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Summertime and the livin' ain’t easy for wildlife…
Cape Cod is a beautiful place to live, especially in the summer, but with increased traffic, refuse, and a desire for the perfect green lawn and bug-free garden, it can be less than perfect for the animals that live here too. We are seeing immense human impact and our patient intake is at capacity. We can all make a difference in the choices we make. Even small changes like reserving tree work for late fall, driving slowly to make way for crossing turtles, being mindful of nesting shorebirds while we enjoy our beautiful beaches, and trashing or recycling our fishing tackle responsibly.. All of these simple things can help to avoid displacing our precious wildlife.
As we go into our Cape Cod summer, remember to share your space with wildlife. We are living in what used to be their backyard.
Stephanie Ellis,
Executive Director
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Screech Owl placed with a foster family after being a patient at Wild Care.
Photo by Amy Sanders.
LEARN more about Eastern Screech Owls
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Grab a tissue and watch the video! VIDEO: Wild Care's gosling is on the right. It is more yellow and slightly younger than its foster siblings.
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Lucky Gosling Finds a Foster
Family in Provincetown
An orphaned gosling was brought to Wild Care after it was found wandering in Truro Center. The rescuer was unable to locate the parents. After two weeks of care by Wild Care's dedicated staff of wildlife rehabilitators, the bird was introduced into a wild Canada Goose family. The family welcomed the baby immediately as one of their own.
Tremendous thank you to Wild Care Volunteer Susan Packard who alerted us to the Provincetown goose family and scouted for the family today until we arrived. Thank you to everyone who reached out with locations for potential foster families.
The reunion was incredibly heartwarming. We witnessed nature at its kindest. We hope the gosling and family thrive.
Photo: Susan Packard
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Wild Care's Director Shares Some Good Advice to Help
Nesting Osprey
Osprey return to Cape Cod right around St. Patrick’s Day every year and start building their nests and readying them for raising chicks. They prefer to make their homes on high platforms and can sometimes choose a place that is less than ideal like a rooftop or chimney. The time to stop them from choosing a nesting spot that is dangerous is BEFORE they invest too much time building. Once a nest is complete and has eggs or chicks it is illegal to remove it without permission from the USDA. Acting early can make a much better outcome for all. If you are a seasonal resident, please check on your home in early spring, and be proactive, you can help these beautiful birds continue to thrive here on the Cape!
Wild Care’s Executive Director shares some good advice in the video above created by
Lower Cape TV.
LEARN more about Osprey
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Osprey Chick Hatched at Wild Care Placed With Wild Foster Family
In early May, USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service removed an Osprey nest from a home structure in Mashpee. For the past 3 years, USDA has provided us with eggs that are removed by permit, from human dwellings. With permission from MassWildlife and under our Federal Permit to rehabilitate migratory birds, we have been hatching Osprey eggs received by USDA, and place them into wild foster Osprey nests.
One chick hatched at Wild Care in our incubators. (Seen here at 1 day old.) Under the skilled care of our staff of wildlife rehabilitators' the chick flourished! It was placed into a wild foster nest at 11 days old, thanks to a tremendous effort and assistance of Eversource MA.
*If you have an Osprey nest on a human dwelling, you cannot remove the nest once there are eggs or chicks. They are protected under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act.
Read more here
Photo Kerry Reid
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BABIES! BABIES! BABIES!
Here are a few of the recent babies in our nursery...
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Sparky Grows Up
By Eva Carbonaro
Marketing Director and Wild Care Clinic Volunteer
Sparky arrived at Wild Care more alien than avian. His skin was translucent, eyes closed, and his big bobble head with sparse yellowish tufts of fluff was barely supported by his long neck, What he lacked in looks, he made up for with sheer determination to live. We weren’t sure what we had in front of us, but if it was willing to try, then so were we. As a rule patients remain nameless, but this little creature was brought to our door with a card made by the little girl that found him. “Get Well Sparky”. The card was placed on the front of the incubator that helped keep him warm. One thing for sure was that Sparky had spunk, and thrived in our care. He grew bigger every day, and was no longer the strange alien-like creature from a few weeks ago. Sparky was recently released back to the wild as a big, strong, and beautiful American Robin. Fly free beautiful bird.
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From Heartbreak
to Hatchlings
After being hit by a car on Route 6 in Eastham, a female Snapping Turtle was retrieved by former Eastham Natural Resources and Animal Control Officer Stephanie Skykes and brought to Wild Care. Sadly it was deceased upon arrival. This is the time of year when female turtles are crossing roads to find a place to lay their eggs. In the event that a female turtle is not salvageable and is gravid with eggs, we remove the eggs and incubate them. In this case Chelsea Peck, Wild Care Staff Wildlife Rehabilitator was able to extract 36 eggs from this mother turtle. Snapping Turtle eggs typically hatch in 80-90 days. We hope to have hatchling turtles in late summer, to be released in an appropriate location near where they were found!
HOW YOU CAN HELP TURTLES: Slow down for turtle crossing. Never move a turtle to a new location. Helping them across the road to the location they were headed when safe to do so - is the kindest thing you can do for turtles.
| | Jennifer Taylor with Up Up an Eastern Screech Owl | Amy Sanders with Garv and friend | | |
Wild Care Hosts a
Wildlife Baby Shower
A great big thank you to everyone that came to the Wildlife Baby Shower on Father's Day Weekend! Despite the soggy weather we saw lots of smiling faces, and Mallory (the duck) looked especially happy to wag her tail in the rain!
It was so much fun to see all of the families, and friends enjoy getting a close look at our Animal Ambassadors, and learning more about what we do at Wild Care! Mallory the Mallard, Garv, Terry, and Tortilla the turtles, Up Up and Nickerson the Eastern Screech Owls all came out to meet everyone. Guests made treats for the birds courtesy of the Bird Watcher’s General Store, and enjoyed delicious and adorable cupcakes made by Susan Ellis. Good Times Cape Cod served up the coolest ice cream in town. Special thanks to our event sponsor Orleans American Legion Post 308 and all our amazing volunteers.
Everyone that brought a gift from the baby shower wish list were entered to win a gift basket including fabulous prizes from the Ice Cream Cafe, The Knack, Cape Escape Adventure Golf, Baskin’s Ace Hardware, and Wild Care. Congratulations to our winner Stella!!!
If you were not able to attend, please consider making a donation. Our nursery is full of baby animals, and every dollar makes a difference.
DONATE HERE
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One little duck, and
a whole lot of love!
This adorable Mallard duckling was found stranded in a construction site pit in Lakeville, MA at 11PM! It was brought to Wild Care the next day since the duckling's family was not able to be located. The duckling is growing quickly in our care and will eventually be placed with other ducklings and released when it is feathered.
Thank you to Amy Redihan for sponsoring the care of this sweet little duckling in honor of Barbara Eastman.
This donation continued
the circle of life for an
animal in need.
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Sponsor a Rescued Animal's Care and Release for a Unique and Special Gift
Sponsor the care and release of a rescued animal for a unique and thoughtful way to celebrate someone or something special, or honor the memory of a loved one.
Your sponsorship gift helps provide care for wildlife here on Cape Cod. You will receive a digital photo, and details about the rescued animal and their return to the wild. Your sponsorship with personalized message will be posted on our Facebook page on a date of your choosing.
If you would like to sponsor the care and release of an animal, please contact Stephanie.
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Check out our Amazon and Chewy WISH LISTS and donate much
needed supplies to help the animals being cared for at Wild Care.
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