[Noozhawk’s note: Second in a series sponsored by the Hutton Parker Foundation. Click here for the first article.]
In December 2017, a Condor Express whale watching boat had an unusual passenger: a great horned owl traveling to Ojai from the Santa Barbara Wildlife Care Network facility in Goleta.
Rescuers brought the owl to the care center at 1460 N. Fairview Ave. after it got entangled in a barbed wire fence in Santa Maria. Volunteers and staff were able to safely remove the wiring from the bird’s wings, but the injuries required further care and rehabilitation at the Ojai Raptor Center in Ventura County.
The shutdown of Highway 101 during the catastrophic Thomas Fire that month was, quite literally, a roadblock for the owl’s journey to Ojai. It would be impossible to transport it to the Raptor Center by car, so SBWCN staff had to get creative. They knew that the only way to get there was to take a boat to Ventura from Santa Barbara, and that’s when a lightbulb went off.
Staff contacted the Condor Express and boarded the boat, owl in hand, to get the bird the care it needed. Though untraditional, it is just one example of the dedicated and innovative work that the nonprofit organization performs on a daily basis.
Staff arrive to give patients their breakfast and medication as early as 7:30 a.m. and continue caring for the animals until the doors close at 8 p.m. With 398 animals on site currently, SBWCN takes in between 20 and 40 new patients daily.
The months between March and August make up “baby season” for animals, according to Claire Garvais, the facility’s communications director.
The animal population at the facility is typically high during those months, she added, because baby animals tend to need to stay longer.
A great horned owl is among the raptors and birds of prey being cared for by SBWCN staff and volunteers. (Santa Barbara Wildlife Care Network photo)
“Since we’re in baby season right now, a lot of animals have to stay with us for multiple months so we can teach them how to actually be a wild animal,” Garvais said.
In July, the facility admitted its 3,297th patient of the year, at the time matching the total number of patients admitted in all of 2018.
“In the past few years, intake numbers have been exploding,” said Garvais, who credits the growth, in part, to the organization’s outreach efforts.
More important, she adds, the demand is fueled by urban development, climate change, and wildfires driving animals out of their elements and closer to humans.
The increasing population, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, has posed some challenges for the facility. After the coronavirus erupted, many longtime volunteers did not want to risk being in close proximity to other people, Garvais said.
The care center had to scramble to hire more staff and recruit volunteers to keep up with the demand.
“It’s been really tough, but we’ve done our best and we have still been able to give thousands of animals quality care,” Garvais said proudly.
Animal patients fall into four categories: mammals, seabirds and shorebirds, songbirds, and raptors and birds of prey. Care for these animals ranges from feeding them, providing medication, evaluating their injuries, and tending to them with feather- and fur-safe bandages.
Brown pelicans wait for breakfast at the Santa Barbara Wildlife Care Network facility. (Santa Barbara Wildlife Care Network photo)
“We make sure that every animal gets the care that it needs to survive,” Garvais said.
Animals are brought to the center by good Samaritans, not wildlife professionals. People find injured animals on walks and hikes, and sometimes in the middle of the road. They call the SBWCN volunteer-operated helpline.
“People from all walks of life bring us all sorts of animals in all sorts of conditions,” Garvais explained.
Helpline volunteers then walk the rescuers through the situation and inform them how to safely transport the animal to the facility. If the rescuers are uncomfortable picking up the animal and bringing it in themselves, SBWCN sends a trained rescuer to get the animal to the shelter.
A woman once found an injured bird on a sidewalk, but was unable to bring it to the care center herself because she was in a rush to get to an important meeting. She ended up calling an Uber for the injured bird.
The bird rode shotgun as the Uber driver delivered it to the center; it’s not every day that a bird gets its own hired car service.
The driver was fascinated by the request and eager to help. He eventually ended up becoming a transfer driver for SBWCN, Garvais said.
Orphaned Mallard ducklings were brought to the Santa Barbara Wildlife Care Network after being discovered by a good Samaritan. (Santa Barbara Wildlife Care Network photo)
Staff and volunteers at SBWCN try to get as much information from the rescuers about where the animal was found in order to return it to a safe environment once it has healed. They try to release the animal exactly where it came from because that’s the environment where it knows how to survive.
“It’s vital to return these animals to the environments in which they came because they know where the food and water are and they fit into those ecosystems,” Garvais said.
Animals are often territorial and all have different immunities to certain diseases, so SBWCN takes extra precaution to release them into a safe environment.
Treatment and care “vastly depends on the animal,” Garvais said. But the main goal for all animals is to prepare them for a life in the wild.
“We set them up as much as we possibly can to let the animals live as wildlife,” she said.
The care center released more than 500 animals back into their habitats in June and July, Garvais noted.
“We keep our staff and volunteers pretty busy,” she said.
Click here for more information about the Santa Barbara Wildlife Care Network. Click here to make an online donation.
— Noozhawk staff writer Jade Martinez-Pogue can be reached at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address). Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.
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