We love it when a plan comes together
In the TV show “The A Team,” Hannibal Smith used to tell his team,“I love it when a plan comes together.” That’s how it felt for your Rancho Coastal Humane Society’s San Diego Wildlife Center (SDWC) at 2380 Camino Vida Roble in Carlsbad this past month.
Baby season for local wildlife began at the SDWC with the arrival of the first cottontail rabbits. They were soon joined by squirrels, hawks, raccoons, owls, and other wildlife. In preparation for the influx of wildlife babies, we held our first “Baby Shower.”
SDWC Director Trish Jackman says, “Baby rabbits are extremely hard to raise away from their mother. Mothers only feed at dawn and dusk. Well-intentioned people sometimes ‘rescue’ baby wildlife that would possibly be better off left alone.”
Trish says wildlife babies have specific needs. That’s why she posted a Baby Shower wish list on the SDWC website. It included items we’re going to need as more babies arrive in the coming days, weeks and months. We’re also accepting financial donations so we can purchase items that are not donated. A heated blanket or bag of bird food can save lives.
The baby shower was a huge success! Even local police officers stopped by to learn how SDWC can help them save injured, orphaned, or sick wildlife that they find during patrols.
A few days later Trish’s plan came together when SDWC received 10 tiny ducklings from a good Samaritan who found them in the road with no mother.
Trish says there’s an explosion of ducklings separated from their mothers during this time of year. “In the wild, their mothers would keep them safe and warm. They’re not hatched with waterproof feathers. Those develops as they grow. Their mothers supervise them to make sure they learn to swim, but not before their feathers are able to repel the water. At the San Diego Wildlife Center their enclosure has a shallow pool that allows them to adjust to the water but still stand up. They have limited access, like their mothers would allow.”
“Our goal is to teach them everything they need to know to survive in the wild, but to make sure they’re not too comfortable around humans. They need to be ducks, not pets. They still have many lessons to learn.”
For more information about Rancho Coastal Humane Society’s San Diego Wildlife Center and the Baby Shower visit sdwildlife.org, “Like” SDWildlifeCenter on Facebook, visit the San Diego Wildlife Center at 2380 Camino Vida Roble, Unit G, in Carlsbad or call 760-621-6888.