With spring in full throttle, that means wild animals are becoming more active and babies are abundant.
It also means the North Island Wildlife Recovery Centre (NIWRA) in Errington is currently in their busiest time of year and has tips for what to do if you encounter potentially injured wildlife.
鈥淪pringtime is certainly the most busy time,鈥� Derek Downes, animal care supervisor at NIWRA, said.
鈥淲e get a lot of young birds that are either orphaned or displaced and they need raising and releasing.鈥�
The first tip is to pause before intervening and consult an expert.
鈥淓specially with young songbirds, sometimes people intervene in a situation where they don鈥檛 necessarily need to and that goes into our mission of educating the public. Anytime you have a situation, giving a rehab centre a call to guide you is the best thing, because sometimes the best course of action is getting the bird back up into the nest,鈥� Downes said.
鈥淪ongbirds on Vancouver Island fledge on the ground, so they鈥檒l spend three to four days on the ground. Sometimes you鈥檒l see a fully feathered bird that鈥檚 hopping around on the ground and it can鈥檛 fly but it鈥檚 not in any sort of distress, it鈥檚 just the natural progression of things.鈥�
There are cases when an animal is injured and needs to be brought in. Downes said the public will often bring in small birds, but when it comes to something like an eagle or a hawk, it鈥檚 best to, again, call in the experts.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a dangerous animal to contain if you don鈥檛 have the training.鈥�
| Anya Goldin, animal care and facility technician, holds Dugle, who came to North Island Wildlife Recovery Centre as a juvenile raven. (Agatha Lloveras Delgado) |
One rescue case is Mango, a red-tailed hawk found outside her nest with a major eye infection. Due to compromised eyesight and never being able to hunt or successfully survive in the wild, Mango is now a permanent resident at NIWRA.
鈥淪he鈥檚 an ambassador for her species. She comes out and does chats, she does bird talks in the summer which we run three times a week, and Mango is just a really special bird and a great friend.鈥�
In terms of preventing baby birds from being injured in the first place, Downes has one major tip.
鈥淢ost importantly, keeping cats inside.鈥�
鈥淐ats are one of the biggest scorns on our wildlife, especially songbirds at baby season.鈥�
It鈥檚 also baby season for black bears and NIWRA is the only facility on the island that rehabilitates black bears. Downes number one tip is 鈥渒eeping garbage contained.鈥�
鈥淏lack bear mothers can lose up to 40 per cent of their body weight while they have been in their state of dormancy鈥� They鈥檙e going to be very hungry.
鈥淪o simply keeping your garbage contained, only putting it out right before collection, not the night before, makes a huge difference.鈥�
Downes also suggests cleaning barbecues and making sure pets or livestock are being fed in enclosed buildings.
According to WildlifeBC, bears are most active from April to November.
If you find injured wildlife, contact NIWRA at . To date, NIWRA has rescued 24,850 animals.
sam.duerksen@blackpress.ca
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