Call of the wild

WHERE THEwild things are

SALTHAVEN OFFERS HOPE AND HEALING

By Janis Wallace

ABOVE Brian Salt started Salthaven on a smaller property near London and has expanded to two locations to give rescued wildlife a fresh start.

When you get right down to it, wildlife and people are not so different. We all heal better, faster when our mental health is healthy. We thrive when given good care. Those elements make Salthaven Wildlife Rehabilitation and Education Centre a resounding success – for animals and people.

With one location outside Strathroy, Ontario and another near Regina, Saskatoon, Brian Salt’s mission to heal, release and free is making the world a better place one injured or ill animal at a time. The centre’s name indicates its two-fold purpose: to save animals and teach people. The education starts with what he calls the apple core effect: You toss an apple core to the side of the road, thinking it’s organic, can be eaten by wildlife. But it draws them close to the road at great risk. Better to compost the core at home.

The second lesson is feeding wildlife. No bread for waterfowl for example. Autopsies show geese and ducks have died of emaciation with a full stomach – full of indigestible bread. Another lesson: put yogurt and peanut butter jars in the blue box, well rinsed

and/or cut. Narrow-headed animals, such as racoons can get their heads stuck and starve or be hit by a vehicle.

“It’s the little things,” says Salt. “I get a great deal of satisfaction helping people understand how they can make the world a better place.” He recommends if you’re out walking and see trash, pick it up, take it home and throw it in the garbage. Along the river, fishing line and hooks are a big threat. “You’re saving a life. It doesn’t get any simpler than that.”

At the Strathroy Salthaven, two fulltime volunteers take rescue calls from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. – from 50 to 150 each day - about many more animals than can be admitted. Salthaven takes in 25 patients each year and rehabilitates them with the help of clinical volunteers. Normally, 120 volunteers assist; last year the pandemic reduced the number to 30. “We still had as many calls.”

Last year, Salthaven moved to Glen Oak Road. “The new facility is a real godsend,” says Salt. From their early days in a former chicken coop and some tents, the non-profit organization now sits on 25 acres, five of which are wooded, with a pond, clinic, house, greenhouse, pre-release cages, two shipping containers (one to store food, the other for the creative maintenance team to develop solutions), a mews and a flight pen (former greenhouse) for exercise.

When an animal arrives, it is diagnosed and weighed; its wounds are cleansed, and it's given necessary medications. This all happens in the triage room, which is adjacent to the lab. These are housed in what used to be two tobacco kilns. This clinical area is divided into mammal, avian and bat housing. It includes a food storage and prep area and laundry facilities. The rooms have windows so that those touring are able to see in (when that is again allowed). There are strict protocols for sanitizing after every shift, as well as for recording feeding and medication dosages. There are special lights that change frequency and strength, as well as mechanical systems that regulate humidity. Wooden hoods, or boxes, create a safe, dark place for raptors.

A raised tub lets waterfowl dive for tadpoles. A sprinkler system cools the mews with mist when they become too hot for the birds who are nearing release. The bat squad comes each evening to clean cages, replenish food and water and let the bats into the flight pen.

Special needs are met, such as antlers for rodents to gnaw and develop their teeth. An enrichment table corrals an odd assortment of brain teasers. A muffin tin with tennis balls encourages hunting under the balls for food. An empty paper towel roll is used to hide a mouse for raptors to tease out for a meal. “We encourage natural behaviour,” says Salt. “And we don’t give them something more than twice. Enrichment is really important.”

Outside, there is plenty to inspire animals and people. Part of the property was a nursery in a previous permutation, so it is populated with rare paperbark maple, Kentucky coffee, wild cherry and Carolinian forest natives, such as pawpaw and larches. These are identified by plaques installed by Fanshawe College students. A herd of wild deer roam the woods. Salt says when a recovered fawn was released there, a doe came over and nursed it. “It doesn’t get any better than that.”

Much of the education is done by the patients and a few recovered birds and snakes. Shikoba, a red-tailed hawk; Chaukar, a lagger falcon; and Spirit, a bald eagle have become adept at giving lessons.

Salt says the stories of each animal – why and how they came to Salthaven, the process of their struggle and recovery – are important to share. Though the pandemic eliminated the 75 yearly visits to schools, long-term care and organizations, they revamped programs and moved to virtual delivery. “It took off. We’ve been able to reach places we had not been able to before.”

A community garden tended by volunteers provides food for the animals and people. It’s one of the steps to selfsufficiency. Bee hives add pollination. Solar panels provide all the electricity for the house and clinic.

Anyone interested in volunteering needs to commit to two shifts per week so he/ she can become familiar with the animals. Interviews are conducted in January.

“Education is very important,” says Salt. “What I want to do more than educate is to inspire. I want to educate people about the plight of wildlife and what they can do in their own backyard.” n

● FOR MORE INFORMATION, TO DONATE

OR VOLUNTEER www.salthaven.org

AREHOUSEW 74

1737 RICHMOND ST - UNIT 101

MADE IN CANADA