Come Gather with Us

Change can sometimes be good, sometimes bad but the changes for our Education Department is GREAT! Moving into our new facility is opening up a wonderful new component for education. In the past our educational leaders and the animal ambassadors would and still do travel to your location of choice for an educational program. With our new Gathering Room we can offer educational programs on site. On October 20th we offered our first in house program to the Passage School students at Lad Lake. What a great experience we had not only the kids but also myself. With this new room the environment is much more inviting and receptive to an up-close and personal experience with the animal ambassadors that make up the education department. The kids could ask as many questions as they wanted to without any time constraints. Because the ambassadors were at their own home the kids could spend more time with them too. The critters appreciate not having to be packed up one-plus hours before the program and not going out into extreme heat or cold.


Question and Answer time with Dakota the Great Horned Owl


The space itself invites a more natural setting for wildlife education. Our building is surrounded by beautiful pines and prairie fields. You come into the Gathering Area to warm hues trimmed in maple and pine. The room is outlined with our herp educators who would love to inspire you.



Private lessons with Daphne the Muscovy duck



In addition to our programming, if your group or organization is in need of a gathering place give us a call to make arrangements to hold it at our facility 262-965-3090.

Guest Blogger L.K.

Miracles Happen Everyday

Well actually a "Miracle" (having the Wildlife In Need Center and our children's environmental education project funded) did not happen today. However, each day a wild animal makes it through our doors, or is set free after rehabilitation, a new volunteer gains experience and insight they couldn't get anywhere else, or a child's world is changed forever by meeting our educational ambassador, Dakota, the Great Horned Owl - we consider that a miracle.

While I do wish I were writing to tell you all that we had just been chosen as one of Potawatomi Bingo Casino’s Miracle Charities for 2011, and the amazing things we’d hoped to do with the opportunity, that's not the case for this year. We do however, have a number of interesting and exciting projects in the works that I wanted to tell you about.

You should already know about our various volunteer programs, outreach programs, and of course our focus on continuing to provide the best rehabilitation to our wild neighbors possible. I thought you might be interested in a few other projects that we’re working on which you may not have heard about until now.

Did you know that an important segment of WINC’s mission from the beginning has been to provide education to the public for the benefit of our wild neighbors? In addition to providing answers via phone, website, and other means (like our blog!), for nearly a decade we’ve offered environmental education programs featuring our ambassador animals on an outreach basis through as many as 120 outreach programs a year! Now that supporters like you have helped us reach new heights with the completion of our new facility we hope your generosity will continue to help us soar even higher with these unique education-focused projects.

1. One project WINC is collaborating on is focused on connecting children and wildlife through learning. This project involves long-time supporter, Rebecca Seymour, and children’s author and President of The Little Environmentalists, Rebecca Mattano, as well as staff and volunteers of WINC. Our team is creating a book featuring the educational animal ambassadors that can be used in conjunction with as well as independently of the general educational programming we’re already providing.

When used during one of our programs, children of all ages, from tots to seniors, will have the chance to revisit the experience that they had meeting Dakota, Waldo, and even Daphne, in this book that will remain with their classroom or activity coordinator. Those who, for whatever reason, don’t have the option of a live program could request several copies of this book through which any educator could offer a unique experience on its own to their students.

These books would also be available to anyone visiting the new WINC facility, whether simply to browse through or to purchase to take home and use to educate their own friends and family. The total budget for this project is $10,000. Donated time from both Rebecca Seymour and Rebecca Mattano, funds from sales at The Little Environmentalists, as well as a $1,000 grant already received from the Greater Oconomowoc Area Foundation have helped to bring the amount we still need before going to print to $6,500. Once the books are printed, funds from any sold here in our office will be saved to pay for future printings.

Are you interested in finding our more about this program? Are you a professional designer or editor interested in joining our team, or do you work for a publishing company that might be interested in helping us make this dream project a true reality? Perhaps you’re just interested in making a small contribution to help us get to our goal? If so, please contact us today!

Stay tuned to future posts for more unique projects you may not know about going on at WINC that you can get involved with!

Notice: Today’s Groundhog Day event has been cancelled

Groundhog Day is today and everyone is wondering, where’s Waldo?

He’ll be snoozing in his favorite log; he’s heard about the blizzard outside and has chosen to sleep in today. I think it’s safe to say that he will not see his shadow even if he does emerge for breakfast; or lunch. No shadow means an early spring!

We have regrettably cancelled the planned education programming and celebrations at the Elks Lodge due to today's winter storm.

The celebration of Groundhog Day arose from a variety of traditions, including some religious, some seasonal and most importantly, 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 colder climates an excuse to celebrate, breaking up the monotony that leads to spring fever.

We Wisconsinites will have to settle for the next Packers match-up to lift our spirits instead. Waldo and his fellow animal ambassadors have been hosting pep-rallies for our selfless volunteers who come in on game days. In addition to predicting an early spring Waldo also predicts that his favorite team, the Packers, will win Sunday’s game 35-21. He’ll be sound asleep in his favorite log for most of it, but we’ll tell him who won when he wakes up.

Daphne, as quarterback, is a force to be reckoned with



Slither is all over the ball!



Jewel always picks the role of half-back



Waldo waits for the hike...



and tackles the ball to the ground!



While Pecan is busy preparing for the celebration party!

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



Holiday Mail

It's the end of the year and the support of our current former and future volunteers and members means even more this time of year. Things are always busy even though far fewer patients are coming in each day as we have reports, tax forms and myriad other office duties to finalize. Not to mention all the planning for the next season! I know that everyone of our readers was here yesterday looking for our most recent post and didn't find it. Lisa wrote a wonderful post to share with you all though and I know once you read it you'll realize it was worth the wait. 

Mail at the Center around the holidays is fun. We get more mail than usual, especially this year because in addition to our annual year-end appeal we have launched our capital campaign as well. But it’s the holiday mail that is so exciting to open. Beautiful Christmas cards with wildlife pictures spill from envelopes. Former and current volunteers send letters updating us on their families’ activities in the past year. Many of our former volunteers have retired to warmer climates (if only I could follow!) and volunteer with other wildlife rehabilitation facilities so it’s interesting to hear their stories. We even get picture cards of families - and their pets! I’ve been here awhile so I remember many of these people and it’s always great to find out what they are up to now. It brings back memories from the past – remember that rescue when…, that bird that got loose on you in the clinic and then…, the phone call when the people said they had a kangaroo in the yard (it wasn’t a kangaroo, it was a wallaby). The stories when you mix people and animals are always interesting and often take some odd turns. The memories are wonderful to recall.

Some cards come with donations that are holiday gifts to family and friends. Some are memorials. Since 2003 we have gotten a memorial in December for Courtney, daughter and sister. I don’t know Courtney’s story, but each year I think of her and her family. One of our volunteers started her volunteer work here as a memorial to her daughter who had been an intern with WINC and passed away around the holidays several years ago. She says volunteering here makes her feel closer to her daughter. For several years in December we’ve received a donation from a kind woman who asks that we send our newsletter to her nephew who is incarcerated. I remember her initial letter. She didn’t make excuses for him but lamented his poor choices that led to his situation. She said he was someone who always has loved animals and now he can’t be around them and so she thought our newsletter would be of interest to him. As someone who has always had pets and works with wild animals to help them be free and wild again, I can’t imagine not being around animals and not being free myself. I wish her nephew rehabilitation and freedom in the future. These sad notes make me grateful for my life and the people in it. This is a good time of year to contemplate the many gifts we all have in our lives.

We get Christmas cards and notes from our members and from people who have brought us wildlife thanking us for caring for the animals. It’s what we do every day and so most of the time I don’t think of wildlife rehabilitation as something out of the ordinary. Doesn’t everyone drop bill paying to go rescue a Great Horned owl lying in the road? Don’t all of you discuss juvenile raccoon fecal results while eating lunch? Answering phones while wearing Slither the Educational Fox Snake isn’t out of the ordinary to me. Driving to the vet’s office with a screech owl, a painted turtle, a mallard and a red-tailed hawk isn’t the beginning of a joke but just ordinary car-pooling, isn’t it? Listening to the rustle within boxes as our UPS guy brings this weeks delivery of 80,000 live mini mealworms, 40,000 live medium mealworms and 2,000 live wax worms just reminds me that I need to order more frozen mice and chicks too. Visiting the restroom and sharing space with the Canada goose in the tub happens at your house too, right? But I really appreciate the kind words and thanks of people for the work we do. Staff and volunteers make a difference to animals every day here and it is a special privilege to do so. Sometimes I just have to stop and enjoy the sight of our wild patients or Dakota the educational great horn owl hooting hello as I go from the office to the clinic and be thankful. WINC is a special place filled with wonderful caring people and amazing animals. It is a gift to be here every day of the year.

Guest Blogger L.R.

P.S. We still have fabulous 2011 WINC Calendars featuring our educational animal ambassador team! They are only $15 and all the funds raised go towards our care for wild neighbors.

For more information on how to get one visit or contact our office

Through an Intern’s Eyes

Working at the Wildlife in Need Center (WINC) as a marketing intern for the past three months has been a great ride, whether it was preparing for a fundraiser, navigating my way through a donor database, or admitting cute little orphaned or injured critters into the center. Working with dedicated WINC employees, learning the tricks of the trade in marketing within a nonprofit organization, and giving snacks to Waldo the Woodchuck in between my daily tasks has made this internship an informative and memorable experience.

I came into this internship having a love for but little knowledge of Wisconsin wildlife. Having grown up in a rural area, I came to know and have a soft spot for the little animals that found their way into my front yard and my mom’s vegetable garden, even though their crimes were not always warmly welcomed! However, I now feel that I have gained more insight into how I can live in harmony with wildlife. Reading the book Wild Neighbors by the Humane Society of the United States and learning from my supervisors at WINC have taught me how I can prevent wildlife from becoming nuisances around my home. Admitting patients in WINC’s front office allowed me opportunities to hold and identify wildlife.

But as many of you know, school is just around the bend. My free time to bird-watch and observe fascinating Wisconsin wildlife will be extremely limited. The months will get busier, and my head will increasingly feel heavier with school assignments and other activities. I am going to make the assumption that many of you will also have busier schedules upon the arrival of fall. Who has the time or means to donate to wildlife when there is no room on our calendars and never-ending bills to pay?

However, for those of us who wish to remember the animals in the midst of our busy schedules, we can still pitch in and help! For example...

1. Whether it is shopping at the grocery store, filling up gas in our cars, or renewing our magazine subscriptions, there are many ways in which we can provide for wildlife during our everyday routines. Please visit WINC’s website at www.helpingwildlife.org/newsevents/fundraisers.htm to read more about these easy and worthwhile opportunities.
2. We can donate our extra veggies, pet foods, and/or other products that could benefit injured wildlife. View WINC’s wish list online at www.helpingwildlife.org/getinvolved/wishlist.htm.
3. We should take precautions around our homes to ensure the safety of our families and nearby wildlife. We can find out what we can do to prevent any wildlife-related disasters from occurring by visiting the helpful links at www.helpingwildlife.org/wldlemergency/hoursloc.htm.
4. If we do see animals that appear to be injured or in trouble, making a simple phone call to WINC or visiting its website to learn about the proper steps we should take could save lives!
5. WINC is always in need of volunteers and interns throughout the year! Whether it is caring for the animals in person, working in the front office and reaching out the community, or educating the public on our wild neighbors, WINC always needs our help! View these awesome volunteer and internship opportunities at www.helpingwildlife.org/getinvolved/volunteer.htm.

I will miss my summer days with Waldo the Woodchuck, Daphne the Duck, and all of the other educational animals and patients at the Wildlife in Need Center. However, even though I will not be able to see them every day, I will always remember them and try my best to remain a part of WINC, whether it is contributing donations that fit inside my budget or volunteering my time at the center next summer. Where there is a will, there is a way!

I was only an intern at WINC this past summer, but in the end, I couldn’t help but feel like I became a part of a…family. And shouldn’t family members always support each other?

...Daphne the Duck says, "YES!"

Guest Blogger J.M.

NOTE: Do you have any suggestions for WINC’s upcoming blog posts? If so, please post them in your comment, and WINC may use them in the near future!

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.

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!