Thank You for Helping Wildlife

Do you know how to rescue a Bald Eagle with your finger or and orphaned Gray Squirrel with your wireless mouse? We say it a lot around here at the Wildlife In Need Center and it may sound cliché, but our members and supporters really are saving lives with each donation. Whether it’s an hour of their time, a bottle of green cleaner or a dollar, they all add up to what we need to get the job done.

In-kind donations are a way that we get a tremendous amount of the materials and supplies we need.

In a shameless attempt to win you over with cuteness please review the following photographs:

The following items are things we urgently need due to the large number of patients being admitted daily:

• Paper Towels
• Newspapers
• EVO-Premium Cat Food – (found at Friends of Nature)
• Plastic Storage Tubs – 10, 18 or 35 gallon sizes
• Dry erase EXPO markers – black (or any color)
• Simple Green - (or other similar cleaners like Green Works for example)
• And of course - Greens - Any type

Whether it’s one donation or 100 we can accept them in our office between 9AM and 5PM seven days a week. Thank you for caring.

You can donate online to support our efforts to help our wild neighbors in need too.

Parting is Such Sweet Sorrow

And so it was sweet sorrow for the staff and volunteers of the Wildlife in Need Center, as Romeo and Juliet, the Barred Owls were released on Sunday, March 14th, after twenty-nine days of hydration, weight gain and flight therapy. A small crowd gathered in Menomonee Falls, as staff, volunteers, neighbors and the homeowners witnessed the owl’s flight to freedom. The release was set for 6:00 p.m., a time when the impending dusk would allow for better camouflaging should there be any potential predators. As the star crossed lovers were released, Romeo flew onto a nearby tree branch, checked his bearings a glided silently out of sight. Juliet though, much to everyone’s surprise, landed on a nearby chimney similar to the one from which she’d been rescued. Juliet’s stay was thankfully brief, when with a great beat of her wings she was off and flying through the densely wooded lot. I quickly scanned the trees, locating her perched in a distant tree. Through my camera lens I could still see her dark haunting eyes. She stopped in the tree only long enough to take one last look at her captors, as if to say in her silent stare, “Thank you”, then she was gone.

Good-night, good-night! Parting is such sweet sorrow
That I shall say good-night till it be morrow.
-Juliet, Act II, scene ii

Guest Blogger -KF

A Tail of Two Star Crossed Lovers

O Romeo, Romeo! Wherefore art thou Romeo?

The quote above may easily have been the call of a female Barred Owl, stuck inside a chimney in the Village of Menomonee Falls. On the eve of Saturday, February 13th, the homeowners heard a rustling inside the vent of their fireplace, similar to that of a trapped animal. The noise continued the following day, causing the concerned homeowner to call upon a local wildlife rehabilitator for assistance. It was early Monday morning when the rehabilitators arrived to inspect the fireplace and if needed remove whatever may be causing the commotion inside the chimney. To everyone’s surprise it was not a raccoon, squirrel or wayward bird, but a female Barred Owl! Given the time of year (see owl facts below), it’s possible that while looking for a nest site she found her way to the uncapped chimney. While inspecting the chimney, she may have fallen in and was subsequently not able to fly out. Thankfully, after being trapped for more than 2 days, the rescue was complete and an exhausted and dehydrated Barred Owl was brought to the Wildlife in Need Center. A short time later though, much to everyone’s surprise, the rescuers called to inform us that a second owl, (possibly the mate?) was also trapped in the chimney. Had he entered the area looking for his lost partner? Or had he been trapped higher in the chimney out of sight? Interestingly, Sunday, February 14th was Valentine’s Day and it was that day that most of the sounds had come from the chimney. Could the chimney have been the location of a lovers tryst?

It was later in the day that the male Barred Owl arrived, only slightly dehydrated and in better shape than his female counterpart. Currently both owls are being treated for dehydration and will hopefully be in care for only a short time. They have no idea the delight it brings us all each time they call to each other from their separate enclosures. Meanwhile, the homeowner of the chimney has quickly responded to the situation and is having all of their chimneys capped as this story is written.

Is love a tender thing? It is too rough, Too rude, too boisterous, and it pricks like thorn.

Romeo, Act I, scene iv

The Barred Owl is a medium-sized gray-brown owl streaked with white horizontal barring on the chest and vertical barring on the belly, hence the name. Often confused by name with the Barn Owl, Barred Owls have a round-headed with a whitish/brown facial disk and dark brown trim. Their eyes are dark brown, and the beak is yellow and almost covered by feathers. There is no difference in plumage between the male and female. Primarily a nocturnal owl, you’ll find them roosting high in the trees, camouflaged next to a trunk, or nesting in an open cavity. Their calls are very distinct "Hoo, hoo, too-HOO; hoo, hoo, too-HOO, ooo" which can often sound like "Who, cooks, for-you? Who, cooks, for-you, all?" Barred owls will eat a variety of foods, but meadow voles are its main prey. Squirrels and young rabbits make up a part of their diet, including an occasional roosting bird. Barred Owls also eat animals you would find near a pond or marsh, like frogs, snakes, crickets, and grasshoppers. The courtship for these owls begins in February, with breeding occurring between March and August. Barred Owls mate for life. How long do they live? They can live up to 23 years in captivity and 10 years in the wild. Great Horned Owls are their only natural enemy.

-KF (aka CBL)