2020 Summer Newsletter | Sonoma County Wildlife Rescue

BOMP Corner - Emergency Box Repair

From time to time, we get a call through our Wildlife Hotline for an active nest inside of a barn owl box that is falling apart. Thanks to BOMP, this is a call that we are uniquely qualified to handle.

In mid-June, we received such a call from a renter that was concerned because a barn owl box on the property was falling apart and they were almost certain chicks were inside. Sending us the photo to the right, Doris Duncan and Kelsey James left Sonoma County Wildlife Rescue to get a closer look at the situation. Upon arrival, Doris quickly scaled our tallest ladder to get a look inside of the box and discovered 5 owlets inside. While up there, she was also able to get an up close look at the box. At first glance, it was apparent that even moderate wind could cause the box to break, spilling the owlets to the ground below, subjecting them to injury and predation. These situations are extremely delicate as moving the barn owls into a new box would likely orphan them. The best chance for these owls to successfully fledge from the nest meant that we needed to fix this decomposing box well enough to last the rest of their nesting period.

While maintenance and box repair is a service provided through BOMP with a service charge attached, it became known to us shortly after arrival that the previous owner of the box had passed away. As a result, the box had not been serviced in many years, likely leaving it in it's current condition and without the funds to repair it. With that, Doris knew that she had to protect the owls first and worry about the cost of repairs later. The next day, Doris and BOMP volunteer, Tory Monticello, set out to repair the box.

Repairs to a crumbling box are hard enough, but there were a few factors that made this rescue even more difficult. First, the box was installed 15 feet high, much higher than our recommended height of 10 feet, making work on the ladder tricky and dangerous. Second, the box did not have a maintenance flap to clean out the debris within. The weight of the feces inside of the box likely caused it's break to begin with and squaring up the box with the feces inside would leave very little room for the 5 nearly full grown owlets. This lack of space in a box can cause feather damage while also risking that siblings will push each other out of the nest long before they are ready to fly. Combine the lack of a maintenance flap with the tall ladder height, removing the debris inside goes from being difficult to to tedious. Additionally, given the nature of the visit, the owlets needed to be removed from the box while the necessary repairs and maintenance were completed. This meant that while standing on a 15 foot ladder next to an unstable barn owl box, Doris had to reach in through the hole and grab each owlet, then climb down the ladder, one owl at a time, until all of the chicks were out. Despite all of this, the repairs were made, the box was cleaned and the owls were then placed back inside their newly repaired box, sure to last them the last few weeks of their nesting period.

While the maintenance service of the box is something that we would typically charge for through our BOMP Program, the extenuating circumstances surrounding the ownership of this box made that impossible. Sonoma County Wildlife Rescue gladly donated their time into making sure these owls had a safe place to finish growing. Please consider donating today so that we can continue helping in situations like these.

A severely compromised barn owl box with 5 owlets inside.

Executive Director, Doris Duncan, carefully approaches the breaking barn owl box.

SCWR Volunteer, Tory Monticello, makes repairs to the barn owl box.

Five young barn owls returned to their newly repaired and cleaned barn owl box.

A New Phase of Development in the Aquatic Mammal Enclosure

“If you build it, they will come” is a saying used often around Sonoma County Wildlife Rescue when discussing development projects. For the past couple of years, the saying has proven especially true for our Aquatic Mammal Enclosure (AME) which has been in constant use since November 2018. Since then, the AME has been home to many orphaned otters and beavers whose rehabilitation is as long, as it is specialized.

We built this enclosure in 2013 with the help of Aquascape Custom Crafted Pools owner, Todd Hendrickson. Todd donated and installed the custom pool that allows our wildlife patients the opportunity to live in an enclosure as close as possible to their natural habitats. Since then, we’ve been able to see this enclosure bustle with life and help many aquatic mammals get back to their lives in the wild.

Most recently, we received a trio of orphaned beavers that were transferred from Gold Country Wildlife Rescue for continued care. As beavers do not leave their parents in the wild until they are nearly two years old, these 3 need long-term care supported by the AME. As a very social species, the three beavers are thriving together and are noticeably more confident and independent compared to other beavers that have come in by themselves. In addition to beavers, the Aquatic Mammal Enclosure has also been home to several orphaned otters over the past few years. While these animals don’t stay with us nearly as long, they still have a prolonged rehabilitation period when compared to other species - often staying with us for around 6 months. This year, we have one orphaned otter found in Sonoma, CA that will be sharing the AME with our three beavers while they learn the necessary life skills to return to the wild.

This consistent increase in young aquatic mammals has pushed us to the next phase of our Aquatic Mammal Enclosure’s development, the AME Nursery. Since otters rely on their parents to learn how to swim, their care is very specialized when they come in as young orphans. When they first arrive, they are not able to go straight to the AME and are often housed in the hospital or in a fully enclosed space in our Wildlife Rehabilitation Community. They learn to swim in a small pool under the direct supervision of staff and while we’ve had good success with this method so far, this type of involvement with our staff only increases the chances that a young otter could become too habituated to humans for release into the wild. This new addition to the AME will help to solve this issue.

Housed inside the existing infrastructure of the Aquatic Mammal Enclosure, the nursery will have the ability to be isolated from the rest of the enclosure, giving our young wildlife their own area to thrive while allowing older patients to have full access to the large pond. The nursery will be equipped with a smaller den house and a small nursery pond that will have gradual sloped edges for young animals to easily walk in and out. This will allow the otters to learn to swim with staff not needing to handle their entry and exit out of the pool.

This area’s development has been in the works for a couple of years but with the increase in patients, the nursery has been moving forward full steam ahead this summer. As a nonprofit rescue, projects like this would not be possible without the help of our community. So far, a few very dedicated people have answered the call to help and we would like to take the time to thank them. Developing the area began in the winter of 2019 thanks to several Coast Guard volunteers who spent their days off tediously digging out tree stumps in the area. Longtime SCWR Volunteers, Jack, Marjorie and Jackson Winters jump started construction this spring by building the new custom den house where the otters will live while in transition from the hospital to the large pond. Rounding out the project, Dan Hendrickson and Robyn Newkirk of Hendrickson Pools have generously offered donate and install the nursery pool with the construction set to begin at the end of July. Sonoma County Wildlife Rescue is extremely grateful to our dedicated volunteers and community members who make projects like these possible.

While the main pieces of the Aquatic Mammal Enclosure are coming together, there are various other items that will need further construction and materials. If you would like to donate to the construction costs of the Aquatic Mammal Enclosure, please click the link below.

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