New York Wildlife Rescue

It is me again....

2011-12-15T07:53:00.000-08:00

I always start with the usual apology, sorry. A lot has been going on since I last blogged. Always busy in the fall trying to get all of the little projects done before the snow flies. I also always like to attend the NY Wildlife Rehabilitation Council Conference and the NY Falconers Association Banquet. We had a very busy fall with wildlife programs as well. Check out the events page on the website, we have already booked several dates for 2012 appearances.
I spent two days last week filming with the National Geographic Channel for a new show called Extreme Animal Rescue. We took in the two bobcats from the zoo that was closing down. I wish that we could have taken in the Mountain Lion also but we just were not set up properly yet. The episode will probably be on TV by next September. I will make sure everyone knows when it will be on. We filmed one day at the zoo and the other day at our facility. It will be educational and entertaining I am sure of that.
Things at our facility have slowed down a lot this time of year but we are still getting in migrating birds that have been injured, mostly by cars. We still have a nice selection of domestic animals looking for long term homes but the numbers are not insane like they were last winter. We also have kittens and a 7 year old lab looking for a home before christmas.
As the year always comes to a close, I always do a lot of reflection on what we have done, what we need to do and goals for the next year. This upcoming year, I would like to finish the projects that we have started. I want to spend more time with my friends and family. I need to get off of the hill more to travel and camp. I need to get some new energy involved to help with fundraising, grant writing and public relations....I just cant wear so many hats anymore, I get tired and dont want to burn out. Till next time. WES

Born Free

2011-10-19T08:25:00.000-07:00

This past weekend was cool. I released some of our raccoons and skunks that I raised this year. I will post a couple of photos soon only because it will be impossible to tell the location from the photos. One year I actually posted some release photos and people tried to figure out where it was so that they could go and hunt the animals. I have no problem with humane hunting but trying to figure out where I released some coons so that you can go hunt them is about as simple as a person can get. I wish that I had that much free time.
Since last time, I took the Barn Owls down to the Old Stone Fort Days the first weekend of October. We hung out by the old Dutch Barn and we handed out nestbox plans for building Barn Owl Boxes....something that everyone should be doing so that they can get them hung up before the snow flies. Last weekend I took several Birds of Prey to the Iroquois Museum for their Iroquois Festival. I really envy the relationship that native american cultures had with nature and their environment.
I just received some great photos, which I will also try to have Gayle post on the blog. The Eagles have been released. Jean Soprano had taken the chicks from our facility for the last few weeks to further condition in her large flight building. With DEC they released the eaglets back into the wild the other day. I wish that I could have been there to see them fly off into the wild but Ive done it before so it isnt that big a deal.
I am more distracted by the news this am about the private exotic animal facility in Ohio where the guy released over 40 large carnivores and killed himself. I understand killing yourself but to let all of those poor animals loose into the wild (that they have never been in) which has resulted in almost all of them being gunned down to protect the public is sad. There are thousands of great facilities breeding exotic animals legally all over the USA, for some species it will be the only chance that they have at avoiding extinction. Unfortunately, as so often the case, some of these facilities get too big/too fast and the care of the animals in their care begins to suffer. It is sad (but true) that all animals can NOT be born free but it is better to be born than not exist at all isnt it? Laws, Regulations, Licenses and Inspections are all important to preserving the exotic animal facilities in line. I have often said that any place that calls themselves a "Rescue" should be inspected at least once a year and be accredited by a national rescue organization, even if one needed to be created. Most of the small facilities have been run out of business by the mountains of fees, licenses and paperwork created by several agencies to continue to operate. I have seen several well run zoos and facilities go out of business lately. What happens to those animals has always been my biggest concern. I currently know of a small privately run zoo that is closing. They have been trying to place their remaining animals in other places responsibly. They currently have an alligator, 2 snow monkeys, 3 bobcats and a MTN. LION that must be placed by December 1st.....I could probably make room for the bobcats and would be willing to take in the MTN. LION if the labor, funding and enclosure could be built and inspected by then. It is possible....Let me know if you can help. I really need a corporation or group to help on this rescue....I am getting tired. WES

Good Night Irene

2011-10-03T07:08:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone. I'll start with the usual apology...I havnt blogged since June, I am bad, everyone knows it. People often ask me what I do for fun, I always say "Sleep". Someone once asked how to get ahold of me, I said "Call late at night (518)827-7733 or email Laraway@midtel.net during the weekdays." Unfortunately, I can not access Facebook at school, they have it blocked so only the students can get on it with their phones (no, I refuse to get a cell phone). Facebook is pretty much the way that the world uses email now, the school censors will figure that out in time.
Since I have last blogged, the summer has been busy, as always. We had many visitors at our facility. We have taken our educational animals on the road to dozens of events. We have saved more animals than I could ever mention (or list) here in one blog. If you have ever explored our website, we always let people know where we are going to be. I am very proud of our wildlife preservation and conservation shows. Educating the public and trying to keep funding coming in to our facility has always been two of my biggest priorities. Coordinating Volunteers has also become a big part of my responsibilities as Director. Since our Not for Profit facility gets no State or Federal funding, I take help from who ever is handing it out.:) Help in labor, money or supplies is always welcomed.
As the summer came to a close and I was getting back into "School Mode" we also experienced a horrible natural disaster known as Irene. I awoke to the pounding rain on the metal roof that morning, I went to "nap/sleep" late that night after we had gotten the dozens of people settled in that had shown up at our house with no where else to go to get out of the valley. We are not flatlanders, from our facility we have the best view of Middleburgh that there is and it wasn't pretty for the next few days. Our critters and the folks that came looking for a place to stay were high and dry. My wife has always been a Saint, there was always soup on the stove, coffee in the pot and a warm blanket for who wanted it.
The next morning, one of my best friends and I went to check on the rest of the animals that I couldn't get off of his farm the day before because the water was coming up too fast. Most had drown in their efforts to escape but there were some miracles. Two of the four horses had went back into the barn with 7 feet of water. They had managed to climb up on round bales and were alive. A goat and a sheep made it with the same plan......and one little chicken. His llama had swam with the current over the fields to a neighbors a mile away. There were some happy stories, most were not. I didn't focus on the dead animals that we buried that first day after the flood. I focused on the live animals and the people that had lost just about everything that they owned. We are used to dealing with some floods in the Schoharie Valley, we were not prepared for Irene. Water got where it has never gotten before. For crying out loud, the Blenhiem Covered Bridge built in 1855 washed away (I will be putting my 1997 video of it from school on You Tube at some point soon).
For the last month, with my dedicated staff of volunteers, we have tried to deal with the after effects of Irene. We cleaned out houses, barns and stores. My wife still cooks too much for dinner. We still have a lot of animals that came in during the days after the flood. It is amazing to me how people that have "lost everything" will still go out of their way to save their animals and get them to a safe place. Many of the dogs, cats, horses, goats, cows,pigs, etc. that have come in to our facility do not have a farm or a home to return to. We will deal with it but winter is coming. I feel so bad for the farmers that have lost everything, their livestock, crops, equipment and barns. The hay that got wet during the flood did get hot enough to burn down some barns that survived the flood.
Watching the people of the Schoharie Valley dig out, throw out and work together to rebuild their homes, farms and our towns has been amazing. We might not have a gym or cafeteria at school but we have kids learning in our classrooms. Slowly the shops, restaurants and road stands will open back up.....I hope that everyone spends what they can afford with everyone that reopens their businesses. If you have hay, I know farmers that don't. Never take for granted that what you have today can't be gone tomorrow.....I've always said that I don't plan on taking any of it with me, these poor people lost a lot. It seems like the "outside world" has forgotten about us already. It is so easy to turn the channel on the TV or for a politician to go home after the photo opt is over and the promises have been made. My thoughts and prayers go out to everyone that has lost anything from Irene. Keep your chin up, walk forward, tomorrow is another day. WES

Eagle #4 Has Landed

2011-06-13T05:30:00.000-07:00

"Orphan Season" is the best of times, worst of times. It is fun in that you never know what (or when) some cool animal is going to come to you that really needs your help. I hate the sleep deprivation involved, the fact that it is also the same time of year that things are very busy at school or the fact that I have to carefully listen on the phone to many well intentioned people that have an animal emergency that isnt an emergency at all . It often is a "animal abduction" and many times the babies are not orphans, they are just in the wrong place at the wrong time and get caught. I don't always agree with the slogan "If you care leave it there" because there are many times that an animal is injured, starving or weak and we can help that animal and get it back into the wild.
Sunday mornings, my wife and I attempt to sit on our front porch and drink a cup of coffee together. It is one of the few times a week that we can talk without being interupted by our kids problems, animal problems and the phone ringing off of the hook. Yesterday I had just set down and I got the call from a cell phone in Minekill State Park. DEC had given this guy my number. The guy was fishing in a remote area with a friend and they had found a baby bald eagle sitting in the river. This is always the hard part. From a phone call with a distraught person, I need to make a judgement call....."Does the animal need help" or should it be left alone. From the information given, I decided that regardless of the species of bird (I really didnt expect another Eagle)it needed to get picked up. I explained how to do it without getting some talons into your arm. I explained that I tossed out my back last weekend and couldnt hike down into the woods for an hour to find them. I told them that I would be waiting in the parking lot at the trailhead and I gathered my gear and left my lovely wife sitting on the porch smiling as I pulled out to go meet them.

I got there before they had been able to hike all the way out. I was talking to some folks that were there to look at the waterfalls and I heard something crashing up through the woods. I figured it was either a bear or the guy with the Eagle so I went to take a look. Much to my surprise, it was an Eagle and the rather tired guy who had hiked an hour back out of the trail (all uphill) carrying it. I did a quick field inspection of the bird, could find no major issues other than the fledgling (bird just leaving the nest) is VERY thin and was having a bad day. Around 70% of all Raptors (Hawks, Owls and Falcons) die the first year of life and this Eagle was a day or two away from meeting his maker.

I got the Eagle home, was waiting for another rehabber (Kelli GB) to arrive with a Great Horned Owl that was running around on the ground at the Stamford Golf Course. I could smell him before she opened her box. The GH Owl had obviously eaten a skunk the night before and had gotten sprayed. This has all happened by noon....on a sunday. :) Other rehabbers/falconer friends showed up and the eagle is stable. After an IV, the Eagle will get liquid nutrition for a few days, once he starts eating again we will get to work on solid food. Eagles are a nightmare to rehab, everyone wants to do them, there are a lot of politics in play. I am hoping that DEC and the Federal Office in Mass. will let Kelly Martin and I finish this bird. This is the 4th Eagle that I have picked up now and I would like to see one through and be released. We did it on the last one and I would like to see this eaglet fly off above the Schoharie Creek right where it was found.

The Eagle is really lucky that two guys fishing early on a sunday morning cared enough to forget about fishing and do the right thing to save this Eaglet from a certain death. I think that they are very cool guys and I am confident that this Eagle can be nursed back to health and can be released back where it came from. I hope that they will join me when that day comes, who knows, maybe after the release I will even do some fishing with them. Until next time, :) WES

Scooby

2011-06-01T05:52:00.000-07:00

Things have been busy since my last update. We are currently booking a lot of events for 2011. Dates are filling up fast. Be sure to check out our calendar of events and support our sponsors that bring our educational presentations on wildlife to the public. I blogged last year about Orphan Season and when to "save" baby animals and when to leave them alone (go back in blog history). I have gotten a lot of calls this year from well intentioned people that have kidnapped fledgling birds and hiding fawns from the wild. It is often very difficult to convince people to put animals back where they were abducted, in the wild. We help hundreds of animals every year but I can not raise any wild animal as well as their parent. I know that mother nature can be cruel but it is part of the cycle of life. Often one species misfortune is survival for another day for a different species. I am not starting to lecture, just use common sense. If in doubt, leave it out....bring in your darn cat and let the parents raise baby wildlife unless it is injured. Speaking of cats, I have 6 kittens that are weaned and really need new homes. Response to my pleas have went unnoticed. Does anyone read these blogs? They are using the litterbox, eating well and need a new home.:)
I also have a 2-3 year old St Bernard (shorthaired version) that is looking for a home. The lady that owned him is moving and can't keep him. He needs to get neutered and will be a great dog for who ever wants him. "Barney" loves kids, appears to be relatively vice free and needs to go.:) He is stuck in my kennel at the moment. I would be so tempted to keep him but I can't. We have hit our dog limit when I pick up Scooby today. Yes, I am getting another dog. It is my house and if you don't like it, don't visit. (Which is by appointment only):)
Scooby is an 11 month male Brindle Great Dane that our friends at Lollypop Farm found for us after Cleo died. The Rochester Humane Society is an amazing place. It is one of the best run, best managed, cleaniest, most professional and utterly amazing animal shelters that I have ever seen. I have worked with them on several different cases and I have formed friendships with many of their staff. Ceasar and Scooby will be best buddies I am sure. I am not sure what it is going to be like sleeping with two huge dogs (and a Daschund) but I am sure we will figure it out. Does anyone make beds bigger than a California King???? I pick up "Scooby" this afternoon after school. I will ask Gayle to put a photo of him up on this blog.... I am so excited and I think that Cleo would be glad that it took two Great Danes to replace her void.....Stay Cool. Adopt a kitten today....WES

Happy Homeless LLamas

2011-05-25T11:17:00.000-07:00

Tonight is the big night, the happy llamas are getting moved out of the front paddock. Besides for the 12 that have already been adopted and went to their new forever homes, the rest of the herd is moving up on the mountain. The horses are getting moved to the destroyed, devoured and devestated front paddock. Bruce, Mike and I have worked really hard to get the fences back up to the condition that they should be to contain the little mob of munching mouths that is soon to descend upon the fresh green grass of the back pasture. As happy and as nice as it will be to see the cow, mini-donkeys, Llamas, alpacas, goats, sheep and potbelly pigs up on the hill it is just another field to be eaten off. I have emailed and/or called everyone that I had received an email or an adoption application from. The llamas have been vaccinated, sheared, toenails trimmed, wormed and they have gained weight. Now they need to go to their forever homes where they can get the small herd TLC and care they need to finish their recovery and fatten up. I am sure that 20-30 of the llamas are too old, too thin or have issues that will prohibit them from getting adopted. That is fine, we can grow old together. But for the rest.....time to go to your new homes. I will be working around the farm for the 3 day holiday weekend. Schedule your appointment to come and pick out your llamas. I am ready to see them get on with the next phase of their lives. WES PS Wildlife Orphan Season is in full swing. Do NOT pick up baby wild animals unless you are sure that they need your assistance.:) Ceasar went to the vet. He now weighs 50 pounds, he gained 8 pounds in the two weeks since his last visit. I think that this little Great Dane isn't going to be little for long.:) NOT ONE PERSON has beat on our door begging for a cat. My girls (that have done all of their bottle feeding) are starting to think of names.......Please dont do this to me, adopt a kitty (I have several already)....the kittens are eating on their own now and using the litter box. PPS The next person that brings me a box of kittens will be beaten.:)

"Little" Kitties

2011-05-16T08:31:00.000-07:00

I want to start off this blog by replying to everyone that has emailed me publicly, privately, on the blog and on facebook (I have 1000 friends now, do I get a prize?)...... I appreciate everything (positive) that you send me. The well wishes, kudos, compliments, etc. keep me going on many a day that I am ready to give up. I do not normally rescue dogs, cats or horses. There are other facilities that specialize in those three species and if I took them in regularly I would bankrupt our facility in a quick period of time. I do take in dogs, cats or horses (now and then) in certain circumstances. I ONLY do it if I think that they can be adopted quick or if it is a "do it or die" situation for the animal. I am only one guy, I can't save the world but I do the best that I can. There is a lot of details of stories that I do NOT write on the blog. I do vent now and then but I try to keep the blogs PG13 and I do NOT write down A LOT of the details when I write. I do work both "officially" and "off the record" with a lot of law enforcement agencies, humane societies and animal rights groups. I try to always do what is right by the animals and I don't push people under the bus to do it. I hope everyone knows what I am trying to say. "I've got it covered", don't ask or tell me what to do...."Im on it".....you don't need to know everything I do.....:) I save over 500 animals a year, I will never leave an animal where it is going to die but sometimes people with a badge need to do things legally. 'Nuff Said. I do take constructive criticism well if it is written on the third full moon of every quarter and mailed to me on invisible ink.....(joke).

Everyone that sent an email telling me what I should be doing, I have a surprise for you. You all get a kitten. Yes, that is right....no reason to fight, I have enough for all of you. They are cute too (I know all kittens are)...:) Bruce,one of the kids that volunteers at the farm (that I used to like), brought the kittens back to work with him this weekend. I was nice enough to let him go help another farmer load hay for a couple of hours to make some money. He came back bearing 6 little furry gifts....I am no longer mad at the kittens, just Bruce.

These kittens really need great homes as soon as they are weaned/eating better on their own. Im sure that Gayle will put a photo up on the blog so all of you can pick out your kitty....while supplies last. :) PLEASE help me out by adopting one (or two)....
Speaking of adoption, Llamas are ready, contact me and we can start getting the paperwork done and getting them moving. 8 have went to Bob and Viv Fultons, I have another 3 going to a farm locally this sat. morning. Rain, Rain, go away........WES

(Sorry the pictures are blurry ... we'll try to get better ones once we train the little wiglets to sit still. They're really cute, about 3 wks old, 4 tortie girls, 2 black boys with little white tips on their tails. --Gayle)

"Little" Ceasar

2011-05-10T05:49:00.000-07:00

I am a proud new poppa of a great new poopie. Welcome to Red Maple Farm and the Laraway Family "Little Ceasar". Since our Great Dane Cleopatra was euthanized a few weeks ago from cancer there has been a big dumb dog void in my life. I can't sleep at night without a Great Dane taking over my bed. When Cleo died, I knew that we would get another Dane but I really wanted a rescue. I really wanted to help a dog that needed a great home. One of our BOD members and good friend Linda emailed me about a 5 month old puppy in Sharon Springs that was on craigs list. Since the kids and I didnt do anything for Mothers Day because we were shearing llamas, I was already in deep do-do with the wife. I was hoping that I could do damage control. I contacted the people and left for their place right after school on a secret mission.
I eventually found the place in Sharon Springs. I was met by an older lady that welcomed me to their "dog rescue".... There were a couple of old abandoned trailers, the lady and her son were living in a camper, there were shepherd mix dogs chained all over the place. I am not one to judge anyone else for the way they live but I wasn't impressed with the way the Great Dane pup was living. Great Danes are not outside dogs (no dog should be), Ceasar was in a kennel by the trailer with no shelter, food was tossed on the ground and I imediately saw that he had mange. I asked where they bought the dog, when was its birthdate and when was the last vet visit. She didnt have an answer for any of the questions, neither did her son from an earlier phone call. How could you pay for a purebred puppy "somewhere by Albany", not know when it was born or not take it to the vet for the gauntlet of shots, tests and worming???? If you dont have the money to go to the vet, then you shouldnt buy a dog. If you dont have the money to go to the vet, then you shouldn't own a dog. I wasn't thrilled about much that I saw but I knew one thing. I wasnt leaving the puppy there! I wrote a check, grabbed the puppy and put him in the truck. The older woman stood in the driveway crying as we left, I wish her well and hope that the check will buy some food for the dogs remaining there. I hope that someday she and her son can get on their feet and move out of the camper into a better trailer on their property. I wish them the best and hope that they dont wait until the law gets called before they get some help.
On the road, I tried to call the vet but couldn't figure out how to unlock my sons cell phone. I swung my truck into the Beekman Mansion and asked Jason if I could use their phone. I called Cobleskill Vet Clinic, told them that I had just picked up a Great Dane Pup and was in route to their clinic. I drove as fast as I could while the puppy projectile vommitted all over the backseat of my truck. I pulled into the vet clinic and in we went. Ceasar walks great on a leash so someone has had him on one. I let the vet know what was going on and suggested that we start off with a mange test and a parvo test. Thank God that the parvo test came back negative but the mange test came back positive. The girls at the clinic loved Ceasar, he wagged his tail and was all kisses. They tried to feed him some dog treats, which he didnt know what to do with. I got the meds, wormer and truck cleaned up and we were road bound again. We decided to wait two weeks to start puppy shots when he is stronger. I also brought home the Red Tailed Hawk that was at the clinic getting x-rays and we headed for little league. I pulled in to the little league parking lot right before my wife and kids got there. I could tell that she wasn't thrilled with me for a varity of reasons. I handed her a list and asked her if she could stop by the grocery store on the way home. She glanced at the list and realized that it is my Great Dane Puppy recipe, Danes need a lot of calcium because they are growing so fast. She gave me the scolding "you didn't look" as I rolled down the rear window of my truck so that she could see Ceasar sprawled out sleeping on the backseat and she melted. Darcy forbid me from getting our last Great Dane. When Cleo died she wanted another one more than I did......Happy Mothers Day Darcy. I love you and you are a Saint for putting up with me for all of these years.
While Darcy was at Little League, my daughter Hannah, farm manager Bruce and I worked on getting the mange bath done and getting Ceasar dry. Hannah instantly started putting photos on Facebook and friends started showing up to see the new family member. He might not be pretty but he is ours. After the kids and Darcy went to bed, Ceasar and I fell to sleep on the sofa in the office watching tv. Ceasar is 42 pounds at 5 months old so he really isnt a lap dog but I let him lie on me anyway. At midnight we went to bed, same ritual as Cleo, I pulled as many of the sheets and comforter as I could onto me before he was given permission to sail into bed. Must be a Great Dane thing, he doesnt think that I need more than 2 feet to sleep on either and he sprawled out like he owns the place....well actually, maybe he does. :) You are a lucky dog "Little" Ceasar.... I am a lucky guy. WES

Shearing NY 100

2011-05-09T07:18:00.000-07:00

Before

After

I have always looked forward to shearing day at our facility on Red Maple Farm. Our shearer Ray Baitsholts is the best. He shears our llamas, alpacas and sheep. If anyone is looking for a great shearer that is reasonable and will travel, (518)-797-5201 is his number to get an appointment. Thanks for everything Ray, words can not express my gratitude for all you do for us.

The llamas have all been sheared.....oh my God I am so thankful it is done. Now the llamas will be available to adopt. Viv and Bob Fulton of Rhodie Hill Llamas took the first 8 home with them this weekend. I really want to Thank Viv and Bob for being there to support us with this huge undertaking. It made me smile from ear to ear to know that 8 lucky llamas get to live with you. Watching the first of the NY 100 leave brought happy tears to my eyes. This rescue has pretty much dominated our lives for the last few months. Our volunteers and I have given 110% of everything that we have to saving these animals. It is bittersweet watching the llamas leave. I will miss them but I want them to go on to their forever homes and fatten up this summer.
Gayle Woodsome visited yesterday while we were shearing. It was great to put a face with the name. Gayle has written some great articles about the llamas in Montana. She was also in Montana when the NY 100 were being loaded on the trailer. She was pleased with their progress. She is a great woman and it was great to get her perspective since she could see their progress since leaving Montana.

Since I have to get back to work.....I want to finish by thanking all of the other volunteers that helped us all weekend, there are too many to mention before my next class starts but I appreciate EVERYTHING that all of my BOD, Students and Supporters do for me. I am usually quick with criticism and short on compliments but I am grateful. Everyone at Red Maple Farm/NY Wildlife Rescue Center/Northeast Llama Rescue are volunteers. Donations go to the animals and I wish that we could do more but I am pretty happy with what we do now. Thanks Everyone. WES

Happy Llamas Need a Home

2011-04-27T09:36:00.000-07:00

Happy Llamas in the front pasture

I will try to write updates more often now since the weather is getting better and more wildlife is been admitted to our facility. The Great Horned Owl fledgling (chick getting ready to leave the nest) that I picked up Monday after school from Kelli-(with an i), is doing great. For a little guy he certainly eats a lot. Now I know why he must have gotten tossed out of the nest early. He snaps his beak and puffs up when he sees me coming to check on him. That is a great reaction, I am definately not worried about imprinting. He makes me smile when I see him and helps me forget about the cool Osprey that we couldnt save. I love releasing wildlife back into the wild. Last night before bed, I fed and then released a brown bat I've been working on for several weeks. It took him a few minutes to prepare for take off but watching him sail off made everything I do seem worthwhile.

Falconer friend Derrick and wife Alicia brought me a really neat little Cooper's Hawk that appears to have nothing wrong with it except starvation. It gives the Great Horned Owl chick a run for its money in how many defrosted pinky mice they can eat. I look forward to fattening both of them up and releasing them sucessfully back to where they came from.

The llamas are lovin' life in the front paddock. We have lost a couple more llamas over the last couple of weeks which always puts me in a bad mood. Now since the weather is getting better and they have access to grass Im hoping to see their weight continue to improve. We still have a couple with bad jaw abcess issues that I am not optimisitic about but we will do our best. Everyone that has submitted an adoption application, I will be contacting you shortly. Next weekend they will be sheared and will be ready to be adopted out.

How next weekend will work is for those of you hauling your own llamas. You may bring your truck/trailers. I will have everyone park in order of arrival down below on the road. One truck and trailer at a time, due to limited space up by the barn, you will be asked to bring the truck and trailer up. We will shear, trim toenails, worm and finish vaccinations on your animals and help you get them loaded. You will sign the adoption contract agreeing to provide care, etc for them. If they are ever unwanted or uncared for they MUST be returned to us, no questions asked and your adoption donation will be refunded 100%.

We will gladly put any volunteers to work on May 7th and/or 8th (Mothers Day). Not that we don't put our volunteers to work any day they show up. :) I've reflected a lot lately on the several llamas that have died in the last 3 months. I take a lot personal and would have loved to have kept all 100 alive but that was impossible to do when they arrived with one casualty. I've reflected on what we could do different or better, I dont see much that I would have done differently. For the 30-40 llamas that were lucky enough to be adopted, I am thrilled. For the rest that will be living with me I am thrilled. The expense of doing this llama rescue has been huge. I have no regrets but I want to remind everyone that the press coverage has disappeared. The donations have trickled down to a couple a week. The llamas that will be living on with me until new homes can be found will still be a lot of expense.

We will also have thousands of dollars of building expenses this year as we get ready to break ground on our new Bear and Mtn. Lion rehab. building. I need donations for this also. I would love someone that has the concrete forms and experience to do concrete work to step forward and donate some time and equipment. I need to put in a 40-50 foot square concrete pad with 12 foot walls surrounding it. Let me know if you want to take a look at the plans. With the completion of this building, we will be set up to basically take in any wild, domestic or exotic animal. To do this building right will cost around 40-50 thousand with our labor. I would gladly put a Corporate Logo or "In Name of" Sign on the building. I appreciate your help with the llamas, we did right by them. Now I'm asking for your help to finish the construction that we should have already started.

Enjoy Spring, it is finally here. If you value what "we" do, take a serious look at how we can get the next phase accomplished. What can you contribute? Thanks, WES

Photo courtesy of Kelli Grogan

Mission Accomplished

2011-04-25T06:42:00.000-07:00

I can't believe that a week vacation from teaching at school could be over already but it was a productive rainy week. Most of the week was spent working on the fence on the front paddock to get the llamas out there in a more or less escape proof paddock out of the mud. The llamas love it and if the potbelly pigs would stop tearing up the sod there would probably be grass a bit longer. I really appreciate all of the students from the SUNY Cobleskill Wildlife Department for coming over to help me finish it, we would have never gotten it done without your help. I also really appreciate Ray Baitsholts for pounding in some new posts. Ray is also our Llama Shearer, which the date for shearing the herd this year is May 7/8th. People that are adopting llamas can pick them up as soon as they are sheared.
This past wednesday, Eric, Kelly, Kelli and the girls and I went to visit Jean and Len Sopranos wildlife rehab facility. I would like to thank them for the great tour and for letting the eagle that we picked up a few weeks back get some exercise in their great flight enclosure. We released the Eagle in the same field where Kelli Grogan Brown had found her. The Sopranos bear rehab facility is great and now since Ive seen it, I know exactly how I want to build ours. I actually got a call on a young bear yesterday with a broken jaw. Unfortunately it couldnt be saved. It was great seeing the eagle fly back off into the wild, watching that Eagle is what makes what we do worthwhile. Thanks Eric Brown for driving us and taking the great photos (as always) for the blog.
On thursday, my daughters and I did a program for our friends at the GE Wildlife Committee. I think that it was a great turnout for a vacation week from school. We value our long friendship and great relationship with the GE Wildlife Committee. I cant wait to see all of those Kestral, Screech Owl and Wood Duck nesting boxes put up around the grounds at GE Global Research Facility. Thanks for your continued support.
I hope everyone had a great Easter. Just because it was Easter did not mean that we were closed or not working in the kennel and barn. Besides for the Bear call, Kelli had a call on a baby Great Horned Owl that I need to pick up from her tonight after school. Eric and Linda also transported a young Osprey raptor to us. The bird had a horrible wing injury and I wrapped and stabilized the wing to see if the vet could save this magnificient bird this morning at 7am when they opened. I have never worked on an Osprey before. They eat predominately fish and have been tracked from as far away as Canada to the Brazilian Rainforest where some migrate for the winter.

I would love to see this bird survive but it is a really bad injury and I will completely agree if the vet already has euthanized it as I write this update.
Did everyone see the quick glimpse of our educational redtail hawks on the last Beekman Boys show from last Falls Sharon Springs Harvest Festival????? Hopefully Brent and Josh will get our logo and sign on the show this year.... I appreciate their help with the llama donations and look forward to about half of the llamas going to their new homes on May 7th and 8th. That will take a lot of pressure off of me since wildlife orphan season is about to explode into a fulltime job for a month or two. Till next update, WES

Wes and Linda work on the Osprey

Photos by Eric Brown, all rights reserved

Eagle Release

2011-04-21T14:44:00.001-07:00

April 2011, Releasing the Eagle

Bald Eagle #3

2011-03-29T09:01:00.000-07:00

Want to start off blogging today by thanking all of you for your kind words, thoughts and prayers. This past friday went as expected, "Pup pup" is in a better place. I think the worst part since losing her is sleeping. Cleo has slept in my bed for almost the last 6 years. Our nightly ritual of wrestling for pillows and trying to get enough room to sleep is over. It is weird not having her to sleep with but our Daschund Dixie is loving it. Dixie has nightmares about getting under the covers and getting layed on by pup....the bed will be a lot safer and have a lot more room.
Saturday one of our fellow rehabbers from Delhi called me to tell me that she had rescued a Bald Eagle from a field. She brought it down and Kelly (and the gang) got fluids and liquid nutrition into it. This is the 3rd Eagle that NY Wildlife Rescue Center has taken in. We arranged for transportation to Cornell Universities Wildlife Center. We have such a great relationship between our facility and Cornell University. The eagle is doing well and recovering. I suspected lead poisoning but tests are not conclusive for anything yet. We have a photo of the eagle getting ready for transport. After getting in touch with the Eagle guy in DEC, from the legband numbers, we also know a bit about the bird and even have a photo of it in the nest near Goodyear Lake as a youngster back in 2006 during a rain storm when it was banded. Notice that they dont have white heads. Eagles dont get white heads until around the age of three. I will definately keep you updated on the progress of the Eagle. Wildlife Orphan season will be upon us soon....I should have lots of interesting stories soon.
Please remember that this weekend is our 4th annual Easter Photo fundraiser. This saturday, April 2nd we will have a lamb and bunnies at the Cobleskill Agway for photos from 10am to 1pm. I will also have some of our educational Raptors there on exhibit. This sunday we will be at the Middleburgh Hardware Store from 10-1 with the same critters. This fundraiser is always good for us and you can get great easter photos with the kids and see some great Raptors. Till then, WES

The new eagle as a youngster. Photo by Scott.

Good Bye My Friend

2011-03-23T06:54:00.000-07:00

For those people that know me, you can usually tell where I am working on the farm by looking for the dogs. I travel with my pack, my best friends and closest advisors. I always have a Border Collie with me, a dachshund under my arm or a Great Dane riding shot gun in the truck. Cleopatra our Great Dane was born on our anniversary April 1st, she is 5 years old. Unfortunately, she wont be seeing her 6th birthday this year.
Yesterday I took Cleo to the vet and she was diagnosed with advanced bone cancer. I get really attached to my dogs. Yesterday was also my wife Darcy's birthday, what a crappy way to spend it crying with Cleo. I have a day or two left with Cleo...we will spend it lying on the bed watching tv....I dont want to turn our blog into a depressing thing, I just wanted to let our friends know that if they want to stop by and say good bye to "pup pup" you better do it soon.
We have had a lot of great dogs over the years, "Pup" is one of the best....we will miss you a lot. Rest in Peace.

Here On Who, Seussical, MCS

2011-03-18T20:24:00.000-07:00

For your entertainment, Wes and Darcy, the directors of NELR and NYWRC, as Mr and Mrs Mayor of Whoville, in "Seussical", the Middleburgh Central School spring musical.

A side of them we bet you never thought you'd see!

Nice Article from The Daily Star

2011-03-14T10:14:00.001-07:00

Thanks to Big Chuck D'Imperio, from TheDailyStar.com for this wonderful article on Wes and NYWRC/NELR!

http://thedailystar.com/bigchuck/x2002721734/Schoharie-savior-is-areas-own-Dr-Dolittle

Thanks Cornell University

2011-02-18T10:46:00.002-08:00

During this rescue of the NY 100, there have been so many people that have helped, donated and given everything that they could to help these poor llamas. I hope to get our donations page updated tonight. I will put the "State of Donation Origin" after the donors names, if the donation didn't come from NY. Gigi Davidson,DVM, North Carolina Vet College helped us get the vaccinations that we would need to give all of the new llamas their first round of shots. Destron Microchips donatated the chips and readers to permanently ID all of the llamas in Montana. Mary Smith, DVM, and over 25 of her vet students from Cornell University provided the labor. I am rarely speechless, yesterday was another one of those days.
Yesterday started out like any other day at our facility. Nice spring morning, a lot of very happy llamas waiting to see me when I stumbled into the barn around 530half asleep as usual. I got everyone up, eating and started to formulate a game plan for the huge surge of labor that I was expecting on the farm. By 10 am our webmaster and dear friend Gayle Nastasi rolled in. She had one of the toughest jobs yesterday, she had to photograph and record every llamas' microchip so that she could come up with a database, not just for our records but for the virtual adoption fundraiser that Josh and Brent are doing with the Beekman Boys friends and fans. Next came volunteers Viv and Bob Fulton, Ive known the Fultons forever. They have been packing with llamas forever and were quick to email me to let me know that they wanted to adopt five of the guys when they were ready. Turns out that the Fultons are going to adopt 6 llamas since they found a llama that they had parted ways with years ago. I am sure that Moody Blue will be the first of many llamas that we figure out where they originally came from. We have a long list of people looking for "lost" llamas, there was only one llama that we found a microchip in that wasn't our chip....we are figuring that out. There were some llamas with metal ear tags, we are figuring those out. Gayle will have the llamas head shot photos up online soon so people can start looking for llamas that they might have known. We also had 6 guys with (actually 12) surprises, 6 of the "geldings" were actually intact studs so the gang from Cornell took care of that problem as well before they left to go back to Ithaca.
Shortly after my friends and volunteers arrived, the students from Cornell started rolling in one car at a time. I was kind of surprised that Cornell didnt send a van but the cars kept coming one after the other until around 25 vet students and their teacher, Mary Smith, DVM arrived. I took them on a tour of the farm and showed them "everything that we do at the zoo" so to speak. Then it was time for a game plan. With this many people we had to divide up tasks. Some students worked the chute that the llamas were going through. Some students prepared the syringes with the wormer, the rabies or the C.D. and T vacinations. As we started putting llamas through the chute, we quickly realized that giving 3 shots, feelin' for testicles, takin an ID photo and reading a microchip wasnt going to go as quick as we had hoped for. Some of the students broke off and put 5-7 llamas in a horse stall. Then in groups of 2-3 vets they gave shots, body scored the animal and wrote any immediate medical issues that Dr. Smith needed to see on a plastic ribbion around the llamas neck. Once all vet work was done, they were put through the chute where the microchip was read, the photo was taken, the neckband was removed and they got to go outside and hang out in the beautiful spring sun with their buddies.
About halfway through the herd, we stopped and had lunch. Hubie's Pizzeria in town donated ten pizzas to the cause. I really appreciate Chris and Jenn Hubbard's help. Whenever they know I am working with a large group of students at the farm that need to be fed, they always take great care of us....Viv made some great cookies. Gail made some cupcakes.....most of the students were finished eating and back to the barn before I had my second piece of pizza.
Everyone was a bit slower after lunch but we finally started to get into the groove and got into the routine. Of course the llamas that were last to be done were the ones that were not our most willing participants. The day concluded with a special surprise for the 6 male llamas that snuck on the trailer to NY from Montana with everything that they must have been hiding a month ago.....We have 100% neutered males (or geldings) now. It was a long day but a great day. In a month the CD and T and the rabies should be repeated. We are also coming up with a game-plan for getting the guys sheared this spring. I think that we will shear 50 llamas one weekend, the other 50 llamas the next weekend. I am taking adoption applications now for the guys, even though they will not be adopted out until the weather breaks this spring. The llamas need to get sheared and get looking better. The adoption applications are available to print on our website, then mail them in. For people that can not afford the small adoption fee, we can talk and some of the adoption fees will be offset by virtual adoptions from our Beekman Boys friends.

Just Added: Meet the Llamas Here

Pictures from Dr. Smith

Thanks Cornell University

2011-02-18T10:46:00.001-08:00

Visit From Paul Taylor

2011-02-11T15:04:00.000-08:00

Friend and photographer Paul Taylor stopped by the farm. We'd like to share a couple of his images with you. Thank you, Paul!

Llama 99

2011-02-09T12:11:00.001-08:00

I usually like Wednesdays, the work week is half over and the coaster is going down the tracks. I also like Bactrian Camels a lot, hump day always makes me think of them. Today started out like any other day, (watch out when I start a blog like this you know it isn't going to be good). I got up at 5:30 am (as usual) and let the Border Collies out. The Border Collies wake up about 15 minutes before me and run from the bed to the door knowing that there is "stuff to do" outside. I got up and made coffee. Got some wood piled into the outside wood furnace; it is so cold. I am really ready for spring at this point, enough of winter. Then I let the dog boarders out into the kennels and head for the barn.

By the time I get outside, I can always hear the roosters crowing and the horses shuffling around their stalls. It isn't light yet but all of the animals know that I am coming and we all look forward to getting the day started. I like doing morning chores, it is just the critters and I in the a.m. Animals love to wake up and I have the best reason to get out of bed every morning. I usually get up before the alarm clock lets me know that I need to be out of bed. This morning wasn't much different than it has been for the last 3 weeks. First, I take hay out back and let the horses out. Then I put the llama grain and hay out in the front courtyard. Then I open the door so the llamas can go outside (weather pending).

The llamas love going outside but we lock them inside at night. I don't want them sleeping outside when it is this cold; I want them burning calories to live, not stay warm. I always stand by the door as all 98 llamas go bouncing by. Now since they know that there is grain out there waiting, the llamas have a "take no prisoner" approach to being the first 40 outside. When I first grained the NY 100 a week after they arrived from Montana, they walked through the grain. The llamas really didn't even know what it was. They are now getting free choice hay and water 24 hours a day and grain once a day. They also get free choice Stillwater Llama Minerals, which they love. By this weekend, I want to start graining them twice a day. With llamas starved this bad, you must take things slow. They didn't starve over night and getting them built back up will take time also.

The last thing that I do before getting my coffee is physical therapy with the llama that was too weak to walk upon arrival almost 3 weeks ago. I will always try to save a llama if they have "the look" in their eyes that they want to live. Unfortunately, with most llamas, once they go down into a kush....they almost never get back up for long. I had made it my personal mission to save this guy and get him back up on his feet. I felt that he had survived way too much to die in NY when he was home free on llama easy street. This morning, "Llama 99" as I've been calling him didn't look at me with his same "Wes we can do this" look in his eyes. I had built him a llama bouncy bounce with a sling and elastic straps, and with his new jacket (donated by Useful Llama Supplies). He was the best dressed llama in the barn. This morning he had the "Wes, when are you going to let me die?" look in his eyes. I told him that it was cold, told him that he was in a bad mood because the blood wasn't circulating yet and went through the stretches and production that I have done for almost the last 3 weeks before I could enjoy a cup of coffee for ten minutes before I have to get showered and dressed for school. I thought that he was just having a crappy morning, it happens to all of us.

At 11:15 today I ran home to meet with another great reporter from the Greenville News. NY Ag and Markets had just stopped at the farm, I'll catch up with them when they have an appointment. Cornell University is sending out 20+ vets on Feb 17th to help me give the llamas their vaccinations and parasite medications. We are also going to read microchips and take photos for the Beekman Boys Fundraiser on that day. As the reporter and I went into the barn, I realized that Llama Number 99 wasn't doing well in the chute. I immediately knew he died shortly after I left him this a.m. after physical therapy. I knew that he was saying good bye this a.m. and had given up the fight and will to live. I was angry that he had tried so hard and given up. I have only had one other llama get up after being down that long, maybe I should have euthanized him instead of giving him almost three weeks to try to get up. At least he died knowing that he was in a great place with lots of food, surrounded by the llamas he had known for years in Montana. He died knowing that his friends and their story would live on. I am selfish, I wanted him to live so I could say I saved him....sometimes you just have to let things go you can't control. I have to go now, I cant write anymore and as I told the reporter that was with me.....few people have ever seen me cry. WES

News Coverage of the NY-100

2011-02-07T09:13:00.001-08:00

The Cobleskill Times Journal, our primary local newspaper, did a wonderful front page write-up on the NY-100.

You can view it here:
http://www.timesjournalonline.com/details.asp?id=48595

Check out the Watershed Post's great blog article by Julia Reischel

http://www.watershedpost.com/2011/101-llamas

Article in Daily Gazette online

2011-02-05T07:00:00.001-08:00

Need a herd of rescued llamas?

Click the link above to view the online version of the article written by Jim Mcguire, reporter for the Schenectady Daily Gazette. Jim and his photographer Marc Schultz visited NELR yesterday to talk to Wes about the "New York 100".

For frequent updates and photos, join us on Facebook at http://facebook.dj/nywildlife/

CBS 6 Take a Break segment online

2011-02-03T17:39:00.001-08:00

If you missed seeing us on TV this evening, you can catch the entire segment on the Channel 6 website:

http://www.cbs6albany.com/articles/animals-1282528-llamas-rescue.html

While viewing, be sure to also click on the Web Extra video, to the right of the main story, to see the interview with Brent Ridge from the Fabulous Beekman Boys.

NELR's "NY-100" on Channel 6 CBS Albany

2011-02-02T07:22:00.001-08:00

From Jerry Gretzinger: [The Northeast Llama Rescue "Take a Break"] story is going to run [this, 2/3/11] Thursday at 5:30 and 6:30 on CBS 6 and 10pm on the CW15. This is of course for the Albany Capital District and all areas served by those television stations. A link to the story online will be posted when it's available for viewing there.

Busy Day, Happy Llamas

2011-01-28T15:12:00.000-08:00

I love days like today, I like being busy. Day started around 530 as usual. Got everyone fed, out to pasture, shifted around and settled. The 99 llamas from Montana continue to eat nonstop, that is good. I got to school and had to deal with Jan Regents week caos. Got my students retaking the test, taught my classes and darted up to the farm during the assembly and my lunch period.

Brent Ridge, Fabulous Beekman Boys, was already at the farm. Talking to our BOD members and getting a tour of the facility. Brent and his partner Josh have a llama named Polka Spot guarding their goats. Polka Spot and the guys have decided to help us try to generate some publicity and donations for the"NY 100" as they have become known as. It was great getting to know Brent a bit without TV cameras around. He is a great guy and I think he was really impressed with what we do at our farm. I look forward to having Josh and Brent as friends. I really do think that our place is pretty unique as far as an animal rescue facility goes. I havnt seen any other place like it. The fact that every dime we raise goes directly to the animals, we have no paid staff. Actually our entire staff are a bunch of degenerate teenagers that volunteer hours every week, some court mandated but most are not. They see what I am doing, value it and want to help in the only way they can....with their labor. I wouldnt be able to run the place without their help. I really appreciated Brent coming over today, I hope that he brings Josh over soon so that I can give him a tour as well.

Right on schedule Jerry Gretzinger, of News 6, WRGB Albany came with his camera man to interview us. He got some great shots of the llamas and we can really use the help getting the word out that we have this huge undertaking ahead of us. Jerry is a great reporter and I think that I did a pretty good job telling him all I could about llamas and the horror story with these poor animals from Montana. I really cant believe that the Associated Press hasnt picked up on this story yet. As far as I know, it is the largest animal rescue in the USA since Hurricane Katrina. I hope that it isn't just because most of the animals were llamas that they are not getting the attention and help they should be getting. Llamas really don't deserve the bad reputation that they have as spitters and such. 99% of all llamas are loving animals that would never hurt you, you cant say that for many other animals. I had to run out on everyone that was at the farm at 12:30, lunch break was over and I walked into my 7th period class right as the bell rang. One of my students wanted Brents autograph, he was pretty surprised when I had it for him.
The rest of the day went fast, between classes and the pep rally for the big basketball game at school tonight. Right after school, one of my best friends from Brazil and his kids met me in school as I was getting 43 kids on the bus. Ricardo was an exchange student to Middleburgh in 1984, I was an exchange student to Brazil in 1986 and he looked out for me. I knew he was coming for a visit this weekend but friday night ski club cant be cancelled unless it snows too much :) so they all followed the bus up with us. I have them on the slopes skiing, Im trying to catch up on the laptop. I really want to get home, check on all of the animals and relax....long day. Keep up the good fight, WES PS Thanks Jerry, Brent, Bruce, Linda, Gayle, Eric, Kelly and of course my barn guys.....

The Montana Llamas are here

2011-01-21T21:07:00.001-08:00

The 53-foot double decker livestock trailer arrived today from Montana, carrying 100 rescued llamas who will be fostering at Northeast Llama Rescue. Here are some YouTube videos for you to enjoy

The trailer arrives:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G__CcHO7vT8

The huge trailer wasn't going to make it up the hill, so we took the small stock trailer down to meet it at Laraway Oil. It took nine or ten trips to get all one hundred llamas up the mountainside to Northeast Llama Rescue.

Here, Wes moves llamas from the large trailer onto the small one.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AWa6v2Aca94

Article and Pictures of the Montana 100 Llamas

2011-01-20T08:13:00.001-08:00

Please view the great article on the Albany Times Union website on the 100 llamas that will be arriving this weekend from Montana:

Farm takes 100 llamas - Times Union http://bit.ly/g3057u

Thank you, Paul Grondahl for a great write up! The article has several nice photos of the llamas being loaded into the trailer at the sanctuary as well.

Also, please view our dear friend Ellen's web page on the rescue here:

http://www.fortlucasfarm.com/rescue/index.html

And her great photos of the animals in Montana here:

http://www.fortlucasfarm.com/rescue/nelr_pictures.html

Thanks to all of our friends for their support. The needs of these hundred llamas will be huge. Please consider donating via the Paypal button on this blog. In addition, "spread the love" by passing the news to your animal-loving friends.

One of Ellen's site's photos of the NELR 100 heading
for the trailer to be loaded for their journey.

Montana LLamas

2011-01-18T10:41:00.000-08:00

Hi Folks, We've been really busy since I blogged 10 days ago. Yesterday, 100 llamas were loaded on a huge semi trailer by Zeigler Transport in Montana. 10 days of nonstop work with the Camelid Rescue Coalition got 100 gelded llamas headed to us. There are still 200-250 llamas left in Montana. It cost over $9000- just for the transport of these 100 to NY. Donations have never been so important. I really hope that the other 200-250 can find a home before the rescue group that is in Montana leaves on Jan 31st.... I know one thing, we dont want any more than 100. This is one of the largest animal rescues in the USA since Hurricane Katrina. It is a huge undertaking by all involved. Thanks to all who already donated. Thanks to my BOD that have worked day and night to ccordinate all of this. I really want to thank Bruce, Eric and Judder. These 3 guys are the core of our volunteers and have helped me do almost everything over the last week around the farm to get ready for their arrival. Ellen has been vital to the coordination. Gayle has been vital to keeping the website and paperwork straight...to the dozens of donors, your donations have given us the faith thgat we can do one of the largest animal rescues in the USA and still pay the bills.....I will try to blog daily again or as I find out new news and/or get photos. Weve had two bats come in this week. besides for the little brown bats, things have been slow but it won't be for long. One person can make a difference, many people can make a bigger difference.:) WES

Trailer that is bringing the 100 llamas to NELR/NYWRC

Crisis in Montana

2011-01-07T06:56:00.000-08:00

The holidays are over, I am not one of those people that get depressed after the holidays are over. I hope that you and yours all had a very Happy Holiday Season, remember all donations in 2010 are tax deductible. I love to hate the month of January. It is the worst month of the year at our facility. It is a constant daily battle to deal with the ice, the snow and the cold but I love January because it is normally slow on the rescue front. Without many animals coming in, I get a chance to relax and work on paperwork. I also do not do many events in Jan. to promote our facility, so I am not on the road as much. I would like to mention, we are currently booking events for 2011. This year has not starting out slow like usual. I am currently working on two big rescues. Both of these cases will be very expensive to assist in.
In Montana, around 15 years ago, a Sanctuary for unwanted animals was started. Very similar to what we do, they specialized in taking in unwanted livestock and exotics. They have a large number of animals there, my focus is on the approximately 800 llamas that they have gathered over the last several years. I was a critic of what they were doing for years. Some of the the worst rescues that I have been involved with have been at other rescue facilities. Many people with good intentions, start "rescues" and quickly get in over their heads. Some of these "Rescues" are basically animal hoarders with good intentions and limited resources. Before Thanksgiving, I heard that the Montana Sanctuary was bankrupt, closing and the animals were dying. I swore that I couldn't get involved, I didnt want to use our limited resources on a problem halfway accross the country. For the last few months, I have stood on the sidelines watching the train wreck unfold ....I wanted to look the other way but I can't any longer. Efforts are underway to feed the llamas throughout the harsh Montana winter with donations from all over the nation from other rescue groups. I thought the money raised from donations should be used to ship the llamas out of Montana, instead of feeding them there. I know both have to be done. The feeding is happening but the transportation out of there isnt. The llamas are very thin, lack appropriate shelter and need to get out of Montana to reputable rescue facilities that can adequately provide for them. I have agreed to take 50 of these llamas and provide feed and care for them until I can find them new homes. I do not have several thousand dollars in our budget to ship them to NY and we desperately need donations to do so. You can see the animals and the facility in Montana on YouTube. There are a lot of very talented rescue people throughout the nation working with me on this one. One way or another, I might not be able to save the 500-600 llamas remaining in Montana but I will start with 50. Southeast LLama Rescue has agreed to match our 50. As soon as the first 50 arrive, I will start planning on the next transport of another 50. One person can make a difference, many people can make a bigger difference....Now would be a great time to donate if you havn't in awhile.
The other big case that I am working on right now is not a rescue case but it could turn into one. I know of a small private zoo that is closing down on October 1st of this year. The problem with finding homes for animals from zoos is that many of the animals require special licenses to own. I dont think that requiring licenses is the problem, the problem is that there are not many people left with licenses. I have lined up homes for many of the animals already but I would like to move the Mountain Lion to our facility. It is very tough to securely house these cats and I will need several thousand dollars to do a new enclosure and do it right. We have 10 months for this project but things need to be put in place now to do it.
I am always begging for checks and we need them now more than ever BUT We can also really use a public relations person, a grant writer, and donations of building materials. Besides for the Raptor Flight Material list on our website, we could also put to great use cattle panels, sheep fencing and pressure treated posts. I also would love to find an architect that would like to design a bear, cougar, bobcat building with me as a future project. We really need a corporate sponsor, I will gladly put their name all over our facility and on the projects they help fund. We need someone with some celebrity connections.....
I know that 2011 is going to be a busy year. If you have forgotten about what we do, schedule an appointment to visit our facility. Everyone has something to contribute to our mission, think about what you have to contribute.............WES

Emergency Transport for 50 Llamas

2011-01-07T06:48:00.000-08:00

IMPORTANT ALERT!

A Montana sanctuary is closing its doors. Approximately 600 animals are affected.

We at Northeast Llama Rescue have agreed to take 50 of these animals.

Funds are desperately needed for transportation!

Please Donate Now!

Sad Day, RIP my friends

2010-12-10T08:45:00.000-08:00

I was dragging my feet getting out of bed this am. Last night before bed, we got the dreaded phone call that Geoff Armlin lost his battle with cancer and died. Geoff was a student in 2 of my classes at school, he fought the good fight and hopefully is in a better place. 18 year old guys are not suppose to die. We really don't know how lucky we are. I try to live everyday as if it is my last but I am fortunate.....Ive had a great life. Geoff hadn't even lived his yet. I have read a paper that Geoff wrote about his family for me several times since I got to school. I think that I will give it to his parents.
When I got moving this am, I went out to the barn a little before 6am like I normally do and quickly discovered that Laddie, one of our 23 year old Clydesdales had fallen in his stall and cast himself. He couldnt get up even with my help. I knew that Laddie was getting close to meeting his maker and had actually called the vet 2 weeks ago to make the appointment to have Laddie and his younger brother King euthanized together. King is a year younger but King and Laddie were never apart. As part of a 6 horse hitch for 20 years, King and Laddie even walked around the pasture shoulder to shoulder. I "adopted" them several years ago when my friend Bonnie broke apart her 6 horse hitch for other pursuits. I've had a lot of fun with King and Laddie and have taught a lot of people how to drive horses with them. My Clydesdales are members of my family, are on almost every xmas card and Ive spent more time with them over the last 20 years than most of my friends and family. I will miss King and Laddie a lot. I hope that Geoff is waiting for them and maybe they can teach him how to drive a team of Clydesdales.
I really don't feel like going to Miracle on Main Street in town tonight. I will be in the Barber Shop with 3 or 4 of my owls promoting our holiday fundraiser of donation gift certificates and nestboxes for Raptors....Im sure the magnitude of the day will hit me later when I have time to sit down and think.

Gift Shop

2010-12-06T06:37:00.000-08:00

I forgot to mention this in my earlier blog but I am doing my shopping today from the computer. If you look at the items for sale in our gift shop and do not see something that you want or would want to give as a gift I would be amazed. Please take a moment, look at the items in our gift shop. Get your orders in this week so that you will have the items before xmas. After operating costs, all profits go directly to support the animals that you see on the products. Winter is a tough time for us since donations slow to a trickle. Dig deep and get some great gifts without fighting for a parking spot at the mall.

Coon Release

2010-12-06T06:14:00.000-08:00

Another weekend of getting ready for winter. The new roof on the office will hopefully be put on this week. I think that we are getting to the point that it could snow and we are ready. This weekend, I had a bunch of volunteers from the SUNY Wildlife program. I love the students from SUNY COBY. They have helped me out so much, I definately wouldn't be as prepared for winter without their help. Stephanie Parsons is the ring leader, she often gets students to come over and volunteer that do not even have to fill community service requirements for a class. Thanks Stephanie. This weekend, we got more "things" put away. We wrestled the snowblower out and got that mounted on the tractor. The only thing that I am worried about is getting the roof put back on the office and I think that we have that ball rolling now. I realized today that I never put any photos up from the day that we released the raccoons a month ago.
It was actually HWeen day, Eric Brown came a long to take some photos. Daily volunteer Bruce Bartels came along to check it out as well. Last year, we had some small minded people try to figure out where I had released our coons by the slideshow on our website. I love the slideshow that Gayle did last year and we left it up even though some people thought that it would be a good place to go coon hunting. What goes around, comes around, bad karma. This year, the batch of coons that we let go on Hween was in a posted secure spot. I was very pleased with the release. The area has lots of running water. I also kept these coons longer than I normally do so they were bigger and better equipped to defend themselves. There was also millions of acorns covering the floor of the forest. I feed our coons lots of things that they will need to find in the wild to survive. They knew what the acorns were and were not in any hurry to explore once released because they were too busy sitting around feeding their faces. Gayle will post the photos for you to enjoy. Releasing the coons is always a mixed blessing for me. They are so needy and labor intensive that I love seeing them get released. It is tough for me because some of these coons Ive raised since they were the size of newborn kittens. I always get pretty emotional watching them wander off into the woods.
reminder this friday night is Miracle On Main Street in Middleburgh. The 3 wise owls and I will be downtown. I will also have our nesting boxes there as a fundraiser while supplies last (see our previous post about this). Have a great week everyone. WES

Photos ©Eric Brown. Thank you, Eric!

To view larger image, click on thumbnail, then use your Back button to return to this page.

Prince the Peacock

2010-12-01T05:19:00.001-08:00

When it rains it pours, I am not usually one to complain about the weather but I really wish that the wind hadn't blown the shingles off of the roof of the office last night. Lets just hope it doesnt rain too much today, anything is better than snow I guess. Unfortunately it is only a matter of time before we get some of the white stuff as well. Hopefully it comes for the holidays and can be gone before New Years Eve. Reminder to everyone that we still have a great Holiday Gift idea (see previous blog). For a fifty dollar donation we will provide you with a gift card and a kestral or screech owl nesting box to give as a gift for that hard to buy for person. Supplies are limited so dont wait until they are all gone. Screech Owls will nest in anyones backyard, the squirrels like the boxes as well. Kestrals like open fields, directions on where to hang the boxes are included. We MUST get artificial nesting sites provided for Raptors or we will start losing species in our area.
Two weeks ago, the Educational Raptors of NY Wildlife Rescue Center were the star attractions at the New Hartford Shopping Center's big arrival of Santa. We had a great night and even though we were at the far end of the mall away from most of the festivities, most of the people made it down to see our birds and visit our display. Next Friday night (Dec 10th) at Miracle on Main Street in Middleburgh, we will have the three wise owls at the Middleburgh Barber Shop for Santas big night in town. We will also have our nestbox winter fundraiser display up. This will be one of our last appearances for the next couple of months. It is too difficult and stressful to take the birds out when the weather is nasty.
Things have slowed down a lot at our facility which is nice. This is the time of year that I get a lot of calls from people looking to find homes for their livestock and pets. We also had a fox squirrel from Florida come in that I am trying to become friends with. We will overwinter him and maybe try to figure out how we can get him back to florida and back into the wild. We also had a peacock named Prince come in last weekend. Ive had phone calls from a couple of different Animal Control Officers in Schenectady about how to catch this peacock. Gigi from Northcountry Wildlife Rescue was the person that finally caught up with Prince and got him off of the street. We have several peacocks that roam the grounds of NY Wildlife Rescue Center. We get a coupleof peacocks in as rescues every year. What most people dont realize with domestic peafowl is that they can be very vocal (loud) and that they need to be properly housed and penned. They are very susceptible to predators and bad weather. They can not be let out of their pens to walk around the yard until they have been penned long enough to know where home is.....if they get let out too early they will just wander off and become a casulty to cars, dogs or predators. Prince had adopted a neighborhood in Schenectady as his own. The folks were feeding him but his luck would have run out shortly. He is in a good safe spot now. As soon as he realizes that he is in a good place with lots of friends (and peahens) he will be let lose to guard our grounds with his keen eye and loud alarm calls.
I have also been getting a lot of calls from people lately looking to "get rid of" their llamas, alpacas, potbelly pigs, sheep and goats. If anyone can provide a great longterm home to any of the just mentioned species of domesticated critters, I would love to downsize the herd for the winter. Well, time to call the insurance company and see about getting a roof over our head. Till next time. WES

Raptor Nest Boxes, for that hard to buy for person

2010-11-19T07:09:00.000-08:00

NY Wildlife Rescue Center has the perfect gift for that hard to buy for friend or family member who also enjoys helping wildlife.

A friend of the center has donated a number of lovely nest boxes. These boxes can be used for American Kestrels or Screech Owls, depending on where they are hung. These birds, being cavity nesters, often have a hard time finding appropriate places to nest. Hanging nest boxes for them can help to ensure their survival and the survival of their chicks.

If you are interested in purchasing one of these boxes as a gift, please visit our website and contact us through the email link at the bottom of the page. Let us know you'd like to buy one of the nest boxes, and we'll get in touch with you with the details. The boxes can be ordered in combination with a donation of $50 or more.

The recipient of your gift will receive full instructions for correctly hanging the box, as well as a nice note explaining its importance and use, and letting them know who thought of them so kindly. A copy of that certificate is here, in pdf format.

Nestbox Donation Letter

We at New York Wildlife Rescue Center all wish you a joyful, safe and peaceful Holiday Season!

Phoenix the Hawk

2010-10-29T05:36:00.000-07:00

Our motto at NY Wildlife Rescue Center has always been "do it first class not half assed" and I try to always do what is right. Receiving constructive criticism and admitting my mistakes has never been one of my strong points. Lets just say "awhile ago" one of my educational Redtail Hawks escaped. The falconer that previously owned her had named her Phoenix, I do not name wild animals (if I can help it). The Mew (falconer term for places where raptors are kept) were low on stonedust. Keeping the fill in the mew is a constant process. Carver Stone in Middleburgh is kind enough to donate a couple of thousand dollars worth of crushed stone dust every year to keep our mew looking like a textbook photo. The dust had settled (so to speak) and I had one of my best educational redtails squeeze out from under the mew and escape. Being permanently disabled, I knew that she wouldn't get far and I spent dozens of hours with friends searching for her. I had just about given up hope finding her when one of our friends was mowing the lawn at the Elementary School and spotted her hanging out at the Nature Trail behind the school. Phoenix was lovin' life at the nature preserve. When I went to capture her, she was "tree hopping". Raptors with injured wings will often hop from one tree to the next to move since walking on the ground is hazardous to their lives due to mammal predators. For two days I attempted to catch her and her crop was bulging with the mice and chipmunks she had been fortunate enough to eat. She wasnt really thinking about what was in store for her this winter. She was not very cooperative, would not fist (or land on my glove) and saw no point in ending her fieldtrip. I talked to a good friend that is a falconer and he gave me some pointers. With my new found knowledge, a pigeon that had come in on a rescue (missing a wing) and some netting, I was confident as I went to catch Phoenix. After two days of trying to catch her, she had gotten sick of that game and had "vanished" off of my radar. I was starting to get pessimistic again but knew deep inside that I would find her again and would not stop until I had her back in the safety of her mew. She is my responsibility and I have to protect her.
Last night, I was running a couple of our high school volunteers home after doing chores. As I was coming out of the Middlefort Road by the Reformed Church, I noticed a woman that I know parked along the road on her cell phone. I slowed down to see if she was having car problems and she informed me that she was trying to call me. She said that she saw this bird that had leather straps (jesses) on her feet and I was out of the truck in a flash. Gloves on, net in hand I walked up to Phoenix who was looking at me with a "do you have food?" expression. I made one feeble attempt to net her, she took off to another tree. I knew that my chances of catching her this way were slim and none (played this game already). While Amanda watched her, I ran home and got the poor one winged pigeon and quickly returned. When I returned, Amanda had moved about 200 feet down River Street and informed me that she had lost visual contact with Phoenix.... My heart sank, I had missed my chance. Then I saw her, sitting 6 foot off of the stone wall that runs along River Street. She could have never made it flying across the river, cars were not slowing down at all. I knew that I would have to be careful. If I spooked her, she could drown or easily be killed by traffic. I carefully and calmly walked up to her and stood on the wall. She was very interested in the commotion that the pigeon was making in my hand. I got within 2 foot of grabbing her jesses and she flew about 30 foot up into another tree on the river bank. My heart was pounding, emotions were high as I went back across the highway. I don't have a hawk trap but I have read a lot of books. I also grew up watching Mcguiver (sp?)so I decided to make a trap. I took a large hoop net (used for fishing), I put little anklets on the pigeon's legs and tethered him to the net. Then I took a string and tied it to the rim of the net and took the spool of string far enough out that I could hide behind a big tree on the lawn of the church. Within 30 seconds, Phoenix drifted down out of the safety of her tree to wack the pigeon (who wasnt thrilled about this game). I yanked the string flipping the net up....Phoenix had gotten her feet caught in the net and I kept pulling the net across the ground while I was running towards it and before she knew what was happening.....I had ahold of her jesses, game over. My daughter Hannah was screaming "save the pigeon" which I did as soon as I had ahold of Phoenix. No pigeons were harmed in the capture of this hawk :)....
It feels like a weight has been lifted off of my back. I was floating with joy last night when I returned to our farm with Phoenix and "Trapper" (the pigeon) in hand.... yes, I know I don't name wildlife. Phoenix is hanging out with old friends, eating herself silly and probably telling all the other hawks how scary life "on the run" in Middleburgh is.... Once caught I do think that she was happy to see me and was happy her ordeal is over. I know that I am happy to have her "home". Happy Hween, be young, have fun.... Dont forget to clean out your freezers and donate the treats to NYWRC. Till next time, WES

PS, check out our gift shop at the link, top right of this page. There are Phoenix the Red-Tail items in the shop.

Shop at our store!

2010-10-20T10:06:00.000-07:00

Been a bit of time since I last blogged, I am getting back into the groove. Slowly.... Gayle has done a great job getting some great merchandise on the website store. I have purchased several of the things and I like the selection a lot. PLEASE check out the merchandise. I love everything with Oscar on it! I also use the Sleepy Barred Owl notecards all the time as thank you notes and sorry I missed your birthday cards. We need to sell items to make it worthwhile to keep the feature and raise money for our mission. Have you started holiday shopping yet? The thought makes me want to scream, I saw my first christmas commercial the other night on tv. It was actually a nice relief from all of the nasty mudslinging campaign commercials. Still depressing that fall is ending so fast. Look at the website store, buy something for that hard to shop for person and then put a note in with the gift that a donation has been made to NY Wildlife Rescue Center in their name. I'd much rather have that then anything else. We will send a note to the person informing them of the donation and put it on the list of donors on the website.
Since last time, two weeks ago, on October 9th, I took a bunch of our educational birds to Glimmerglass State Park in Cooperstown for a program. Nearly 100 folks showed up, it was a great day and I really enjoyed sharing the Raptors and our message of conservation and preservation. This past weekend, we had several Boyscouts come and help around the farm. After a tour, we worked most of the day inside the barn getting stone dust into the Raptor Aviairies. It takes a couple of weekends to get our facility winterized but we are well underway.
This past monday, MCS Schoharie County History Students and I were working in the Negro Cemetery for the course community service requirement. Thanks to Ms. Bates and the Middleburgh Historical Society for a great lunch as usual. Tomorrow night I am doing a program for the Middleburgh Rotary Club on the Wildlife of Africa. It should be a nice change (for me) from my normal programs on NYWRC.
Ive cancelled my reservations to attend the NY Wildlife Rehabilitators Conference this weekend in Grand Island, NY. I have attended the last several years, the classes are really educational but money is pretty tight right now (as it always is). I know that times are tight for everyone. I saw on the news last night that contributions to charities and not for profits are down 28% last year alone. I think that my small gifts for "hard to buy for" people will be small donations to some of my favorite charities, NY Wildlife Rescue Center Store will be the first place I shop...:) Pssssstttt, tell everyone you know to clean out their freezers, we can use the meat. Till next time, WES

Rainy Days and......

2010-10-04T06:33:00.000-07:00

Rainy days and mondays always get me down. I cant believe a lot of the leaves are gone already. Winter is coming and it is coming too quick for my liking but no sense complaining about the things that you can't change. The NYS Humane Society Conference this past sat. was great. Our class on livestock, exotics and wildlife as victims of cruelty went over great and we received a lot of positive feedback. Jim Tedesco was there and it was a great opportunity to network. Joanna Dychton, The Manager of Lollypop Farm (The Humane Society of Greater Rochester) and I taught the class. She had a great powerpoint put together and it was great to see her without the stress of being together on a rescue case.
Sunday was spent with our wildlife display at the Schenectady Greenmarket. This was the second time this year that we made an appearance there. For those of you that have never been, it is a great farmers market and it is very well attended. Our display is always a hit there and people love getting to know more about our animals and our mission.
Our busy fall schedule of appearances is winding down now and I am looking forward to being back at the farm to get fall chores done and start winterizing everything. I did manage to get our pool cover on this year before we had two feet of leaves in the pool. I should turn the pool into duck pond, the kids didn't use it much this year. We are going to add 3 more aviaries in the raptor section of our facility for "over-flow" and are still hoping that we can get the enclosed Raptor Flight in before it snows. Too much to do, Too little time and money. WES

Welcome Home Lucas

2010-10-01T06:25:00.000-07:00

Last night, an old friend came home. Hannah and Emma had no idea that Lucas was arriving. Lucas got off the trailer and acted much as if he had never left. He greeted his old friends in the barn. Hannah and Emma took him for a test ride around the barnyard together. After everyone left and the girls went in the house......Lucas and I had a long talk. He is relieved to be back, I am glad to "make it right" between us. Life teaches us all some very valuable lessons, sometimes it is not hard to do the right thing. Lucas, you have a home until you die an old natural death.
I really cant wait to get home from school today. I didnt let the horses out this am because it was raining so hard. I cant wait to see what the herd does with Lucas back in the mix as they gallop around their mountain pasture. I sent the Gull that came in last week to Cornell this am and they are sending back an Owl that needs to rehab with the transporter. I am on the road this weekend, check the events page to see where and when I will be flying.:) WES

Lucas the Horse

2010-09-29T06:39:00.000-07:00

When I rescue an animal, it is always a lifelong commitment. Many of the domestic animals that I rescue like (but not limited to);llamas, alpacas, sheep, goats, donkeys, horses,cows, dogs, cats and potbelly pigs...well I think that you get the idea. It is impossible for us to sanctuary all of them, we just dont have the funding. Not "if" but "when" I find the perfect home, I have to adopt the domestics and livestock out to good homes with the stipulation that they must sign our adoption agreement contract and if they ever become unwanted (or uncared for) they must be returned to our facility. Spread the word to who may be interested, I have dozens of llamas, sheep and goats that would love to get a long-term home by winter. I will beg in future blogs about those animals looking for homes.
We have had horses at our facility for over 20 years. I have driven big hitches of Clydesdales and was really into doing that until it almost bankrupted us. I sold off our carriages (and many of our horses) to get out of debt and raise the money to build the wildlife wing off of our barn. I have no regrets, I love saving animals, I found great homes for all of the horses I "sold".
There was one horse that I did regret selling. He is an old appaloosa gelding named Lucas. Lucas was a rescue but my 4 year old daughter Hannah looked at him like he was a 200 k dressage horse that was now "hers" from the moment he arrived back then. She loved that horse. She spent hours every day working with him, grooming him and riding him. Lucas loved the attention and loved her right back tenfold. When Lucas and Hannah showed up at the local horse shows, the other kids knew that they were going to place after them.....they were unbeatable. I loved beating the rich kids with their expensive horses with an old rescue I had saved. As Hannah got older, she became a great rider and started to get sick of old Lucas. Hannah got sick of old Lucas because he was too slow, didn't want to canter and she started bugging me for a new horse with some "life" in it. I eventually caved in and Hannah got a new horse, Lucas got sold and it seemed like a perfect match with her new horse Boomerrang. It bothered me to sell Lucas, it was like selling a member of the family but it was part of the agreement with Hannah to get a new horse. I really didnt think that she would ever go through with the sale of Lucas. Lucas had earned his stall by teaching my kids how to ride, by winning shows and by being the "bomb proof" horse that would never hurt the kids. I kept track of him, I often checked in with the owner and often stopped by to see how Lucas was doing, sometimes when no one was around. What seemed like a perfect retirement home at the time turned in to something that I hadn't visioned. I tried to get Lucas back, he had been sold without a contract (that will never happen again) and he disappeared off of my radar. I felt horrible, I felt like I had betrayed a good friend. I often wondered where he was or what horrible things were happening to him.
I love horses but I do not want 22 of them again. I am happy with the 7 that are in our barn. We have ole Jake, my first Clydesdale. Jake taught me how to drive. We have Zeus, a percheron being boarded with us from a great friend taht lives in NYC. We have King and Laddie, two ancient old Shires. They are full brothers, one year apart in age. They were hitchmates in a 6 horse show hitch. They are really starting to show their age, have lost most of their teeth and I need to make the tough decision to give them a dignified death and bury them together in the same hole. We also have Val, a TB that is being boarded with us. We have Watson, a rescued horse that will only allow one of our volunteers (Kayla) to ride him. I have more than enough horses at our facility. They are expensive to keep, time consuming, and 3-4 would be plenty to keep the smell of horses in my barn (I love the smell of horses). With that being said, I got an interesting phone call last night from the current owner of Lucas.
She has 5 horses, winter is coming, she needs to downsize and Lucas is looking for a home again. I wish that he was free to get back but this is one of the few "wrongs" that I have done to an animal and I am going to make right by it today. Lucas had a home. He will have a home again until the day that we bury him....sorry Lucas what I did to you, WELCOME BACK HOME. oh, by the way, our 8 year old Emma, that used to watch you standing on the fence in muck boots and a diaper is riding now....and she has already claimed you as her "new" horse. You have your work cut out for you.

Wildlife Festival, Blenheim, NY

2010-09-28T08:32:00.000-07:00

If you click the above image, it will take you to an album of pictures taken by Gayle at this past weekend's Wildlife Festival at the NYS Power Authority Visitor's Center, in Blenheim, NY. It was a beautiful day. Perfect weather, and a wonderful crowd. The birds were marvelous teachers, and we so appreciate everyone who stopped by to ask questions and say hello.

Enjoy the pictures!

Busy Weekends

2010-09-28T05:56:00.000-07:00

Besides for the hundreds of animals that we save at NY Wildlife Rescue Center every year, we also have an important duty to educate the public about what we do and the preservation and the conservation of wildlife. If you look at the "Upcoming Events" section of our website, you will see that we are often on the road getting our message on our mission out to the public.
This past sat. we attended the Wildlife Festival at the New York Power Authority. We have been attending this event for close to 20 years. The day was perfect, the crowd was huge as always. Bruce Bartels, one of our SUNY COBY volunteers helped man the display. Gayle was on hand to sell autographed copies of her book. We had a great day as always and a large crowd was at our display all day.
Sunday, I had a rare day at our facility on a weekend. Several of our volunteers and I got the deer moved up into soft release on our property. We got the Oppossum that came in last night better set up. We moved a bunch of coons into a larger cage to get them better conditioned for release. It was a really productive day until the cold that I have been fighting off knocked me on my butt. The dozen or so volunteers that were at the farm by mid afternoon went down below in the pasture to cut wood and clear brush while I got horizontal on the sofa. Taking a nap is impossible usually at our place, between the phone, volunteers and the intake of animals. It is easier to work the fever out of yourself by sweating while working.:) I was in bed by 9 pm which is rare for me.
Monday, I was a presenter at the Schoharie County Youth Bureau's Youth Conference. Almost every 7th grader in the County attends and they have sessions on "Healthy Hobbies" that they can attend classes on. There are around a dozen different presenters that talk about what they do and try to get kids thinking about something other than playing video games as a hobby. Was a great day, the kids love the animals but being outside in the cold and rain didnt help my cold much....

This weekend, on sat I will be presenting a class at the NYS Humane Society Conference. On sunday, I will have our display at the Schenectady Green Market. It is a busy fall, I would love to see you all at one of the various events that we attend. Till next time, WES

This and That

2010-09-23T06:04:00.000-07:00

I had a great night at New York Wildlife Rescue Center last night. We were visited by a group of around 25 Sportsman and DEC Representatives from our Region 4 Stamford office. After a quick tour of our facility, the guys went up to our Picnic Pavillion for dinner and a meeting. There are 9 Counties in our DEC Region 4. All reported out the interesting things that are going on in their counties. Topics included 171 bear reports in Region 4 this year to invasive fish that have been found throughout our waterways. Many of the Rod and Gun Clubs are doing some great things, it was really nice to hear how many things that they are doing with kids. All true Sportsman love Wildlife Conservation and want to make sure that they preserve our wildlife for future generations. I made sure that everyone went home with one of our packets of blueprints for various bird houses. It really validates "our mission" when people understand and appreciate what "We" are doing. I really don't think that most people get what I am doing (which sometimes I dont either) or they dont care, which is sad (for them). I've dedicated my life, every waking moment and every spare dollar to saving animals. One person can make a difference. "We" need to get nesting boxes put up around the State. I added Bluebird houses and Wood duck house plans to the packet I hand out at events this am. If anyone is interested in helping us get more nesting boxes built, please drop me an email with your mailing address and I will send you a packet. Until we get the plans up on the website, you can also find the various blueprints easily online by typing in wildlife nestboxes. I have plans for Bats, Kestrals, Screech Owls, Barn Owls, Barred Owls, Bluebirds, Wood Ducks in our packets. If anyone knows of any other box plans for other species, send me the link and I will add them.
This morning started with one of my students bringing me a duck to school. It is a domestic duck that they got as a pet and no longer want. I have to run the duck home during my prep period. Since my students are taking a test today, I dont think they would appreciate the peeping from the duckling behind my desk in a box.
Tonight after school, I have to meet another Wildlife Rehabber at the historic Blenheim Covered Bridge to pick up a wounded Kestral that she had brought to her. I love what I do. Never a dull moment. Does anyone have a wall unit for dogs? Our Groomer recently moved the dog grooming shop off of our facility to her own home and we could use a wall unit to keep dogs being boarded in our kennel in at night. We could also use anything related to dog grooming. Unused dog kennels that you are sick of looking at in your yard also get put to good use here. Does anyone have the ability to put in a small pond? :) till next time, WES

Owls & Friends, Oct 9th at Glimmerglass

2010-09-22T05:56:00.000-07:00

Join us for the
Owls & Friends
Presentation

at

Glimmerglass State Park
on October 9th!

Click Here:
To view and print the awesome poster created by our friend Karen Sheckells!

We hope to see you there!

Clean Out Your Freezer

2010-09-21T05:58:00.000-07:00

I have a request that everyone can do that will help us out a great deal. This is the time of year that a lot of people are getting their fall butchering done. We purchase half of a beefer every fall from a local farmer. Most meat only sits in the freezer for about a year before it starts to get freezer burnt. Hunters also frequently have surplus meat that we could really use. CLEAN OUT YOUR FREEZER1
Most of the animals at NY Wildlife Rescue Center are feed frozen rodents that get donated to us from a medical lab. We will not be getting more rodents as feed until December. Our 4 bobcats and 3 foxes eat a great deal of meat. If all of our supporters clean out their freezers, it will save more of the rodents for raptor feed. It will also reduce the amount of meat tossed into landfills and require less energy to run your appliances. Does anyone know a butcher? I know that there is a lot of wasted scraps of meat in butcher shops and grocery stores.
As I get back into the routine of blogging, please spread the word amongst your friends about what we do. Forward our website/blog address to them. "We" have grown so much at NY Wildlife Rescue Center that "we" can no longer operate without your support. "We" desperately need connections for building materials, feed, and financial support. "We" have no paid staff at our facility. Everyone is a volunteer. I know that many not for profit rescue facilities are hurting right now. I've seen several wildlife centers close this year. "We" really need a grant writer or someone that wants to be in charge of fundraising. "We" really would love a Corporate sponsor, does anyone have any connections? "We" would love to make a connection for an awesome TV series on wildlife rescue, it could be a really new twist for Planet Green, Animal Planet or the Discovery Channel. Demo tapes are available, does anyone know a producer? Public Relations starts with you, it can be a grass roots effort where one person tells a friend to "pass it on"....as a one man army I can not wear all of the hats anymore.
Do you have plans for the weekend? Come see us at the NY Power Authority Wildlife Fest this sat. in Blenheim. Free admission....WES

Sharon Springs Harvest Festival

2010-09-20T08:05:00.001-07:00

All photos (here and in article) courtesy of
George Gombossy, CTWatchdog.com.

Sharon Springs Harvest Festival Huge Success In NY | Connecticut Watchdog

Check out the article by George Gombossy about the Sharon Springs Harvest Festival. NYWRC was honored to be a part of this event, along with many other displays and vendors.

The article also contains a photo of Wes and NYWRC's barn owl.

George writes:

The real star of the weekend was Wes Laraway’s New York Wildlife Rescue
Center exhibit where thousands were educated and entertained by Wes and
the owls and falcon’s his group saved – all by using volunteers.

Thanks to George, and to everyone who stopped by and said hello!

Thanks Beekman Boys

2010-09-20T05:56:00.000-07:00

I cant believe that I havn't blogged since June, I will get back in to the routine again since I know so many of our supporters like our blogs. June was nuts at school, Darcy and I went to Africa over the summer. I will get some of our photos on our website soon. Now since we are all back in school, things are falling back in to the routine....
We have a really busy fall with a lot of events planned for weekends. This past weekend, we attended the Sharon Springs Harvest Festival. This event was started by the Beekman Boys and the crowd was amazing. If you havnt watched the show on Planet Green you should, it is definately entertaining. We got to chat briefly with Brent, Josh and Rosie O Donnell. It is amazing that we save over 500 domestic, exotic and wild animals at our facility every year now. We must do events to educate the public and try to get support for our facility. I love sharing what we do with the public. Be sure to check out the upcoming events section of our website to see where we are going to be.
This summer has been incredibly busy. I will tell you all about my adventures soon in upcoming blogs. Please, keep the checks coming or use the paypal option on our website, as always, we need your support. Hopefully we can get a tv series of our own sometime soon, "Wild Rescue" or I can get a corporate sponsor to take some of the financial pressure off of what we do. Anyone know a producer???? Till next time, WES

Can You Donate Building Materials?

2010-06-04T06:48:00.000-07:00

Dear Friends,

As we get ready to start construction on one of the largest enclosed Raptor Exercise Flights in the Northeast at New York Wildlife Rescue Center.... We are asking all of our friends to help us keep our construction costs down by contributing some (or all) of the following building supplies. The 175 foot addition will be entirely built by volunteer labor. Middleburgh Telephone Co.
has agreed to help us get our poles in. This addition off of our existing Raptor Facility will be vital in conditioning hawks, owls and falcons for release back into the wild. A virtual blueprint [may be accessed here].... Any individual or company interested in purchasing all of the materials on the list may have the flight named and dedicated to them..... As soon as we have a majority of the materials, we will immediately start construction.

(45) 80 lb. bags of concrete mix
(15) 6x6-12 P.T.
(15) 6x6-16 P.T.
(30) 2x6-16 K.D.
(25) 2x6-12 K.D.
(110)2x4-16 K.D.
(30) 2x12-16 K.D.
(110)2x10-14 K.D.
(65) 3'x14' Metal Roof Panels (Gray if possible)
(225 LF) 6'' Aluminum Fascia
(225 LF)f-Channel
(225 LF)Vinyl Soffit (white if possible)
(200)USP-RT15 Rafter Tie Downs
(60) 3x8 sheets of clear Sun Tuff Panels

Thanks for your continued support, WES

Support NY Wildlife Rescue Center!
Main site: www.redmaplefarm.net
Blog: www.northeastllamarescue.blogspot.com
Giftshop: www.cafepress.com/NYWildlife

PS: if you would like to donate money toward the raptor flight, please feel free to use the PayPal button on this page or send a check to New York Wildlife Rescue Center, c/o Wes Laraway, PO Box 410, Middleburgh, NY 12122.

Click for PDF version of our Raptor Flight plans. The flight will be a 12' x 172' addition off the side of our existing facility.

Guest Post: Starling Sixpack and Baby Season

2010-05-19T08:58:00.000-07:00

This post originally appeared on my gazehound.com blog. Thank you to Wes for inviting me to also share it here as a guest post. --Gayle

(click to enlarge)

The baby starlings are climbing out of their nest now, so have been put into a reptarium (mesh cloth cage) for safe-keeping and to give them room to exercise those little legs. I'm still waiting for everyone to start eating on their own. The finches have started nibbling at the seed, but really aren't "eating-eating" yet, other than a few bits here and there. It's a start, though, and I've hung a millet spray in with them. I'll be able to tell fairly easily if they begin cracking those seeds, as the bottom of the cage below it will be littered with empty shells. Let's hope that happens soon.

I've got to get outdoor facilities set up so that, as soon as these babies are eating self-sufficiently and able to fly, I can move them safely outside. Once outdoors, they'll begin to adapt to the point that they can eventually be released. I've got great plans ... now for the resources to bring them to reality!

A call came in today. A kind gentleman found a baby fawn near the road.

I think this is a good opening to simply remind everyone that baby animals are always better off with their mothers. Though it's natural for humans to want to shelter and protect what they perceive as orphans or abandoned babies, most of the time those babies are not abandoned at all. Mother deer do not stay with their fawns, at least not the tiny ones. They leave the babies in hiding, and only return every so many hours to nurse them. In the interim, they stay well away from the hiding site, so as not to lead predators to their offspring. If a baby deer is found, unless the dead body of the mother is nearby and evident, there is an almost 100% chance that the mother will be back looking for it soon. Mother deer don't always choose the smartest hiding places (I recall a series of photos that circulated around the internet not long ago of a fawn that was actually hidden on a family's back porch step, but the mother did come back for it). Baby deer don't always stay put (I had one, years ago, actually run into my arms, because she'd left her assigned spot and got confused -- I eventually got her to stay in the edge of the woods and, sure enough, along came mamma a couple hours later and tended to her). However, returning a baby fawn to the general vicinity of where it was found is always the best option, unless you're absolutely certain the mother is dead.

Bunnies are another species often abducted from their nests by humans who think they've been abandoned. A mother rabbit will only return to the nest once or twice a day to nurse her offspring. The rest of the time, she stays well away, because a predator won't smell or spot the hidden babies, but they might follow the adult to the nest. So often, we receive baby rabbits that good-hearted people think were abandoned because they watched for an hour and never saw the mother nearby. Mother most certainly returned at dusk to nurse her babies--only to find them gone.

Those babies, too, should have been returned to the spot where they were found.

Baby birds too small to hop around and flutter should be returned to the nest if possible, and if not, put near the nest location. A makeshift nest is easily made out of a basket, such as the plastic ones strawberries come in, lined with straw or hay or even shredded and wadded up paper towels. Even putting it in a sheltered spot on the ground near the tree that contains the original nest will allow the parents to find it. If a nest or bird falls or blows out of an opening in a house or barn, return that makeshift nest into the opening as close to the original location as possible. It's an old wive's tale that parents will reject babies that have "human smell" on them. Those mother and father birds are usually frantic over their missing offspring, and will continue to feed and tend to them on the ground, in the new nearby location, and in the human-made pseudo-nest.

Note, too, that if a baby bird is on the ground and it is old enough to hop and flutter, has feathers, and is in the "cute as a button" stage ... it's probably on the ground on purpose. Babies fall out of the nest as a normal part of their development. The parents will feed the baby on the ground until it finds its wings and learns to fly well.

Unless a baby animal is obviously injured, or you are one hundred percent certain that the parents are dead, they are always best off with their natural parents.

If there is injury or no other option, then hit Google, do a search for wildlife rehabilitators in your state or location, and try to track down someone licensed to legally and skillfully care for injured and orphaned wildlife.

I know you love animals ... you wouldn't be visiting my blog if you didn't. Part of that love is to learn the best way to be their friend. Thank you for caring so much for our wild relatives!

Some books you may enjoy:

Healers of the Wild by Shannon Jacobs
Introduction to Wildlife Rehabilitation by Nancy Schwartz
Beginning Wildlife Rehab by Donna Ralph

Technorati Tags: animals, wildlife, birds, wildlife rehabilitation

Long Time, No Blog

2010-05-13T05:44:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone, I realize that I am starting this blog with my typical apology for not writing any blogs since March......Please forgive me, I will try to get more updates on the blog again. The end of March, I had a film crew come in to do some more filming. They are doing a documentary on wildlife rehab and our facility, I look forward to seeing the finished project. Hopefully it is something that I can use to get some major support for two major projects that I want to get started this year. National Geographic has also contacted me about a visit. We really need this public exposure. NY Wildlife Rescue Center desperately needs a PR person and a grant writing person. I am spread so thin that I really have to carefully divide my time over everything. The first project we need to get started on is the flight addition (phase two) off of the aviaries (phase one) that we completed last year. With 175 foot of indoor flight area, we will be able to let raptors free flight and exercise indoors while we observe by camera monitors. In my opinion, this will be vital to getting birds released back into the wild that are going to be sucessful. The second project that we need to get started is a small pond for the Canada Geese and ducks that come in to our facility. Many are unreleasable and I would really like to see a better place for them to bathe and be waterfowl. If we can finish these two projects before the snow flies, we will be in really good shape to handle just about any wildlife call. Our motto has always been "first class, not half-assed" and I know that we can do this if the donations keep coming in and/or I get a strong turn-out of volunteers when we tackle these projects so we can eliminate labor costs. I am also looking for someone that would be interested in making a couple dozen raptor nesting boxes that we can sell at events as a fundraiser. We will supply the materials. I cant do this without your help both physically and financially anymore.
April went by quickly, I travelled with 32 students from our school to Europe for a historical tour of Germany, Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, and the Czech Republic. It was very educational and I was very proud of all of the students that went with me. We were lucky to get back when we did, two days later they closed all of the airports due to volcanic activity in Iceland. The next day after we returned home, I had the first litter of raccoons come in. (April 13th) Last year I didnt get our first litter of coons until May 9th, spring came early this year. I will blog again about all of the wildlife that has come in over the past month, since my return from the trip with the kids. Besides for "Orphan Season" starting, we have also been busy getting our educational message of conservation and protection out to the public. On April 24th, Kelly Martin and I took our educational birds to the SUNY Cobleskill's Wildlife Festival. It was such a great day and we had a great crowd looking at the birds all day. The tree perches that Eric and Linda Brown made for us look great at events. On May 2nd, I attended the Schenectady Greenmarket....I was expecting a farmers market, I was surprised at the thousands of people that attend this weekly sunday event. Great crowd, great weather and I encourage everyone to go check it out....it was awesome. On May 6th I attended the NYS FFA Convention at SUNY Cobleskill. I love this organization as much as I love 4H. Any group that encourages youth to be involved with plants and animals is high on my list of groups to support. When I am on the road spreading the word, I am not getting much done at our facility but it is vital to our mission to educate the public. Check out our calendar of events on the website and try to visit us when we are out at public appearances. Our next event is next sat, May 22nd...Bird Day at the Huyck Preserve from 9 until 1 pm.
This weekend we need to get the bear cub enclosure finished for a bobcat that is coming in. This bobcat is not a wild cat that was injured. This bobcat was a pet, spayed and declawed and will be used for educational purposes. I am actually hoping that eventually she will get along well enough with our other unreleasable bobcat that I will be able to keep the two females together in the same large enclosure. The two male bobcats that were hit by cars are going to Cornell's Wildlife Center on Thursday, May 27th for check ups.....I am really hoping that Oscar can be released. With the nerve damage on Deja Vue's paw, I doubt he is ever going to be releasable. If not, the difficult decision is going to have to be made to keep him as an educational animal or euthanize him. Some factors that I always weigh out is age of the animal and ultimately if the animal is going to be content spending the rest of its life in captivity or if it will be miserable. The decision to euthanize is never taken lightly, humanely it is sometimes necessary.
This SUNDAY, May 16th is our spring shearing day. It is fun and many hands make light work. We need to catch every sheep and llama at the facility so Ray Baitsholts (797-5201) can shear it, then I trim feet and give shots. Anyone looking to get really dirty and get some good exercise....hope you can join us. We will start shearing around 9am most likely. I will be back soon to write another blog on all of the wildlife that has come in over the past month.... I leave you with 3 thoughts: 1. Do you have PR expertise? 2. Do you have Grant Writing/fundraising expertise? 3. Can you afford a donation as we get ready to build the largest raptor enclosed flight in the Northeast that I am aware of? There are people that watch things happen and people that make things happen, which are you?
Thanks, All my best, WES

Raptors are moving

2010-03-25T11:00:00.000-07:00

Most people dont realize it but many species of raptors (hawks, owls and falcons) have already laid eggs and are nesting. My wife has baby squirrels already.The Kestrals and Turkey Vultures are back from winter migration. The redtail that I know from seeing it on the power lines (on the way to Fultonham) everytime I go to Frank Lackos to get feed had a pin put in his leg , had broken ribs but is stable and healing from the vet surgery.
I had a screech owl come in last weekend that had been hit by a car. These little owls are normally look like a train wreck after they get hit by a car doing 55 mph. This little guy had some head trama and eye trama but the wings and feet are not broken so I am optimistic that he is releasable. He went to the vet today to get it checked out.
Last night I got a call on a little falcon (North American Kestral). The guy told me that it had a leg band, I assumed that he had a injured racing pigeon but I met him. I get a lot of injured racing pigeons in. It was a beautiful little male Kestral. It was very thin. It does have a legband, which while giving it an exam I copied down all of the numbers. I called the registry and was hoping that they could give me the background on the bird. I told them that it was still alive, was very thin, appeared to have a foot injury and that any information that they had could really be helpful. They said that they would email me the info asap, I still havnt heard but as soon as I do I will share it with all of you. It is really kind of cool, I ve been thinking about it a lot. I cant wait to find out where this little Kestral is from, he went to the vet today also. It seems like I am at the vets a lot, besides for food, vet care is our biggest expense.
One of the Border Collies (that I rescued) had an abcess pop, what an infected mess. He has been at the vets all week for surgery, stitches, a drain, etc....I CAN wait to see what that bill is. I also got contacted today on a male Great Pyrennes and a little 9 month old male Sheltie mix that need homes. Unfortunately,I passed on both, I just cant afford the vet bills to have them neutered, vaccinated, etc. while I am looking for homes for them. Neither are abused or lack homes, they are just unwanted.The 20-30 dogs a year I save can put a big dent in our budget. If anyone wants to pay the vet bill on these dogs....I will call immediately and tell them to bring the dogs and I will find them homes. Most of the vets that work with us are good about the bill with wildlife expenses. I do not get any of a break at all with dogs, cats and domestic livestock....
I saw on News Channel 6 that Jerry is looking for a great person or group that is making a difference. If you would like to drop him an email at jerry@cbs6.com we could use the exposure and it is an excellent time of year to remind people about wildlife orphans and proper etiquite when you find them of what NOT to do.....90% of the time, leave them alone and keep your pets in and they will be just fine!!!!
We get so many wild babies every year that are NOT orphans that well intentioned, good hearted people bring to us. I have a great packet of info that I give out at events now. It has flowcharts of what to do if you find a bird or a mammal. It also has blueprints for bat, owl and falcon houses which I hope to get people or community groups building. Many Owls and Kestrals require cavities to nest in. There is a big shortage of tree cavities in the wild, one of my goals this year is to get people building different types of nesting boxes for raptor species. If we can bring the bluebirds back from being threatened just by putting out houses, we can do it for these species as well. If you would like to receive one of the packets, send a double stamped self addressed envelope to NY Wildlife Rescue Center, c/o Wes Laraway, PO Box 410, 167 Llama Lane, Middleburgh, NY 12122 I will mail the packet right out to you. I would also be interested in doing a program locally for any group interested in making these nesting boxes (by the dozen) so that we can sell them as a fundraiser at events that we attend. We will supply the materials that you want, we need help building them. As always, Thanks, WES

THANKS

2010-03-24T07:07:00.001-07:00

This past weekend, NY Wildlife Rescue Center held its 3rd annual Easter Photos Fundraiser. The weather was great and the crowd was supportive both days. I would like to thank Shelly Wood for organizing, promoting and doing the legwork to make this event sucessful every year. I would also like to thank Scott Kelley, Sue and the Staff of Cobleskill Agway for letting us set up in front of their store on saturday. I would like to thank Schoharie Valley Animal Shelter for stopping by on the way to their fundraiser to give us some support and food for the wildlife. The photos wouldnt have been as nice without the lamb that we borrowed from Elaine Jaycox Lacko. It is very nice of her to let me borrow one of her lambs since we no longer breed any of our sheep. Lambing season for 2 months right before wildlife orphan season is too long to go without sleep.:) On sunday, we were at the Middleburgh Hardware Store. I would like to thank Rich and Heather Vilegi as well. They have supported everything that we do for years, go out of their way to make the day special for everyone and I really appreciate their support and friendship. The last person that I would like to thank is Eric and Linda Brown. Linda and Eric have transported wildlife from all over to our facility (as needed) without much more than a thank you. I just do not have the time to drive around to pick up orphans when I am home caring for them. Linda and Eric came on sunday to volunteer, help out and it was nice getting a chance to talk to them without having to answer the phone, deal with visitors or leaving on an emergency animal call. Thanks to all of the people that brought their kids for photos. I recognized a lot of friends that made sure that they were there to support our cause. I couldnt continue without your support....I really appreciate everything that everyone does for our cause. All my best, I will be back soon to update everyone on the critters. WES

NY State Wildlife Rehabilitator Test Details

2010-03-12T08:10:00.001-08:00

DEC Announces Wildlife Rehabilitator Examination - NYS Dept. of Environmental Conservation

NY state needs more licensed wildlife rehabilitators!

Have you followed our blog, thinking, "Gee, I"d like to do that some day?" Well, some day can be now. The Department of Environmental Conservation has published the dates and details for their 2010 testing schedule (April 16th). Please click the link above to read more, and consider taking the test and getting your license.

The wild animals in NY State need more hands to care for them. If this is a venture you'd like to be part of, please take the test, and join the ranks of New Yorkers who put their love of wildlife to work for the greater good.

Been There, Done That

2010-03-11T05:19:00.000-08:00

After a week of nasty weather, 3 snow days from school, lots of shoveling with over 4 feet of snow....what do I say? Spring is coming, my friends are boiling maple sap right now to make syrup. 36 gallons of sap to make one gallon of syrup. The snow is slowly melting (TG), I've seen robins in the yard for weeks, saw my first vulture returning this past weekend and I even heard a red-winged blackbird this a.m. while doing chores. I am excited about changing the clocks this weekend, spring is in the air.

Things have been slow at NY Wildlife Rescue Center lately but will pick up shortly as "orphan season" begins. January was everything that I thought it would be. I kept busy doing little projects and showing many interns from SUNY Cobleskill's Wildlife Program what we do here.

February was unproductive. My wife and kids went with their grandparents, aunt, uncle and cousins to Disney World in Orlando. I stayed home to try to get some wood cut and hold down the fort. The weather was lousy, I wish I had gone with them now. The highlight of my winter break from school was going to General Electric (with Gayle and Kelly) to do a program for their Wildlife Committee. The Whitney Club have supported us with checks and volunteer labor for years, they are good friends and we love doing our programs for them. The ride home during the blizzard was interesting but we made it, my truck really needs new tires.

March is a great month, spring is in the air. I did a Wildlife Program for the West Fulton Rod and Gun Club last week. I love speaking to hunting clubs, we have the same mission. I am all about conservation and preservation of wildlife. A good Rod and Gun Club will have the same mission statement. It was a good program and I believe that when it comes time to build the Raptor Flight their members will be there to help us. I appreciate their donation also.

This past Saturday, I did a Wildlife Program for the Golden Age Club of Middleburgh. I had a lot of fun and their lunch was great. I am surprised at how many people in the town where I grew up, live and teach don't know what we do up on the hill. I've made it my mission this spring (before things get busy again with orphaned wildlife) to get the word out locally about what we do. I will gladly speak and bring some of our licensed educational animals to any group that would like a program. I just try to keep my programs within a reasonable driving distance.

Last night I received a phone call from Cornell University's Wildlife Center. I expected that it was a call to see how Oscar the Bobcat was doing. Oscar is healing up nice but still favors the one hind leg a bit. I am still hoping that he is releasable. If he isn't, I would love to find a zoo with a native wildlife section that has a great enclosure for him but that is not a decision for today. The vet that called explained that Dr. Randell of Somers Animal Hospital has been working on another male bobcat that was hit by a car in Croton Falls NY, Westchester County. Deja Vu. I think that I've done this before. Cornell was wondering if I could help house and continue rehab on this Bobcat. The Wildlife Hospital at Cornell University offered to provide support care. I quickly agreed.

Somers Animal Hospital did a great job on this cat. Check out their website, www.somersanimalhospital.com and be sure to drop them an email thanking them for what they did to stabilize the bobcat. Many vet clinics do not want to deal with wildlife, this vet clinic went above and beyond. I am impressed: check out the bear surgery photos on their site...awesome. I agreed to help and said that I would start to figure out transportation to our facility. I instantly emailed Kim and Karen, two wildlife rehabbers that I greatly respect in the Rhinebeck area to ask if they would help with this cat. Kim and Karen were the wildlife rehabbers that caught and brought Oscar to me last year. They agreed to pick the cat up at Somers Animal Hospital and meet Roger to transport the rest of the way up to me. Roger is a new wildlife rehabilitator. He is also the man that saw Oscar laying along the road last year and stopped to see if he could be saved. He took such an interest in Oscars recovery that he visited, sent checks and took his test to become a rehabber himself this past fall at the Wildlife Rehabilitators Conference in Lake George.

Roger agreed to meet Karen, transfer this cat into his car and drive another hour to meet me at a convenience store by the Rip Van Winkle Bridge. We did that last night. I really appreciate the help from Kim, Karen and Roger. I appreciate that Kayla, one of our High School volunteers, came along with me for the ride. No one can do Wildlife Rehabilitation without a network of friends and help. They know that I would transport the other direction towards them if needed. It is easier to have 3 people drive an hour each way than force one person to make a 6 hour round trip. I still need to get a transportation chain linked between our facility to Cornell. I know that if we could shuttle raptors and wildlife easier between the Wildlife Health Center at Cornell and NY Wildlife Rescue Center that they could fix and I could rehabilitate many more animals that really don't have a place to go to heal for several months.

This new Bobcat, that I've been calling "Deja Vu" (I don't name wildlife), was pretty out of it last night. He has head trauma, a dislocated leg, and nerve damage in another leg. I don't think that Deja Vu is as messed up as Oscar was with his fractures. I got the bobcat settled in last night when we got home, he hasn't eaten in two days since the accident. Bobcats don't like commercial cat food if given a choice. I feed all of our bobcats the same defrosted dead rats that I feed the raptors. I gave him a couple last night and I didn't see the rats this morning but it was kind of hard to tell if they were in his cage or stomach with him attacking the sides of the cage. Tonight we will try some defrosted mice....yum. I like mice, they are easy to sneak his meds into.

I am excited to have the honor to save another Bobcat. I know that it is going to be expensive and time consuming but I like a challenge. I needed something to keep me busy until Orphan Season starts in another month. Now since I have something to write about, I will try to get blogging again. I will also try to get a photo of "Deja Vu" up on the blog asap, Roger took a couple last night. This bobcat is bigger than Oscar. Oscar was 17 pounds the day he was hit by a car, this bobcat is almost 24 pounds. I will also try to find out the details of the accident.

Be back soon, Thanks for your continued support.

--WES

PS: thanks to Karen LeCain for donating the pictures of "Deja Vu".

3rd Annual Easter Bunny Photo Shoot

2010-03-05T07:13:00.001-08:00

Come join us for our 3rd annual

Fund Raising Event:

Easter Bunny Photo Shoot

Have your photo taken with a live bunny or lamb!

Where & When:

Saturday March 20^th 10a.m. to 2p.m

@ Agway, Rt. 7, Cobleskill

Sunday March 21^th 10a.m. to 2p.m.

@ Middleburgh Hardware, Main St, Midd

Why:

To help raise funds and awareness for the New York Wildlife Rescue Center, a local non-profit animal rescue located right here in Middleburgh.

***Please join us for a day of fun and have your photo taken with a bunny or lamb and learn something new about our local wildlife. Live Birds of Prey will also be on location for viewing and question/answer sessions. The New York Wildlife Rescue Center is a registered non profit that relies on private funding to support all of its releasable and non-releasable wildlife.

For more information please call:

518-827-7760

Help NYWRC Help The Animals

2010-01-14T07:27:00.001-08:00

Please vote for (name entered as:) *NY Wildlife Rehab Center* (address:) Llama Rd. Middleburgh, NY to win a grant from the Berkshire Bank's giveaway:

http://www.berkshirebank.com/about_us/in_the_community/berkshire-bank-foundation/help-us-give-away-20000

Wild Bird Rescue in Winter

2010-01-11T06:52:00.000-08:00

We've been hearing of quite a few people, since the weather got so cold, helping wild birds, or attempting to do so, who appear to be suffering from hypothermia. I wrote an article on my own blog, and Wes has asked me to post a link to it here so NYWRC readers can also take a look. Enjoy, and thank you for all you do to support the animals at NY Wildlife Rescue and Northeast Llama Rescue and Barnyard Sanctuary.

Wild Bird Rescue in Winter, at Gazehound's Animal Communication:
http://www.gazehound.com/wild-bird-rescue-in-winter/

--Gayle

Happy New Year

2010-01-05T15:41:00.000-08:00

Since my last blog, a lot has happened, seems like I havnt blogged since last year. I am blogging with a little Daschund Puppy sleeping on my lap, long story but she is here and needed a home... I found the Pitbull pup a home and they love her and it appears to be working out. After school on Dec 23rd, I took all of the supplies that my students brought in over to the Animal Shelter of the Schoharie Valley. Volunteers/staff helped me carry the stuff in, the kids actually got a TYN this year, Im glad that they appear to be getting their PR in order. Our County needs them and we all need to work together. I got an email today for 25 horses that need a home, 17 llamas that need a home, another 2 older horses looking for a home. Locally, people are calling me all the time to beg for help, ask me to take their animals or report people that are neglecting their animals. I wish I could help everyone and every animal but our county doesnt have an animal control officer and it seems that many law enforcement agencies are slow to get involved with animal abuse cases. They are tough to document and prosecute but shouldnt be avoided. The weather is bad, if you cant afford to feed your livestock, give them to someone that will. Cheaper in the long run than getting an attorney to try to stay out of jail. Sad yet true.....I so wish that I could do more legally. Financially this time of year is always tough for everyone. We are a not for profit looking for donations like every other animal rescue group. I never take on more animals than I know we can care for on our budget. I know that I can afford to feed the livestock that is here for the winter, I make sure the hay money is set aside before the snow flies. Just before xmas, someone nominated me as a Times Journal Star. This is an honor that our local paper does every year. It is to recognize people that have made a difference in our County for the previous year. To the people that nominated me, thank you. I am flattered and honored by the local recognition.
Xmas was everything that I thought it would be. Our kids and pets are lucky. The time with family was nice, something that we should do more often. New Years Eve was spent at home with friends and family, 2009 has disappeared and I have high hopes for 2010. Reflections on 2009 are very positive for Northeast Llama Rescue, New York Wildlife Rescue at Red Maple Farm. Every year we have all to do to keep up with the growth and need for what we are doing. We are one of the only animal rescue facilities that do what we do. Im not talking about numbers of animals helped, we helped well over 500 animals this year find new homes or get back into the wild. A feat that I am very proud of considering our limited budget. Every donation that we get goes directly into expanding our facilities to help more animals. We are basically in a state of nonstop construction to keep expanding our facilities to handle the increased numbers of animals coming in every year. 2009 was a great year. We built (and dedicated at our Open House in July) a 100 foot of Raptor Facility that is second to few. There are 8 different aviaries to handle just about all of the species in the Northeast that come in with injuries that need to be treated. There is a wide assortment of hawks, owls and falcons using this space already. It is available to any licensed rehabber. 2009 was also the year that Oscar the bobcat found his way to me. Oscar came to me because others knew I was his only hope. I may have brokered the deal but Cornell Universities Wildlife Center kept him alive, with some help from God. We built a beautiful shed and a new enclosure for Oscar to heal in. We were overwhelmed with Raccoons this year, there are very few places left that are licensed or even want to deal with them. We built a new shed just for doing them that can be sanitized and locked. I am thinking that it should hold around 50 coons as youngsters, around 20 skunks....I am really not the type of guy that likes to think about the past. I like to think about the future, 2010 will be a great year. I am determined to get the flight built off the Raptor Aviaries so we can actually fly the Raptors to get them ready for release back into the wild. This will happen with your support. Once that is done, we need to do something different with our deer soft release area. I would like to get it fenced in with 8 foot deer fencing but we will worry about that design when we get there. Im sure there will always be a project here, all I need is time and money. Till next time.....

How Much Is That Doggie....

2009-12-22T05:54:00.000-08:00

Not in a window and she is free, I will even kick in to have her spayed. I have a beautiful, tiny, friendly female pitbull that I would love to see in a great home for xmas.....Can any one help me? She is a real nice little dog, I would be more than happy to deliever, you could try her out. Email me for more info if you are interested....she is my priority right now.
I also have a friend that has a Blueheeler she is looking for a home for. Another friend has a black German Shepherd looking for a home....I am getting overwhelmed with dogs right now. Only the little pitbull is here with me, I am really desperate to find her a home. She is so sweet but everyone is afraid because of the name....I really know that someone would love her, that is the only reason why I agreed to take her and find her a home. I call her Ms. Wiggles.
The Chinchillas have all found homes, that was easy. We also have a nice selection of rabbits looking for adoption right now also. We can set you up with an outdoor cage as well.:) Gotta run, tis the season....
The kids from school have done a great job bringing in supplies for the local animal shelter as a holiday community service venture for History Club grades 6-12 at Middleburgh Central School. I havnt been very impressed with some of the PR/management practices of our local shelter in the past. It got back to their BOD that I wasnt impressed and they have promised to change their ways....I will keep supporting them, they help a lot of dogs also. We all have to work together....

Results are in....

2009-12-19T15:58:00.000-08:00

Yes, the results are in, the raccoon was positive for rabies. I really just dont get people. The whole story I blogged about is a classic example of everything that is wrong with wildlife regulations and peoples lack of knowledge in them. This motorist is lucky, we had his license plate. His good deed could have been a death sentence. I was lucky, I got to talk the ACO through procedures and didnt have to drive an hour to kill the coon for testing. I have no problems with laws, I repeat, I am a volunteer. I dont have a badge or any authority to deal with these coon problems.
As I blog, a very nice woman from Amsterdam called me. She has a drunk looking coon stumbling around her yard. She got it to walk in a dog crate by sitting the crate in front of the coon. She called everyone, everyone said they didnt want to deal with it...I dont like it. A Sherriffs Deputy is supposedly in route to answer the call. Lets hope the coon doesnt have to suffer any longer.
On a positive, Dean Haskins ( a friend I havnt seen since high school) transported the 5 Chinchillas down to me from up north, all have been adopted...I like happy endings. I try to focus on the happy endings....... My wife and I were talking last night about the coon from the Capital District Drama. The first thing she said was "While everyone was deciding who had to deal with it, did anyone take in to consideration that the animal was suffering for over 3 hours?" I did, I repeat, I did. I didnt like it......I dont like it now either. I cant blog anymore because it is happening again right now while I write this.

Raccoons and Regulations

2009-12-17T05:41:00.000-08:00

"Saving just one animal wont change the world.....but surely, the world will change for that one animal". A friend sent me that quote last night, I like it. I got it right before the phone rang at about 930 at night, which is always a Trooper, Sheriff's Deputy, ACO (Animal Control Officer), or a upset civilian with animal issues. I had just got off the phone with a really great man. There are two dogs in a kennel, no shelter near his house and he is concerned for their well being....it is abuse, nothing will get done.... I DON'T have a badge or any ACO authority at all. I just run a huge animal rescue facility, have almost bankrupted my family several times and have no legal authority to get people to feed their horse or take care of their dogs. What I do know is that the squeeky wheel gets grease. I do know how to get people to do their jobs, it might take a couple of weeks but people can be pressured to do the right thing. I hung up the phone, kind of depressed about not being able to give the guy any quick solution. Remember do not take the law into your own hands, DOCUMENT EVERYTHING. Write down dates, times, take photos and keep track of vital facts. It can all be used to force someone to feed their animals, get them shelter or for a law enforcement officer to write tickets ... people dont like fines. My next advice is ALWAYS cover your ass, by documenting everything and knowing the laws ... you can keep yourself from being sued.
Shortly after I hung up with the man concerned about the dogs left outside 24/7 with no shelter (a violation of Ag and Markets Animal Welfare Law). The phone rang again; ohhhh no.... RVS or Rabies Vector Species are tough to handle because few people in the State of NY are licensed to handle them. (That problem is another story, this story will show the need) I called the woman, It was an Animal Control Officer in the Capital District (I never use names/agencies). She had answered a call on a busy city street where a car had run over a Raccoon, which I thought was strange on a very cold, windy winter night. She had responded to the call where a concerned motorist had stopped, removed the Coon from the road and had left the scene. The first problem that I had with this was who is he, where did he go and DID HE TOUCH THE COON? As I was talking the ACO through what she needed to do and her options, the motorist showed up and was irate that she hadnt put the wounded coon in her van yet. She put me on speaker phone while she was getting the coon in a box into a crate and into the heated van. I tried to explain to the man that we needed his name and number and I would do whatever I could to help the Coon but procedure had to be followed. He said he paid taxes, said that we were doing everything wrong and fled the scene of the incident but luckily we had his license plate number. A witness (whose name and number we already had) said she saw him pick the Coon up and put it in the box with his bare hands. A foolish move to deny and a action that will cost the wounded coon his life. With the info up to this point, I told the ACO that she would have to take the Coon to a 24 hour Emergency Vet Clinic (name not included here), have it euthanized and they would need to send it to Wadsworth Lab for Rabies testing. The coon had been hit by 3 cars, was squealing in pain but fighting death. I thought that was the end of a bad day for the coon, concerned motorist and the ACO that had been "off duty" for 2 hours by this point. Once she got to the Vet Clinic, since the Coon was still alive, they wouldn't take it, wouldnt euthanize it and wouldn't help her...said they were not licensed..... Am I the only one in the State that has a license to handle Coons? Im back on speaker phone again by this point, the vet agreed to package and send it to the lab if it was dead.... they didn't have a pole syringe (which I find amazing). The ACO does not have her Rabies Vaccinations (which I find amazing)....NO ONE wanted to deal with this. Dispatch was pissed the ACO picked the coon up (she had to there was human exposure, she is sworn to protect the public), No one would come to shoot the coon (not the humane euthanasia I had visioned) and this poor ACO was at the end of her options and talking about driving the coon an hour and a half to me.
Very few people are aware of rabies protocol, the hazards of raccoon roundworms in their feces (also fatal in humans), nor the procedures for dealing with a coon after a human has been exposed by touching them, being bitten, etc.. My last resort, I told her to call DEC Dispatch and have them send out a CO (Conservation Officer) to euthanize the coon. The ACO was thrilled and told me the officer that was responding, I know the officer so I called him to let him know what the situation was. I look forward to hearing the results of this rabies test, if it is positive, this motorist is really lucky that this ACO got his license plate number. I wish that I could have saved the coon but it wasn't in the cards in this hand. Im glad that I could do this one by phone and I wished that more law enforcement officers, veterinarians, ACO's, health departments and civilians knew the procedures for handling wildlife RVS rabies potential exposure. Your lesson for the day, if you see a injured animal in the road ... do NOT touch it. Even if it is not rabid (which it most likely isn't) hooves and talons can be just as dangerous. I actually had someone bring me a deer last year (that had been hit by a car) in their backseat....very foolish. I should write a book.:) Later.

Tis the Season

2009-12-15T15:57:00.000-08:00

'Tis the Season to be Jolly and thankful for everything we all have ... friends, family, all types of critters, wildlife rescue facilities.... You get the drift. After my last post, I had to take a little break from my blogs. I never get sick of the animals, most of the folks I meet are cool people that do what they can to help an animal, send New York Wildlife Rescue Center a donation or help us out by volunteering up here. Just a quick reminder, there are some great products for sale in our store section of our website. For those of you that like to send out the support in the form of a check, you still have about two weeks to get the checks in for this tax year deduction.

I've spent the last few weeks catching up on reports, license renewals, rehab logs, etc. My individual Wildlife Rehabilitation Log for the DEC is 40 pages of wild birds, mammals, reptiles and amphibians. My RVS intake forms for the 40 raccoons, 10 skunks and a dozen bats are over 30 pages. This year alone, my log alone has over 200 wildlife entries. Add my wife's squirrels, and what our BOD and Associated Rehabbers in our network have done, I would not be surprised at all if the total for our group is well over 500 wild animals saved this year. It is NOT a contest to see how many animals I can save. I just do what I can do and we try to do things first class not half-assed, one animal at a time. Add in our domestic pet rescues, livestock and exotic animal rescues ... wow, no wonder I'm so tired lately. Being a perfectionist, I was complaining to a friend the other day about how much more I could do and was thinking out loud about how many more animals I could save. I often wonder if I am making a difference in the world ... maybe not, but as my friend pointed out, I make a big difference to the animals and kids I help. I do know that we wouldn't have a website and a lot of paperwork wouldn't have gotten done without the help of my very good friend Gayle Nastasi, visit her website from our links, it is great and she is very talented. I am lucky to have her as a friend and on our BOD.

When I was trying to figure out what to write about tonight, I figured I would start with my standard apology for not blogging. I don't want to do a reflection on the year (yet), but looking back over the last year ... we have accomplished more than many of the animal rescue facilities that have large budgets, with taxpayer support and paid staff members. I am very proud of what we have done. If I can keep up with fundraising, facility construction, rehabbing the animals, public relations, paperwork, my job teaching, my family and my wife ... we are going to build a facility here that will be second to none and will long outlive me.

In November I attended a NYS Falconers Banquet. It was a fun time, I bid on some great items in the secret auction. Unfortunately I didn't win any of it but hey, all it takes is a dollar and a dream. Also in November, I went to the NY Wildlife Rehabilitation Council's Conference in Lake George. It was a great conference, lots of great friends, food and drink (it is my vacation also). I went to as many of the classes as I could that were on Raptors. As always, I really learned a lot and it was well worth attending. Networking is half the battle of being a good rehabber. I got to see and meet a lot of great Wildlife Rehabbers at the conferences and I learn a lot over a few drinks. I really want to encourage EVERYONE to take the test and become a wildlife rehabilitator. Remember that becoming a rehabber is one of the most rewarding things you can do. You can put as much time into it as you can afford (mentally and financially) and say no when you are in over your head. The demand is huge for new rehabbers, I believe that there are only a couple of dozen licensed RVS Rehabbers that can legally do raccoons, skunks and bats in the entire STATE of NY. My wife is like most rehabbers, she found her niche, she only does squirrels. Some rehabbers only do rabbits (only have to be fed twice a day). Some only do baby birds, every 20 minutes ... yikes.... The key to being a good rehabber is having a good mentor. If you are interested in doing this crazy thing of saving wild animals, you MUST get a good mentor. A good teacher is better than any book and you will burn out if you don't get taught right and stay on the cutting edge in new techniques for giving animals (that often want to die) some life. I've had one of the best mentors; Kelly Martin has done this for over 20 years. She is President of NY Wildlife Rehab Council and she is one of the best rehabbers that I have ever met. You can go to DEC's website, order the study materials, enroll to take the test but it is almost impossible to figure out what license you need for what animals. It is impossible to keep track of renewals, applications and logs. I am the most organized person that I ever met and I often say "I need another license for that?" or "When is that form due?" or "No wonder why no one does this...." :) A good mentor is very important to show you how to do it right and keep your sanity in the process.

I have done my required hours working with Kelly, I have the hundreds of hours needed and have received my US Fish and Wildlife Federal Migratory Bird Rehabilitation Permit now. Kelly is a great teacher, she lets me learn some things on my own and then smiles when I figure it out, she often puts on her glasses when I now know I am going to see something new, she gives me a kick in the ass when I need it or am in need of a pep talk. I am waiting to receive my own Federal Special Purpose Migratory Bird Educational License. I will be learning how to rehab animals better for the rest of my life, it will be nice to be done collecting licenses.

Kelly lost a very special Raptor this week that anyone that has ever seen our educational shows knows well. Hooter the Great Horned Owl was one of Kelly's first educational raptors, added to her federal license in 1985. Hooter would go anywhere, would sit on your fist forever and was always the bird that never got off his stand, rarely gave us a hard time ... just the dream bird that will be missed greatly by all. I'm sorry for your loss Kelly.

Enough for tonight.

Good, Bad, The Ugly

2009-10-20T05:32:00.000-07:00

The last two weekends home have been good. I've gotten a lot of firewood cut for our outdoor wood furnace, hopefully by this weekend I will have enough to take us through most of the winter. I hate cutting, splitting and stacking firewood but as we clear the lower pasture and hedgerows on our property it makes sense to utilize the wood instead of burning it in brush piles. I had two friends help me this past weekend and we got a lot done. I have several people that cut wood at our facility with a 50/50 agreement. They help cut up wood, they take 50% ... it is a win/win for all and anything is better than buying thousands of dollars in oil. I would rather use that money towards the non-stop construction going on at NY Wildlife Rescue Center.

Things have been relatively slow with new animals in need coming in. Besides a little mourning dove, some very little 'possums and two raccoons. Due to the fact that fewer animals are coming in, it has opened up some time for me to do paperwork and get the facility ready for winter. I meet a lot of great people as a Wildlife Rehabilitator. Most people do the right thing for the animals that they find. I would imagine that it is tough for people to "give up" the wild animals that they find because it is a natural tendency to want to keep them as pets. If you read my blogs, you know that we don't normally name wildlife and they are not pets and do not get treated like pets. Our job is to get them back into the wild, something that we are good at and take a lot of pride in.

I don't have a lot of regrets or many negative experiences with "Humans" doing what we do. It always amazes me how many people want to volunteer to help me, that send a check (when I know that things are tight for everyone) and drop off their surplus dog kennels, hoses, pails and livestock equipment. Last week I had a negative experience with a person that I would like to share and forget. Everyone has natural tendency to want to be liked, myself included, but if forced to do what is right by an animal or make a human happy -- I will always do what is right by the animal and will never violate the many conditions of my several licenses. I'm not saying that I know everything or that I am perfect but I will do what it takes to do what is right. I will not mention any of them by name, I'm not looking to make enemies, just vent about how foolish some people can be.

I had a man call me last weekend. He said that he had been illegally raising a raccoon and that it was very sick. I told him that there were not many people that took in Rabies Vector Species (such as coons, skunks and bats) but I was one of the people that was licensed. I also explained that we raise a lot of coons, do it right and we are even building a "new" RVS facility due to the huge demand for this type of animal rehabilitation. I explained that what he was doing was illegal but I was more concerned about the safety of his family. Raccoons carry rabies (fatal) and also carry a roundworm parasite that can be fatal and killed two people recently that came into contact with their feces. He agreed to bring me the Coon, which turned out to be two coons when he actually arrived (he wasn't sure that he was going to give me both).

The one sick Coon had a bad urinary track infection. It was a holiday (Columbus Day), I followed procedure and got the coons set up in a large enclosure. They settled in to a large hollow log with food and water. I put the sick coon on some antibotics and wished that he had been brought them to me sooner. The Coon died. Many of the animals that are brought to me die; I try not to focus on the ones that we lose, I try to focus on the hundreds that we save. Due to the rabies exposure to this family, I packaged up the coon for Rabies testing at Wadsworth Lab. I even called the family to let them know that the coon had not survived. Instead of a Thanks for trying.....

This is where the story gets ugly and bad. The man that had brought me the coons (he had been raising illegally) had called a "self proclaimed" wildlife expert, a pathologist, who did not know the details of this case, did not know me and has never been to our facility. Without a license (that I am aware of) to rehab RVS Species himself, he started second guessing what I was doing. He actually told this man (in open violation of the law) to bring him the coons (dead and alive) to him at his place of employment. The man went to our facility knowing that I was in my classroom at school. He planned on taking the animals he had surrendered to us two days prior.

One of the girls that works in our dog grooming shop at our farm, realized what was going on. She knew that I would never allow a living wild animal to be removed from our facility (without a license or a badge) by the general public. She called me at school and told me that there was a man at our facility that was threatening to cut padlocks off of the raccoon enclosure to take "his" coon back. I asked her to put this man on the phone. I told him that what he had done was illegal but that I had never reported him, I can't possibly call DEC Conservation Officers to report every single person that brings me wild animals ... DEC would have to keep men stationed at our facility. When the public brings me wild animals (when they find them) they are doing a good deed and are NOT violating the law. Keeping them in your house for 4 months is illegal. Threatening to break into a locked wildlife facility to steal an animal back is not going to happen nor be tolerated at NY Wildlife Rescue Center. I told this man to remove himself from our facility, that DEC Officers and the State Police would be called. I went out of my way to help him and his raccoons. He was given some really poor advice and now he will have to be accountable for his actions. It really bothers me and this guy owes me and my staff a apology.

I do not get paid for saving the hundreds of animals that I save every year. Last year I spent tens of thousands of dollars of my own money to make our facility one of the best in the Northeast. I do not take kindly to people endangering themselves (and the public) by threatening to cut padlocks off of the wild animal enclosures ... this man will be arrested immediately if he ever sets foot on our property again.

I hope that this man realizes that he has created the current drama and trouble. I have better things to do with my time. Now I plan on putting the whole incident behind me and getting back to work.

Busy,Busy, Busy

2009-10-09T10:33:00.000-07:00

Don't call, don't write.... I'm not dead (yet), just really busy. Wildlife Authority at the Power Authority went well. I also took some wildlife to the Schoharie County Youth Conference on Monday. It went really well and the kids were great. Last weekend was the first weekend that I was home in months. I love traveling around and doing our shows but it is always nice to be home and get some work done. Winter is coming and some friends helped me get some projects finished up. I have to get firewood cut before it snows.

Oscar the bobcat went into his new enclosure. We poured concrete, built a building and specially designed a cage for him to be over-wintered in. If he is ever going to go back into the wild he needs lots of exercise but he couldn't have the high trees and dangerous heights that a lot of our other enclosures have because he could break his plate out of his hip if he got having too much fun. The entire enclosure including the concrete and building was around $2500 that I really didn't plan on spending but he is worth it. His cage is neat because it has a squeeze cage built into it for safely catching him. We always do things first class not half-assed around NY Wildlife Rescue Center.

Last weekend was also cool because we got the last of the releasable animals back into the wild before it got too late in the season. Derick and I released 2 skunks, 2 opposums, 2 squirrels and a red fox. These were all critters that needed every advantage of being in captivity but didn't need to be overwintered. We actually flew 2 redtails on a line, using a trick a falconer taught me. We really need to get this flight built so that we can get birds properly conditioned and exercised for release. We have about half of the money that I estimate for materials but I really don't want to start it if I don't think that we can afford to finish it before the snow flies.

This week could be described as "lets ditch our dog week". The week started off with a phone call about a sheep that has been home alone for months. The sheep is happily running around the pasture with my sheep now. I still have 4 kittens that are looking for homes and really wish that someone would adopt them. In the past two days I have adopted out a pitbull, a german wirehair pointer, two labs, a siamese cat, a beagle, and hopefully a little shitzu. I have done my good deed; now stop calling me to find a home for your dog, I am running out of friends to adopt them.

Yesterday, one of the rescued llamas from this spring blessed us with a little female cria. I miss the baby llamas so much, we don't breed any animals anymore so when we get little ones, it is always fun ... even if they are offspring of previously unwanted animals who were destined to a life of misery. They were lucky to be born at NY Wildlife Rescue center, I guess.

Till next time, adopt a kitten.

Wes

Animal Control

2009-09-22T06:57:00.000-07:00

Schoharie County needs an animal control officer. Here in 'Scary Co. we have Dog Wardens for individual townships (There are 16 towns in our county). I think that we need a county wide animal control officer. I know a good part time candidate for that job.... :) The last two nights I have been called out until all hours of the night helping the NY State Police and the Schoharie County Sheriff's Department on animal calls. I do dozens of calls a year for the law enforcement of our county. I receive no compensation at all. I don't even get invited to a Christmas Party. We need a County Wide Animal Control Officer. It could be a part time position. The ACO could coordinate communication between the different dog wardens, assist in natural disaster animal relocation, answer wildlife calls; the job description could be long. Most other counties have an ACO. Most are paid salary, receive a truck, benefits, etc. I would be interested in the position for mileage, stipend and getting it started for the good of the animals and people in this county. Email the Supervisors and Bill Cherry and express the need for creation of a paid ACO (on a part time basis) in Schoharie County.

The Coyote that I rescued Monday night was taken to Dan Sullivan, Grand Gorge Animal Hospital last night after school for an x-ray. We were both optimistic that it could be saved. It had feeling in its rear legs but x-rays revealed a different story. Vertebrae damage in the lower spine made it probable that this young coyote would never walk again. Neither Doctor Sullivan nor I saw any reason for it to endure the process of recovery toward such a bleak quality of life and the pup was humanely euthanized while still unconscious for the x-ray process. I try not to focus on the negatives, I need to stay focused on the positives. I did everything that I could to help this coyote. Dr. Sullivan also donated his time and services. I really appreciate his help and I was very impressed with his practice.

I got home, kind of depressed and helped the guys work on Oscar the bobcat's new enclosure. Made the mistake of taking my boots off before 9pm and the phone rang. Schoharie Co. Sheriffs Dispatcher said a Trooper needed help with two horses in Carlisle that had been running around loose all day. I reluctantly agreed, for the animals and for the safety of people driving in the area, got dressed, got halters, grain, hooked on the trailer and met up with the Trooper to go to where they had been temporarily corralled. With a little bit of coaxing and calm soft talk, I got them on my trailer without hurting them (or me) and we were off for home. By the time I got them settled in for the night, it was pushing 1am.

I am beat today at work; we have an Open House tonight at school so I wont even get home until about 9pm. I think that someone will miss these horses. They have good weight, manes and tails were brushed. The sooner the better that I find their owners because I really don't want two more horses ... we have 9 already at our facility. I will let you know how this story ends.

Kittens: they are so cute, everyone needs one. We have several that desperately need homes. PLEASE help me out with this one. One litter was bottle fed and are super friendly. The other litter was born to the long haired Siamese that I rescued from under a church (she is available for adoption also). If you know of anyone that wants a kitten, please let them know. I will also most likely have a couple of really nice dogs that I will need to find homes for shortly as well. Gotta get back to work, my class is coming in.

FYI- New York Power Authority, Blenheim-Wildlife Festival this weekend. Hope to see you there.

WES

COYOTE RESCUE

2009-09-21T10:53:00.000-07:00

The last day of summer, how depressing (like we had a summer). Wooly Caterpillars are saying long cold winter (when isn't it). :) In the last week, we have met some great people and gotten some new animals in. Last week we had a call on a wild turkey that got hit near Howe Caverns. That didn't end well but it didn't go to waste; the foxes left little to tell what they had done. I met some great folks when I picked up the turkey, they have alpacas and they visited this weekend to meet the three alpacas that I have available for adoption. In the process, I am hoping that we might be able to get the building materials we need to get the raptor flight started before the snow flies. Connections and destiny ... time will tell.

I have another "raccoon friend" I am hoping will help us get a pond in for rehabbing beaver and geese/ ducks that come in. Again ... time will tell.

Some great students from the SUNY Cobleskill Wildlife Program found a goldfinch with a wing mutation on a hike. The bird is unreleasable and must have been fed by parents, a luxury that will end soon with their migration. Good deed done, and I have a student that may want to do an internship with me in the process.

Saturday, I took the donkeys, alpacas, some other critters looking for homes, with some Raptors, to the Irish Festival at the Ballston Spa /Saratoga Co. Fairgrounds. It was a great day; the birds were a big hit and we got a chance to educate a lot of people about wildlife. It really doesn't get any better than that. Our donation jar did well and the people were very interested in what we do. Our educational events are vital to what we do and I hope we can book more events next year.

Yesterday, I had a great group of students come in for a tour of NY Wildlife Rescue Facility. They are a 4H group from Delhi, asked great questions, were respectful and want to help out in the future. I really like kids and animals; I love educating kids about wildlife conservation. 4H is such a valuable club for young people to be involved in. Anything that doesn't involve being stuck inside the house on a computer should be promoted. Their generation will see some horrible things environmentally; they will be the generation to, hopefully, go green.

I also have spent a lot of time the last week on paperwork. I hate it, but it is a necessity to keep good records for the various agencies that license me. Doing reports at the end of the year is easy when you have kept good records all year.

Last night, I actually took off my boots at 8:30 pm. The phone rang about 5 minites later. I recognized the number on caller ID, "New York Wildlife Rescue Center, this is Wes".... "This is Trooper (such and such) of the NY State Police, do you rescue coyotes?" Ten minutes later I was wrestling around in a ditch with it. I appreciate that he called me rather than just shooting it on the spot. I know a lot of people would rather it had been killed but I am a rehabber, not God. I don't rescue animals that I like and leave others to die.

The only thing that I could think of as I was grabbing it with my catch pole was that a dart would have been nice. That was the reason I took the chemical capture class at Tufts this summer. One of these days I am going to get a call for something bigger than me. I also thought about Oscar the bobcat; I bet that he felt the exact same way. Eyes in spotlights, blue and red lights, the sounds and smell of man ... and being helpless to move. I took the coyote to Cobleskill Vet Clinic where we knocked her out, did an exam and administered steroids. She is trying to get on her haunches but has a lower spine inflammation. I am trying to get her back in for an x-ray so I can figure out if we can really save her or if it would be more humane to put her down. I have never rescued a coyote before, a lot of people would like to see the vermin dead but you want to hear something interesting. I noticed that her feces looked funny, I looked through them and she had been feeding entirely on apples ... things that make you go hmmmmmmm. I am not God, I will spend a couple of hundred dollars to see what is wrong and give her a chance. If she is showing signs of pain or the damage is too great ... she will go to sleep. I will keep you posted.

--Wes

Week in Review

2009-09-10T10:50:00.000-07:00

Seems like it has been a week since I have blogged, hey, it has. Not intentional this time, we are having computer problems at home (again). If anyone would like to trade a new computer for a 10 year old boy who downloads video games off the internet...let me know.
When we last blogged, I was getting ready to take Oscar back to Cornell for his check up. The night before I had picked up a Great Horned Owl with a severely infected foot with porcupine quills. I thought that I would take the Red Tailed Hawk hit on I88 to them as well. Oscar's squeeze cage lacks about 1/4 of an inch from fitting inside my alum. transport cage that goes on the back of my truck. Which meant that I had to transfer him to a travel crate with a catch pole, not as easy as it used to be. Kelly Martin and our daughters Kate and Hannah all went. Uneventful trip, got to Cornell. Took forever to get Oscar knocked out, he did not want to go to sleep. I got to meet his surgeon, great guy....talented. He decided that it would be to Oscars best interest to get the wire holding the femor and two of the screws in the pelvis taken out to allow for natural bone healing. He said that the procedure and plate screwed in the hip was new, first time Cornell ever used that particular method and hardware. I am very pleased with Oscars progress. We all decided that it would be better to overwinter him than it would be to release him prematurely.
My trip to Cornell and Tufts Vet Schools were really about all that I did this summer besides work on the farm and make a quick weekend trip to the Vineyard of a friend on LI.. Last week teachers had to report for workshops and meetings. This past weekend I was at the Capital District Scottish Festival. I do a show on Clydesdales, Scottish Blackface Sheep and Border Collies. This year I also added a Wildlife/Birds of Prey component since I probably wont be doing the "Celtic Critters" shows anymore....just Wildlife Shows.
The summer was over before it started. Tuesday we started school with our students. The leaves are starting to change. My wife is already collecting monarch catapillars to show the kids in her classes the process of making a butterfly. I released two Kestrals back into the wild this week. Most of the mammals have been released back into the wild. We still have squirrels, skunks, possums, cottontails and a couple of bats that need to be released. My daughter accidentally released a baby chipmunk in the nursery. Gotta catch him. We have a broadwing and a redtailed hawk that need to get released yet also. I miss "orphan season" but we are still getting several calls a week on wildlife that needs help (a lot of car collisions).
I have a funny feeling that there will always be a steady flow of animals coming in that need our help. Till next time. Wes

Fall is here

2009-08-31T21:04:00.000-07:00

I like spring, it means that new baby orphans will be coming in, the land comes back alive ... but fall has come. The trees know it, the animals know it. Since I have gotten back from Tufts from the Chemical Capture Class, I have known that fall is coming. The Chemical Capture Class was great, I hope to be darting animals soon to save them.

For the last few days, I have been dreading today. It was release day. My day started early with preparations to catch, cage, transport and release skunks and coons. I try not to get emotionally attached to the wildlife I rehab. My first coons came in May 9th ... skunks came shortly after. Watch the slideshow that Gayle will hopefully attach to this blog and link to the website.

Release day is always tough for me. I know that they are ready, they have been enriched, and can figure out any food item that I slip in. Every year we get "better" , we never claim to know anything here but we are quick learners and once we make a mistake (which all rehabbers do) we learn. That is why I mentor. That is why I'm lucky to have Kelly as one of the best mentors in the world. Never a day passes that I don't scratch my head, say "never saw that before" ... and learn.

Please Click Here to Visit our Musical Slideshow
to share our special day with us.

I really don't know what to say about today, I moved the Kestrels into their soft release enclosure. The 'Possums moved out into theirs.

The darn cage that Oscar the Bobcat was in is 1/2 an inch too large to slide into the aluminum zoo cage that I use to transport him to Cornell. I have to take him there tomorrow and it wasn't pleasant getting him into a cage with a catch pole now.

I really think that if you watch the slideshow and listen to the music that Gayle put to it from today, you will get what I do ... very few people get what I do. 5 months of my life has revolved around these animals; baby coons and stinkers; 24 hours a day, 7 days a week--no breaks. It all boiled down to today. Did I get them prepared for life in the wild and things that could eat them in the woods? I think so. If you watch the slideshow, you will see one eyed (black eyed) Susie as I called her, This is the coon that Dr. Diane saved for me. We both spent a lot of time and money on her; she was the only coon that kept coming back to me for reassurance--all of the others plunged into the wild. I am comfortable with the release, I am happy for them al. Once I drive away, they are on their own. It was the way that it is suppose to be, they are not pets. They are wild animals, for better or for worse.

I got home, depressed, in a bad mood which everyone at the farm got. Started getting things ready for Cornell trip tomorrow with Oscar the Bobcat because I start school on Wednesday.

Got a phone call about an owl in someone's yard, she called nonstop until we answered the phone ... she knows I don't check the answering machine more than once a day. I went, found a great old Great Horned Owl that was sitting under her picnic table. I had caught it before the kids could even get out of the house. What an old warrior; he had reserved himself to hunting a Porcupine and a couple of weeks ago had caught one. I pulled several quills out of a horribly infected foot. Glad I'm going to Cornell tomorrow--if anyone can save this foot....they can. Also had to set a livetrap for a red fox with mange: met a great guy who doesn't want to see his fox from his farm die a horrible death. I will try to catch it. I will and I will fix it.

I have several people a week say that what I do is amazing, I do not get funding; it is all by donation and my blood, sweat and tears. Forward everyone you know our blog, website and slideshow of our release today. I am the luckiest guy in the world that I get to do this every day.

My kids will look back at these releases as they get older and releaze how cool they were versus "Why can't I get out of the truck?".

I look forward to getting back in my classroom, I miss the kids from school. I need to see some kids (as if I haven't seen them all summer).

Plan on attending the Scottish Festival this weekend at the Altamont Fairgrounds. The Committee has supported what I do for years. I will be doing two shows daily.

Gotta hit the hay.

Wes

Thanks Valley Pharmacy

2009-08-21T21:10:00.000-07:00

Special Thanks to Scott and Shannon Van Kuren for sponsoring my tuition to go to Tufts next week to take the Chemical Capture Class. I will catch up with all of my TYN's shortly but this donation was a big one and I really appreciate it....Wes

Wes Moments

2009-08-21T20:54:00.000-07:00

Anyone that knows me, knows that I am a one man army. WORKFORCE Kids are gone for the summer, I am gearing up for upcoming events....This sunday, I will be at the Summit Pavillion at 2pm to do a Wildlife Program for folks. Sept 5/6 I will be at Capital District Scottish Games doing our Celtic Critters and livestock show. Lots more festivals coming, check our events page.
I am having a Wes moment. I dont get a paycheck since June, Dont get another until Sept..... I really need to keep cash flow coming in. The calls never stop, someone brought me 4 kittens last night....said mother had abondoned them. Their eyes are open, at least 2 weeks old, plump....no reason for me to be bottle feeding 4 little kittens....Im tired, I want to sleep. You all remember the blog about the wildlife rehabber that had 4 coons and 2 skunks, not licensed for them..... DEC and I worked together to get them here instead of euthanizing the whole lot of them. One of them died yesterday, had to run that to the State Lab, tested negative for rabies and distemper but doesnt make me any happier. I hate to blog when I am in a bad mood. Friend of mine stopped by today, rainy day....he figured I wouldnt be doing anything (funny right)....I vented, said that I have rescued over 300 animals this year....no one gets it....He asked how much I get from the State to do this.......after i got done strangling him....we had a great laugh. I have no regrets, I try really hard....I will blog again daily, I will keep doing what I do, right now I just need a break......even if it is only to go to Mass to take a Chemical Capture Class. Wes

Small Milestones

2009-08-12T21:12:00.000-07:00

Well, I should have more to say ... here we go.

Tomorrow the Workforce Solutions Kids will be done working at NY Wildlife Rescue Facility . It will finish the summer. I haven't gotten the dreaded "Welcome Back" to school letter from my boss that officially ends my summer but I do want to state for the record that I love all of you kids... I don't like the word kid, you're not ... what you have done here is amazing. Andy (the college supervisor here this summer) is amazing. Although we didn't get everything done that I wanted to do this summer, it was more than productive. Tomorrow after our BBQ, I'm sure that I will have more to say.

I actually had two weird wildlife experiences happen to me since I last blogged. I always blog how people shouldn't be quick to pounce on wildlife. I was mowing up at the picnic area and something ran in front of the lawn mower. I thought to myself, "I cant even mow without saving something ... read your blog ... leave it alone". I watched it for awhile until it disappeared in to the brush, then I saw it again in a completely different part of the area. I stopped the lawn mower, as I was chasing the chick around. I heard peep, peep, peep from all over the area. Then I saw the big hen fly in and I hid behind a brush patch as I heard cluck, cluck, cluck and all the chicks I had scattered when pulling into the picnic area come running out to get reunited with the hen and walk off into the woods.... I need to practice what I preach.

The next cool wildlife experience I had was while I was delivering llamas to a new home, a great home (as always) I might add. I was standing in the driveway chatting with a great animal communicator and her husband said "ohhhh look at the bobcat"... Didn't have to tell me twice, I jumped up on the wall and saw the most gorgeous cat walking down the backside of the wall about 20 foot away. The bobcat didn't seem to care, we caught a connection and it walked on down the wall out of sight ... very cool. Not as cool as the home the llamas got but pretty close.

On July 8th, you remember the story about the small bat that came in that I thought was dead, revived and have been feeding nonstop ever since? He was about the size of my thumb nail, he is 4 times that size now. I like him a lot. We reached a small milestone tonight. He normally grabs ahold of the syringe full of formula but tonight I tricked him. I put a small mealworm in front of him instead. He ate it ... I was shocked. Did it again, ate half of another before he realized what was going on ... had a fit and begged for his formula by vibrating and showing his new little fangs. They grow up so fast.

I am not a hero but very few people realize what I do. I have spent 5 weeks of my life on a baby bat and it is working. Andy and I agreed that it takes about 20 kids to do what I do everyday while Im teaching.

I got a baby pigeon in tonight that has issues, I have tube fed lots of them; this little guy needs your prayers; wings are fine but I think that it has two broken legs ... may be his last night. JAMES HERRIOT, one of my favorite authors said that all creatures, great and small, the Lord God loves them all ... or something close, it is late. Everyone should email John Katz, one of my other favorite authors. Tell him to get down to Middleburgh and see what I do, I need his help writing a book. That will be a big milestone but I am ready.

I will start blogging again daily, just need to get my head above water again,
Wes

Where has the summer went

2009-08-05T07:05:00.000-07:00

I know that I am bad, I haven't gone this long without blogging in a while. I try to blog everyday but it has just been too hard lately. We have had several school groups come in for workshops. I actually even did a program at Delhi Elementary School last week which was amazing. The teacher is amazing. The kids knew more about Raptors and wildlife than most of the older audiences that I work with. Education is one of the most important things that I can do to get our message out there. I deal with dozens of phone calls a week with folks that want to help animals that really don't need it. It is so hard to convince people that it is better to leave the baby rabbits in the nest than to pick them up and bring them in the house....

"Orphan Season" has slowed down a lot, finally. We are no longer getting several animals a day that we are working on. The past week has been interesting. Seems like every animal that has come in has been covered in maggots. I know that everything has a purpose but I really am getting sick of maggots. I have had 2 coons, a fawn, a porcupine and a baby robin come in this past week all covered.... All had their individual reasons and issues, all had unhappy endings. It is a combination of wounds, bad weather and hungry flies. It is really gross.

Our Workforce Solutions kids continue to do a great job. They are only here officially for another week. I don't think that we are going to finish the lower pasture but we are going to try. There is just so much wood, debris and stone down there. I've been working on that pasture for 10 years. I really don't know how the old-timers did it with nothing but an axe.

I will try to be more upbeat and interesting next time.
Wes

Thanks, I'm Speechless

2009-07-20T22:20:00.000-07:00

For those of you that attended our Open House this past Saturday, July 18th, you probably wished that I was speechless. It was a perfect day, my High School volunteers, my 20 somethings and my "older" volunteers helped me get everything together and it was a great day. I would have never been ready without your help. I am so flattered that over 200 people thought that what we are doing was cool enough to come to the dedication of the Phase One half of the Raptor Center. We have worked so hard to have one of the best facilities in the Northeast, it is very important to do what we are doing and do it first class.

I have been flattered by all of you, your donations, validating what we do. I had an older lady from Middleburgh attend the Open House. She emailed me and said that she never understood until she heard me talk at the Open House. ... I do love what I do, there is such a HUGE demand for wildlife rehabbers. If you are considering it, do it but do it right. Get a mentor and do an apprenticeship.

I will let Gayle put links up for photos and videos of the event. I'm not going to rehash the whole thing but I do want to say thanks to my Board Of Directors, you are great. Our Volunteers and our donors are what keep us expanding. As I said during the dedication we are helping a lot of kids and animals here at this facility. Most people didn't even realize as they walked around the grounds that we had 7 animals come in DURING the Open House. We had a broadwing hawk, a painted turtle, robins, a cedar waxwing and 2 kittens come in. Our BOD members quickly got them into the nursery for assessment and treatment; the public never knew.

I am speechless, and very tired. I will get blogging again, going on 2am, I need to look over 370 emails and get some zzzzzzzz.

Till tomorrow,
Wes

Pictures and Videos!

Some photos from our special day are included at this link.

Here is a music video one of our volunteers, Jess, put together, starring the animals of NY Wildlife Rescue, Northeast Llama Rescue, and Red Maple Farm. Enjoy!

Busy, Busy, Busy

2009-07-14T21:24:00.000-07:00

The hairless bunny didn't like the bottle very well
So Hannah's pet rabbit, who had babies three weeks
ago, cooperated beautifully so the baby could nurse.

I love days like today. I started in the morning with animal calls and feedings with BOD members Kelly and Gayle. Ran around like a lunatic all day, basically from one injured or hungry critter to another. Didn't get much time to work with my high school workforce today; thank God for Andy. Got a lot of paperwork and computer work done this morning, until I sent too many emails letting everyone know about our Open House and got tossed off line by my web provider....

Very few people can out work me. I start early and go to bed around 2am every day. These young adults (I hate calling teenagers kids and they are not all my students) are getting things done around here. The college supervisor Andy is awesome, keeps things going and covers for me when I am answering the phone (which never stops) or trying to figure out how I am going to save the next box that arrives. Kind of like Xmas but you can't forget about it when you are done playing with it.

It has been a slow fawn year (not that I am complaining). I love bats. I hate to admit it but I am really getting attached to my little pup (baby bat). I didn't think that he would live when I looked at him in the box a week ago. He now rules my life with his feeding schedule. They are so naughty, have a high pitched voice and try to bite you even when you are feeding them. Bats get a bad rap. 20% of all the earth's mammals are bats. You would be paying a lot more for food if it weren't for bats eating lots of bugs all night. I don't like what is going on with the white nose disease in bats right now. What is going on with honey bees bothers me also. Bats just have a bad rap because of all of the stupid vampire movies. They don't fly in your hair, few species will suck your blood and they are not the rabies infested demons that people think that they are. I've done lots of bats. I have 2 in the bat-cave right now. One is an older brown bat, don't know why it was found on the ground yet but it is eating and coming back from death. I still have to get some mites off of it but the maggots are gone. Capstar is an amazing drug. It is expensive but I use it all the time and it is awesome. The pills are tiny. When given orally or rectally they get rid of maggots, fleas and ticks within about 30 minutes. I actually put one in a ziplock bag, and slipped a little piece in this bats mouth ... no maggots.

Speaking of maggots, I got a baby coon tonight transported by North Country, came from DEC, what a mess. I've seen just about everything with a baby coon. This little guy is a mess. He had a paw caught in a foot hold trap. He has an infection in his foot, the maggots are bad. I should be the poster child for Capstar. Will someone call the folks that make those pills and ask them to send me a lot of the 2-25 pound pills. I am almost ashamed when I go to the vet, like a junkie, begging to buy more. I don't know if I can save this little coon, but I will give him 100% effort. Wish that he wasn't so cranky.

I got a Bluejay in that hit a house, I really don't know what he was thinking when he did that. Kelly got his wing wrapped up while we fed the orphans this morning. He will probably be ok. Just need some R and R which isn't easy for a Bluejay that has things to do.

I got a cottontail baby rabbit in tonight that is lucky to be alive. He got half of his ears and part of the top of his head taken off by a lawn mower. I've seen a lot but this was a first. He should have hidden a little lower. I give him a 50/50 but we are working on him. I hope the other rabbits don't make fun of him for being earless.

Had another rabbit come in tonight ... a little one. Hairless. I'm tempted to try to sneak it in with one of my daughter's rabbits new litters. I've done it before. It has worked but the risk is the mother could kill him if she realizes that we have snuck one past her. We will see tomorrow. The same person (and same bad dog) brought me a Garter Snake that looked like he had been hit by a lawn mower. I couldn't help that little snake, it was nearly in half ... I helped him get to sleep.

Speaking of getting to sleep (no not me), the sheriff's department called me today. There was a call for a cat at my bank dragging its legs on their lawn. I hate these calls. Like the dog that Kelly and I watched die a couple of days ago (hit by a car). It won't be killing my sheep anymore but I didn't want to see it dead, I just wanted it to stay home. Got in the truck with Nicole (former student, present volunteer) and got down there in a jiffy. I've caught a lot of road hit animals. This cat was feral, angry and the fastest thing that I've ever seen move on half of its legs. All I could think of was Oscar the Bobcat. I grabbed my shoulder length padded gloves from under the seat, my catch-pole, and we eventually caught the poor thing. The deputy had arranged transport to Howes Cave Animal Hospital, it never went....

Back to happy things.

As if the cosmos weren't already testing me. Another person holding a box showed up with "baby birds". I like birds a lot. They want it, want it now and don't really care about you for another 30-45 minutes (if you are lucky). A quick peek and I blurted out-loud.... "Ohhhh no, Chimney Swifts". They are tough enough to live in nest inside a chimney but a real challenge to do. They vertically perch, like to hang on sides of their container. They scream until you go to feed them then clamp their beaks shut with super glue. I tried to get them to put them back, they are here and I am going to give them 100%.

Last but not least (today) I got in a baby dove. Doves are a totally different type of feeder: different food, different equipment.... It's eating great, I like this fledgling.

Wow, really busy day. Lot to do tomorrow. Time for some Craig Ferguson Late, Late Show and a nap.

Till tomorrow,
Wes

Front Page News, Sunday Gazette

2009-07-14T04:21:00.001-07:00

http://www.dailygazette.com/news/2009/jul/12/0712_rehab/

The Daily Gazette did a wonderful story on NY Wildlife Rescue Center and gave us front page coverage in their Sunday edition. We'd like to thank Sara Foss of the Gazette for such a marvelous story!

Sara also shared in her blog:

http://www.dailygazette.com/weblogs/foss/2009/jul/13/71309_animals/

Thank you!

We hope to see many of you at our open house this Saturday, July 18th, at 4pm!

New developments

2009-07-13T22:58:00.001-07:00

Photos in this blog entry
courtesy of Paul Taylor

I don't know really where to begin this blog, it is 2am, I'm exhausted, have to share....

We have been working really hard to get everything done for our Open House this Saturday. Chris, Justin and Bob have been working hard to get the new skunk, possum, and coon caging in before our Open House. Since all of our existing enclosures have trees in them, Oscar is getting a brand new enclosure (without anything to injure himself on yet) to get some more exercise while continuing to heal. Lets hope the concrete company can come tomorrow.

We've had some great baby Possums and another fawn come in from another wildlife rehabber that we love to work with from Oneonta. We've had a lot of great animals come in that are fixable and will go back into the wild.

This past Sunday, the Sunday Gazette featured us as a front page cover story. The photographer and reporter did a first class job. We have gotten a lot of great feedback on it and I hope that it gets the word out about what we are doing. This past Thursday the Mountain Eagle also did a great story on us, I am flattered. I don't do what I do for PR, I do it because I love it and it is the right thing to do. I don't give or take compliments well, I feel relieved that people validate and appreciate what we do here at New York Wildlife Rescue Center. After around 20 years of saving animals, we are getting some recognition ... which I hope will help us continue to expand our facility so that we can help/house more animals in first class style. This has always been important to us. I will ask Gayle to get the stories up as a link so that you can read both articles.

Thanks, I really appreciate everyone's support; besides the checks, you can help our cause by telling everyone that you know about what we do. Encourage your address book to check out our website.

On Saturday, we had a great visit by some folks looking to adopt some rescue animals for their farm. I liked the couple and their farm manager a lot; they picked out some of the llamas that I rescued earlier this year from the big rescue. They decided to adopt several llamas, a goat and the old donkey that came in a few weeks back. I am purposely keeping their identity and privacy guarded. When I delivered the critters, I was pleased to see that these animals will be leading the good life (not like I would let anyone adopt anything that wouldn't be). It wasn't about the farm (which is something out of a magazine) -- money doesn't impress me unless it is used for good: used to help kids or animals. The animals will have a great life with them. What I liked most was the people. I meet some really bad people doing what I do. These folks love their animals as much as I do. They have the means to make sure these animals never have another care in the world. They are adopting some more animals from us this Sunday. It isn't about the money with me, although I need it to keep our rescue facility expanding, you don't need to have money to take great care of your animals. The people are what makes animals happy with love. Their housing, food, care will be second to none ... I'm thrilled and they can adopt whatever they want, I just hope that they don't adopt too many animals to enjoy them or get to know them. But I know that they will be very involved in the lives of their animals. The animals that we've rescued here are very fortunate to be with them. I love a story with a happy ending. I really couldn't be happier about where the animals are living. They are going to adopt a few more animals and I cant wait to take them to their great new home.

Today all of our high school students started work at New York Wildlife Rescue Center. It was like a fairground here with parents dropping off kids; we have a total of 20 volunteers under the age of 20 years old. After an orientation meeting with me, I gave them a tour of the farm. Workforce Solution is a great program. They get these kids working, making money, stay out of trouble and they worked hard today. We got two pasture sheds painted today, chores, cleaning and even had time to start painting the fences. Many hands can make light work and I look forward to working with all of these students daily until the end of the summer.

To our helpers: I will teach you a lot about animals, hard work, ethics and we will have a lot of fun also. We'll have 3 different shifts at the Center this summer. One group will work 8-1, the next group will work 1 to 6, the last group are the construction guys (mostly former students that worked at the facility in high school) who often volunteer after their jobs until midnight. I will work along side of all of you, I will always be the last one to sit down ... unless I have to feed something.

Going on 3 am. Time to feed the baby bat and get some shut eye....
Till tomorrow, another day,
Wes

New Caging

2009-07-09T22:05:00.000-07:00

No new animals came in today, that is good I guess. I ran over to our BOD member Linda's house tonight to pick up a mink. Turns out that the mink didn't need rescuing, it had a licensed home with another wildlife rehabber so I didn't need to bring it home. It was a great chance to see some new crias (baby llamas) that Linda had at her farm. Very cute, I miss the crias since we are a no-breed facility but I am pretty sure that a few of the llamas that I rescued earlier this spring are pregnant and going to have crias soon.

Nicole and Ally have been great volunteers this week. They have helped me get caught up and I really appreciated their help. Ally volunteered at NYWRC last summer, she gets paid through a program that puts HS kids to work in the summer (Workforce Solutions). I will be getting 15 high school students for the rest of the summer starting next week and I am really looking forward to it. All business owners should participate in this program, they are still looking for work-sites for kids in "Scary County". I love to teach the kids about how to raise animals right. Many hands make light work, we will get a lot done around here that I would never be able to get off the need to do list by myself. It is hard work but they will leave here after a summer knowing a lot that they will never forget. Nicole is a former student who volunteers here every afternoon. She is learning her way around the farm well and is a great asset. Chris and Justin are the main force behind our construction projects. Both have jobs that they go work at every day and then they come up after work to help me with the construction; nothing would be built here without their help and great carpenter skills. I don't know how we would expand without them. All four of these volunteers could easily run this place because they have all been here so long.... Thanks.

Got Claire the cow's feet trimmed yesterday. That was cool. I've had Clydesdales for years, I am very familiar with what the farrier does but had never seen a cow get done. It was impressive. Claire is one of the cows that I took out of the farm on the big sheep rescue this spring. She had extremely long hooves due to standing in a horse stall in muck for so long. Ed got her in a hydraulic chute, picked her up off the ground. Trimmed and filed her feet--she is walking like a new cow. A friend that has a large dairy farm stopped by tonight to see what we were doing and he was amazed at how great Claire looks ... actually said she was fat ... I think I would like to see another 100-200 pounds on her yet. I think that she has earned a home, her job is to make lots of noise with her cow bell, give my kids rides, and follow us around like a dog ... she is a keeper.

Chris, Bob and I worked out the details of the new cage that arrived yesterday compliments of our friend John at Unadilla Game Farm. We have to pour some concrete, get the cage set on the pad and build a roof over it. I want to get all of that done by our Open House. Maybe that is optimistic but it is possible. All it takes is time and money, which is slow coming in. It is a great cage, I am going to dedicate it to raccoons and skunks so that we can keep our big corn cribs for foxes and the bobcats. I do have an empty corn crib that I designed for Black Bear cubs but we didn't get any in this year so I could always let Oscar use that when he is healed enough to go out in something bigger.

I have a long range vision for our facilities, right now I want to finish what we've started. Your donations are crucial to keeping the construction going, I don't like to beg ... dig deep and please send a donation ... anything will buy some boards. The concrete will cost around $1000- , we are doing it right but money is tight. I can afford to feed the animals, pay my bills and keep things going. I can not afford to continue to expand our facilities nonstop to properly house all of the animals that are coming in. Your help is needed.

The Open House on Saturday, July 18th from 4-6 pm, would be a great opportunity for you to visit New York Wildlife Rescue Center. I am very proud what our BOD, Our Volunteers and our limited budget has accomplished thus far. We have to find the funding through your donations to finish the Raptor Flight. I have already contacted Bush Lumber (our local lumber supplier), Morton builders and Fingerlake Construction. Once we get enough donations to buy $5000- worth of materials, I am hoping that the local Telephone Company will help me set the poles. I am hoping that we can do an Amish-style building blitzkrieg. I bet 20 volunteers could build the entire flight in a day if we set our minds to it. We have the resources within us to get it done. I am hoping that Brooke will come through for us on Utility Poles and have her husband help us put in a pond for our waterfowl as well but that will be another bridge to cross.

Two blogs in one day, it is almost 2am ... I have a bat to feed. Tell everyone in your address book about us. Tell them about our website and our blog. We also have a nice selection of domestic animals looking for great long term homes. We have llamas, alpacas, sheep, goats, chickens, and lots of rabbits that all would love a new home. I really can't wait to wake up every morning, even when I go to bed at 2am every night: I want to share my excitement about what we do here with everyone.

Till tomorrow,
Wes

Im Back.

2009-07-09T13:03:00.000-07:00

I know that a lot of people read my blogs daily and I try to keep up with one daily but it is hard to do when you don't have a computer for a couple of days. Figured out the problem and we are back online again. I had a great 4th of July, I actually left the facility long enough to go to a friends house for a BBQ and to watch the fireworks. It was actually nice to hangout with the wife, kids and friends without the phone or an animal hanging off of me.

The beginning of the week we had a reporter from the Mountain Eagle here to do a story on Oscar and New York Wildlife Rescue Center. I've met some really nice reporters lately and it has been great sharing the story of Oscar the Bobcat and what we do for the animals here at our facility. I really think that we are a very unique place. We are licensed, inspected and regulated, many "rescue facilities" are not . Ive been thinking a lot about it lately. I really think that some State Agency (such as Ag and Markets) should give accreditation and license facilities that want to call themselves an animal rescue place. There have been a lot of well intentioned people that have saved animals, called themselves a rescue and are basically animal hoarders that can't afford to feed what they have. I have been personally involved with several "big" rescues at other facilities that have more animals than they can feed and end up becoming a rescue case themselves.

People send donations and give their support here because they can see what we do. I think all rescue facilities should be open for inspection. Should be licensed by DEC, Ag and Markets, USDA or the US Fish and Wildlife Service. All facilities should be Open to the public, even if on an appointment basis. There should be a budget, program of veterinary care, sufficient facilities for an appropriate number of animals ... I have a list . I would be more than happy to sit down with anyone from any government agency to come up with a way to do a voluntary licensing program to become an accredited "Rescue Facility". It would make it more difficult for just anyone with a good heart and a lot of animals to call themselves a rescue facility (enough of that vent).

Been very busy here. We had another great photographer and reporter from the Daily Gazette come yesterday to do an article for the Sunday Gazette. I will put links up for these articles and news reports as I get them. They were both awesome reporters, I am really looking forward to seeing these articles and really appreciate the attention that a lot of reporters have given Oscar and our Open House on July 18th. Enough of my complaining about animal hoarders calling themselves rescues. Lets talk about animals. That is what we are all about.

Since my last blog on July 6th, we have had several cottontail rabbits come in. They were all good sized so they have been relatively painless to feed and wean soon. I also had a fawn come in from another wildlife rehabilitator. Something has bitten her up pretty good. I think that she will be ok. Last night, I had another little baby bat come in. So far, so good. The bat was very dehydrated but has started to come back to life great. I have to run, have to go to Barber's to get veggies for my animals. I will try to do another blog later.

Justin, Chris and I have been working late trying to do the finishing work on the Raptor Center (phase one) for our Open House. Tell everyone you know about the Open House.... I hope the weather cooperates and we have a good turnout.

Wes

Oscar on Local News Program

2009-07-06T17:18:00.000-07:00

Capital News 9 | 24 Hour Local News | TOP STORIES | Oscar the bobcat recovering at Wildlife Rescue Center

Channel 9 News were at the Center recently, filming a story on Oscar the Bobcat. The above link will take you to the story page and a brief news clip.

Enjoy!

News 9 Visits

2009-07-05T14:06:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone, I am going to write a short blog about a News 9 (Albany) visit that we had today to do a segment about Oscar our Bobcat and our facility in general. Hopefully they also mention our Open House on July 18th from 4-6 pm also. I look forward to seeing the segment and will link it to here as soon as they send it to me.

Been relatively slow here today, not that I'm complaining. Friday I had a nice visit with Patty and her folks. She is the woman that brought me the starling. She sent me some great photos and also wants to try to find some grants for us. A past student that located me through our Facebook page, also offered to look for some Grant money for us.... Thanks Fields, we are "crusin' along" as she likes to joke I used to say all of the time in my Social Studies class.

Besides for 3 baby cottontail rabbits yesterday that came in all is well. I have to run to Barber's Road-stand and get the veggies that they didn't sell today for our animals. Jim and Cindy barber have been great about letting us have all of the day old veggies, it really helps cut down some of the grain costs. Hopefully by the time I get back, the news 9 segment will be available for all of you to click on and watch.

Till then,
Wes

Open House

2009-07-03T21:15:00.000-07:00

That is right folks, the moment that you have all been waiting for. You are all invited to our Raptor Center (phase one) Dedication on Saturday, July 18th between 4-6 pm. Bring your family and friends to see what your support and donations have helped build. Meet the animals and tour the facility. We might even have some cookies and punch. I am really proud and excited what a bunch of friends have done after work and on weekends.

Your continued generosity will keep the construction going on our Raptor Flight (phase two) addition to our 100 feet of individual species aviaries. None of this would have been possible without you. I am just a guy with a dream of building one of the largest not for profit animal rescue facilities in the Northeast. I've dedicated my life to achieving that goal, if you have been here you know what I'm doing. If you haven't seen it for yourself, now is the time. I also have another favor to ask: forward this blog to everyone in your address book. Tell your friends and family to check out our website www.redmaplefarm.net. This doesn't cost a dime and getting the word out about us is key to our mission.

What a great day at NY Wildlife Rescue . I had a Starling come in this am. They are fun to rehab. I also had another baby Kestrel falcon come in, this fledgling ate 3 mice almost instantly and went right out to join the other Kestrels in the Raptor Center. We had lots of BOD members stop by. Our great friend and Times Union blogger Teri Conroy stopped by to see the alpacas that I brought in a couple of weeks ago. Teri and her daughter Hannah took one of the alpacas home in the back seat of her truck. Teri and Hannah have been long time supporters of my animal rescue efforts, all the way back to when they got their first llamas from us ... back when we were just saving domestics and exotics. Teri is a great friend and it was great to put her first alpaca in her barn.

I am going to cut it short tonight. It is already pushing 1 am and I still need to try to figure out how to get on Facebook and send out a blanket email to everyone in my address book. I wish that I wasn't so computer illiterate.

Till tomorrow,
Wes

Im still alive.

2009-07-02T19:31:00.000-07:00

I'm still alive, I know that a lot of my blog readers get nervous when I vanish for a week at a time. All who know me realize that I have probably fallen to sleep in the chair with some small critter.

It is AWESOME being out of school for the summer. July and August are definitely a great perk of being a teacher. New York Wildlife Rescue Center hasn't slowed down much in the last week. Since last time I blogged a lot of new animals have found their way here.

Cornell contacted me this am. They are going to release the story about the bobcat Oscar to the media. I think that it is a great human interest story. It isn't every day that a bobcat gets hit, lays along the road and gets a second chance on life. Oscar continues the slow rehabbing process. He doesn't like me any more than he ever has but I think he has started to realize that when I check on him a couple of times a day, there is always food associated with my visits. I try not to make eye contact with him. Most "cats" don't like that, he is a lucky kitty.... I feel honored to be his caretaker and one of the dozens of people who have cooperated to rescue him.

Since last blog (sorry), we have taken in baby robins, fawns, skunks, kestrels, hawks, cottontail rabbits, raccoons, a kingfisher, pigeons, and a squirrel. Ray Baitsholts sheared the alpacas that I picked up. As soon as they get gelded, they will be ready for adoption. I am having a lot of fun with the baby robins, they are a relatively easy bird to rehab. I normally do not rehab baby birds while I am teaching at school. It is too hard to teach and feed them every 15-25 minutes. :) I do like to do a few during the summer when I am home.

I have had a couple of fawns come in this past week. One was horribly torn apart by some dogs. I notified some great DEC Officers about that situation. I've already given you the lecture about domestic cats in a prior blog. Supervise your dog(s); when left to amuse themselves unsupervised, dogs often develop a pack mentality. They are capable of some horrible things to wildlife. Wildlife gets killed, your dog can be shot and you can get some expensive tickets. No lecture, just use common sense. Do the right thing.

I had some more skunks come in. I love skunks, they have such a Napoleonic attitude. They act fearless and it is always fun watching them grow up into little stink pots. I love it on release day. They usually just wander off and rarely look back or acknowledge anything that you have done for them at all. That is the best part of rehabbing wildlife: if done well, they can't wait to get away from you and do what they do to survive day to day in the wild. If you know what you are doing, you don't usually get sprayed.... :)

I've had a few Kestrels come in. People often call them Sparrow Hawks but they are actually one of the smallest members of the Falcon family of raptors. It is VERY Important that you do not try to feed animals while in your custody unless properly trained. I had a Kestrel come in that I lost and I believe that feeding it a bunch of gypsy moth caterpillars didn't help it any. I got fluids/a lactated ringer into it but it was too far gone by the time it got to me.

The Kestrels are loving one of the 8 newly completed aviaries in our Raptor Center. Justin and Chris have been coming nights after they are done working to try to help me get it finished for our upcoming Open House and dedication of the Raptor Center. I will hopefully have all of the details of our Open House tomorrow. It will be a great chance to tour our facility. We do NOT let the public see animals that we are rehabbing that will go back into the wild but we do have some great non-releasable educational animals here that will love to see you.

Another new resident of the Raptor Center is a Red-tailed Hawk. I got a call early in the morning a few days ago. The man informed me that he had a baby juvenile Bald Eagle which got my attention quick. Upon pick up, I happily let him know that it was a juvenile Red-tailed Hawk. Why it was sitting in the road I haven't been able to figure out. It will be going back into the wild as soon as it is ready.

Cottontail rabbits, hmmmmmm. Lots of them coming in. I am in a good mood: when your dog or cat brings one home for you -- don't wait until the whole litter is on your porch (or eaten) before realizing that you should keep your dog or cat inside for a while.

Coons, I cant wait until "Coon Season" is over. DON'T TOUCH THEM and I encourage everyone that is a licensed wildlife rehabilitator to go to the Conference in Lake George this November. Take the courses, get your shots, build a facility, get it all inspected and GET YOUR RVS license! There are not enough licensed people doing Rabies Vector Species and those of us that are doing raccoons, skunks and bats are usually full to capacity.

The Kingfisher bird that came in was a first for me, awesome bird but unfortunately had a wing that was so badly broken that it needed to be euthanized. I took in some pigeons. One of them is hysterical. If you are outside here, it will dive bomb you and land on your head to ride around.

My kids have never spent so much time outdoors. People that come to our facility must think that we are all nuts, as my kids are walking around the yard with a pigeon on their head.

Speaking of crazy stories ... one more then I have to catch up with 147 emails ... I got a call from the Pastor of a local church. He had heard that if an animal needed to be caught to call me (wonder how I got that reputation). He said that they had a feral cat, it was living under the church and if I could humanely deal with it, I would get a donation. Now you are talking. I packed up the kids and live traps and off we went this am. Got to the church, saw the hole in the foundation and all sorts of great visions came to my head about all the cool animals that could be living under there..... I was making up a irresistible kitty platter to put in one of the several live traps when I noticed that there was a very cute blue eyed Siamese long haired cat sitting by the shrub several feet away watching the whole production. We had a short mental conversation about what was happening. I walked several feet away, the cat walked over and walked right into the live trap. I do not need another cat but she has taken up residence in my basement until she realizes that life with us isn't so bad -- that is unless I find a great home that wants her (hint, hint)....

Till tomorrow, act young, have fun.

Wes

Oscar Makes the Newspapers

2009-07-02T16:06:00.000-07:00

Injured bobcat 'Oscar' treated at Cornell | theithacajournal.com | The Ithaca Journal

Oscar the Bobcat, who was so wonderfully helped by Cornell University, has been given a story in the Ithaca Journal. Please visit the article through the above link and enjoy!

Oscar thanks everyone for their good wishes and support!

Something Stinky

2009-06-24T21:20:00.000-07:00

Spent most of the day today wrapping up things at school. Tomorrow (last day) should be relatively painless. I brought 2 robins that came in this morning to school with me. While I was cleaning up I fed them every 15-30 minutes. I dont normally rehab many baby birds. Most of the baby birds that come in go to one of our other rehabbers since it is difficult to teach when you have to feed baby birds every few minutes. When I got home from school, it was raining and I took a 30 min. nap until it was time to get going again. I am the king of naps. Oscar the bobcat needed his meds. Crushed the pills and put the painkiller, etc. in his dinner and went to see what he was doing. I could hear him growling when I unlocked the Raptor Center Aviary I have his squeeze cage set up in. He grabbed the rat (I get them frozen from a facility that donates rodents, I just unthaw them) and gobbled it up. He lost 2 pounds so I want to get him back up to his entrance weight the day of the accident that broke him up. I got an email from Cornell today to see how he is doing. As I said last night, I am grateful that not only did they save him but they didnt charge New York Wildlife Center. Most vets donate their services to help wildlife because they know that we dont get paid to do what we do but they are in no way obligated to do so. Feel free to send a donation to Cornell as I outlined last night. Any donations that we get dedicated to Oscar will be put towards his transportation costs and finishing his enclosure.
I showed my daughter Hannah how I did the Robins and baby Cottontail rabbits. She loves watching and helping however she can. She turns 13 soon and cant wait until she is 16 so she can take the test to get her license. I had another Robin come in. This one was an older one, had a broken wing and a messed up foot. Not good. I made it happy with lots of food and it will most likely need to be euthanized. Then I got a call on a fawn that wasnt acting right. Im glad that I didnt tell them to leave it alone. They brought it to me, it has been attacked but those wounds are old. It is covered with maggots, cant stand, has trouble nursing.....poor thing, going to be a long night. Phone rang, got another call on a family of skunks that was hanging out with their dead mom along a road. Got those 4 here via a buddy of mine. He got back home and found another one....never a dull moment. I love this time of year, every day is different. we have been getting 5-10 animal calls a day. Most people are great about giving a donation when they bring us something that we are going to have to care for for the next couple of months. A new Rehabber Tracy that has been a great help while apprenticing here has started looking around for some funding through Grants, etc. I just want to break even....I dont get another paycheck until September. It has been really busy here for the last two months. What you can you do to help? Send a donation, tell a friend to check out our website and read our blogs..... look for businesses that give donations to non-profit animal rescue facilities. Just point me in the right direction, I can no longer do this alone and Im not afraid to ask for a donation. Till tomorrow, I have to go check on a deer in my shower. Wes

Thanks Cornell, you saved Oscar!

2009-06-23T21:07:00.000-07:00

We moved Oscar from Cornell University back to New York Wildlife Rescue Center tonight. I left school and got to Cornell in record time. All of the vets at The Wildlife Health Center at Cornell did a great job on him. They showed me his xrays, a pretty impressive operation, lots of hardware, when i counted 7 screws I couldnt help but think how lucky the number 7 is. The Cornell University Wildlife Health Center is a non-profit hospital for wild animals. When I expressed my interest in doing what it would take to save him, I knew that the cost of a $3000- to $5000- surgery was out of our budget for an animal that is hopefully still going to be released back into the wild. Cornell Wildlife Health Center is funded by donations. If you would like to make a tax deductible donation, you may do so by mailing a check made out to "Cornell Wildlife health Center" c/o the Office of Hospital Operations, Cornell University Hospital for Animals, College of Veterinary Medicine, Ithaca, NY 14853 I think that they were happy to see the Bobcat leave, it was time and I am glad to have him back here at our facility. ....however long that stay may be. He is on limited movement for the next 2 weeks when he can get a foot high platform. After 4 weeks he can have a 2 foot platform. In 6 weeks, he goes back for a check up to see how things are healing. Then he can go into one of our large enclosures and we can play the watch and wait game to see how he gets around. He has a long road of healing ahead of him this summer. I will keep you updated on his progress. I was speechless (rare for me) when I left the clinic, I will be in the debt of Cornell and the folks at the Wildlife Health Center that saved this bobcat. It is not always easy (or cheap) to do what is right, I am glad that Cornell helped us help this cat. He is a young cat that is definately worth saving. They gave him some meds to take the edge off, it was a pleasant ride home without the growls from his crate on the back seat of my truck.
When we got home, it was busy at our facility even without me. My wife had taken in another skunk which is the same age as the one we have been working on. After a stinky little introduction, the skunks got moved out of the nursery and were left to get acquainted. My wife and kids had rescued 4 kittens that had been left along the road. I am not thrilled about having 4 more cats, anyone that hasnt made a donation lately to NY Wildlife Rescue Center must come and get one....:) They cant stay here, we are at our (domestic) cat limit. Please ask around, they are cute and very much in need of a home.
I tried to rescue a snapping turtle in the road on the way to Cornell but I was too late. Ive been getting a lot of calls lately, a lot are not in need of rescue and we have been able to keep some of them in the wild where they belong. We have had several other animals come in but those stories will have to wait till another day, I am really tired and all of the naps from the last 2 months of being up all night with orphans are starting to catch up with me. Till tomorrow. Only a couple of more days of school and then it is summer...:) WES

Happy Fathers Day

2009-06-21T20:05:00.000-07:00

I'm sitting here, listening to my new ipod that I got today from my kids. If I start writing the lyrics to Johnny Cash or one of the other great 438 songs on this thing, dont take it personal. I love this thing, tonight when I was giving bottles to 10 screaming Coons, I didn't hear them at all. I was singing along and it made it really pleasant, God I cant wait until these 10 are weaned. I am getting really burned out on coons, I hope that I don't get anymore.

I am not even going to try to catch you all up on the animals that have come in since Thurs when I last blogged. There are too many and each has a cool story. I am going to try to focus on Oscar and facilities. Oscar is doing great. He got the surgery that he needed. Cornell University and the folks that work there are first class and I am in debt to them. Oscar came through the surgery like a champ. It is all too complicated to get into but he got the best medical care that a Bobcat can get after being whacked by a car. He got the expensive surgery he needed and Cornell has agreed to work with me. It was not free, there is still a bill, please send checks. Write in the memo "Oscar" and I will dedicate all of that money to him and Cornell. He has a long way to go, long time to heal and most likely a life in captivity but he is alive and he wont have to worry about anything for the rest of his life. I am still taking everything with him one day at a time. He is in good hands and is still being worked on at the Cornell Wildlife Health Facility.

The other great thing about this ipod is that I cant hear the phone ring.:) Keep calling, the kids will bring me the phone if it is important. We've been busy but I notice that the orphaned and injured wildlife that is coming in is looking a lot older. The one eyed coon has almost completely healed her eye up, I am hoping to put her in with some other coons by the end of the week. I really appreciate the nice donation that the woman that brought her to me sent to cover that surgery. This is my last week of school and then things should be a little less hectic for me as I try to keep everything fed around my school schedule.

Sat. am, Tim and Kristen came up to volunteer at the farm. They had brought me a skunk a few weeks ago and came up to volunteer at our facility for the day. I thought that it was only appropriate to build a skunk pen complete with a hollow log since a baby red fox is in the pen that I made for skunks. We got it built and I ran down to the Negro Cemetery rededication at 2 pm Sat.. Middleburgh has a segregated negro burial ground used up until the early 1900's. When I bought this facility above the Middleburgh Cemetery 10 years ago, I found the Negro Cemetery off in the bushes. For the last 10 years I've been working on getting it cleaned up with my Schoharie County History Class at our High School. The Middleburgh Historical Society helped get a new stone, on it they had engraved "We cannot change the mistakes of the past but we can make right by it today" a saying that I tell my students all the time, esp. when I have them working in the cemetery.

Tim, Kristen and I came back up to the facility after the ceremony to put some skunks in that great new cage. After one sprayed me, they ate their food, one got out. We had to catch that one, triple enforce the sides....I just don't get why nothing is ever easy. I still like skunks a lot right now even after one used me for target practice, I am really tired of baby coons. I like the fawns a lot now also. They eat their bottles out of their bottle racks and wont even come out of hiding if they see me...that is good considering how easy they imprint. It was a long day Sat..... I fell to sleep on the couch in the living room watching a movie with the kids and was pissed when I woke up at 2 am and had to come out and do coon bottles.

The phone started ringing at 630 this morning. I scowled at the caller, "NY Wildlife Rescue Center, it is 630, I'm tired, what do you have".....Friend of mine in North Carolina, wanted to know if I wanted some cigarrettes, they are cheaper down there......gotta quit those things, who will feed all of these darn coons if I die of lung cancer. Every wildlife rehabber should be required get their RVS license because there is not many people doing coons, skunks and bats...
I really want to get this cage, It is seven hundred dollars but it has 3 different compartments...it would be great for sorting coons (of different ages) while they wean until they get big enough to go in the big community cage. I need it. It isn't a want, it is a necessity.

By 730, I got a call from one of our new volunteers. Melinda was wondering what I was doing (not sleeping) and she said that she had several friends that were handy at building things and wondered if they could come over (I like people that can build things), wish I had a connection with a lumber yard....They all arrived just as I was finishing am rounds with bottles. I told them that I had to pick up two loads of hay and a donated bunny cage. I told them to go look at the Raptor Center, look at exactly how we had built the finished sections and if they wanted to tackle it while I did what I had to do they were more than welcome to work on it. After I got done with a cup of coffee with the wife so I could explain that what I do everyday is exactly what I wanted to do today on my day....off I went. With all of the help I had today, My Summit, NY gang actually almost finished the remaining framing and construction on what was left on the indoor half of the Raptor Center.

We got the hay in. I got everything fed, done and actually took the wife and kids for an ice cream. I like days like today. Besides for a Kestrel that came in, it was a slow day. If you have never been here, you need to visit. I hope to have an open house soon. Ive had a dozen people tell me in the last week that they didn't realize the magnitude that we were helping animals. This is one of the largest not for profit animal rescue facilities in the northeast and we do NOT get any STATE or FEDERAL funding. I repeat, we survive entirely by your generosity. Any body good at grant writing out there? I need someone to take the initiative to start sending our name to Extreme Home Makeover, Animal Planet (would make a great series) or anyplace that can get us the exposure we need to get some donations.

The Raptor Center is half done, the best part is the outdoor flight, which needs to be built yet. Does anyone have a Lumber Co. connection, someone call Curtis Lumber, Stock Builder, Home Depot????I think that I will give a lumber list, everyone that comes to the Open House can bring a board or send a check and we will get it for you. Geeez, I will even build it if I keep getting some help like today. I like volunteers, raccoons too, esp when they are sleeping....maybe I cant hear them, I love this ipod.

...thanks kids,
Dad

Cornell University

2009-06-18T20:47:00.000-07:00

Oscar the Bobcat has made it to Cornell, it is 100 pm and I still have bottles to do so I am going to try to make this a quick blog (yeah right). Susie and Kristy came back to the Cornell Wildlife health Center to open the place up for the bobcat delievery after hours. I wish that I could be everywhere at once but I cant. Since I last blogged I have been unbelievably busy. Lots of new orphans have come in this week. From baby bats the size of my thumb nail, cottontails, baby birds and a kestral....lots of happy and sad endings, Ill catch all of my readers up to speed tomorrow night. Tonight is Oscar the bobcats lucky night. My readers all know that I am against naming wildlife but this bobcat needs one and it fits. The vet that originally was planning on doing his surgery couldn't. I was really left without many options besides euthanizing this young bobcat. Euthanizing him may still be an option but I wont consider that option unless it is the last choice.
This cat has used 8 of its 9 lives. Our association with Kim Punchar and all of our wildlife rehabber friends downstate are to get my first thanks. They got the cat off of the road, in a crate, got him to their vet and then transported him to New York Wildlife Rescue Center. The bobcat would already be dead if they hadnt gotten him off of the side of the road. I want to thank Trish from Northcountry Wildlife Rescue for meeting my wife halfway between us when I was too busy to get off the mountain to get the xrays to their vet. When that didnt work out, she got the xrays photographed and sent to Cornell. Kelly Martin, President of NY Wildlife Rehab Council and a BOD founder of NY Wildlife Rescue Center has been instrumental in helping me after the bobcat came to our facilty. She is a great friend and shows up daily, usually when I am on Raccoon overload and about ready to lose my mind. She props me up, puts the bottles back in my hands and gets me going forward again. My wife Darcy, besides for being a wildlife rehabber is a saint for picking up the slack for me with the kids, household chores and for putting up with being broke all the time because the animals always come first...... I never thank the people that are part of daily life at New York Wildlife Rescue Center enough, I couldnt keep this place going without them.
It is regents week at school, I miss being in the classroom but am looking forward to summer vacation. I hate the fact that my students have to pass one 3 hour exam on the entire history of the world in order to graduate HS. In between proctoring exams, grading exams, etc....I try to check the computer. I was out yesterday to teach the MCS Elem. school kids from Mrs. Scotts Pre-K classes and Ms. London's 2nd grade students all about wildlife all day....I got the email from Susie that Cornell would take the bobcat (after hours) for surgery tomorrow am. I got out of school (I love the 6 history teachers at MCS) and ran home to meet the USDA vet for our inspection for one of our licenses with them. Oscar was loaded in the truck and waiting for the roadtrip. It is a 6-8 hour round trip to Cornell from where we are, I was falling to sleep driving so I called a friend that owns Unadilla Game Farm (that rescues a lot of exotic animals) and he met me off the exit to ride with me so I didnt fall to sleep. I dont have time to visit with friends, it was nice talking to someone that doesnt want a bottle or that poops on me.
We got to the Cornell Wildlife Health Center. I know Cornell University well. I was going to Cornell's pre-vet program after I studied in South America as an exchange student upon graduation from HS. I decided to go into teaching instead but Cornell has always been a University that I cant say enough good things about. I wouldnt have time to be a vet being Director of New York Wildlife Rescue Center.......:) The bobcat is where he needs to be, he is in the best hands in the USA. After surgery tomorrow, he isnt out in the woods yet. It will be a long healing process with a lot of roadtrips back and forth to Cornell for follow up visits. None of this is going to be easy or cheap. Surgery estimates could be as high as $5000 which I am hoping that we can get some help with through Cornell s networks, our loyal donors and through publicity/press releases that I will start putting together for Northcountry's newsletter, The Release/NY Wildlife Rehab Council's newsletter and newspapers. I do not have the resources to keep paying for construction on the Raptor Center and these additional expenses. WE ARE REALLY SPREAD FINANCIALY THIN. The bobcat is getting the care it needs, we will figure out all of the bills as we go along. I want to keep this positive and I dont want to waste amy of the 3-4 hours I sleep a night thinking about it tonight.
I will blog tomorrow afternoon as soon as I get word how the surgery went. On the way home I stopped quick at Johns Zoo to get a large mammal container made out of aluminum that goes on the back of my truck that he didnt need. He also has a 3 unit steel cage that would be ideal for rehabbing all of these coons that I would really like to get to our facility if anyone out there knows of anyone with a flatbed trailer that wants to help us out. It is about 20 foot long, I will get the exact dimensions. I REALLY NEED SOME HELP in a variety of ways.....email me privately if you think that you can help us. Wes

Busy Weekend

2009-06-15T10:37:00.000-07:00

Sorry I haven't blogged all weekend, been really busy. Let me catch you up to speed. Friday I had a baby raccoon crash, got him jump started and still alive. RVS is tough, if it dies you really have to look at the intake forms carefully. If there is "exposure" it needs to be tested for Rabies. People lie, they touch the animals and it is foolish to lie about it. People need to be honest with how long they have had their "wild" pets illegally. I just picked it up yesterday is often actually a week and that is vital information when trying to save them after a week of care that often is very detrimental. Two RAPTORs moved in to the first two aviaries of the raptor center on Friday night. The first is a Red Tailed Hawk, which is hopefully releasable with some flight time. The other is a Great Horned Owl that will most likely be unreleasable.

Saturday was a busy day trying to get caught up with the "Must Do" list and I tried to get some of the "Need To Do" list done as well. Had a fawn come in that was in really bad shape, worked on her for a long time but she died. Then I got a call on a Bobcat that had been hit by a car downstate. A good friend that is a Licensed Wildlife Rehabber picked up the cat, got it to the vet for xxrays. The young male cat has a broken upper femur, in the ball that goes into the Pelvic bone. Not a good prognosis but can be repaired by a good vet with surgery. I would love to see this cat go back into the wild but that may not be a possibility either but we need to focus on today, getting it fixed and healed....Then we can cross the other bridges when we get to them.

I have a great set up for him to heal. Our friends at NorthCountry are helping us get into the same vet that put the plate in the fawn. The bobcat will hopefully be going up today for an exam and getting surgery today or tomorrow. Check out the photos, pretty angry at the world right now but we will hopefully be able to get him patched up. I love challenging cases like this one, I love tackling the tough critters that a lot of other rehabbers won't, can't or are not licensed to take. I love to do it "First Class--not half-#@^*" and can't wait to see Raptors getting flight time for release in our new facility. Check out the photos of the Bobcat, he is worth saving and I will do what needs to be done to do so.

It was a relatively slow weekend with wildlife intakes. I had calls on a bunch of critters, most of which were dealt with over the phone. I had a Robin that came in Sunday that died almost before the guy left the driveway. Sunday I was on the road, Helped our BOD Linda and her husband on an Alpaca Rescue. These alpacas will be available for adoption to perfect homes once gelded. Their owner was very nice, she lost her husband was taking care of them and knew that it was time for them to go. She did the responsible thing by having Northeast Llama Rescue come in to pick up the animals. Most will be staying permanently with Linda and her Husband Dan. Some of the males will be up for adoption, I will probably keep the gelding that has no ears due to a dog attack to use as a PR animal at our llama events. I will try to blog tonight on anything new that happens.

Till then,
Wes

Spring is in the air

2009-06-12T06:28:00.000-07:00

Spring is in the air, along with the smells and noises of little animals demanding my attention. Busy night, last night. Had a Cedar Wax Wing come in with a wing injury. Had a Downy Woodpecker fledgling come in that was being attacked by squirrels on the ground under a big tree. Had 8 raccoons come in from two different people.....I have 20 now, I am really hoping that the Raccoon surge slows down now.... Black Eye Susie tore out her eye stitches last night, now I can wrestle around with her to keep the socket lubed with antibotic ointment. Sometimes I just wish that they could cooperate just a little bit. No rest for the wicked, while I take my nap every night they are plotting their destruction of our facility...I love coons but I do hope that no more come in. I had a call on 3 other coons last night also but they went to another RVS facility.
I also dealt with a lot of calls yesterday. Got a chipmunk away from a cat and back into the wild. Got a call about a 3 foot wide snapping turtle at Warners Lake on shore dragging fishing lure behind it with hook through the mouth. Got all of the fishing gear off and got her back in the lake. Turtles are on the move, watch for them in the road. I got another snapper picked up out of the road yesterday by a person that didnt want it to get hit. That snapper got released into Looking Glass Pond. A friend of mine sent a photo he took yesterday of a snapper laying eggs in his yard. I will put the photos on the blog, do not touch these turtles if you are trying to help them. They will bite your fingers right off and usually dont let go easily once they get ahold of you. I carry a rubbermaid bin with 2-3 inches of water in it this time of year on the back of my truck. I pick up turtles and relocate them near water without roads, if you toss a turtle out of the road this time of year, it will usually crawl right back onto the road to get where it was going after you leave. I dont like to relocate them but I do so they dont get hit. I try to keep them where they are, just on the other side of the water that they leaving to lay eggs, where there are no roads.

Photos by Paul Taylor Imaging. Thank you, Paul!

Things are busy. Hope to finish the first half of the Raptor Center this weekend. Have to rescue some alpacas on sunday....... I will try to blog about the rest of my day later. It is "Classday" at school and I need to get ready to beat my students in the hotdog eating contest. I plan on winning at the expensive of my gastro intestinal system. Wes

Black Eye Susie

2009-06-11T08:56:00.000-07:00

Sorry I didnt blog last night. No new animals came in yesterday (good day) but I did get a call on 6 baby raccoons coming in tonight from another rehabber that does not have her RVS license and cant keep them.

I went at 6pm last night to pick up the raccoon from the vets. She was still unconsciencous but starting to "talk" in her sleep. A sign that she was coming around. The girls at the vet clinic all love "Susie". I dont name wildlife but sometimes other people do. Ill still call her coon, grump, sweatheart, and pain in the butt....but Black Eye Sue fits. I didnt even look at her until she got back to our facility and we got into the nursery. She was sleeping next to a hot water bottle and was barely moving. I took her out, looked the eye over and then set her back up in her crate in a comfy position. I didnt like looking at her before the surgery, she was scary looking with the protruding dried up eyeball sticking out.

Went on with the rest of chores, some friends stopped to help with the Raptor Center Construction..... I feel guilty that I have not been able to help much on it but the animals have to be fed and cared for after school before anything else. I have chores down to a finely tuned schedule and system. I really just wanted to get the "must do now" list done so I could get to the "need to do" list. By 10pm, I was done.....into the nursery for some quality time with the skunk and Susie Coon. Susie coon was still out of it, I heard her moving around at about 2pm and came out to see if she wanted some water. At 530 am this morning she was with it enough that she ate a nice sized "mush" mixture breakfast of fruits, veggies, formula and cat food/with gravy. She ate it all.

The skunk continues to make me smile. Every time I go to give her food she flags me (points her tail straight up and aims her butt towards me).....she is so naughty. I am going to move her out to the transition area tonight. She is weaned and doesnt need to be in the nursery to imprint on me. I like to keep them wild, once weaned the wildlife gets very little human contact besides feeding and/or cleaning.

I have a gut feeling that tonight afterschool will be busy. Thanks Gayle for the blog addition. The vet bills are one of my biggest expenses. I also have to raise the money for the 8 alpacas that I am going to rescue this sunday. They will need to be gelded. The indoor half of the Raptor Center is almost finished, I have some Raptors coming tomorrow night. If we are going to break ground for the outdoor rehab flight.... we will need some donations to get started on that as well. I hate asking for money but we have to raise money or we will be forced to start saying no.... we have too many animals for me to be able to continue to pay all of the bills alone.

Your (tax deductible) donation of any amount will be put to great use and is needed. Wes

Got Sheep?

2009-06-10T13:53:00.001-07:00

One of our adoptable Jacobs Sheep. We still have quite a few sheep and llamas for adoption ... do you have the room and love to care for one of these lovely animals? Email us through the email link at the bottom of our main website, http://www.redmaplefarm.net , if you are interested.

Original photo by our good friend, Paul Taylor,
of Paul Taylor Imaging (thank you, Paul!)

Would you like to help, but don't have the room to adopt? You can still send a donation through the same website! Our finances are dwindling and there is still so very much to do. The rescues, both wild and domestic, continue to come in, taking up our time, our money, and our love. The love we have in infinite supply, the time is stressful but doable, but we could sure use your financial support. Visit our Sponsorship Levels Page on the website for more information about our various levels of support.

SPECIAL DONATION OPPORTUNITY: we just had a little raccoon baby come in who needed emergency eye surgery. Would you like to help Pay Her Vet Bill? Visit RedMapleFarm.net and send a donation now!

Northeast Llama Rescue and Barnyard Sanctuary, Inc / New York Wildlife Rescue Center is an IRS 501(c)(3) organization and all donations are tax deductable to the extent allowed by law.

The Good, Bad, Ugly

2009-06-09T21:40:00.000-07:00

Another day, another blog.....does anyone actually read these things? I could use some sleep, if you read them...let me know. Send a tax deductible donation, doing what Im doing is bankrupting me. Came home after school and got in a redwing blackbird. Messed up wing, great energy level and attitude.....I am hoping that he does better than the Chickadee that was brought to me in my classroom after school. The kid was proud of herself, she got it away from her cat. Upon quick examination, I realized it was dead. I went to put it back in the container and protend that it was still alive. (So I didnt upset the kid) The kid wasnt to be fooled, she said that darn thing was just alive. I explained that I hate it when they dont even give you a chance to help them. She took it well. I was hoping that I could do something after school to save something alive.

Got home for another Raccoon call, doesn't anyone get licensed for RVS species anymore...:) The woman had touched the coon while walking her dog. The Health Department had cleared her to bring it to me. DONT TOUCH THEM, use your shirt or take off your socks as gloves before just picking up a baby animal with your bare hands. When I looked at her and I saw the protruding eye, I knew that this was more than I could handle.....off to the vet again. The vet met me in the parking lot (as usual), wild animals dont go in the waiting room (my idea) and I made the same lame joke from yesterday (with the possum) that there was something wrong with my cat and I pulled the very upset coon out of the crate. Once out, she promptly wimpered and covered up her face (what baby coons do when they are scared and dont want to see what is happening). The eye is bad, options: euthanize, leave it and hope it dries up or remove. With flies, my concern was maggots and a slow painful death. I promised to wax and wash the vets truck.....we have a surgery appointment for tomorrow at noon during my lunch break from school. Worst case scenario, coon dies.....best case scenario, coon lives with one eye....one bridge to cross at a time.

Got back to the facility cheerful and felt bad that there were 5 people working on the Raptor Center construction and I wasnt. I had to do rounds, feed, chores. Phone rang right about the time that I was only 2 hours behind schedule and I had another rehabber that can not take RVS species bring me another coon. This little guy was in great shape compared to the little guy with the bad eye. Got moved in with a litter.....no exposure to his rescuers, this one was easy. Then I got the call that I was waiting for.....SKUNK. Love 'em, they are such little Napoleans. Unlike coons that are screaming emotions and demanding (which I love), skunks are little bad asses (literally) and act most of the time like they are doing you a favor by eating the food that you give them.

The skunk came in, she was everything that I expected. Got her set up and settled in the nursery. The woman and her boyfriend that brought her were cool. She actually participated in a CWD study on deer, very intelligent and right up my alley. She did however touch the skunk but it was refreshing (after my interogation) to find out that she has had her rabies shots...one less thing to worry about. After they left, I checked on the Red Wing Blackbird that was settling in. Got through the coon bottles and got out my skunk equipment. This little skunk liked the formula but as she was suckling, I noticed she had more teeth and was older than I thought. I got rid of the nipples and poured some formula in a dish....not really interested. Opened up a big can of catfood, mixed in my mixture and put the can in front of her on my lap. She sniffed it and wallowed right in and ate for the next 10 minutes...awesome. Hope some more skunks come in soon so I can raise her with some friends, Im sure they will come. While she was eating, I noticed a tick inside her ear which I coaxed out....no, doesnt get much better than baby skunks. When you release them, they just walk off in the woods. They never look back, never say thanks, just walk off like they have someplace more important to be than with me. Morning is coming fast, gotta get a nap. Wes

Rainy Days and Sundays....

2009-06-09T10:23:00.001-07:00

Rainy days and sundays dont get me down, I hate mondays. I got home from school yesterday to a ringing phone. An NYS Trooper was on the phone. Gave me his location on I88 and asked if I could come over for a search and recovery of a fawn who was crossing the highway with its mother when the doe was struck and killed. His obligation was to highway safety, mine was to finding the doomed fawn. I got there quick, I went to where he had last seen the fawn. A couple of Troopers joined me in the search, along with the DOT guys that were in the truck to pick up the dead doe in the guardrails. We looked for awhile with no luck, the fawns have such a strong instinct to hide and stay put. A schoolbus driver pulled over (on a road that runs parrell to the highway) and asked if we were looking for a fawn. I said yes, she said where, I got there and caught a very panic stricken fawn that was overheated and starting to stress out. This orphan got another chance.

I got back to our facility to call a guy back about a woodpecker that he found with a broken wing, his wife said that they let it go.... the whole story doesnt make sense. Ive had several calls this year and by the time I follow up they say that it is dead, they gave it to someone else (never know the rehabbers name) or that they let it go. I usually know when they are lying. People are the worst with fawns and baby raccoons, some baby animals are cute and people want to keep them as pets. The public do not get the risks because they havn't been trained in the care of these orphans nor do they know the health hazards of having exposure to them with zoonotic diseases (diseases that can pass from animals to humans easily). Wild animals do not make good pets. Wild animals make horrible pets and belong in the wild.

Once home and settled in, I started doing rounds at our facility and realized that the Oppossum that came in last night wasnt eating, not good.....off to the vet. The vet took a look and told me what I already realized and the Possum was euthanized. Broken jaws can be set but this possum was very old. Most Possums only live about 2 years in the wild....this one was well over that. I made the decision to euthanize (with the vet) because it is the most humane thing to do in some cases. Could I have kept the possum alive, most likely but for how long? She already has cataracts, would never be releasable, was at the end of her life cycle already....it was the easiest- toughest decision that rehabbers have to make. I do what I would want someone to do if I was in that spot, try if there is hope, give a dignified death if it is torture to keep alive.

Got home from the vet, figured that since I was already in a lousy mood that I should move the three coons out to the transition shed with the others.... The 3 Musketeers have gotten into my heart. They are the same size as some of the other coons that are out in the transition shed already. These baby coons are well weaned on their mushy meals so I figured if it was time to move them out of the nursery to completely ruin the day. Into the nursery I went, grabbed their varikennel and out the door I went. In the transition shed they have a great family enclosure, hollow sleeping den, enrichment toys, food, swimming bowl....what more could some little coons want? Well..... all they wanted was me. They reached through the caging with their paws trying to reach me, cried at deicebels that I never heard out of their noisy little mouths.... you would have thought that I had thrown them into the depths of hell. It was tough to block it all out. I just ran home at lunch to check on them, nothing has changed except some of the screaming....but it will, it will have to if they are going to be sucessfully be put back into the wild with the others. While home for lunch I checked the messages, I have a red winged blackbird and another baby racoon coming in after school. Both hit by cars, I cant believe the numbers of injured and killed wildlife that I am seeing from along roads this spring....slow down. Till tomorrow, Wes

Grand Central Cont.

2009-06-07T21:49:00.000-07:00

Falling asleep at the wheel. Also had a cottontail baby, a baby woodchuck that was dodging cars but will be alright. Also had a very old Opposum come in. Took a class on Possums, 3 yrs old for an Oppossum is ancient. This one is pushing it, poor old gal has lost most of her sight, is skin and bones and will get some TLC. If her injuries from being hit by a car don't do her in, she will get lots of TLC.... .Im tired, it is my usual one am, Thanks to everyone that visited this weekend, I enjoy it when you visit the animals you have brought, your donations and the kind words.....everyone seems to be amazed at what I am doing here....sometimes the kind words are all that keeps me going to the next day.:) My only regret for this weekend is that one board didnt get put on the Raptor Center, Wes

Grand Central

2009-06-07T21:29:00.001-07:00

Another busy weekeknd. Already blogged about friday, Saturday was busy with visitors. Had lots of folks stopping to check in on animals they had previously brought to NY Wildlife Rescue Center got a couple of donations to keep us in formula. Had 3 Great Students from Cobleskill HS come over to help volunteer, many hands makie light work. I got 11 of the sheep adopted out into their new home, a great one I might add. Still have a few really nice Jacobs and Shetland sheep looking for homes. Sheep numbers are a lot more managable now. Found homes (that look long term) for both Great Pyrennes that were returned. That was the highlight of my weekend, I so want those dogs to get the good life on a farm that they deserve. I made it clear that a chain on the side of the barn was not what I had in mind. I had 2 coons come in on saturday, 1 fell two stories out of a roof. The other was in the road, both are younger coons than the ones that came in last weekend.

This morning I was exhausted, I planned on sleeping in until 8 am. Day started at 7am with a phone call from a concerned woman about English Sparrows messing with the Tree Swallows in her Bluebird Box. We decided that it was best to let them sort it out for themselves or put up more nesting boxes. Had another very tiny finch found by a shrub. We decided that that little guy would be better off back in his shrub and sent him back home. Another fledgling Morning Dove came in, that one is getting fixed up to go back out in the wild soon. Had some great folks stop by that want to adopt 2 llamas. I am loving seeing these llamas get matched up with perfect homes slowly. I am going to deliever some of the llamas next weekend to their new homes, I also have to pick up the 8 alpaca males next weekend. Speaking of domestic animals, I had a guinea hen and a pair of great turkeys come in today also.

Domestics, Exotics and.......Wildlife

2009-06-05T20:29:00.000-07:00

I spend a lot of time blogging about the animals that we rescue.....well what else do I have to blog about? Remember the 5 Great Pyrennes dogs that I rescued on the trip with the 3 cows and 40 sheep? 2 of them came back this week. The 3 year old female came back because the sheep beat her up. The 6 month old pup came back because the folks that adopted her realized that they were too busy to have a dog right now. I am fine with both, I want the dogs and the people to be happy. The 6 month old went home with the folks that brought the 3 year old back and will hopefully cut it as a future livestock/farm dog. I think that she will fit. I have another lady considering the 3 year old female who already has another Great Pyrennes. I want this poor dog to have a long term home, no more juggling her around. She is a great dog, if we didnt have 6 dogs already....I'd be tempted. I guess this is why we dont have an open door policy for dogs, cats and horses. Id love to but the funding isnt there to do it and there are other places that just specialize in those species.
Exotics, what are they? I basically define exotics as anything that doesnt make a good pet. I had a pair of unwanted Australian Diamond Doves come in tonight. They are cool, I love the sound of captive bred birds in my house. Especially in the winter when it is so lifeless outside. A Canary, Zebra Finch or these doves...have great vocalizations that dont make you want to move out of the house like many people want to do with many of the noisy hookbills (which I love).
Wildlife....Had a Red Fox kit come in tonight, only survivor of an entire litter that sat by their dead mother in the road while people were running them over on a back road. Someone actually cared enough to stop and pick her up. She is scared, vocal (calling for her mom) but she will be fine and is very releasable.
Speaking of survivors, I had a great lady and her kids bring me a baby coon tonight that was found trying to suckle off of her decomposing mother along the side of a road. I was thinking to myself that the coon was the same age and size as the one that was brought to me last night. I said, " This coon wasnt found by the swamp on the Knox-Gallupville road, near Tabor Road was it?" I record new entries in my DEC Log daily and it was fresh in my head. It was the exact same dead sow coon,this new arrival is the sister of the coon brought last night by another person.....what are the odds? They have to be 2 of the luckiest coons alive. I reunited the coon shortly after they left with her sister and the 2 other coons of the same age. I always try to get a single coon in with one of the other litters that may be here. Orphaned wildlife is almost always better off being raised with others of their own species as most are in nature. An heir and a spare or two. After an arrival inspection, I had to get these siblings reunited and it was the most amazing family reunion Ive ever seen.
There are very few Rabies Vector Licensed Wildlife Rehabilitators around anymore that will take in raccoons. Most that do rehab what is known as Rabies Vector Species such as Coons, Skunks and Bats (3 of my favorite animals) are overwhelmed and often burn out due to the expense, the time involved and the regulations. Coons are neat, they are so emotional and very expressive. They cover their eyes when they are scared, they scream at amazing decibels whenever they think that it is time for a snack.....even if they are watching you make it. They want to cuddle, bite you when they are mad and are masters at stealing, wrecking and making a mess of everything......
The family reunion went well, the siblings actually grabbed one another and rolled around while making the happy coon noise. Then they realized that they were missing dinner. Coons eat every meal as if it were their last, they ate two meals before collapsing into a sleepy pile in their nesting box with their arms around one another...... I really am amazed at what I see on an almost daily basis. What are the odds of these two litter mates surviving near their dead mother for days and both getting picked up by kind people and finding their way to me. If I had any money I would go get a lotto ticket.
LISTEN TO ME, baby animals can be vicious, can carry diseases that can kill you and you should NOT expose yourself to them AT ALL..... I am a strong believer in destiny and I dont want yours to be unfortunate because you tried to do the right thing. If you are going to do your good deed for the day, do it with gloves, do NOT touch any wild animal, esp. ones with fur (mammals) that can carry rabies and/or roundworm . I cant stress this enough, I dont want to have to call the Health Department constantly to ask them if I can save the coon or if we have to kill it to be tested because you touched it. Enough said, sorry I had to ruin a perfect story with that audience warning.....It isnt a story, I am fortunate I got to witness it with my own eyes or I wouldnt believe it. Those coons are Lucky and Charm....I dont name Wildlife....Ive always been against doing it....Spending the last month bottle feeding coons, hundreds of hours, all worth while to witness that reunion.
Last but not least today, another fawn came in tonight. The guy that brought it to me is a good friend. He asked me if all 4 of the fawns I am currently working on are male bucks. Surprised I said yes and asked how he knew. He said that he had heard that all buck fawns have spots in a straight line. I look forward to the first doe fawn that comes in so that I can see if it is true. After midnight as usual....I have to get some zzzzzz, morning comes early around here. Spend a little bit of time to think about the coon reunion, it is one of the most amazing things that I have seen in a long time. It really isnt always about us, sometimes the most simple things in life are the most amazing. Wes

This, that and the other thing

2009-06-05T09:07:00.000-07:00

I dont name wildlife but I think that I just came up with some more racoon names..... so far we have B#@&^, Whine, Moan, Crazy, Clueless (and now) This, That and the "Other Thing". That is 8, I only have to come up with 3 more names for the 11 coons here now. 6 are in the transition shed, too small to be getting bottles in the nursery but weaned and not big enough to go the the Coon Enclosure. The coon that came last night was hanging out by her dead mother in the road. We have all accidentally hit animals, people that do it on purpose I just dont get. Wednesday night was going well, it was my daughter Emmas 7th birthday and no one had called for assistance with Wildlife. It was a good day. I got caught up with a lot of things around the farm, was actually mowing the lawn at 10 pm with the tractor headlights....I am the only guy I know that mows his lawn at midnight, just dont have enough time in the day.

Got off the tractor to go in at 10pm to have Bday Cake with Emma. Shortly after 10 pm, I had a fawn come in with a badly broken back leg from getting run over by a tractor and hay baler. I get these fawns every year, they have such strong instincts to stay hidden in the grass that they wont run and reveal themselves....not even to a noisy tractor. I doctored on this guy and got him set up in the nursery, good thing that I took a class on deer splinting at the last Wildlife Conference.... I knew that I would need to do it, decided that I would wait for help and gave the fawn a bottle, some Metacam and put a sheet over the small crate so that it was tightly confined and quiet.

Last night things were back to usual, emails and calls to school, lots of calls....had 3 calls on baby coons with dead mothers in the road. Had some high school guys from Cobleskill High School call to see if they could volunteer at our facility this weekend. My son had a concert at school, he plays drums.... Ive never seen so many people in such a hot gym in my life. Translation "it was a wonderful concert"....Left early to get home for a lady that brought me a toad from Grafton State Park. Just an average toad that was in the wrong place at the wrong time and got run over by a lawn mower losing a front foot and get wacked around pretty bad. I don't normally get many calls for reptiles or amphibians. Ive named him "Captain" and if he survives the infection he will get fit for an artificial limb/hook and be released..... Just kidding, he will be fine and can get around without his front foot just fine once healed. Also waiting in the driveway after the great concert was one of my students with her family, they had a blackbird that they found in the road. A quick inspection revealed no major injuries, by the time that they had left it had died (I guestimate from head trama/internal injuries and stress). Win some, try to forget the ones that didnt even give you a chance to try to help them. My goal was to be to bed at a normal hour (by midnight)....

I was well on my way and then I got a phone call from another Wildlife Rescue group (good wildlife rehabbers all network amongst themselves) to check in with what I was doing. We got talking and they agreed to transport, take and get the fawn with the broken rear leg to the vets, xrayed, set, etc... That is the best thing for him, even if splinted properly they often dont heal right so I drove the fawn to the meeting place by the highway and transferred him to one of their volunteer drivers to be transfered on to the rehabber and vet that was waiting for him.

"Baler" and "Baby Girl", in quiet quarters till "Baler" gets
permission to move about more. Photo by Trish, the wildlife
rehabber who is housing them.

Got home after 11, made another round of bottles and actually got to talk to my wife without the phone ringing or kids fighting or some baby animal demanding my attention. Wildlife Rehabbers love complaining about "orphan season" but we love every second of it. It is over almost before it begins and before we know it "our babies" will be ready for release back into the wild..... Wildlife Rehabilitation, the toughest job you will ever not get paid to do ...... while you spend thousands of dollars..... Ive spent $150 in coon replacer, $50- in fawn replacer, $178. in more lumber for the Raptor Center and over $50- in truck fuel running around JUST THIS WEEK.....Please send checks to keep us going, Ive already spent my kids college fund (think Im kidding)..... Also on the horizon, 8 alpacas that need to be rescued and gelded.....yes, I will be looking for money to help with that $2000- vet bill and good homes to adopt them....Back to work, Wes

NEW DAY

2009-06-02T19:55:00.000-07:00

Today started out really weird. A kid from school brought a litter of baby pinkie mice she had found in her house. They were in a neatly lined bowl. 2 of the 8 were dead, I covered them up and they set by my computer until I went home to do bottles on my lunch period. It is weird how kids will feel the need to bring you baby animals that most people wouldnt save. We try to save anything brought to us, even if it is a mouse and we have a freezer full of them that we feed to the raptors. The way I look at it, it isnt my job to play God. It is my job to give a second chance to animals in need, even if it is a breakfast bowl full of newborn mice.
I got an email midmorning from a really nice woman whose dog found something in her yard, turns out they were newborn cottontail rabbits. She ran them up during her lunch hour. Kelly and I were getting bottles around to everyone. I have it down to a science, actually to the minute to get everyone a snack and get back to school. If people could only see how I spend my lunch hour....The rabbits will be fine.
When I got home from school Darcy had a squirrel baby that someone had just dropped off with some really bad puncture wound that looked like a cat bite. It already had fly larva on it, amazing how fast the maggots start. I am all out of the Capstar, tomorrow when I take our puppy to the vet I will beg for some more. I flushed the wound, got him cleaned up and hydrated with a lactated ringer. Got him on a heating pad, wasnt meant to be. I hate days like today.
Had a really cool woman come to look at adopting some llamas, it really means a lot to me when people come here and appreciate what I am trying to do. One family can make a difference and we are proof, we rescue more animals than most animal shelters that get govt funding and our motto has always been do it first class not half assed. Got a phone call from a guy that had found an owl that I agreed to pick up part way. Got to our meeting point and got a really cool baby Screech Owl that is making quite a racket in the box in our nursery. Ill go feed him and try to go to sleep to his nervous vocalizations. Till tomorrow, Wes

Pros/Cons of Coons

2009-06-01T18:59:00.000-07:00

Been busy since I last blogged, we went from "gee, did every bird hatch today? "to "Gee I hope that no one else brings me a raccoon!" Songbird rehabbers are a dime a dozen, songbirds need to be fed about every 20 minutes, they are high maintenance but a good rehabber can do an assembly line on them on feed 10-20 birds pretty quick depending on species.
Saturday was domestic rescue adoption day. Our good friends from Lollipop Farm (Rochester Humane Society) were generous enough to drive all the way out here to our facility to take 15 goats and sheep off of our hands. We have helped out Lollipop a couple of times and I asked a friend who is the manager of the facility (impressive operation) if she could take some of the sheep and find homes for them. Now since they are sheared, wormed, neutered, pedicured, etc.....they are ready for homes. I had some folks from Hudson that came and adopted a llama. They have adopted animals from us before and I am very happy that one of the geldings that has been here the longest found a great home. They also have Shetland sheep and are coming to get ten of the ewes this weekend so the 40 sheep are slowly getting adopted out, probably just in time to keep them from making a dry lot out of the lower pasture. Sheep can be brutal on a pasture, llamas are great because they wont eat a pasture into the dirt. Sat night I had some good friends come to adopt two more llamas. They have both male crias and their mothers at their place now, they have the facilities to easily separate the male crias (babies) at 8 months of age and let them chill out together until they can be gelded around 18 months of age. I have quite a few more folks coming to look at llamas also. I love adopting llamas out to friends that have already adopted llamas from me. It makes llamas 101 much easier, esp. when I am trying to get the domestics into great new homes for the summer right in the middle or "orphan season".
You can almost set your calendar by when the phone starts ringing on orphaned baby animals. Ive already given my readers the lecture on what to pick up, how to do it safely and how to locate a licensed rehabber near you. Ive also told a dozen people in the past week to leave fawns, foxes and a couple of fledglings right where they were. None of them were orphaned or needed help. They had just started moving out of their birthplaces and havnt gotten with the program on how to hide, keep up with mom or that cats, dogs and humans can ruin their day.
The Girlscouts of Troop 2006 came again on saturday to volunteer. They cleaned the deer/ fawn nursery and helped me get caught up on a lot of jobs around the farm I havnt crossed off the list of things to do. I told them that I had a gut feeling that I would get our first fawn in on saturday. About an hour after they left, another wildlife rehabber brought me a fawn. A lot of other rehabbers bring me their fawns. The fawns imprint very easy, they are better raised as a group. I don't think that Ive ever heard of a fawn raised illegally story end happily. They always get shot, hit or get aggressive by people that raised them illegally as pets. I had two more fawns come in from another rehabber on sunday. We will probably raise over 20 of them this year as a happy little gang of orphans. Each has a story but I am exhausted and cant go there tonight.
The 4 coons that I had been working on are doing great. They are starting to cut teeth and I really look forward to the day when they are on a weaning formula I use and can get out of the nursery. There are very few RVS Licensed Rehabbers anymore that rehab orphaned Coons. The crazy ones like me that do it are usually overwhelmed by the rehabbers that get them in and know that they cant legally do them. I love coons, they are one of my favorite animals to rehab. They want to cuddle during bottles, they have emotions and are very vocal in what they are feeling. I had 6 more coons all come in on sunday. (Bringing the total to 10 for those of you counting). The six new arrivals came from 3 different places. The first 3 Coons were caught by an animal control officer. No humans came into contact (exposure) at all with them and they were brought to me (transported) by a Wildlife rehabber that has had a Rabies Vector License in the past so she knew the procedure. They were covered with fleas and not allowed in my nursery. We gave them Capstar, a great product that kills fleas from one little pill....every flea on them was dying within a half an hour. By the time I got those 3 treated and in quarantine, I had 2 more come in. These two coons had been "playing" with the family that found them after they climbed out of their chimney and fell off their roof. Not good, had to call the Health Dept., report the exposure..... see I have rabies shots. These folks didnt. I am not afraid of contracting rabies but I am very nervous about the roundworm that raccoons carry that can blind or kill you (no cure). Cleanliness is very important when dealing baby coons. These two coons were cleared to come to me by the health dept for observation. They could have ordered them euthanized to be tested for rabies since the people touched them. They were also flea infested, when I say infested I mean covered......anemic from the blood loss from being a meal to blood sucking parasites. Got some Capstar into them, I also worm them for roundworm since 90% of all coons have it but one parasite at a time.....fleas first. Got them into quarantine. The next coon that arrived was a singleton. Same age as my tick covered coon that came in a week ago, around 5-6 weeks old. So I have 5 babies on bottles, I am already thinking who can be combined with who, once cleaned of parasites and enough time has passed to clear quarantine. The other 5 coons were old enough and had enough teeth that I started them on my "Mush" formula mix.....which they love to play in as much as they like to eat it, what a mess. I think it looks even worse when it explodes out the other end. Those 5 coons are going out into the coon shed to make a mess until they are old enough to go into the huge enclosure where they will live is a group once they are all cleaned up, weaned and getting fat for release this fall.
I got a call on another fawn tonight and a red fox that was sitting in the road next to his dead mother and siblings who had ventured out before him to see why mom wasnt moving. He is the sole survivor, I have hit animals by accident before...sometimes it is unavoidable. These foxes were purposely run over, I dont know why anyone would purposely try to run over a litter of foxes sitting by their dead mother in the road.....It makes me really wonder about people sometimes. Pass the word, keep the checks coming....I havnt gotten any donations in awhile. Just bought $150- worth of formula for the Coons which wont last long. The fawns will eat $50- $100 a week in formula once I get a dozen or more of them here. I am all out of Capstar, it is expensive and I desperately need it. Ask your vet, call the company, steal it (just kidding) I dont care but I need it for these flea/tick covered babies coming in....consider it your mission?
Im looking forward to getting out of school for the summer. I run home during my lunch break to run around with bottles. Thanks Kelly for showing up today. I dont mind the crazy hours but I also dont know what the record is for how many coons you can feed in an hour....I had 3 going today on bottles in two hands.:) I need a nap (used to be called sleep), I am not complaining, I love every second of orphaned wildlife season......I might be complaining about their bottles tonight but before I know it I will be "Taking them fishing", they grow up so fast.:) WES

Birds Everywhere

2009-05-27T10:22:00.000-07:00

Mother nature has set her clock. Right now it is saying half past get out of your shell or you will never survive winter. We have been getting lots of fledgling birds in. Last night after school I had to run to the vets office to pick up a starling that was a toy for someones cat. Got the poor bird settled in, hydrated, stabilized, started feeding (ever 20 min's) ... didn't look good, went to bed warm, content and full of food ... died in the night.

I try not to focus too much on the animals that die. Learn from your mistakes, realize that you can not save everything and be humble. I learned this the hard way with a bunch of merganser ducklings last spring. I thought I could save any animal brought to me ... they are really tough ducks to keep alive. All Wildlife Rehabbers that have ever had a box of the adorable little time bombs brought to them knows exactly what I am writing about.

I have 2 robins coming in tonight after school. I found (caught would be a better description since the bird was probably completely fine on the ground, being fed by parents after flying out of the nest) a baby robin when I was around 8 yrs old. I kept it alive (illegally, I didn't know any NYS/Federal laws) ... and then my cat ate it upon release.

I like our cats, you probably like yours. Do you know that they are the biggest predator to wildlife there is? Feral cats kill more songbirds every year than anything else. Please supervise your cats time outdoors or keep them indoors. This time of year is when the baby birds are fledgling, leaving the nest and are very vulnerable on the ground. If your cat brings one home or is playing with one in the yard. Take the cat indoors, check over the bird for serious injuries, leave alone in a safe spot out of the sun and observe to see (once things calm down) if the parents continue feeding it.

I didn't have much time to help Chris on the Raptor Center last night. I received a phone call on a Turkey Vulture near Delhi, NY that was found in a hedge row in bad shape. Its wings do not appear broken but it looks like both legs are: possibly shot. Lots of maggots. By the time we got him transported, splinted and stabilized it was pushing midnight.

The vet will determine the fate of this bird. It is often more humane to put a raptor (hawk, owl falcon) to sleep than it is to keep it alive with a very serious disability. A lot of people target vultures because they are "ugly". I was watching 27 vultures the other evening soar around the Schoharie Valley. They were not even flapping their wings, they were just riding the wind thermals for hours ... very cool and FEDERALLY protected by law I might add.

I am sure that something else besides the robins will come in tonight, I will let you know tomorrow.

The little coon is doing better. She doesn't nurse like the other kits I have had for weeks. She rolls around, plays with my hand with her back feet and often nurses on her back. She is a noisy little character which still amazes me that she survived. She isn't out of the woods yet; if she survives she will find herself back in there one day.

I also want to remind everyone that feeds the Hummingbirds that they need to change their feed often. Every 3 days at the most on hot days the nectar solution needs to be changed. Old solution will make them sick. If you are lucky like us and get so many Hummingbirds that they empty your feeders every 1-2 days, it makes keeping it fresh easy.

If you wish to make your own hummingbird food, follow the instructions of the National Audubon Society and be sure to boil well to destroy bacteria, then cool the solution before feeding:

http://www.audubon.org/bird/at_home/bird_feeding/hum_feeders.html

Fill the feeders with sugar water, made by combining four parts hot water to one part white sugar, boiled for one to two minutes. NEVER use honey, which promotes the growth of harmful bacteria, or artificial sweeteners. Also avoid red food coloring.

Till tomorrow,
Wes