Snakes, Friend or Foe?

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By Jennifer Guess, Senior Wildlife Technician Supervisor

A Gopher Snake who had been caught in netting being tube fed
Photo by Heather Patrice Brown

On an average year California Wildlife Center sees up to 150 different species come through our doors.  Although most patients are avian and mammalian, we also see a fair share of reptiles.  Over the years CWC has admitted eight different species of snakes alone.

Snakes come to CWC for a variety of reasons.  Some are caught in garden netting.  This usually causes constriction wounds, lacerations, swelling, abrasions, and in the worst cases, death.  Others are caught in glue traps, which can cause emaciation, dehydration, and abrasions (and death, unless we remove them).  Glue trap snakes usually have a good prognosis if brought to CWC early enough.  Some snakes are hit by cars, which can cause severe trauma to various parts of the face/body, and most of the time are fatal.  Unfortunately, we also see snakes that have been intentionally harmed by the public, usually out of misplaced fear.

Snakes in the Southern California area do not eat anything bigger than a ground squirrel.  Because of this, snakes would rather retreat from confrontation but will become defensive if threatened.  The vast majority of snake bites in humans occur because a person tries to capture or kill a snake.  When left alone snakes present little to no danger to people.

Snakes are a very important part of the ecosystem.  They are both predator and prey.  Snakes help keep rodent populations in check.  Without predators, rodent populations (and the diseases they can carry) quickly get out of control.  Snakes are also an important food source for many large raptors, some mammals, and even other snakes.  In fact, the California Kingsnake has a natural immunity to rattlesnake venom, and they are known to kill and eat rattlesnakes.

A San Diego Night Snake caught in glue trap
Photo by Jenn Guess

Knowing a little bit about snake habits and habitats can help everyone coexist peacefully.  Snakes tend to hibernate in dens over winter.  They will venture out in spring when the daytime temperatures reach about 60 degrees Fahrenheit or higher.  In the early spring snakes will be active at any time of the day.  Snakes do not like temperatures over 90 degrees Fahrenheit, so during the summer snakes will come out in the cooler hours of dawn and dusk, and sometimes at night.

The same Night Snake after being removed from the glue trap
Photo by Jenn Guess

Snakes like to wait out the hot hours of the day by finding cool, dark places to hide.  Piles of cinder blocks, plastics, wood, branch clippings, overgrown vegetation, etc. provide the perfect shelter for snakes.  Keeping your yard free of clutter and debris will help deter them from staying on your property.  Piles of debris also attract rodents.  If you have a rodent population around your house, then you will also attract snakes.  Never use poison to try to control rodent populations.  Poisons may kill some rodents, but it unfortunately kills off the predators that keep rodent populations under control.

Since snakes are a natural part of the Southern California ecosystem, there is a chance that you will cross paths with one.  If you see a snake slithering through your property, bring pets inside and leave the area for an hour.  There is a good possibility that the snake is just passing through.  Always be careful when lifting up objects that are left outside unattended.  Although the vast majority of snake species in Southern California are harmless, it is always better to err on the side of caution when dealing with snakes.  Give them a wide berth, and they will do the same for you.

Slow Down for Wildlife

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By Heather Patrice Brown, Development Manager

Owls like this Western Screech-Owl are common victims of car collisions
Photo by Cambria Wells

As I drove south on Las Virgenes on the morning of August 18, I passed a very sad sight: three raccoons who had been hit by a car, lying in the road. This was not the first of these incidents I had encountered on my daily drive to work.

Las Virgenes/Malibu Canyon is no stranger to wildlife hit and runs since it is a major artery between the Pacific Coast Highway and the 101. In 2018, it made the news when one of the local mountain lions, P-23, was hit and killed.

According to a study completed by UC Davis, there are 7,000 collisions with wildlife in the State each year, but this study only looked at large species like deer and coyotes. A second research project by Culture Change revealed as many as 400 million animals nationally are killed by vehicles annually, not counting the insects that hit windshields.

So far this year, California Wildlife Center (CWC) has treated 28 animals who have been hit by cars.  The number does not incorporate patients with suspected but unconfirmed auto injuries. These cases include hawks, owls, rabbits, squirrels, coyotes, snakes, opossums, and ducks. Only half have survived due to the severity of their injuries, which may include head trauma, bone fractures, lacerations, soft tissue damage, and internal bleeding.

Mule Deer does who are hit by cars in the spring often leave orphaned fawns
Photo by Cambria Wells

One patient, a juvenile Red-Tailed Hawk, was hit by a car on the 101 freeway on February 18. He had suffered a collar bone fracture, a nose abrasion, eye trauma, a wound to his back, and a chest injury. California Wildlife Center staff had to repair this last laceration surgically. The other wounds were treated topically, and the Hawk had to sport a wing bandage while his collar bone healed. After a week, staff noticed the hawk was improving, and two weeks later, he was well enough to move to an outside aviary for physical therapy to regain his strength. A little over a month after he arrived at CWC, the Red-Tailed Hawk returned to the wild. We can only hope he has learned to fly higher over roads and freeways.

The easiest way to prevent unnecessary wildlife injuries and deaths due to automobile collisions is to slow down, especially if you are driving in areas known to have lots of animals such as canyon and mountain roads. Pay attention to road signs that warn about possible crossing locations. Many species are more active at dawn and dusk, so be alert, particularly since the reduced and changing light can make it more difficult to see.

If you hit a wild animal or see one in a collision and they are still alive, contact CWC (310-458-9453), or your local animal control agency for larger animals like deer and coyotes. If you see a deceased wildlife victim of an accident, you can report it to CROS, the California Roadkill Observation System (https://www.wildlifecrossing.net/california/). CROS uses the collected data to inform projects to help reduce wildlife collisions.

If we all slow down and keep our eyes open for wildlife, hopefully, we can reduce these avoidable tragedies.

San Joaquin Kit Fox Gets Help at CWC

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Kit fox captured by biologists with ESRP. Biologists quickly recognized that something was wrong with his lower lip. A knitting needle is used to safely assess the injury and the rest of his mouth – the metal is soft and allows him to bite down without biting any fingers! Photo credit, Erica Kelly (ESRP).

On September 15th, we were contacted by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) to assist with an injured adult male San Joaquin kit fox. These endangered foxes are part of a study managed by the California State University, Stanislaus’s Endangered Species Recovery Program (ESRP) where they document the health and survival of kit foxes in their native range. The biologists also noticed that he had lost over a pound and a half since they last found him in November 2019 and were concerned about the extent of the injury and how it would affect his survival.

While we were waiting for our new vet to start next month, we contacted Dr. Curtis Eng of Western University of Health Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine. Dr. Eng – who volunteers his time at Pasadena Humane – was able to coordinate an immediate triage and treatment time for this special patient with Drs. Pyrdek and Hardy. While we receive hundreds of wild animals from Pasadena Humane each year, this was the first time we had brought them a patient.

Once we arrived at Pasadena Humane, Drs. Pyrdek, Eng and Hardy, assessed the kit fox and suspected the injuries to be due to a previous traumatic degloving incident in which the skin of the lower lip was pulled away from the gums. He also had an infected, broken upper canine and these injuries were likely preventing him from hunting prey and eating normally. The doctors felt that surgical removal of the broken canine and cosmetic repair of the degloved skin would improve this kit fox’s quality of life and give him a second chance back in the wild. One interesting fact about kit foxes is that they are the only wild canid to live underground throughout the year. This unique survival strategy helps them stay cool in the summer and warm in the winter. Researchers with ESRP suspect that this kit fox’s injuries were from a badger that may have attacked him while sheltering in his den.

Directly after the operation, he was taken to CWC for rehabilitation and assigned Wildlife Technician, Cambria Wells, to be his caretaker and monitor his recovery and help him gain some weight back. CDFW and ESRP also wanted to be certain that he could capture his main dietary staple, the kangaroo rat, and that he could fully open his jaw. Over the course of 12 days, we kept a close eye on his sutures, his body weight and body condition, and his demeanor. Luckily for us, he was an easy patient with a quick recovery and a great appetite! During his stay at CWC, we had daily communication with Drs. Pyrdek and Eng, the biologists with ESRP, and CDFW. Their advice was instrumental in his quick recovery!

Our patient shortly after being released, wearing a special collar that will allow biologists to track his movements post-surgery. When the study is over, his collar will be removed. Goodbye and good luck!!Photo credit, Tory Westall (ESRP).

While two weeks seems like a short time to recover from such an injury, kit foxes are monogamous and form pair-bonds that last a lifetime. It was important to get his injuries treated as soon as possible so that he could be released back into the wild and return to his mate, where they had just finished raising pups. That day finally came on September 28th and he was picked up by a CDFW biologist and returned to his territory and his mate. His mouth was healed, he gained over a pound, and was full of energy! Thanks to programs like ESRP and their partnerships with rehabilitation centers, the USFWS, and CDFW, the future for these amazing little foxes looks bright!

The Climbing Fox

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By Cori Carlson, Administrative Assistant

CWC’s two Gray Fox patients
By Brittany Moser

Gray Foxes may be named for their gray coats, but they also have a distinctive reddish-brown coloring along their sides and long bushy tails. The most common Fox in California, they live in woodland and forested areas in a range that runs all the way from southern Canada to South America. So far this year, California Wildlife Center has admitted two of the young Foxes. Last year we had a total of five Gray Foxes in care.

The first Fox arrived at the end of April with a hook embedded in his left front leg and a skin tear on the right front leg. These injuries were operated on and healed in about three weeks. In mid-May, we received a healthy, but orphaned second Fox. While these patients are in our care, wildlife technicians provide enrichment activities such as hiding food in boxes for the Foxes to open and search through. We also release live crickets to help them hone their hunting skills. It is important to try to make the enclosures as much like the animal’s home in the wild as possible. One of our technicians used branches and rods to create opportunities for the pups to climb and practice scaling trees.

Like cats, Gray Foxes have the ability to retract their claws and are the only member of the fox family who can climb trees. This unique ability allows them to escape predators and helps them gain an advantage over their prey. They have vertical pupils enabling them to see and hunt in the dark. Their keen eyesight, along with their excellent hearing, comes in handy as they do most of their hunting at night.

As omnivores, the Gray Fox’s diet includes fruits, plants, rabbits, rodents, squirrels, crickets, grasshoppers, and scavenged animals.

Gray Foxes have their kits in April. By the time those pups are four months old, they have learned to hunt with their parents and are ready to forage independently. By the fall, the young Foxes typically leave as they have reached maturity and are ready to start their own families. We plan to release our two Fox patients in the fall as well.

A Visit to CWC’s Orphan Care Unit

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Join us each week as we look at different areas of California Wildlife Center. This week, enjoy a look inside the Orphan Care Unit!

Each video comes with a children’s activity.   Click Here for an Orphaned Animals Word Search.

The Squirrels Are Coming

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By Jenn Guess, Senior Wildlife Technician

Squirrel kits are fed a special formula, photo by Cambria Wells

Early Spring is a busy time of year at California Wildlife Center (CWC). This is when we see an influx of orphaned Squirrels.  If an orphaned Squirrel is a neonate (eyes closed, furless) or infant (eyes open, velvety fur), they are directed to our homecare facility where the Squirrels will receive a significant amount of hands-on care.  Very young Squirrels require specific formulas on a schedule of up to six times a day.  As the squirrels develop, they will transition formulas and will only need to be fed four times a day.  Providing appropriate nutrition at different stages of life is vital in keeping patients from developing metabolic bone disease and other fatal deficits due to poor and inappropriate nutrition.

Squirrel patients receive flowers for enrichment, photo by Jenn Guess

Once neonate and infant Squirrels reach a certain weight, they are transferred to our facility in Calabasas.  In our Orphan Care Unit, the Squirrels will continue to be fed specific formulas on a pre-designated schedule.  They are also given small amounts of solid food so they can start to explore eating on their own.  Staff closely monitors their weights to make sure that every Squirrel is progressing appropriately. The Squirrels are also provided enrichment.  Some examples of enrichment are multiple sticks, branches, and pinecones to chew on, flowers to destroy, and various soft fabrics and hammocks to snuggle into.  Eventually, each group of Squirrels receives a squirrel box.  A squirrel box is a 1’x1’x1’ wooden box with a hatch door that mimics a nest.

At CWC, young Squirrels are placed into groups of about six individuals, and these groups will stay together as a family unit through their release.  Once the unit is set, a group will not accept a new member.  The family unit grows up in our Orphan Care Unit together and eventually moves into an outdoor enclosure.  Outside, the groups of Squirrels continue to gain weight, get acclimated to the weather, and become more independent.  After two weeks in our outdoor enclosures, a group is ready to be soft released, meaning the patients are provided shelter (their squirrel box), food, and water for three days at their new location.  The Squirrels are then able to venture out on their own when they feel comfortable.  Eventually, all of the Squirrels in the group will start to find their own food/water and build nests.

Young Squirrels sleeping, photo by Christiane Aldana

Not all baby Squirrels that are found need to be brought to CWC.  Sometimes a Squirrel nest is compromised due to a predator attack, heavy winds, rain, or various other reasons.  When a nest is damaged, it is not uncommon for baby Squirrels to fall to the ground.  The mother Squirrel will often fix the nest before coming down to retrieve her babies.  It is also possible that an adult Squirrel will have multiple nests.  The mother might decide to check on an alternate nest and then take her young to the secondary location.

If you find a baby Squirrel on the ground and they do not have any obvious injuries, place them in a one-foot deep box with a soft towel and attach the box four feet off the ground to a nearby tree trunk.  Make sure the box is not in direct sunlight.  Heat some uncooked rice in the microwave until warm and place in a sock to create a makeshift heat source.  Place the heat source on one side of the box so the Squirrel can choose to move towards or away from the heat.  Leave the box for four hours to give the mother Squirrel time to retrieve her young.  If the mother does not come back, contact CWC.  If you find a baby Squirrel in the evening, bring it inside and keep it in a warm, quiet, dark location overnight and then try to re-nest the Squirrel first thing in the morning.  At no point should you try to feed or give water to a baby Squirrel. If you find a baby Squirrel with an injury, contact CWC immediately at (310) 458-9453.

An Orphan Care Baby Book

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By Cambria Wells, Wildlife Technician

There’s nothing quite like seeing your baby experience the world for the first time. We are privileged at CWC in the Orphan Care Unit to get to work with a wide range of species and to see all their firsts. A few, this year, were especially touching.

First solid food: This year’s earliest litter of Virginia Opossums entered our facility too young to be out of their mother’s pouch. After weeks of careful care, they were finally old enough to be offered something more substantial than formula… and immediately made a mess of themselves! Staff and volunteers adapted by giving them supervised time with their food dish, breaks in the day that we quickly dubbed “mush bowl parties,” followed by a sponge bath.

Opossum joeys eating their mush bowl
Photo by Cambria Wells

First steps: The Acorn Woodpeckers rescued from a fallen tree branch this summer were happy to stay in their nest box upon intake, but soon enough, their excitement for food led them to lean out the entryway to the box. One morning, that lean turned into a jump, and we caught a nestling’s first “branching” out into the world!

Acorn Woodpeckers peeking out of their nest box
Photo by Cambria Wells

First of their species: When workers brought down an electric pole in Santa Clarita this July, the crew heard crying from within an old woodpecker cavity inside. With the help of the wildlife biologist onsite, they extracted young Ash-throated Flycatchers from their disrupted nest and brought them to be raised in the Orphan Care Unit. These are the first of this species of bird ever to be raised at our facility.

Ash-Throated Fly Catchers
Photo by Heather Patrice Brown

First friends: Many babies come into our care alone, displaced from their whole family. These animals are almost always placed with foster siblings; for certain highly social species like Eastern Fox Squirrels and American Crows, these friends are believed to be critical to their survival post-release. When released in a group, young animals have more eyes to find food and watch for predators. Volunteers and staff find these relationships to be touching glimpses into the lives of the animals we work with.

Squirrels napping together
Photo by Samantha Orzech

 

We are grateful to all CWC supporters for making these precious moments possible, and especially to our dedicated Orphan Care Unit volunteers for giving up their summers to help orphaned and injured wildlife. This year, Orphan Care supported a total of 1052 patients! Our impact, by the numbers:

Squirrels: 175

Mourning Doves: 138

Band-tailed Pigeons: 21

Northern Mockingbirds: 85

Virginia Opossums: 80

House Finches: 90

Cliff Swallows: 47

Hummingbirds: 141

American Crows: 66

Common Ravens: 30

And MANY assorted species of songbirds!

 

As the unit closes for the winter, we look forward to resting from the busy season and getting ready for next year, but of course, the rest of California Wildlife Center is here year-round for wildlife of all ages.

CWC Medical Care Saves Gray Fox

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Fox in oxygen cage
Photo by Cambria Wells

By Stephany Lewis, DVM

California Wildlife Center received an approximately 6-month-old male Gray Fox early in the morning on October 8th of this year. He was found the night before by a good Samaritan, lying non-responsive on Mulholland Highway in Calabasas. Based on his exam and diagnostic findings, the Fox appeared to have been struck by a vehicle shortly before being discovered. When he presented to us, he was stuporous, unable to stand, move, lift his head, or look around, and was non-responsive to any stimuli. He had an elevated heart rate, and he had abnormal lung sounds when his chest was listened to with a stethoscope. There was also a fresh wound over his left elbow. Full-body radiographs (x-rays) and an abdominal and chest ultrasound were taken. While he luckily had no broken bones, his chest showed evidence of trauma, as he had a mild pneumothorax, or collapsed lung, and evidence of bruising within his lungs.  A full blood panel was run and did not show any major abnormalities.

Three diagnostics were also run to test this fox for canine distemper. Canine distemper is particularly common in Gray Foxes, and can cause a variety of neurological signs, such as the ones displayed by this Fox. It can also infect other wildlife, such as Coyotes, Skunks, and Raccoons, as well as domestic dogs. It is nearly always fatal, but vaccines developed for domestic dogs help prevent the disease. Luckily this Fox did not have canine distemper, and all his neurological signs could be contributable to traumatic brain injury, which while preferable to distemper, still came with a guarded prognosis.

Gray Fox with bandage on his elbow
Photo by Cambria Wells

This Gray Fox patient received intensive care for the first few days of hospitalization. First, an intravenous catheter was placed, and through it he received a drug called mannitol, which is a diuretic that helps reduce swelling in the brain in cases of head trauma, followed by intravenous fluids to help maintain blood pressure and reduce the fluid lost from the mannitol. He was also maintained in an oxygen cage, with his head elevated to help minimize pressure within the brain. Pain medication was given, and his wound was cleaned and bandaged. His temperature, heart rate, respiratory rate, blood pressure, oxygen saturation, EKG, and a small blood panel were all monitored daily. He required other extensive nursing care as well, such as passive range of motion exercises, assisted feedings, and daily bandage changes, but our technical staff more than rose to the challenge and provided excellent care to this special patient.

The patient in his outside enclosure
Photo by Dr. Stephany Lewis

The Fox’s neurological status improved daily! Within three days he was standing and walking, though other neurological signs began to show, such as a tendency to only circle to the right, and he did not display an appropriate fear of humans. However, all these abnormal signs were completely resolved in less than two weeks, and two weeks after admission he was stable enough to undergo surgery to repair the wound over his elbow. His surgical procedure was without any complications, and he recovered well from anesthesia.

The following week after his surgery, the Fox moved to an outside enclosure, and seemed very happy to do so! His sutures have been removed, and after one month in care he was ready to be released! Since Gray Foxes have a very small home range, he was returned to the location he was found. Success stories like this are why we do what we do here at CWC, and we love to share them!

Caring for Bandit-Faced Babies

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By Jennifer Brent, Executive Director

Newborn Raccoon Kit
Photo by Jennifer Brent

Which animal has five fingers but no thumb?  This animal is sometimes known as a “trash panda” and has a mixed reputation in urban areas.  It’s a raccoon, of course!

While we don’t care for raccoons on-site at CWC, we do have a few amazing and dedicated home care volunteers who will raise orphaned kits from young babies to juveniles ready for release.  Due to the types of diseases that the raccoons can carry and CWC’s limitations, all of them are cared for off-site.

Generally, members of the public who find baby raccoons and contact us. The rescuer may have scared the mother away and then found the babies, or they have found a single kit by themselves.  Raccoons give birth in the Spring with two to five kits in a litter.  Our home care volunteers feed them milk replacement and gradually add solid food, and the babies are generally weaned at 16 weeks.  Once they are old enough to find food on their own, they are released back into the wild.  Adult raccoons are omnivores and eat invertebrates, vegetables, and vertebrates such as rats, frogs, and fish.

Juvenile Raccoons
Photo by Jennifer Brent

“The raccoon babies are playful and love to explore,” says Glenn Ellis, longtime homecare volunteer, adding “they are masters at figuring things out.”  Raccoons are known for being smart and have been compared to primates in their potential for intelligence. Many people think that raccoons must wash their food prior to consumption.  However, studies have shown that the cleanliness of food bears no influence.  Instead, raccoons put their food underwater to better feel it—the water moistens their paws so that their tactile perception is increased.

Raccoons can be considered a nuisance animal in Los Angeles’ urban environment.  Every year we receive calls about raccoons who have given birth inside peoples’ garages or attics.  The best way to deter a raccoon is exclusion—sealing your home properly so that any unwanted guest (rodents, raccoons, skunks, etc.) cannot enter.  The second best way is to be careful about trash disposal.  An unlatched trash can is an invitation to any animal for a free meal.  Additionally, feeding outdoor cats is like setting out a buffet for any outdoor animals from rodents to reptiles to raccoons.  While we vaccinate all of our raccoons against distemper and parvo virus, raccoons in the wild can harbor diseases that are dangerous for humans and pets.

Hunting for raccoon fur and meat has existed in North America for hundreds of years reaching its peak in the 1970s with 5.2 million raccoons killed in a single year, mainly for their fur.  It wasn’t until the 1990s that raccoon fur went out of fashion and hunting diminished.

Each year our home care volunteers Glenn Ellis, Sharon Leckbee, and Michele Morse care for 25-30 raccoon kits.  We do not accept adult raccoons at CWC due to our limitations for enclosures.  If you have a nuisance adult raccoon, please contact your area’s animal care and control agency.

Skunks, Smelly or Sweet?

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By Cori Carlson, Administrative Assistant

Striped Skunks
Photo by Rebecca Hernandez

California Wildlife Center has admitted 25 Striped Skunks so far this year. That’s up from last year’s total of 19 patients. Best known for their smelly self-defense tactic and distinctive white stripes and black coat, this particular native species of Skunk ranges throughout North America from Southern Canada to Northern Mexico and are easy to identify with two thick white stripes along their back and tail. Variations in color are possible, though. This year, we admitted one with white armpits.

Their pungent-smelling spray comes from two glands located near the base of their tail. Young Skunk kits are capable of spraying when they are as young as eight days old. This line of defense can give the small mammals a bad reputation, but they will warn animals or people before spraying. They arch their backs, raise their tail, hiss, stomp their feet and sometimes do a handstand.

When a Skunk is admitted to CWC, they are initially quarantined for a week as they can carry rabies or distemper, a viral disease that affects the respiratory, gastrointestinal, and central nervous systems. Due to this risk, it’s important not to touch or pick up a Skunk with your bare hands. Once they are determined to be healthy, we give them a distemper vaccine and put them into an enclosure with up to four other Skunks.

Skunks are omnivores, meaning they eat both plants and animals. When a kit is admitted into our care, they are initially fed a special milk-replacement formula. When they move onto solid foods, they eat a special mix of dry dog food, vegetables and a variety of either mice, mealworms, super worms or crickets. This is very similar to their diet in the wild, which consists of insects, small mammals, fruit and plants.

While in our care, we also give them enrichment boxes that help them use their excellent sense of smell and hone their hunting skills. The boxes have worms, fish, vegetables, or fruit hidden under leaves for them to find. We also put exercise wheels in the Skunk enclosures. They look similar to those you might see a Hamster run on but much bigger. They seem to love the wheels, and occasionally one will push another out to get a turn.

When the Skunks are ready to go back into the wild, we generally limit the number released at any one site to two or three. We do this because we want to make sure there are enough resources to give them the best chance to thrive back out in the wild.