Critter Care Summer 2020 Newsletter

We’re sorry that our Open House needed to be cancelled.

However, if you still would like to have one or more animal sponsorships such as the one shown on the right – you can.

If you would like to sponsor an animal, you can mail us a cheque, (click on "you can mail us a cheque," print pdf and mail with your donation), or donate online here SPONSOR AN ANIMAL  

Be sure to indicate what critter(s) you would like to sponsor and a certificate will be mailed to you.

Available critters are: Bear – Beaver – Fawn – Otter – Raccoon – Skunk – Rabbit - Chipmunk

Critter Care Volunteers

We would like to send a huge “shout out” to our

volunteers. We absolutely could not do what we

do without your tremendous support.

Whether you are:

• Cleaning raccoon enclosures
• Repairing enclosures
• Painting repaired enclosures
• Helping with the lawns and gardens
• Working on the “deck” doing a deep clean, food prep or sorting produce
• Helping with laundry – tons of it
• Picking up produce for us
• Picking up animals
• Driving interns to and from the airport
• Manning information tables or selling
• Critter Care products at events in the community
• Volunteering at the Gala or Open House (neither to be held this year)
• Running our Education Program
• Managing the Produce Pickup schedule
• Also, our Board, our President, Vice-President. Treasurer and Directors are all volunteers and work as hard as they can to keep us going. 

Please know that you are a very big part of our organization and your help is so very much appreciated. We thank you but most of all the animals thank you!

Lynda Brown (In Photo)

Vice-President/Volunteer

Last years’ Beaver Kits released

This past week our two remaining beaver kits, Beatrice and Biva were released. Beatrice spent 367 days at Critter Care Wildlife Society, coming in at only 640 grams after someone almost stepped on her while walking on a river bank. The dam nearby had unfortunately been destroyed. Biva came in last August, found walking alone along a main road. She was bigger at 1.3 kg but got along well with Beatrice. The pair were happiest diving deep into their pool and eating their favorite food, yummy broccoli.

Upon being let out at the release site, Beatrice stuck around to smell branches, test the water a few times, and nibble on some leaves, while Biva took off straight into the lake and out of sight. We stuck around for as long as we could, but having seen them swim and begin to forage we knew they didn’t need us anymore. It’s times like this we remember why we do it.

One Happy Guy

The first group of baby raccoons this season have been moved to a side cage outside and the group of seven couldn’t be happier. They’ve got lots of room, lots of fresh air, and even the rainy days have never put a damper on their mood.

When it gets rainy and it comes time for their feed, they love to cozy up in one of the milk baskets which is apparently much more comfortable than it looks. Surrounded by toys and stuffies, it’s hard to understand the appeal of a plain plastic basket, but these babies could find joy in just about anything.

Fawn Reunited with Mom

Every year we receive fawns who have been “kidnapped” after being mistakenly thought to be orphaned. Does will only feed their young once or twice a day, the remainder of the time they are left alone, laying on the ground silently waiting for mom to return.

When there is no mom in sight people think they need to help and will take them from their safe place to a rehab center. Unfortunately,  this was the case for this young female. She was seen sleeping near a construction site and taken to an emergency clinic who transferred her to us the following morning.

Upon examining her, she was well-hydrated, clean, healthy and very clearly stressed about being handled. She was offered milk but refused. 

Our staff called the gentleman who had dropped her off at the Vet, who confirmed there was, in fact, a doe looking around from where he had removed the fawn.

We immediately put her in the truck and drove her back to where the doe was, with the construction crew kind enough to keep their eyes on her for the 45 minutes it took us to get there.

We placed her 20 meters from where Mom was laying. As soon as we backed off, Mom got up and walked over to the fawn who immediately started nursing off her! This was the perfect ending for her.

SPECIAL LITTLE NEW APPRIVALS

Over the last few years Critter Care Wildlife Society has been inundated with very young, malnourished black bear cubs. Back in 2004 when Critter Care first was given permission to rehab black bear cubs we got on average 2 – 6 cubs in any given season.

Then in the 2015/2016 season Critter Care had a record 32 cubs admitted. It was a horrid and sad year for black bears. Habitat was diminishing and food source was just not there. Some due to weather conditions (summer heat - winter cold) and some (too many) human caused. And in 2019/2020 we had a near record of 29 cubs brought to us, yet again, the reasons being as indicated above. Of these 29 cubs we still have 18 in care awaiting release.

Now at the start of the 2020/2021 season we have our first 2 arrivals on June 15 th . First cub is male weighing in at 9.4 pounds and the second one is a female at 9.6 pounds. Both are skinny and very scared. They came from the Hope, BC area. Their mother was found nearby deceased under uncertain circumstances.

As of the writing of this story they both are eating well and starting to gain some weight and seem to have a fighting spirit. They will be with us till this time in 2021 when they will be

released back to the wild as the majestic creatures

they are meant to be.

Education Program 

On June 3rd our education instructor joined the forces of teachers and presented her instructions via Zoom to the Grade 4 class in Surrey Christian school which proved to be quite successful considering it was not as interactive as it would have been had she been able to do it live in the classroom.

Our instructor, Janice, handled many questions from the students after showing them various pictures of our native wildlife. She told many stories about a few of the animals we had at Critter Care. These were well received by the children.

The class teacher indicated she would try and generate some donations from our Wish List and bring them out to the center when all was collected. Janice is looking forward to more online sessions for the children and in person when more restrictions are eased. Please contact Janice directly at crittercareeducation@shaw.ca if you have a small group of youngsters interested in learning more about our wildlife. She will do her upmost to

accommodate you.

Kids Helping Kritters

Capri Campardo is a Grade 12 student at Riverside Secondary School and as part of her graduation she had to come up with a project regarding her future career or the community. Capri is wanting to make the veterinary field her career path.

Capri and her mom have been following Critter Care’s Instagram and  Facebook and loved reading about all the animals we care for. Capri decided her project was to raise money to donate to Critter Care. The school allowed students, once a month, for 4 months, to set up booths to sell items so Capri decided her project would be to have a bake sale where she would sell her unique cookies and cupcakes.

Well she must be some good cook because she raised over $200 from her baking. Along with the cash donation she put together some stuffed animals and blankets as well. We have some lucky critters thanks to Capri.