A Short Visit

We had the pleasure of holding onto a Least weasel that was trapped in a building on December 31st.  We had a release spot ready for him at one of our volunteers who lives out of town.  These guys are amazing at clearing mice from a barn as they can fit in small openings.  Even though, Least Weasels are small, about the size of a jumbo wiener, don’t let that fool you as they are known to be fierce hunters even killing  rabbits 5 to 10 times  its own weight.  Normally, they prefer rodents (ie voles, mice) but can kill young rabbits if available in the spring. Weasel appearance is quite different as they have an extra long body and neck with short stubby legs.  During the colder months, their brown coat turns a snowy white to help hide them in the winter.  We hope he had a great feast New Year’s Day.

Our Christmas List

Photo taken by Rick Onskie from Nu-sun Cinema

If you haven’t shopped for us yet, check out www.pwildlife.ca for our letter to Santa Claus for some ideas.
There are many items on our list that you might have lying around the home. We also are in great need of monetary donations to help with the costs of caring for close to 600 animals this year.

We hope you have a wonderful holiday and a safe New Year.

Christmas Card and Tag Fundraiser

We are doing a short fundraiser for Christmas Cards. If you would like to purchase some cards please pwrc either by email or by calling 510-1855.  Help Support PWRC this year.

A package of 4 cards is $5.00 or 12 cards is $10.00.  Four beautiful designs.

Gift tag sheets are 30 tags (one sheet) for $2.00.  These are in a sticker form so easy for everyone to place on packages.

The Tale of A Great Grey Owl (natural history and the story of our ambassador)

The Tale of A Great Grey Owl (strix nebulosa)

-         Strix is Greek for “strizo” which means screech

-         Nebulosa is Latin for darker clouded   ………….

-

Did you know that:

“Size wise, the great grey owl takes the prize,

but they are more fluff than substance.

Both the Snowy Owl and the Great Horned Owl weigh more.”

This segment is a part of the life of a Great Grey owl known as Nascha.  Her story begins three years ago when she was found by the side of the road near Neepawa, Manitoba. She was most likely in hot pursuit of a mouse or other prey and was unsuspectedly hit by an oncoming vehicle.  She was taken to the Winnipeg Humane Society, where the veterinarian had to amputate her right wing.  After her operation, Nascha was taken in by the Prairie Wildlife Rehabilitation Center where she has come to be known and loved as an official education ambassador…But what of her past and life as an owlet? Her age will likely remain a mystery as she was already an adult when found. What if the vehicle had missed hitting her? What is the “usual” life of a great grey owl?

Not only are Great Grey Owls Manitoba’s provincial bird, they inhabit a large part of Canada from the northern regions of the Great Lakes in Ontario, throughout Manitoba, northern Saskatchewan, and most of Alberta and British Columbia, and as far north as southeastern Alaska. In the United States they are found in western Oregon, northern Idaho, central Washington, northern Idaho, Oregon east of the Cascade Range, and south to California, where they are on the endangered species list. The Great Greys are also found in areas of Eurasia, especially in northern territories.  They are the largest (but not the heaviest) owl in North America, weighing in at an average of 1.5 – 3 lbs., with a wing span of 4.5 – 5 feet, and a length of 24 – 33 inches.

Great grey owls favour habitats with both forested areas, and open areas that are home to a variety of prey, such as voles, mice squirrels, gophers and others, including birds.

In winter, they often locate by sound. The Great Grey locates mice and voles under the snow with its triangular hearing (one of its ears is positioned higher on its head than the one on the other side). This specialized hearing allows for detection of prey three feet below the snow! The great grey usually dives down into the snow and grasps the prey with its talons, but sometimes goes head first with its legs and talons poised to grasp its prey. The great grey owl also has very keen eyesight. Great Greys, with their large yellow eyes, have been known to locate prey some 219 yards (200 meters) moving on top of the snow and silently swooping down to snatch up their catch.  The great grey owl mainly hunts at dusk and dawn (crepuscular), and also at night (nocturnal), and occasionally during the day (diurnal).

The great grey owl does not mate for life. Females may brood in the same nest for several seasons, but eventually leave the old nest and steal another bird’s nest (usually another raptor), or find a suitable tree cavity, or even construct  her own nest. Courting usually starts in mid-January and continues until mid-April. The female great grey utters quiet hoots and starts to move her weight from leg to leg as soon as she sees a male approaching with prey.  After the offering is presented and accepted, the pair bond has been formed and the pair spend time both preening and feeding each other.  Breeding season begins in late March, and continues until mid May in the Northern regions.  Eggs are laid at 2-3 day intervals, and a female usually lays three to five eggs, and has been known to have up to nine eggs in her nest.  The female incubates the nest and is fed by the male.  She does leave the nest for short intervals to hunt on her own.

The young usually venture out of the nest about 30 days after hatching to nimbly explore their surroundings in their nesting tree.  It has been estimated that full fledging occurs when the owls are 50-55 days old. They remain in the surrounding area for several months, cared for by the female, before flying off on their own.  They are considered mature at three years of age.

Nascha (whose name means “owl” in the Navajo language) would no longer be able to survive in her natural settings, but is now highly respected for her presence and delightful nature with PWRC!  And… the average life span for great greys in the wild is about 7-13 years, whereas in captivity it goes up to 27 years!  She has roomy, well furnished living quarters and full meals of fresh mice each day! Not to mention the excursions to schools and special events for education purposes.  Yup, a pretty good life for Manitoba’s Provincial Bird!

Nadine Andrusiak

Christmas is Almost here

We’re slowing down with the number of phone calls and patients being admitted to PWRC.  Watch the website for some winter changes and holiday ideas.

Every day at PWRC we give injured and orphaned wildlife a second chance. Often timely care makes all the difference.

Please give a generous year-end donation! Deadline is December 31st, 2011

Your support will make all the change in PWRC efforts to make a difference one wild life at a time.”

A visitor from Nunavut

Bernadette from Rankin Inlet, NU, contacted us last week about a Rusty Blackbird that never migrated south for the winter hanging out in her backyard. From her description, he was flying earlier that week but days later, the bird was on the ground most of the time.  Usually that can indicate that the bird is having difficulty finding food and could possibly be losing important flight muscles to stay alive. She immediately went out and caught him and placed him in a pet carrier with food and water.  There are no wildlife rehabilitation centres in Nunavut, so this bird would need to be shipped to  PWRC.  Arrangements were made to apply for an export permit and luckily Bernadette was flying through Winnipeg on Tuesday on her way East for Christmas.  Bernadette and the blackbird were suppose to come in yesterday, but weather conditions cancelled their flight and new arrangements were made for today.  A huge Thank you to Kristi and Cian for picking up “Rusty” at the airport and transporting him to our facility.  This bird will be staying with us until spring when his flock would be migration through Manitoba.

Interesting facts:

• Rusty Blackbirds winter in South-eastern United States and summer in the Canada and Alaska.
• Are closely related to the Common Grackle
• They enjoy eating insects, small fish and some seeds
• They nest in Boreal forests
• This is the first Rusty Blackbird admitted to PWRC and my first ever in 17 years of wildlife rehabilitation

Look Whoooo’s Staying for Christmas

November was starting to look like an influx of Snowy owls.  From news articles in Wisconsin and Michigan, Snowies are there in record  numbers.  Some have seen over a 100 snowies in their state.  Snowies spend their summers up North and travel “migrate” south to Manitoba during the winter months if food is sparce. Did they have a great spring and summer  with enough food for the whole family?  It’s hard to tell but our two males that came in November were first year birds that didn’t get the hang of hunting and unfortunately died from starvation.  Our current female resident was hit by a car up near Stonewall, MB and the concerned driver brought the owl to the Pembina Emergency clinic one Saturday evening.  She is still recovering with a possible fracture or bruised hip.  However, she is being a bit difficult since she won’t eat the mice on the ground in her enclosure so I have to use a long pair of forceps and offer the food to her in a slow manner.  She will then swallow the mouse whole and repeat another four or five more times.   Maybe she considers herself a princess. She’s a beautiful specimen and poses photos. We are accepting monetary donations to help with the cost of food. She eats approximately $6/day of mice.  We hope to release her in the new year so keep watching for updates.

A Migrating Visitor

During the freezing months, it is always a difficult time of year to find open water. A few weeks ago, we had a sub-adult Pied-billed Grebe stranded in a parking lot behind the Whyte Ridge Vet Clinic.  Diving birds like grebes and loons cannot take off of water so we have to quickly find a large body of water for them to take off from.  Thankfully two of our volunteers drove the grebe to the Forks for a quick get-away.  He swam off with a group of mallards.

Course and Float and Snowy Owl

Well, I have to apologize for not posting for a short while. It’s been busy not with animal cases but with travel to teach the Basic IWRC course.  I was fortunate to be asked to teach in Fort Lauderdale last week especially since our weather was a wee bit cold.  I met a lot great people starting out in wildlife rehabilitation and excited to learn more in our field. Florida was warm and humid which is the complete opposite of Manitoba.  Unfortunately it was a quick trip since we had another project to finish on the weekend. A Float.

This past weekend, PWRC built a float for the Santa Claus Parade in Winnipeg. We had a blast and I thought it turned out great.  A big thank you to: Melanie K, Jennie C.,  George B, Garcea D, Megan R, Wes T, Val C, Shelley C, Fort Garry Fire Trucks, King’s Electric, Kate F, Peter F, Genevieve F, Shirley, Judy H, Wendy T, Brad B, Ben B, Ali B, Zakk T, Sheila S, Nadine P, Ashley G, Ryley, and Tao (the Great Horned Owl).  Hopefully I haven’t forgotten anyone but we are truly thankful for your support. Without your help we couldn’t have done such a great job.  Thanks so Much.

This coming weekend, I will be co-teaching the IWRC course in Winnipeg.  The class is full so it should be a great time.

I forgot to mention we’ve received two snowy owls in the past two days.  It’s a little strange to see them when we don’t have a lot of snow. First snowy was hit by a car and unfortunately didn’t make it and the second snowy is starving. Keep your fingers crossed.

IWRC Basic Course

This is the last week to sign up for the IWRC Basic Course on November 19th and 20th. If you interested in finding out more about wildlife rehabilitation or to sign up for the course, please visit http://theiwrc.org/continuing-education/physical-classes/. If you have any questions, please contact PWRC at 510-1855.