated for our bear population who are facing continued interference by mankind with garbage enticement and with the consistent destruction of their habitat.
Once again all our critters, staff, interns and volunteers send their sincere heartfelt thanks to everyone for having the compassion and willingness to help as much as they can.
Maureen Binnie, President
“Never apologize for being over sensitive and emotional when defending the welfare of wildlife. Let this be a sign that you have a big heart and aren't afraid to show your true feelings.
These emotions give you the strength to fight for what is right and to be the voice of those who cannot be heard." - Paul Oxton
Critter Care’s Education Program –
“It would be absolutely useless for any of us to work to save wildlife without working to educate the next generation of conservationists.” Jane Goodall
Critter Care Wildlife Society’s education program for students and seniors has been re-established thanks to our volunteer, Janice Bolam.
She can be contacted by Email at janicebolam@hotmail.com if you are interested in booking our new Education Program.
The Epitome of Compassion:
as told by CCWS volunteer rescuer Elizabeth Grant.
“This rescue stars an amazing human, a lovely woman who happens to be a retired nurse, who had been enjoying watching a local mama raccoon and her 5 babies visit her backyard nearly every evening. On Thursday, she saw the family visit her garden oasis as usual, but immediately noticed that something was wrong; one of the babies had a large rat snap trap snapped shut on its paw. The poor wee one was limping painfully along with this painful device attached.
She wasn’t sure what to do precisely, but knew that she needed to try to get the little baby contained somehow. She ran out with some tasty fresh cherries and managed to lure the entire family into her screened sun room porch, even though she knew the mother raccoon would most likely be very protective of her babies and might even damage her porch in the process. She was right: as soon as the door was shut the mother raccoon went a “bit crazy” trying to get out again The amazing human then went out with a broom, and while fending off an understandably angry mother, managed to open the outside door and let the mother and the healthy babies out while keeping the little injured one inside.
Now faced with a crying baby and a now frantic mother raccoon trying to break back IN to rescue her baby, she looked up wildlife rescue organizations and called Critter Care for assistance. Supervisor Miha took the call and alerted a nearby rescue volunteer, Liz, who headed to the scene. As Liz says, it had to be one of the easiest rescues ever thanks to the common sense and practical approach taken by this human.
The little baby was exhausted from pain and had curled up in a corner on a cat bed. The retired nurse was a superb assistant as we captured the frantic and terrified baby, removed the rat trap from its very sensitive paw, and checked it for injuries. Because she had acted so quickly, the skin of the paw was not yet breached, there was no infection and no bones were broken: most likely the trap had been on the paw for less than 24 hours. We cleaned the swollen paw and fingers and applied some ointment while consulting with Miha over the phone.
The decision was that we could let baby go back to her mama as soon as possible: we took her outside and let her go running to where mama was waiting in the bushes. No doubt she had quite the story to tell about her capture by aliens.”
In this case, the lovely human cheered the little one on her way back to mama, and set about cleaning up her sun room and reassuring her cats that they could have their bed back. A huge round of applause is owed to this woman who enjoys her local wildlife and is happy to co-exist peacefully with them all
Moral of this story ---- please, if possible, use lethal snap traps for rodents only indoors. If you must use them outdoors, place in an outer container that has an opening only big enough for a rat or a mouse to enter, and that is too small for a raccoon or skunk – this is a bylaw requirement in many cities now.
Please also never use rodenticides outdoors: it kills the rodent but then the rodent’s body is eaten by raptors such as hawks, eagles and owls, or by mammals such as skunks or raccoons and those animals in turn are affected or killed by the poison. It is far more effective to encourage the local predators such as skunks and raccoons and raptors to frequent your property as they will control your rodent issues far more efficiently.
