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It's Fall! Friends and family are heading back home after enjoying the sun and surf of another Cape Cod summer. As you take in the quiet time and cooler temperatures remember that now is the time to prevent a different type of houseguest from spending the winter with you. A little preventative work now will go a long way towards stopping animals from making your home their winter nesting place. Go around the foundation of your home and seal up any large spaces, fill in smaller spots with steel wool, and eliminate food sources that may attract rodents. I can’t stress enough the harmful impact rodenticides have on our wildlife . There are alternative methods.
Go to the Wild Care website to check out our web resource page of Humane Rodent Control Solutions. The key to reducing rodent populations long term includes exclusion, deterrents and eliminating the attractants. A little effort up front will provide a whole lot of effectiveness long term.
Thank you for caring about all of our wild creatures.
Stephanie Ellis
Executive Director
Garv Photo by Kerry Reid
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Red-tailed Hawk Care and Release Made Possible by The Orleans / Eastham Elks
This stunning Red-tailed Hawk was brought to us from Rochester, Massachusetts by the wonderful staff at Mattapoisett Animal Hospital. Suffering from a gunshot wound to the wing, it was unable to fly, and spent two months in our care. After receiving the green light, it was released back in Rochester by JoAnn Byrnes, Wildlife Rehabilitator.
Shooting all types of hawks and owls is illegal in Massachusetts under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act.
The care and release was made possible by the Orleans/Eastham Elks Lodge #2572. Thank you for your sponsorship and caring about Cape Cod’s wildlife!
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Fuzzy Baby Cooper’s Hawk Recovers from Leg Injury Finds Foster Family
Mid-Summer after a high-wind storm caused massive power outages and downed Osprey nests, we received a call about a “baby Osprey” found beneath its nest in Mashpee. Upon viewing photos of the bird, we determined it was an injured baby Cooper's Hawk. Falmouth Animal Control transported the bird to us, and a radiograph determined the young bird had a fractured leg. We provided pain management and applied a splint. The bird was with us for many weeks! We feel incredibly grateful to have learned of a Cooper's Hawk family nearby in Orleans. Our bird was introduced into the foster family and they all left the area together. We could not have asked for a better ending!
Would you like to sponsor the care and release this little bundle of fluff? Please email Stephanie.
LEARN more about Cooper's Hawks
Video: Jennifer Taylor, just prior to splinting of its leg.
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Lights Out for Migrating Birds - What You Can Do to Help
Each year billions of birds head south in the fall flying at night. Bright lights can confuse birds and throw off their migration paths. Learn more about the simple things you can do to help provide safe passage for night-migrating birds. PHOTO Carl Jacobs
National Audubon Society - Lights Out Program
Bird Migration Forecast Map
| | Snapping Turtle hatchling | Diamondback Terrapin hatchling | |
Eastern Box Turtle hatchling
PHOTOS Kerry Reid
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Frankiepants, Blueberry, Spaghetti, Walt and other
Turtle Hatchlings are
Named and Released
Thank you to everyone that named one of our Snapping Turtle, Diamondback Terrapin, and Eastern Box turtle hatchings! It has been such an incredible experience for us to help them along from eggs to beautiful and free wild creatures! Our staff did an amazing job caring for them. Thank you to Chelsea Peck for your leadership on this, and release video!
Fare thee well to all of the hatchings: Dee-Don, Marmoo, Joel, Susie, Steven, Lou, Theodora, Cuni, Bumble Bee, Erin, Blueberry, Lisa, Michael, Paul, Crystal Carvotta Brown, Will, Cecil, Callisto, Max, Charlotte, Carollee, Winston, Tadhg, Rhys, Hunter B, Pancake, Half-Pint, Minn, Mia, Natalie, Domion, Janice, Rory, Spaghetti, Frankiepants, Meekoland, Danny, Tony, Wallace, Zelda, Chuck, Billy Joe Armstrong, Sonny, Walt, and Cleopatra, Michael and Lisa.
| AND THEY’RE OFF… Watch the Snapping Turtle hatchlings as they are released. | | | | |
Baby Turtles are Hatching Now
It is turtle hatching season! Be on the lookout for these little hatchlings emerging and making their way towards their new habitats. If you find a hatchling turtle, don't move it, and don't place it in water! Place it under leaf litter in the location where it was found.
If you spot an adult or hatchling turtle in the road and it is safe to do so, pick it up and carry it to the side of the road in the direction it is heading. Please do not place them in water, and never relocate or take a turtle home with you.
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WATCH video highlights above from
Garv's 2024 Great Pumpkin Party!
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Meet Dracula the Great Horned Owl
at a Family Fun Halloween Party
Garv and his friends are having a Halloween party at Wild Care on Saturday, October 25th from 5:30 til 7:30pm! This not-at-all-scary, family friendly fall celebration will feature a Great Horned Owl named Dracula, a stunning Raven named Dova, a visit from Garv, your party host, along with a few other animal guests. There will be a costume contest, children’s games, crafts, goodies and more fun and suprises!
| | | | WILD CARE IN THE COMMUNITY | | |
Wild Care Joins Eastham’s Windmill Weekend Celebration on the Green
Wild Care took part in Eastham’s Windmill Weekend celebration. For the past 48 years, this beloved event has been a way to celebrate the conclusion of the summer season, and to welcome back a slower pace of life. Thank you to Kerry Reid, and volunteers Barbara Bradley, Alyse Demary, Eva Posner, and Ally Concra for coming out to help with Wild Care’s booth on the Green.
Archive photo
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Fun Facts, Trash Your Tackle, and Everything Ducks at the Annual
Rubber Duck Regatta
Did you know that ducks can yodel, and that they never get cold feet? Wild Care shared some fun facts about ducks, talked about Trash Your Tackle, and made some awesome crafts with guests at Dennis Conservation Land Trust’s annual Rubber Duck Regatta at the West Dennis Yacht Club. Thank you to volunteers Michael Brown, Lynn Adams and Eva Posner for helping out!
Check out Wild Care’s
Fun Facts About Ducks
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Guests at Mass Audubon's Wildlife Festival Make Animal Rescue Boxes With Wild Care
Wild Care and members of the Cape Cod Wildlife Collaborative spent a beautiful day at Mass Audubon’s Wildlife Festival on Saturday, September 13th. We enjoyed meeting everyone that stopped to say hello, talk with us about wildlife, and make Animal Rescue Boxes. Thank you to volunteers Lynn Adams, Maria Damon, and Alexandra Carroll for being the smiling faces at the Wild Care tables!
Kids making Wildlife Rescue Boxes. PHOTO Maria Damon
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We are always looking for friendly faces to volunteer with us at local events. If you would like to help Wild Care, and enjoy connecting with people of all ages in the community, talking about wildlife and Wild Care at fun events around Cape Cod, LEARN MORE HERE
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Can't Get Enough Snowy Owls? Cape Cod Museum of Natural History has Wonderful October Programs
You're Going to Love this Snowy Owl double feature at the Cape Co Museum of Natural History on Thursday, October 16th. Start with an award-winning short form documentary "Snowy Owls of Logan Airport" featuring the work of Norman Smith. This will be followed by a PBS nature documentary titled "Magic of the Snowy Owl". Tickets are included with museum admission. Get more information here.
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Wild Care's Director Stephanie Ellis will discuss the journey of Snowy Owls from the Arctic to the shores of Cape Cod and how our community can help them to thrive here. Tickets and information for this October 23rd talk at 1pm are available at ccmnh.org
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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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