A California State Park employee brought a female adult Western Pond Turtle to the California Wildlife Center in late June of this year. Her top and bottom shells were cracked, chunks of shell were missing, and she showed signs of an infection. The ranger found the turtle in the road with injuries consistent with a sudden impact trauma, such as being hit by a car. This was CWC’s first turtle patient of the year.
On March 14th, we rescued an underweight Northern Elephant Seal pup at the La Costa Beach Club in Malibu. Once admitted this pup was marked with a blue non-toxic grease marker used identify individuals while in care, so we began to call him “Blue.”
Originally found in a rural area in Central California, Common Raven 21-2166 was treated for a fracture of his tibiotarsus, a leg bone. Once stable enough to travel, he hitched a ride with transporters to his destination here at our facility for long term care.
Every spring, California Wildlife Center takes in orphaned baby squirrels, some just weeks old. Many people associate baby squirrels with those who live in trees. We also receive young California Ground Squirrels. We have admitted 39 so far this year. You can recognize them by the gray and brown fur on their backs with specks of lighter gray mixed in.
Some of you might remember our Feathers Flippers and Fur Picnic at King Gilette Ranch back in 2019. It was our second year and a success—bringing together like-minded animal-loving folks and raising money for California Wildlife Center. We were planning to make that an annual event as 2020 took a different turn and like many other groups, we had to cancel our outdoor gathering during the pandemic.
On March 25, 2021 the Marine Mammal team headed to Leo Carrillo beach in Malibu following the report of a sickly Northern Elephant Seal pup. The reporting party first spotted the animal as the sun was setting the night prior and was so concerned about the animal that he returned the next morning to find the pup in the same place high up on the beach rocks.
A few months ago, Red-tailed Hawk 21-233 arrived at the California Wildlife Center from Malibu with very little history. All the techs in ICU knew at first was that he was injured. What they found on examination was a bird with some wounds on his chest, some broken feathers and, much more concerningly, feet that were in terrible condition.
On February 10, 2021, our marine mammal team spotted a sub-adult female California Sea Lion hauled out with others on a rock. We noticed a flipper tag on the right front flipper, indicating she had been at a marine mammal rehabilitation facility. Examining a picture snapped through binoculars we were able to read the identifiers — W1134.
Late in January, a Desert Cottontail Rabbit was found with his head stuck under a fence and brought to a local vet clinic. The doctors there gave him some IV fluids and he was quickly transferred to our wildlife hospital’s ICU. When the Cottontail first arrived at CWC, he was highly stressed and disoriented with a swollen face.
In Spring, we all expect to see lots of baby squirrels and baby birds. But here in Southern California, as the weather warms up, we also start seeing more activity from our local lizards. One of the most common species found in the Santa Monica Mountains is the Western Fence Lizard, appropriately named because they are often spotted running along fences.