SUMMER 2014 City slickers Update: Baby mink story Bird-proof your windows Lend us your trees
Building a healthy community for people and wildlife torontowildlifecentre.com
This tiny eastern small-footed bat, recently listed as an endangered species, was found thin, dehydrated and unable to fly. After a week in care he reclaimed his place in the wild, thanks to your support! Photo: Michael Barker
Message from the
Executive Director Did you know that September is one of our busiest months? There are still babies being admitted, especially orphaned gray and red squirrels, but injured migratory birds (many that have hit windows) are coming in fast and furious now. I hope you enjoy the guide we’ve included to help you bird-proof your windows at home! With the start of a new school year, we sadly say goodbye to many of our volunteers, interns and all of our summer students, and hope they had a great experience. This has been and odd spring and summer season. Although it has been very busy, there have been noticeably fewer admissions of some animals, like red foxes and killdeer. I can’t help but wonder if the brutal winter had an impact on their populations. Only one baby mink (featured on pages 4 & 5) was admitted this summer and I’m happy to
report that he was successfully released! He slid into a beautiful pond in a marshy area one warm summer evening and swam away. The mink has since been seen swimming and hunting along the shore. Currently, 7 of the many animals in our care are Species at Risk: 3 snapping turtles (special concern), a peregrine falcon (special concern), a milk snake (special concern), a Blanding’s turtle (threatened), and an eastern fox snake (endangered). Thanks to all you do to help, they’ll have a second chance at life in the richly bio-diverse areas where we live. They couldn’t make it home without you! Warm regards,
Nathalie Karvonen
Would you like TWC to present to your classroom, community group or attend your next event? Visit torontowildlifecentre.com/education-presentations for more details.
Presentations made possible through the generous support of Ontario Power Generation.
City Slickers This killdeer is just one of dozens of animals affected by an oil spill in Vaughan in early August. Didn’t ready about it in the news? That’s not surprising. It was a vegetable oil spill. Not toxic like crude oil, but still potentially deadly for wildlife. TWC’s hotline staff involved the rescue team after they received a call about eight oily geese. That number of oiled animals suggested that some kind of oil had reached a body of water and many more would be affected. The rescue team reported the spill to the authorities and went out every day for the next two weeks to search for oiled animals (they rescued 11) and for the source of the spill. They traced it to a small stormwater pond and suspect that a large amount of cooking oil had leaked into the sewer system. The rescued animals have required multiple baths to remove the oil.
If you are concerned about what appears to be an oil spill or if you suspect a company of improperly disposing a pollutant, report it to the Spills Action Centre (416-325-3000). If you see a wild animal that looks like it has been in contact with a toxic substance, please call Toronto Wildlife Centre.
UPDATE We are thrilled to share this happy update on the baby mink we mentioned in the last newsletter! Thanks to the support of people like you, this is just one of the many happy endings that occurs every day at Toronto Wildlife Centre. As many of you know, this mink has a strange story. Only days old, he was abandoned on a shelf in a pet store, and the store owners brought him to TWC for help.
In the wild: Minks are not rare, but are wary animals and are not often seen. They spend time hunting in wetland enivronments or along shorelines. You can tell them apart from weasels by their dark chocolate colour and small white patch of fur under their chins.
The tiny baby needed to be hand-fed every 2-3 hours, but also needed to be kept in a warm and very quiet place. We called on one of our wonderful trained volunteer foster parents for help. She cared for the baby until he could be weaned and then he came back to the centre for the rehabilitative care that would prepare him for life in the wild.
They grow up so fast: Hardly recognizable as the helpless kit that arrived at TWC in May, the strong, healthy mink takes his first tentative steps in his new home.
With his coat glistening in the sunlight, the mink explores the shoreline before quickly swimming away.
iBird-Proof Y
Windows reflect clouds and outside world. To a bird, thes into the glass at top speed. Y by bird-proofing your window migration seasons. It is estim year in North America as a re
DECORATE
Hang strings of beads or other material on the outside of the window. Each string should cover the length of the window, and be hung no more than four inches apart.
INJURED BIRD
If you find a bird on the ground that appears to be stunned, gently place the bird in a cardboard box with closed lid. Put the box in a quiet, safe place and don’t peek at the bird or give it any food or water. Call Toronto Wildlife Centre for help.
Your Windows
trees, creating a mirror image of the se reflections are deceptive and they fly You can help prevent these accidents ws, especially during the spring and fall mated that 100 million birds die every esult of window collisions.
DECALS
Decals on a window break up the reflection and identify it as an obstruction (birds can’t see glass). A single decal isn’t enough; they must be placed 2 inches apart horizontally or 4 inches apart vertically on the outside of the window to be effective.
SOAP
Rub a wet bar of soap across the outside of the entire window to leave a residue the birds can see and breaking up the reflection. The soap is easily washed away at the end of each migratory season.
Illustration by harrisonartonline.com
Lend a Tree Every spring and fall, we admit hundreds of orphaned squirrels, care for them, and release them at the appropriate age. In the wild, teenage squirrels explore and then return to mom as they establish their own territories. Squirrels that are returned to the wild along with a den box homebase are more likely to survive. If you have a tree on your property and are open to having a litter of squirrels with their den box released there, please email rescue@torontowildlifecentre.com
Eastern fox snakes aren’t venomous, but they pretend they are. They vibrate their tails when threatened, mimicking the warning sound of a rattlesnake.
Wildlife rehabilitation supervisor Aaron closely examines this endangered eastern fox snake. He was found in Markham, a long way from home (this rare species only exists in two places in the Great Lake basin).
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Can’t wait between newsletters? Connect with us online for daily updates like these:
3 Eastern gray squirrels come in different
1 A red fox suffering from mange
arrived at TWC curled up in his carrier. Today he is weak and emaciated, but he’ll stay in care until he heals and has put on a healthy amount of weight. In the meantime we’ll keep him occupied with enrichment items in his enclosure: rubber balls to paw around, phone books to shred, and pans of dirt full of tasty morsels to dig up. Instagram, August 21th
2 Just admitted: another group of baby bunnies. Eastern cottontails have litters all summer long! Twitter, July 17th
hair colours, just like people! These are two brothers and one sister. Cute! Twitter, July 29th
4 Join the TWC team! We are looking
for four hotline volunteers to cover one of these fours shifts: Tuesdays (8:30am to 1:30pm) Wednesdays (1:30pm to 6:30pm) Thursdays (8:30am to 1:30pm) Fridays (8:30am to 1:30pm) Email volunteers@torontowildlifecentre. com for more info. Facebook, August 26th
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Bird Sounds
These orphaned cedar waxwings required hand feeding every half hour when they arrived at TWC. They grew up quickly and were released. Adult cedar waxwings are a striking bird identifiable by the bright yellow tips of their tail feathers and black mask around their eyes. Birds sing to attract a mate, to protect territory, and to alert others to a threat. But there is a distinction. Generally, a bird’s song displays their strength and suitability as a mate, and calls provide info, like alerting others to danger. Take the chickadee. The familiar chicka-dee-dee-dee is their alarm call; the number of dees indicates the level of threat. The more melodic pee-bee is their song. With almost 500 bird species in Southern Ontario alone, it can be difficult to differentiate one bird sound from another! Some tips on the right. Many thanks to The Schad Foundation for all they have done to support the care of sick, injured and orphaned wild animals at Toronto Wildlife Centre.
The Language of Birds Some birds have calls that sound like human phrases! Listen for these chatterboxes on your next nature walk or birdwatching expedition: Barred Owl Who cooks for you? Who cooks for you? Yellow Warbler Sweet, sweet, sweet, I’m so sweet! Eastern Towhee Drink your tea. Great-horned Owl Who’s awake? Me too.
Wishlist
torontowildlifecentre.com/wishlist
• Evergreen and deciduous branches and twigs
• Gloves: small- and medium-sized regular surgical gloves, and sizes 6 1/2 and 7 sterile surgical gloves
• Unsalted sunflower and pumpkin seeds
• Newspaper
• Walnuts, almonds and pecans with or without the shell. No peanuts please!
• Bags of unfertilized soil • Grocery store gift cards
• Masking tape (1 inch) • Digital kitchen scales Please bring these items to TWC between 9am-6pm, 7 days a week. Pickup service not available. Other items, please email donations@torontowildlifecentre.com.
Donate Online at torontowildlifecentre.com/donate OR BY: Cheque (made out to Toronto Wildlife Centre) OR: Call (416) 631-0662 x 3207 *For monthly donations via auto-withdrawal, please include a cheque marked void. Monthly donations are processed on the 15th of each month.
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All business! Rescue team members Stacey and Sarrah aren’t on a break. They borrowed this paddle boat to rescue an injured goose who could still swim. Despite paddling as hard as they could, the goose was faster. They switched to a faster craft (kayak) and completed the rescue.
Questions about wildlife? Call our
WILDLIFE HOTLINE: (416) 631-0662 General inquires (416) 631-0662 x 3205 or admin@torontowildlifecentre.com Donations (416) 631-0662 x 3207 or donations@torontowildlifecentre.com 4 - 60 Carl Hall Road Toronto ON M3K 2C1 Charitable registration number: 141146290 RR0001