Do you know what day it is?

How much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood?

A woodchuck would chuck all the wood a woodchuck could chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood.

Thanks to Rebecca Seymour for the photo of Waldo during his 2010 prognostication

But Waldo the Woodchuck would rather have a dried banana or a nut in the shell. And that sort of treat will be his reward for his official prognostication on Thurs, February 2^nd - Groundhog Day. The story goes that if Groundhog Day is sunny and bright, woodchuck sees his shadow and it will scare him. He will run into his burrow and sleep 6 more weeks. That means we will have 6 more weeks of winter. Why would a woodchuck be scared of his own shadow? Well, you probably aren’t your sharpest when you first wake up in the morning – poor Groundhog has been hibernating since October, no wonder he is a little confused.

The origins of Groundhog Day probably go back to the European Christian holiday of Candlemas “For as the sun shines on Candlemas day, so far will the snow swirl in May”. German immigrants brought the idea to the Pennsylvania area. The local abundance of groundhogs that would begin rousing from hibernation in spring somehow got mixed into the tradition and Groundhog Day was born.

You may have heard of a chuck called Phil that tells the weather out east in Pennsylvania. But weather is a regional effect. When I lived in Georgia, General Lee foretold Atlanta’s weather. Here at WINC, we count on Waldo the Woodchuck and his backup Gregory the Groundhog to let us know if we will have an early spring. So here’s hoping for a cloudy February 2^nd so Waldo will forecast an early spring. The earlier the spring the sooner Waldo will get the first spring dandelion leaves handpicked by his friends here at WINC so he has a little added incentive.

Guest Blogger L.R.

NWRA: Albany, NY

I was the lucky, chosen one of us rehabbers to go to this year’s National Wildlife Rehabilitators Association Symposium in Albany, New York this year. It was also my first NWRA conference so I was very excited. My excitement grew when I received information on the lectures that were being given each day. Turtle Tidbits, Caring for the “Elder” Squirrel, Parvovirus in Raccoons, and Take Two Worms and Call me in the Morning were at the top of my list to attend. But there were so many to choose from and when they are offered at the same times, “how do I pick?” I thought to myself. And, it being my first conference I was eager to see and hear everything I could squeeze into those 4 days. Luckily, I found out I had a travel buddy, a fellow rehabber from the Wisconsin Humane Society Rehabilitation Center. With two of us, we decided we could “divide and conquer” and share notes on all of our new, juicy wildlife secrets! So we did just that, and everyday we went from 7:30 AM to 9:00 PM! Then we would grab a quick bite to eat and go to our room and discuss all the great, new things we learned that day while organizing our notes. Crystal (my travel buddy) described us as “power nerds.”

Day 4 came way too quickly and before we knew it, it was time to go back home and share all of our new ideas with our centers. Now that I’m back, I’m finally finishing up organizing my notes and starting to share some of the things I learned with other WINC staff and volunteers. The conference was tons of fun, a great learning experience and reminder of how many people there are who truly care about wildlife and improving the way we care for them.

Guest Blogger C. M.

Don't forget to mark your calendars for this year's Pancake Breakfast and Baby Shower on Sunday, March 27th from 8 AM to 1 PM!

What Woodchucks do on Wednesday

 

What to do on a Wednesday...Wednesday, February 2nd...well go see Waldo come out of his burrow of course. Waldo, Wildlife In Need's famous woodchuck who predicts the weather, will be coming out of his burrow at 11:00am on February 2nd at the Elk's Lodge. WINC has teamed up with the Ground Hog Club to celebrate this whimsical holiday by having Waldo pop out of his burrow in front of school children, the Ground Hog Club and anyone else who would like to attend to see Waldo tell us whether we will have six more weeks of Winter or an early Spring.

Waldo is a three year old woodchuck who came to the Center as an imprint. He was found in a campground and taken in by some RV campers for the summer. When they learned they could not keep Waldo, he was brought to the Center so that we could "wild him up" but our efforts were unsuccessful. Waldo then joined the educational staff and ventures out to many venues to teach the importance of leaving the wildlife in the wild.

Preceding Waldo's prediction will be an educational program featuring all the other educational animal ambassadors from the Center at 10:00am. Come and join all of Waldo's friends as we all try to awaken from our winter burrows and celebrate Ground Hog's Day at the Elk's Lodge on Spring Dale Road in Waukesha.

Guest Blogger L.K.

Waldo predicting the weather, Groundhog Day 2010



Caller Says: #1, All A-Flutter

A small bird was in the backyard, not flying.

First question is always is this a small adult bird or baby bird?

Second question is what was the bird doing before you discovered it and what has it been doing since?

In the spring, summer and early fall you can occasionally find nestling babies that should be in the nest but that have fallen out due to the weather or other forces. These babies will have some naked pink spots yet. Those can be replaced in their nest should be, but only when warmed under a lamp or in your hand before doing so. In cases where the nest has been destroyed or is too high to reach the baby can be replaced in a substitute nest. A substitute nest can be made of a wicker basket, hanging plant basket or any plastic container with drainage holes in it. If using plastic be sure to line it with dried grasses, sticks or leaves so that it isn’t slippery. Hang a substitute nest at least 5-6 feet off the ground so it is out of easy reach of neighborhood pets and kids and within hearing distance of the original nest. Don’t feed the baby; it should be hungry and peep because of it – that noise alerts the parents to where it is and they will feed it as well as the siblings back in the original nest.

Fledglings are babies that are old enough to leave the nest. They spend a couple of days hopping around the ground and making buzz flights an inch or two above the ground a foot or two at a time. That is how they learn to fly and build up their strength; activities they can’t do in a nest. Their parents continue to feed them on the ground but don’t stay with the baby at all times. Fledglings are mostly feathered, with wing feathers and a start of tail feathers, but may still have a bit of baby fluff. Babies at this stage should be left alone and monitored from a distance.

In this case, the bird in question was an adult who had flown into the window. Most of the time window strikes cause a bird to be temporarily stunned. We suggest putting them in a covered box, or in a pinch a paper bag with a couple of air holes, and letting them rest someplace quiet for an hour. This protects them from predators and the quiet darkness also helps to reduce their shock. After an hour, take the box outside and open it. If the bird can fly out, fine. If not, it is more seriously injured and should come to a rehabilitator for evaluation. This bird was destined to have a better day and flew away after a short rest.

Thanks for caring!

PS. Don't forget that Tazino's Pizza and Salad Bistro in Menomonee Falls is hosting a 10% event for the Wildlife In Need Center this evening! Download a flyer [here] and 10% of your order will be donated to help us care for our wild neighbors! Tell all your friends and we'll see you there!

Who doesn’t like pizza?

Yes, Waldo is enjoying a nice slice of mushroom pizza and no, he does not get this on a regular basis. Waldo wanted to come up with a good way to tell you all about some really fun events coming up to support him and his friends at the Wildlife In Need Center.

Wednesday, August 11th
Tazino’s Pizza and Salad Bistro
N56 W15560 Silver Spring Drive, Menomonee Falls
Come out in support of WINC between 4PM and 9PM! If you bring one of our special fundraising flyers in 10% of your purchase price will go to the Center in support of our animal care. You NEED a fundraiser flyer for us to receive credit for your purchase. Download one [here] or from our website or pick one up in our office or at the Friends of Nature on Pilgrim Road.

Monday, August 23rd
Mama Mia’s Italian Cuisine
200 East Summit Avenue, Wales
Enjoy a delicious lunch or dinner and support the Wildlife In Need Center at the same time! Through Mamma Mia's Pizza for Profits program, the Center will receive a percentage of the profits on Monday, August 23rd. Stop out for lunch between 11 and 1 or dinner between 4:30 and 9PM! The more people who attend, the more support we'll receive to help our wild neighbors! Bring all your friends; you may also get the chance to meet several of our animal ambassadors at our outdoor booth on-site that evening!

Sales of all types count towards the percentage that the Center could receive so even if you can’t stay for a meal, consider stopping by to pick up a gift certificate for a friend or just for another day!

Find out more about upcoming fundraisers by visiting our website at: www.helpingwildlife.org/newsevents/calendar.htm

P.S. Waldo only ate a small amount of his pizza today, he understands the importance of good nutrition and promptly reached for some greens to finish off his meal.

Breaking New Ground

On Monday May 17th the Wildlife in Need Center, in collaboration with the University of Wisconsin-Waukesha, held its formal ground breaking ceremony at the UW-Waukesha Field Station.

We have finally started, at least ceremonially, the actual construction is planned to start this June. With this start date, the new facility should be completed sometime towards the end of this year. Yes you heard right, we should be completed with our new facility before the start of 2011.

The ground breaking capped off more than two years of discussions, meetings, drafting documents and getting approvals. But in the end all of these steps paid off. The new center will allow us to expand our educational programming, provide a safer, more volunteer friendly facility, become an enhanced community asset, and of course, continue to provide and improve upon the best care possible for our wildlife patients. Needless to say we are all excited about the project. Obviously as things progress we will continue to keep you updated on our progress both online in places like this blog and our website as well as via our membership newsletters and mailings.

One thing you’ll be hearing more about in the coming months is our capital campaign. The campaign’s goal is to raise $1.2 million dollars for the building and its operation. This may seem like a lot, but in addition to building a structure, we need help furnishing the clinic with equipment, as well as establishing an endowment to help pay for the facility on an ongoing basis. If you interested in helping us with our campaign, continue to watch as we track our progress on our website and of course, I would love to hear from you as well.

Guest Blogger M.G.

Thank you for helping us celebrate 16 years of caring

Mealworms and waxworms
$8,458.55
Medications
$3,494.97
Food and Formula (beyond what is generously donated)
$11,198.77
Electricity
$6,729.20
Releasing an animal back to its natural habitat

Priceless

For everything else there’s Wildlife In Need

Last Friday, Arbor Day, we celebrated the “priceless-ness” of wildlife with over 200 of our closest members, volunteers and supporters. This event is our biggest annual fundraiser and this group was one of the largest we’ve had in many years!

Despite the economy, our 16th Annual Banquet and Auction was a bigger success than we could have hoped for and we can’t begin to express our gratitude to each and every individual, business, member, volunteer and supporter who helped make that happen. We received donations from over 85 local (and not so local) businesses in addition to both monetary and auction items donated from over 60 individuals.

In case you missed the touching video put together by a friend of WINC please feel free to view it below.

And thanks again for caring.

Where's Waldo?

He’s celebrating his favorite holiday with folks from the Wildlife In Need Center and the Milwaukee Groundhog Club!

You too, can join us for a Groundhog Day Celebration and prognostication of spring’s arrival
On Tuesday, February 2nd 10AM
In the Upper Ballroom of the Elks Lodge at 2301 Springdale Road in Waukesha

Several area school groups and lovers of this most whimsical day of prognostication will join the Wildlife In Need Center (WINC) and the Milwaukee Groundhog Club as we celebrate Groundhog Day and we hope you will too.

10AM: Education Coordinator Leslie Kiehl will perform an educational program about the Center including the entire line up of educational animal ambassadors.
11AM: The moment we’ve been waiting for all winter will come as handlers and Groundhog Club President Richard Perschon, present Waldo the woodchuck to make his prediction
11:30AM: Stick around to meet-and-greet our educational animal ambassadors up close

Waldo was brought to WINC during the summer of 2008 after being rescued by a couple spending their vacation in an RV. The couple had tried to keep him as a pet and although our staff tried diligently throughout the remainder of the summer and fall to “wild” him up they were unsuccessful. The goal for each animal admitted to WINC is to rehabilitate it so that it can be released back to the wild, but if Waldo couldn’t protect himself from predators he couldn’t be released. When it isn’t possible to release an animal we evaluate their circumstances, injuries and temperament and if they meet certain requirements we look for opportunities for permanent housing. Oftentimes that is with a nature center or other educational facility, but if we have the space and staff time we will occasionally add an animal to our own educational team. In Waldo’s case, not only was he young and healthy with an agreeable personality, we had recently lost our first educational woodchuck to cancer so he couldn’t have come at a better time.

The celebration of Groundhog Day arose from a variety of traditions, including some religious, some seasonal and most importantly, some observational. It gradually became a time when both people as well as animals emerged from their winter slumber to welcome the strengthening sunshine, only to return in wait for the actual coming of spring. Groundhog Day is now held annually on February 2nd which also happens to be the midpoint between the winter solstice and the spring equinox. The most important thing is that the observance of this day gives those of us in cooler climates an excuse to celebrate, breaking up the monotony that leads to spring fever.

The Milwaukee Groundhog Club began in 1908 with a chance meeting of two men whose birthdays both happened to be February 2nd. They met at the Blatz Hotel along with several others who were discovered to be “groundhogs.” This year will mark their 102nd birthday as a group and they are proud to say that every shape, size and color of person (or groundhog) is invited to become a member, as long as their birthday is February 2nd!