Wildlife Encounters: Advice and Rescue Stories

Announcer: 0:02

Welcome to the Starlight Pet Talk podcast, where we'll talk about and explore ways to help pet parents and future pet parents learn everything they need to know to have a happy and healthy relationship with their pet. So sit up and stay for Starlight Pet Talk rescue, adoption and pet parenting done right.

Amy Castro: 0:25

If you're a fan of Starlight Pet Talk, you'll love our new line of merchandise. We have t-shirts, hoodies and more, all featuring your favorite podcast logos and designs. Plus, we're offering a limited number of Starlight Outreach and Rescue items where a portion of the proceeds go directly to Animal Rescue. Our merchandise is the perfect way to show your support for your favorite pet podcast and animal rescue at the same time. So what are you waiting for? Just visit our website at wwwstarlightpettalkcom to order your merchandise today. Welcome to Starlight Pet Talk. I'm your host, amy Castro, and you know, as we humans have continued to kind of grow our cities and towns and expand our territories, the unfortunate effect of that is that we are encroaching and oftentimes destroying the natural habitats of our beloved or at least my beloved wildlife, and so one of the things that I wanted to do with this podcast episode is to talk about how we can do the right thing by our wildlife friends and coexist in a way that is good for all of us along the way. So what I decided to do? of course, as you all have met in the first episode of the podcast, my best friend, bev Bev you want to stick your head in on the video. Say hi Bev, my best friend. Bev volunteers at this awesome place in Cape Cod where she lives, called Wild Care of Cape Cod, and so I asked her if she would be so kind as to ask the director, stephanie Ellis, to be a guest on the show. So Stephanie is joining us here today to tell us some of the do's and don'ts and how we can do the right thing by our wildlife companions. So, stephanie, thank you for being here today. Thank you for inviting me. I'm excited. I definitely appreciate you being here. I think that people they want to do the right thing, but they don't necessarily know what to do. So what I wanted to start off talking about was what are some of the biggest mistakes that people make when it comes to just generally living amongst wildlife?

Stephanie Ellis: 2:25

Sure. So when people find wildlife, for example when people find turtles crossing the road, one of the biggest mistakes is that they move it to a new location, and so you might have a situation where Eastern box turtles, for example they are a species of special concern here and they are not an aquatic turtle. So if they see a box turtle on the road and then move it to the water, that's not appropriate habitat. So the kindest thing they can do and should do there is just to help the turtle to cross the road to the other side. It was headed, so that's one nice thing that we can do for turtles. Also, we see a lot of people who unfortunately use rodenticides, which is the mouse and rat poison which can cause secondary poisoning to wildlife. Also, glue traps are harmful to wildlife And there are many, many alternatives, humane and environmentally safe alternatives. Another thing we see a lot and I know that people mean well, it comes from a good place, but when people find baby birds, baby swirls, they tend to feed them or give them water, and that is not a good thing to do, because if the babies are, if they're, hypothermic, they're not going to be able to digest, to process the water, or if they have internal or external injuries and they can't process food. That can actually cause more harm than good. So I know that people feel like they're being kind, but if you find a baby animal, the kindest thing you can do is get it warm, keep it warm, quiet and contact a local wildlife rehabilitator.

Amy Castro: 3:52

Yeah, and that's something I know down in Texas that we run into that a lot is. You know, people are I mean, it's a baby and they want to do the right thing and they see them as being so vulnerable. Many times people will say to me well, you know, i haven't seen them, the mom, or I haven't seen any other birds around, so it must be abandoned. Is that necessarily true?

Stephanie Ellis: 4:10

Not in all cases. No, i'm so glad that you asked that. In the case of baby birds, if they're well feathered and they're bright and alert and the parents are around feeding them, that would be likely a fledgling bird And all species are different. but most songbirds they're on the ground before they can actually fly, except for birds like swifts and swallows, really truly aerial birds that eat all of their meals on the wing. They don't leave the nest until they can fly And so, but most birds, like your robins and your grackles, they leave the nest and they're well feathered. they're huge, sometimes they're bigger than the parents, but they can't fly yet and that's normal. So what we do is, when people call, we ask them you know, please watch, is it bright and alert? Are the parents nearby feeding it? Can you keep your dog and cat? and you know, for the next few days?

Amy Castro: 5:01

That's the tricky part, especially down by us. It's not even about keeping your own personal pets in. It's the neighborhood cats that people are always super worried about, and I kind of never. Well, first of all, i always tell them to call wildlife rehab, but it's like what if a cat gets it? I don't know what to say.

Stephanie Ellis: 5:17

I don't know what to tell them. I know It's so hard and we have. We certainly have those challenges here. And then sometimes people just feel like, oh my God, i have to do something, that the parents are here, but this poor, helpless baby. And so we'll say, if we think it's appropriate, it's a fledgling we'll say, put gloves on and put it in a, you know, a low bush for the night, so at least it's up off the ground and has a little bit of a chance. But most of the time we ask people to send photos because we'll often know right away. And, of course, if it has wounds or it's been in your cat's mouth, we're going to want you to bring the animal to us, right. And then baby rabbits are a great example. We get a lot of those too, because we have Eastern cottontails here and the mother is never at the nest. She nurses the young usually twice a night, so at dusk and dawn. So people find a nest in the backyard which is basically like a little scrape in the vegetation with some fur and some dried grass, and they see these babies and say, oh my God, there's no mom. And so what we do is we tell people cover it back up, take some string or some yarn and make like a crystal, tic-tac-toe or a crisscross pattern, lay that over the nest, check in the morning and then like, leave them alone And then check in the morning And if that pattern has been moved then we know that mom was there to nurse them. And if the pattern, if that crisscross or tic-tac-toe pattern, hasn't moved, then they might be in need of help. But of course you know if the dog has been handling them. I haven't had that in a long time. Yes, it's not good Dogs love baby rabbits and they nest rabbits nest all around us.

Amy Castro: 6:55

This one that my dogren found, unfortunately, was right in the middle of the yard, like literally in the middle of the backyard had been mowed fairly recently.

Stephanie Ellis: 7:04

It's like, yeah, it's interesting that you say that, because a lot of the rabbit babies that we get, the orphans, they're from dog yards. The nests were in the dog yard, so we're actually thinking of that as significant, perhaps the rabbits nest where dogs are, because dogs keep out large predators. I mean it makes sense really, Except then the dog often becomes the predator. So the number one reasons we get baby rabbits is dog attack, cat attack and then sadly, lawnmower and weed whackers I've had kittens like that even Have you really?

Amy Castro: 7:38

Oh, my goodness, they got me whacked and that usually it's in bushes where somebody's kind of doing the edging of the landscaping. But yeah, i remember I don't know if you remember Bev years ago, but we had, and it was too little to be stitched or anesthetized, so the poor little thing was like super glued together.

Announcer: 7:54

But he's not. Oh my goodness, oh my goodness, he gets a little scars, but yeah, must have hurt.

Stephanie Ellis: 7:59

I made it, you made it. So we usually ask people, before you mow, to check for nests, and also, before you set your brush piles on fire, please dismantle them and look for babies. We get a lot of brush pile babies that have been burned every year. Oh, well not a lot, but enough, and you don't want it to happen. It's a thing.

Amy Castro: 8:20

Yeah, that's a good point. I hadn't thought about that, because we do a lot of burning down down where I am as well. That actually makes me wonder. As far as like trees, you know it's the type of well, it's probably a little late now, but maybe not for you here on the East Coast to be trimming trees, cutting trees, getting rid of branches, things like that. What should people watch out for there?

Stephanie Ellis: 8:40

Yes, so that is such a great question. Right now it's like the worst time to be cutting down trees, because everything's nesting All of our songbirds. We still have squirrels nesting, and so we usually tell people to reserve their tree felling and trimming until late fall and winter, which I know those aren't the times that people want to be outdoors doing it, but those are the safest times for wildlife. So right now, if you must fell a tree or trim trees and bushes, check for nests. If there are any hollows in the tree, check for nests, woodpecker activity, screech owl activity, things like that, and those are simple things that people can do. That just takes a little bit of time and you could save lives.

Amy Castro: 9:23

Right, yeah, i can't imagine. I've never had this happen to be. but I can't imagine, after you've already done what you've done, then to discover it. it's like you know, be sure to look for it first, and sometimes people just they don't they're not thinking about it, they're just thinking Hey this is just some tree in my yard. I want to trim some branches. Exactly, You know you've knocked somebody out of his home, which is not not cool or not fun Totally. Are there any other mistakes people make when they come across wildlife?

Stephanie Ellis: 9:47

Yes, So a lot of times people will keep wildlife. You know, they find a baby squirrel in the backyard and it's starving, and they start for great YouTube videos. Yes, right, nice selfies.

Amy Castro: 10:01

Exactly.

Stephanie Ellis: 10:02

And so they raise the baby squirrel and they feed it inappropriate diet and it doesn't fare well for the animals. Also, now you, if you release that animal, you have a habituated animal that might be approaching your neighbors and they might not think it's so cute to have this world climbing on them. Also, what happens to us is we have a lot of people who they find a baby squirrel, they feed it all kinds of junk or it's injured, and then a few weeks later, when it's not doing well, they take it to us. And now we have this squirrel that sometimes is on death door, sometimes they die, and then you know we're to blame. But in fact, if that squirrel would have been brought to us two weeks ago, because we're licensed rehabilitators, it would have received medical care, proper nutrition, so just really just all around. It is not good to keep wildlife as pets And also you might be keeping an endangered species. For all you know, it is illegal to keep most wildlife in the state of Massachusetts.

Amy Castro: 10:59

Yes, And it is in Texas too. I think people they think they're doing it a favor or, like you said, it's cute and I can have this unusual pet. But I think what we need to do is stop thinking about ourselves and think more about what's the right thing for that animal and squirrels are not pets, and neither are raccoons or any of the other things that some people try to make into pets.

Stephanie Ellis: 11:20

Exactly, and they need to be with cons specifics. So raising a squirrel on your own, it's going to imprint on you. When they grow up and become territorial, that is no longer a nice pet And so if it was brought here or would have other squirrels that it lives within, is released with so that it exhibits appropriate behaviors in the wild. It's so, so important, and there are so many rescue organizations across the US where you can adopt, you know, domestic turtles that need homes or domestic rabbits that need homes, so there's really there's no excuse for taking wildlife from the wild and keeping it.

Amy Castro: 11:53

Yeah, that's a good point. I hadn't even thought about that. It's like you know, the baby squirrel is all cute and then it gets to be like a teenage squirrel and hormones kick in and now the squirrel's got an attitude and it's doing whatever squirrels do. That's not appropriate to be in my house or with my kids or whatever it is. Now I want to toss it out because it's. You know it's a squirrel. Would just put it outside, but it's. It has no clue, because you've you've raised it like it's a human and now you're expecting it to suddenly know how to be a squirrel. You've yet again done it in a disservice by doing that. Yeah.

Stephanie Ellis: 12:23

So it comes from a place of kindness, but it's not the right thing to do, and if any of you need a pet, i can direct you to an appropriate excuse for the appropriate type of pet that you're looking for.

Amy Castro: 12:32

You can find something cuddly that's not supposed to be in the wild, definitely good advice. So just kind of taking that a step back with the whole concept of of living amongst wildlife, that sometimes the calls that we, that we get, and when I used to volunteer at animal school, you know people don't want that possum in their backyard because it's ugly or it's scary, or they don't want that snake because my kids play out there and it's like but it's a rat snake, it's not going to, you know, it's not going to go after your kids. What are you know? what advice would you have? or how? how do you think maybe we can kind of get through to people on that issue so that they realize that you moved here and this is where the wildlife are and it's not good to just get rid of them and move them somewhere else.

Stephanie Ellis: 13:18

Exactly. Yes, we also get that And, like you said, they were here first. I mean no possums, they've been around for over 60 million years. Oh wow, i didn't know that. And yes, they're, and relatively unchanged They're like they couldn't evolve to look any better?

Amy Castro: 13:34

And to learn how to cross the road? maybe Yeah, Unless we have that Xarma Dilla's down by us.

Stephanie Ellis: 13:40

Oh right, i think, because we're just evolving too quickly. but I like to remind people. I mean, with the human encrotron, animals have no place to go. And so I think of when an animal is crossing the road, are they really crossing the road? They're crossing the forest that used to be there, right? And so every animal has so much value ecologically, like if we were to remove one creature, you know that would have a trickle effect on so many others, and so I feel like just teaching people how to coexist, like the opossums in the backyard there. I tell people their nature's cleanup crew. So they're cleaning up, like the carcasses and the trash, but also they eat thousands of ticks in a season, so that's beneficial. And how are they harming us? I mean, they're causing, they're passing through your yard and doing their thing, so they're really not a threat to anyone or anything.

Amy Castro: 14:30

I think people so down by us? I think sometimes they get worried about the you know burrowing under the house, and is that going to impact my house?

Stephanie Ellis: 14:39

in some way Or like.

Amy Castro: 14:40

I told you before we started recording that you know one went underneath. I've got videos still of it, with it going under there with babies on its back and underneath my deck But my dog crazy. They're bouncing fence on the deck Like he was going to get through the deck to get to them. But it was a little annoying, but it does pass.

Stephanie Ellis: 15:00

It does pass, And that's a good point, because there are so many ways that you can deter animals I mean, if you do have a fox's nesting that are thinking about nesting under your deck, we have ways to discourage them. It's things like putting out racks of ammonia, making loud noise, playing radio at you know during the day when they're trying to sleep, things like that to discourage them without harming them. And these things do work. But sometimes they take persistence And I feel like we, as humans, we want an instant solutions for things.

Amy Castro: 15:31

Yeah.

Stephanie Ellis: 15:31

Exactly So. we have a lot of resistance, but then can have long term effects. especially, exclusion is really important. So now the fox has moved on from under your deck, We need to exclude that area so the fox doesn't think about coming back next season, so you, know the chicken wire, the concrete, whatever. that's a small investment that will go a long way And just a circle back. you mentioned relocation.

Amy Castro: 15:56

Yes, Because we unfortunately a lot of our animal control in order to appease the residents and maybe out of their own, and I don't mean ignorance in an ugly way, but just lack of knowledge on what happens. If you just move an animal to another part of town, is that they'll sure will come pick it up and we take it and we bring it and we release it behind animal control, you know, and it could be a half a mile away, it could be 10 miles away from where it originally came from And people, i think, think well, it's the same kind of trees, it's the same kind of plants, it's a subdivision, it's a subdivision. What difference does it make?

Stephanie Ellis: 16:29

Yeah, It makes a huge difference for that animal. We also see this in the state of Massachusetts. It's illegal to relocate any animals, So if you are a homeowner and you trap mice on your property, the only place you can release them is back on your property. And so what we see especially right now is people they think they're doing something kind So they think, oh, I didn't kill the animal. I just moved it to the next town, right? Well, guess what? Right now, everyone has babies. So if you're trapping that mama raccoon that was in the chimney and moving it to the next state, it probably has babies in the chimney. So, abandoned men, orphans we've created orphans. But also, as you mentioned, if you move an adult animal to a new location, this is a territory that is unknown. They don't know the predators, they don't know the foraging. They're in a new territory of another raccoon. The likelihood of survival is low. So actually it's an incredibly unkind thing to do. The best thing to do is the deterrence. Try to encourage them to move on, accept your exclusion, your barriers, which means capping your chimney. After all, the raccoons and their kids are out, things like that. And so in this, really this bothers us also because we're here for the animals that really need to be here.

Amy Castro: 17:46

We are not a repository for I'm having flashbacks of companion animal rescue because it's. the parallels are incredible, really. It's like those cats are. You've been feeding that mama cat and you now have the babies and I'm trying to save the ones that are, you know, stuffed up in a semi, that are getting ready to go across the country and die, and I'm not taking the cats you've been feeding, or I don't want to anyway. Yeah, it's frustrating.

Stephanie Ellis: 18:12

It's so frustrating Like we are not a repository for people's problem animals. They need to understand that those animals are important, They're there for a reason and how to live with them and exclude them from their home or dwellings So challenging. And we as rehabbers, we're required in the state to release animals within five miles of where they were found And we try, we try to release all adult animals right back where they were found because they might have a mate. They know the territory. All the reasons that I expressed.

Amy Castro: 18:44

And you had mentioned the predators too. They kind of know who's in the hood you know, or what kind of animals are here? Whereas if you move, even just with the dogs and cats, it's like I might know the way that this dog acts or that this dog doesn't bother me in this backyard where I live. But now you've shifted me over here and I go under this fence thinking, oh, I'm going into a safe yard and it's not as safe as you think. And I think I think that's an interesting or, i guess, a key point to make for everybody is that in the attempt to do the right thing and relocate the animal And what we hear a lot is well, i don't want it to die, i don't want my dog to kill it, or I don't want you to take it and euthanize it Do you relocate it? And it's like it's going to be the same end result if you do that. So you either need to decide you're going to put this animal to a death sentence basically, which may be illegal where you live in a lot of places, or you need to adapt yourself and maybe go through a little bit of inconvenience. It can be a death sentence for sure if you move them. You had mentioned some good advice as far as what to do when you find baby animals and not feeding them and things like that. What about just feeding wildlife in general? Because that's another thing I see a lot, whether it's people in our hill country in Texas or, you know, outside of the Houston area. So let's say you know, anywhere two hours outside and beyond, they're going to have a pretty good deer population, and so it's like they're feeding the deer corn. They're feeding the animals. This, i'm feeding the duck's bread, some good old Wonder Bread, or Mrs Bairds We'll get Mrs Bairds down by us And it's. You know, they think they're doing the right thing by doing that. Should we be feeding wildlife or should we let nature take its course?

Stephanie Ellis: 20:17

Right. I don't think we should be feeding wildlife other than backyard bird feeders, which has been shown. You know, if you keep up the sanitization, make sure your bird feeders and your bird bats are clean. We like to think that birds are dependent on our feeders, but they're actually not. They're getting everything they need from the environment And this is a supplement which can help them, especially when they're raising babies. Yeah, we get into problems with people feeding mammals, and a lot of mammals are more solitary And then when you're feeding them, you create these abnormal congregations of animals, which then more potential for spreading disease. Also, mammals become more habituated to people, where now you have situations of foxes approaching children for food and things like that. We have a problem with that here on our outer cape where people feed the coyotes. Sadly, we've had a few really terrible incidents which resulted in the coyotes being destroyed. Yeah, see, that's the thing.

Amy Castro: 21:18

Now you get bitten or you get scratched or whatever, and now that animal has to sacrifice its life because you couldn't just leave it alone. Just leave it alone, people.

Stephanie Ellis: 21:26

Exactly, and so I think those two incidents were a real wake of call, i think, for all of the people here. But it's very sad And we love our coyotes. It's a nature-loving community But also feeding them hot dogs and Wonder Bread is not helping them.

Amy Castro: 21:44

I'm certainly not good at that. I'm kidding. Do you feed your kids hot dogs and Wonder Bread on the tongue? Probably not. Some of them, not all the time. Sure, some people do, otherwise they wouldn't exist, right, but that's a good point. It's just not species appropriate, and we've talked about that on the podcast quite a bit, about even just what's appropriate for our cats and dogs and their own dog food that we're paying 80 bucks a bag for. Now you're going to take some creature you know nothing about and just feed it random stuff, like I was flipping through TikTok. That's a whole other thing. I'm flipping through TikTok the other day And you know, on one hand my first instinct is, oh look, how cute that is. When you've got the lady that's lifting up her kitchen window and the raccoons are out there They're eating fruit loops and marshmallows and it makes my skin crawl. I'm thinking about it now, but it's like, yeah, they're super cute, i mean with their little hands and the things that they can do, but you're killing them, i would think with feeding them that junk. And, like you said, I think that's a key point is that you're encouraging them to congregate, and now you've. You're creating a problem by having so many raccoons in your backyard, or coyotes or whatever you're feeding?

Stephanie Ellis: 22:53

Exactly. And that raccoon that's so cute, coming through the kitchen window Guess what? When it goes to the neighbor's house they're going to think it's rabid, it's disease, because that behavior is so inappropriate. So you are not doing these animals. There's no kindness there, that's a good point. I know we mean well, and that's the other thing zoonotic diseases. A lot of these animals have diseases that are trans. They are transmissible to us and to our pets, and so we have to be careful about that Can you think of a good juicy one that would scare people into not? messing with the exam. Yes, how come you get that?

Amy Castro: 23:27

It's really gross.

Stephanie Ellis: 23:28

God, the raccoon run-w ABS. So this is a parasite that over 70% of raccoons carry And so, honestly, when people think about raccoons, they're always worried about rabies, and I am not. Also, on the Cape we don't have a high prevalence of rabies, which is great. But raccoon roundworm, knowing that over 70% of the population carries that. So when you're handling them, if you're handling them bare-handed, you could get the eggs from their feces onto your hands, eggs and feces. And raccoon roundworm. by the time you start seeing symptoms, you're dead.

Amy Castro: 24:02

So Really, It's not just like regular roundworms. That's a completely different thing, like what dogs and cats have.

Stephanie Ellis: 24:09

Right, exactly, it's a roundworm and it travels. It goes through your central nervous system and travels to your brain and causes neurologic symptoms, and I'm not being dramatic. I've seen this in other animals that have been affected with it, and so that's a huge concern. You will never see any of my staff handling a raccoon without gloved hands, and that's also part of the reason we don't rehab raccoons here. We love them, but our facility's small, but also if you want to care for them, you need proper, separate facilities just for them. So everything needs to be separate because of the risk of spreading disease And I don't want you to be afraid of them and think, oh my God, they're little disease vectors, but this is just part of the reality. They're wild animals and all animals are gonna carry different things and some things that can impact us and our pets.

Amy Castro: 24:55

Yeah. so it's kind of like what people say when they find kittens. it's like, do they have worms? It's like, yes, they all have worms. They just you know they've all got something. So you need to be aware of that when you're picking them up and then sticking your fingers in your mouth and doing something stupid. Thank you, yeah, i'm like I'm not sure. My daughter says I'm just a harbinger of disease spreading. So anytime we get anything new in, she doesn't let me go past the front porch with it until she's tested it for panicopenia and everything else. Well, we do a lot of kittens, so don't touch anything. What have you touched? Did you touch this in your car? I'm like, i'm just not good at that. So if I'm not good at that and this is what I do then most people are probably not very good at it either So. I'll touch them, leave them alone. So if I do find an animal and, let's say, I call the wildlife rehab place and they say, yes, this is a situation where you either need to bring the animal in or we come and get it. The first question I wanna ask is how do you know you're talking to a good place like this? Because at least down by us there are wildlife centers like 501C3 non-profit, that seem very official and they are And then there are individual wildlife rehabbers, and then there could just be Amy Castro, who's a crazy turtle lady like this little guy over here. And I say, i'm a turtle rehabber, but I really don't have any identifiable qualifications, and so is that really the best place? So what would you recommend when I'm getting on Google and trying to figure out who can help me with this critter that I think needs help?

Stephanie Ellis: 26:27

Yes, that's a great question. I think when you're calling, you want to make sure you're speaking with a license wildlife rehabilitator for your state. Okay, so in Texas I would think that there's a listing Do you have like a texasgov state where you can find, And so those-.

Amy Castro: 26:45

I'll put a link for those who are in Texas, if you've got that, and we can put the one from Massachusetts as well.

Stephanie Ellis: 26:50

That would be wonderful. So those would be people that have the licensure and they're doing the right thing And that is a really good point. And so you could always ask over the phone are you a licensed wildlife rehabilitator? And also Googling, spying on their Facebook pages to see what type of work they do and what their ethics are.

Amy Castro: 27:12

Yeah, that can be very, very telling. We're big about talking to people on our rescues. We stalk potential adopters. We stalk other rescues because it's like you don't wanna refer somebody to another organization and find out that it's basically a dog hoarder or a cat hoarder instead of an actual rescuer And you've basically taken the animal from a bad situation to an even worse situation.

Stephanie Ellis: 27:34

Yes. So you need to do your homework and make sure you're getting a legit organization along the way, I think it's so important, And they may have a website, so definitely check that out And you'll know pretty much right away once you see the content that they the types of content that they post on their social media. Okay So, but yes, ask if they're a licensed rehabilitator.

Amy Castro: 27:56

Good to know, all right. so what we wanna know now is the inside scoop about places like this. So once I bring whatever my feathered, my scaled, my whatever friend to your front porch and hand it over to you, what happens then?

Stephanie Ellis: 28:10

Okay, so the first thing is my staff examine it and we give it a patient record, just like if you a person going into a doctor or hospital. Every animal has a record And so an exam and then initial treatment. We do have the ability to do diagnostics here, like minor blood work. We take x-rays, things like that. So basically, animals that come in here, they can stay with us through the entire process of treatment. So diagnosis, treatment to release unless they need a major surgery. We do have a consulting veterinarian. She's wonderful.

Amy Castro: 28:46

That's great.

Stephanie Ellis: 28:46

She offers pro bono services. but if we have a situation where we need a turtle shell repair, where the turtle has to be anesthetized, or say a major surgeon with a bird where they need a pin in their wing, then we work with a wildlife veterinarian who is added on another part of the cape at another center, but other than that, so animals that come in, they will be with us through the whole length of stay And we have enclosures here that support. we get a lot of birds, so we have eight.

Amy Castro: 29:15

I saw the little birds. they were so cute, i think, beautiful.

Stephanie Ellis: 29:19

Yes, it's baby bird season.

Amy Castro: 29:21

There's a lot of them. you guys have a lot of them, We do, and it will get even busier.

Stephanie Ellis: 29:25

Like this is just the tip of the iceberg right now the start of the season. So I feel good about we have a large raptor aviary and it's not just for raptors. We house gulls in there docks not all at the same time, honestly. Yeah, that's a good idea, But it's one of the largest in the state and it has it's four rooms, actually three inner aviaries And then the outer aviary forms this shell, So the bird that is in there can fly continuous laps, And to me, that's, like I call it, the treadmill, where we can make birds fly laps, and it gets them more conditioned for being back out into the wild.

Amy Castro: 30:05

Well, that makes sense because, yeah, if they're in some kind of a cage or a small enclosure while they're being rehabilitated, then you're just like, okay, i go, exactly, i can't do it.

Stephanie Ellis: 30:16

They have to be conditioned And we get a lot of seabirds because here in Cape Cod, on the outer Cape, we're 30 miles out to sea, so we see over 600 aquatic birds a year and part of their rehab and conditioning process to prepare them for release is they have to be 125% waterproof before they leave aside from being healed fat, healthy. So we also have two therapy pools, two seabird therapy pools.

Amy Castro: 30:41

So how does a just a sidebar? but are they just waterproof or not? Do they lose their waterproofing? Do you put something he like? spray them like a spare what is that stuff called Wipe X, whatever it is.

Announcer: 30:53

Rain.

Amy Castro: 30:53

X rain, X Something that part of my yeah, Hey, Yiddie, how do they explain that to you? It's very interesting. I was wondering.

Stephanie Ellis: 31:01

You just asked this. So birds unfortunately they're not magically waterproof. It's something they have to work on. And they have a gland on their rump and they squeeze it with their beak and then it secretes like fatty acids and lipids and they make some wipe it all over their feathers and so that keeps them waterproof. So that's something they have to work on all the time. When we have birds that are sick or injured and they are not feeling well, so they they have stopped the preening process. I usually tell people it's like when I have the flu and I might not get out of bed or shower, i call my hair for four days. Same with birds. So what happens is, once they've graduated from here with the meds or the therapy, whatever is happening, they start to be able to go into our therapy pools and begin that waterproofing process. And they do that by being in the water. It stimulates them, you know, because they don't want their, they don't want their skin wet, right? And so it stimulates them to start the preening process and we can heat the pools, which allows them to stay in longer, even if they're not waterproof, because their body temperature won't drop. Okay, so it's this whole process and we love, we love our water root birds, the. I mean there's really no other way because the pools, really, it stimulates that activity Interesting, it's as close to a natural environment as we can give them while they're here.

Amy Castro: 32:22

So that must be why birds are always because I was I always see them like fussing with themselves. And it's like you look good to me, man, still trying to flew for your flu fin. Yeah, do your thing there, always fussing with themselves Can. I just take one second, Yeah, yeah you explain the pool.

Stephanie Ellis: 32:37

I'm so cool how the oil skims off. Yes, so in the pools. So the seabirds especially. they're pooping out fishy oily poop, and so in our pools We have, like this overflow slot where the water is constantly running and it takes the surface oils off all the time. Oh, and then that's recycled. It goes through a bunch of filters, including a UV filter to kill bacteria and a filter that takes out ammonia. No, so it's a recycled system and there's also a current so we can adjust the current and perhaps to swim against it. No, it's really. They're amazing. The pools are my pool. So just getting them conditioned, because we can't release a water bird, especially a deep sea bird, offshore seabird, we can't release them back into the wild. If they're not waterproof, they will just beach themselves. They will become obsessed with preening their feathers, they'll get waterlogged, they get cold and they will beach like as soon as we know, as soon as we put them out there.

Amy Castro: 33:40

So it's really important. That's a process I would take, you know. So how long would something like that take, coming in from a sick animal That's not not grooming, preening itself, grooming itself, and is not waterproof to water proof, just ballpark?

Stephanie Ellis: 33:52

I'm just curious um, it can take like a week in some cases and some birds. We just have a real challenge where they're just not, they're not inspired To preen. So for some birds it can take weeks, but usually less than a week. It's great to see Interesting.

Amy Castro: 34:10

I want to make a. I want to put a plug in here for because you mentioned the veterinarian doing things for pro bono, and you know some do it pro bono, some do it for a reduced fee, whether it's wildlife rescue or a companion animal rescue, which is what I do. But I would like to put a plug out there for folks to Support those veterinarians, because every hour they're spending working on some cat of that I bring in, or a bird, or a duck, or a turtle or whatever that you bring into your veterinarian is Hours. They could be making a lot more money and so you know it's it's they're sacrificing in order to To to do what they think is right, and so we need to definitely support them for sure in that process. So support your vets, ask, find out if your vet help works with rescue. I that's my new question now. Yeah, along the way, and along that same note, how do you pay for all this Great? question all this fancy equipment you've got here up fancy, but like I'm sure it's expensive x-ray machines, fancy swimming pools exactly So.

Stephanie Ellis: 35:12

We are a nonprofit organization and so most of the funds are Donations from the public. We do receive some grants every year, but we do not receive federal, state or municipal funding. So I am a I have to be a fundraising machine.

Amy Castro: 35:28

Yes, i feel your pain on that.

Stephanie Ellis: 35:31

And thank God. you know, this is a nature-loving community and many of our biggest donors are second homeowners, which is interesting to me and shows me how much we do engage the public, i feel really good about that.

Amy Castro: 35:44

So there they have a vacation home. here They live elsewhere and it'd be like, well, i only go there for two months in the summer, so what do I care? But they really do, yeah, it's great.

Stephanie Ellis: 35:52

So that makes me feel really good because we are we're a tourist driven community And so we have events throughout the year, and if you follow our Facebook page, which is Wild Care Cape Cod, you will see that I asked for a lot of things.

Amy Castro: 36:08

I.

Stephanie Ellis: 36:10

Sometimes I feel bad about that and sometimes I even state I know we're always asking for things, but that's because the need is always there. I mean, it never ends. Yeah, we, it gets a little slower in the winter. Yeah, because there aren't as many people here, first of all, so not as many wildlife impacts, but also we have birds, have migrated and we don't have babies. But I'm always asking for something, oh yeah.

Amy Castro: 36:34

And it's interesting you say that because for our again companion animal rescue I will constantly want to put stuff out and board members and others, others that are volunteers, it's like you know, we were just asking for this yesterday and it's like so Because my feeling is. My feeling is that you know it's. You know there are some people that are gonna give no matter what, whether it's five dollars, they're gonna put a hundred dollars or whatever it is. But then there's also you never know what's gonna touch somebody's heart, is it?

Announcer: 37:01

is it the turtle?

Amy Castro: 37:02

Like, i'm a bit, i'm a lot of turtles. So you know it, is it the turtles, or is it the birds, or is it whatever other critter that you that you brought in? that that story or that Species just really moves them, and so they're gonna be willing to do that, or hey, i see the value in getting this equipment, so I want to donate towards that. So, for any people who are out there involved in rescue, don't I mean, if they don't want to give, they won't, so it doesn't Hard to ask. I think the key to that, though, too, is to show people where that money is going. You know, show them the outcome of look, because we had this, look at the things that we've been able to do, so that they see that it's money will span, which it obviously is here for sure, thank you. So any other advice or things that we missed any either of you can think about baby opossums.

Stephanie Ellis: 37:52

So they stay on mom's back for over six weeks once they leave the pouch. And there are a lot of cases where people will call us and we'll say, can you keep that baby warm and leave it there and see if mom Retrieves it With opossums? we're not going to do that, okay, because they do not come back for their babies. So if you hang on or you're left behind Exactly So if you find a baby and it's less than six inches from head to tail, or if you find a baby and it's just like Not trying to run away from you or just hissing or something seems wrong, we're probably gonna have you bring that baby in, okay. And what happens is mom's got all these kids on her back, you know, and she goes under a porch and a couple of them scrape off and then she No longer back there. So because there's such a prey animal, she has to be on the moon, yeah. And we do get cases also where dogs will grab the mother and shake her and Babies will fall out of her pouch and then she is gone. So people bring us the baby. So just know that like mommy coming back, Sorry so it's good to know.

Amy Castro: 38:58

You know, because it seems like a lot with the advice for so many other critters is mom is around, mom's watching, mom's gonna be back, you know, at some point. But that's that's good to know because, like I said, for us a lot of a possible I'm we call them as we leave the old off, because it's Texas, but I love it. So I want to hear some stories. Share with us a story or two, whether it's, i don't care if it's a favorite story or a triumph and story, or what jumps out to you is a Memorable story.

Stephanie Ellis: 39:27

Okay, so I have a story just from yesterday.

Amy Castro: 39:30

Oh, wow.

Stephanie Ellis: 39:30

Um, so we have a huge osprey population here. They are fish hawks and we have a population of over, we believe, over 500 nests just on Cape Cod. Oh wow. But USDA contacted me because in the town of Falmouth Someone had came to their second home and found osprey nesting on their chimney and they didn't want them there. And so it's illegal to remove a bird nest once there are eggs or chicks in it. So USDA was contacted. Permits a USDA removed the nest and this nest had three eggs, and they asked me if I would hatched the eggs and place the chicks into foster nest wild foster nests. So, and so I love eggs, but I had never incubated raptor eggs before. Um, osprey, they're a type of hawk, and so the eggs all hatched. The first chick Unfortunately died, but the other two grew up, and yesterday, after scouting a whole bunch of nests, really safely via drone, we found a good match of a nest in a nearby town with two chicks in the nest that were similarly Aged and the mom had lost. One chick had died. So I thought this is a great nest for me to put my two chicks in, which are now, as of yesterday, there were 90s old and 70s old. So, with the help of the fire department, my volunteer you know it takes a village We with their bucket truck, we got up into this nest and placed my two chicks and the mom Osprey can't count, okay.

Announcer: 40:57

So you can give them more kids and they will take care of them.

Stephanie Ellis: 41:01

So she came back to the nest probably in less than five minutes. She was with them And I got a report last night that she was on the nest on all of them as of 6pm, which is great, because we had last night we had this terrible torrential rain And I got to experience which really worried about the chicks. But I know, i know she had been on the nest, so that's good, so that was just like that has made the news. Oh well, it's just such a good story to give a second chance to these chicks And I've known them since they were eggs, so it was really hard for me, sort of bitter sweet. And I have two more. Another nest came from another town, from USDA chimney nest, and so they are today six days old and I'm seeking a foster, a wild foster nest for them. So these are the things that like. It's so much effort and takes a lot of players, but it's so worth it, yeah.

Amy Castro: 41:54

And that's such a good point is that people, i think, oftentimes don't realize what goes into things behind the scenes, whether it's, you know, wildlife or companion animals, and it's you know they're seeking help for something. But you know, sometimes, depending upon the group or depending on the issue that you're facing, we may not have the equipment or we may not have the resources to do it And we need you to step in and kind of do your part in this process. And other times you know, you've got good, good relationships in the community and you can call on people like the fire department to go help you with the birds. So yeah, I'm just trying to imagine the scenario. So you, you've got these baby birds and you like reach out to people that you know have osprey nests and then you send the drone to scout out how many babies are in that nest and how does that process work?

Stephanie Ellis: 42:39

Yes, so you know, the nests are huge, So they're very visible, and everyone loves the osprey nest, So we're already aware of many nests. But then there's Cape Cod Osprey Watch, of a team of people who monitor over 170 nests. Oh wow, so just lots of resources of people who are looking at osprey nests. The dilemma is that the nests are so high.

Amy Castro: 43:01

I was going to say I'm seeing them up on these huge poles and it's like how do you even get get those babies up?

Stephanie Ellis: 43:06

there, I know. So you need a bucket truck or a ladder truck from the fire department and then droning. It's not something I feel entirely comfortable with, but we are using drone safe guidelines for osprey. I've let mass wildlife know that we're doing this and the person who's droning is so conscientious, I mean he will not you know, buzz the nest and scare babies or your mom's away or something like that. No one can leave. If someone leaves the mess, you're doing something wrong. And so he makes sure. And in the photos he sends me a photo And mom isn't even looking up. So this is from a distance.

Amy Castro: 43:40

Pretty good.

Stephanie Ellis: 43:41

And anytime the male if the male comes in with a fish, my volunteer pulls out. We just don't want, we don't want to cause any disturbance to these. I mean, i've already caused disturbance I she went to the grocery store and she came back and she had two more kids. So we don't want to cause any more disturbance than we have to. So a lot of work and a lot of things can go wrong. So I feel grateful for this worked out really well. So why do you do it? I think for this, but also it's become more for me. I love the releases, but I have come to realize that I have a voice within the community. So if I teach people how to treat wildlife kindly and how we can all coexist, people are listening And that is that feels really good. I think that's really why I'm doing it now is to make a difference, to educate people, and more often than not, people just don't know that they're doing something wrong.

Amy Castro: 44:37

Right, it's not out of malice or anything necessarily like that. It's just a lack of knowledge and lack of knowing the impact of what you're doing. I think it's huge.

Stephanie Ellis: 44:46

Exactly Like a few weeks ago, i was asked to come to the local high school to speak to their green club, their environmental club, about rodenticides, the mouse and rat poisons, and oh my goodness, i mean the chain, the faces in the room. And it was just like this connection, this awareness, and now we have 30 kids who are going to go home and tell their parents like we can't do that anymore. Exactly, we can't do that, and here are the options, and so I love that we're respected in the community and people are listening. So I feel like I can really make a difference And we are making a difference.

Amy Castro: 45:19

Well, in the education I know for us, in our, that's why we do this podcast. I mean, the whole thing is about education And that's part of our mission because, you know, the education feeds so much into prevention of some of the problems that we have with animals, regardless of what kind that they are. So I really appreciate everything that you do. Thank you so much. I know you're a busy lady. Thank you so much for taking time to be with us today And, for all of you who are listening, we're going to put up in the show notes. We're going to put a link to a Wild Care Cape Cods website If you're looking for a wildlife organization to support philanthropically, send a few bucks their way, maybe maybe more along the way, because you've heard about all the great work that they do And we'll also put some of the other links that we talked about during the show. And please share this with other people, because I think despite the fact that I feel like sometimes there's so much information on the internet for people as to what to do, if kind of thing, but you know, they may not know who to believe. So this is the lady to believe, and so make sure that you share this video and share the podcast, if you're listening to the audio, with your friends and family so that they can do the right thing by our wild friends and everybody can live together in a peaceful and harmonious way. So thank you all so much for listening to Starlight Pet Talk this week And, as we say, every single week. If you don't do anything else, give your pets a hug from us.

Announcer: 46:40

You've been listening to the Starlight Pet Talk podcast. We're glad you joined us to gain new insight on the many loving ways to adopt and care for your pets. Be sure to subscribe so you'll never miss an episode, and if you want more information, go to starlightpettalkcom. Because your pet can't talk. Be sure to join us next time for Starlight Pet Talk.