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Educational Gallery
Hover over each thumbnail below and learn more about some of our patients.
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Barnadette
Great Horned Old She was found on the ground in front of a home in Gilroy, unable to fly away and was brought to WERC in Morgan Hill. X-rays showed that her left wing had been illegally pinioned, which is surgical amputation at the wrist to prevent flight (a procedure commonly used on domestic ducks and geese). She would never be able to be released back to the wild skies and fields but had the good fortune to be given a second chance to live a long and protected life as WERC's ambassador. Afterward, WERC discovered that the barn owl had been seen that October during trick-or-treating night, perched as a prop on the shoulder of a person dressed as Harry Potter! Should you or your children plan to dress up as Harry this Halloween, be authentic and legal: Get a snowy owl-the correct species of Harry's pet, Hedwig-stuffed toy. -
Rosie O'Possum
Opossum In 2005, with permission from the California Dept. of Fish and Game, the Wildlife Education and Rehabilitation Center's (WERC) educational opossums, Blossom and Pogo joined these talented critters and created unique hand-and-foot-painted artwork by walking over paper with safe and non-toxic paints. The two opossums even had their own "meet the artist" show, where Blossom's extraordinary, "Blossoms by Blossom" abstract paintings were on display along with those of the younger opossum, Pogo, who painted smaller versions called "Impressions". Their hand-prints resemble tiny flowers and a tail and fur brush-stroke gives an extra flair of color. There's a method behind their marsupial meanderings: The two opossums were enticed to artistic heights with a bribe of a special treat and the resulting compositions are as colorful as a rainbow in a spring garden. -
Black-tailed jackrabbits saved by German shepherd
During a lull in February storms, Gilroy resident Tom Schatzel took advantage of the pleasant weather and went for an early morning walk in the fields near his home with his companion German shepherd, "Scout." What a surprise when Scout trotted back, carefully carrying a tiny 4-ounce rabbit in its mouth! Scout placed the rabbit at his owner's feet, then ran off again and brought back a second little bunny, wet and cold from the prior day's rain. Tom asked Scout, "Where did you find these?" and the dog led him to the exact spot where the babies had been discovered. Fortunately, there were no more bunnies left out in the cold. Jackrabbit mothers hide their babies, called leverets, in a shallow depression or flattened nest of grass and return twice a day, at dawn and dusk, to nurse. It's not known whether these two jackrabbits were orphaned, but due to being exposed to such inclement weather, it's very likely that they would have died if not rescued. -
Zorro to the rescue
Turkey Vulture baby The bird was found along a trail in Carmel Valley and brought to the SPCA of Monterey County. Staff there attempted to reunite the healthy baby with its parents by returning to the site and placing it under the tree where its nest was believed to be. The efforts were unsuccessful, as the parents never returned, and so the nestling went back to SPCA, where volunteers wore sheets, gloves and masks to feed the baby. The cover-up was necessary to help prevent the nestling from imprinting on the This turkey vulture nestling is the newest member at the Wildlife Education and Rehabilitation Center in Morgan Hill human caretakers and to help cover up their scent. To further the goal of keeping the bird wild, the SPCA sent out word to wildlife rehabilitation centers throughout California to see if anyone had another young turkey vulture that could be a "buddy" to this one. Nobody had an orphaned vulture. It's an atypical situation as baby vultures are unusual patients at wildlife facilities. -
Western Screech Owl
About 90% of the animals brought to wildlife rehabilitators are injured, sick, or orphaned due to human-caused circumstances, whether intentional or inadvertent. Oil spills, habitat loss, and forest fires caused by campfires are responsible for devastating harm to wildlife, requiring the intervention of specialized rescuers. However, with just a little caution and foresight, ordinary people can do much to prevent accidental deaths and injuries to local wildlife. It can be as simple as putting decals on your windows to prevent birds from flying into them. By increasing public awareness, wildlife rehabilitators hope to encourage people to alter habits and thought processes, thereby reducing the need for rehabilitation. Driving alertly and within the speed limits, especially at night, can save the lives of the deer, opossums, raccoons, and skunks that are too often road-kill. Car collision injuries are the most common seen by wildlife rehabilitators, including a red-tailed hawk just admitted to WERC that was side-swiped and suffered a concussion. -
'Modoc' returns home after 10 months
On May 29, 2008, a 3-week-old bobcat was rescued from underneath a bridge that had collapsed when the swollen Pit River flooded from heavy rainfall and destroyed an old log dam. The tiny female kitten was shivering from being cold and wet and was desperately hungry. Luis A., a member of the Hewisedawi band of the Pit River Nation (northeast California), searched unsuccessfully for the bobcat's mother in hopes that she and her mewing baby could be reunited. The kitten was quickly dried, warmed up and fed for several days, then was brought to Tina Hodge of Eagle Peak Wildlife Care who bottle-fed and provided further TLC over the next week. When Modoc was 10 weeks old, she was transferred from the nursery to a large outdoor enclosure at WERC where she had plenty of room to run and climb. For the next four months, her costumed surrogate mother continued to interact with her in the enclosure, bringing her food and cleaning up after her. Under normal conditions, WERC strives to release a bobcat back into its native habitat when it's 6 months old and has acquired survival skills and proven fear and avoidance of humans. -
Peregrine Falcon
Early in July, a local family noticed an injured falcon in the middle of a field. They rescued it and brought it to the Santa Clara Co. Animal Control and Care, who then contacted the Wildlife Education and Rehabilitation Center. Because the falcon was sporting a leather anklet, the agency also contacted Kenny Elvin, an expert falconer. Elvin explained to us that the "backpack" is actually a radio transmitter attached to the falcon's back, and helps track a wandering or lost bird. In this case, it's definitely fitting that the raptor's species name is Falco peregrinus, meaning wandering falcon. Elvin put out word on the falconer network and learned that Karl Kerster, a falconer for over 30 years, owned a male peregrine (called a "tercel") named Beethoven that had flown off during a demonstration at San Francisco in April. Unfortunately, the transmitter signal was scrambled and Kerster was unable to locate his falcon. [By coincidence, the composer Beethoven wrote an apt folk song-bet you didn't know he wrote more than just concertos-called "A wandering gypsy, Sirs, am I".] -
Great horned owl
Luna, right, has been a surrogate mother to several owlets Luna, the Wildlife Education and Rehabilitation Center's educational great horned owl, may be only 2 years old - barely out of babyhood herself - but she is already an experienced hoot'n-nanny. Last spring, she served as a surrogate mother to her first owlet, which helped it avoid becoming imprinted on the human caretakers. That young raptor was released on a clear October evening, back to its native habitat, a wild and beautiful bird. Now Luna is a busy babysitter again, this time being kept company by three downy orphans that were rescued in May. Luna, right, has been a surrogate mother to several owlets Two of them are siblings that had fallen from their nest in Gilroy, and were rescued near a busy intersection. Because one of the babies suffered an eye injury from the fall and needed medical treatment, it was a week before the two could go to Luna for foster parenting. The day after they were "adopted" by Luna, a third owlet arrived. It had been illegally held captive as a pet by its finder. At WERC, the owl's examination showed that it was malnourished from being fed an improper diet. -
Yellow-Bellied Marmot
They are"whistle pigs"-because they whistle when alarmed by predators Since marmots live at elevations of about 6,000-13,000 feet, much higher than the Bay Area, WERC did a little detective work and contacted neighbors who live nearby to see if anyone had recently visited the eastern Sierra. It was established that he most likely hitchhiked on a car from Sparks, Nevada all the way down to Morgan Hill-a 270-mile and 5-hour-long trip.It was critical to return the marmot to its original habitat, for genetic reasons and per California Department of Fish and Wildlife regulations. But just as staff was getting ready to sing "country roads, take me home, to the place I belong", there was a set-back. Like the best laid plans of mice (side note- "marmot" is derived from a word that means "mountain mouse") and men, the marmot's planned release went astray. After 6 days fattening up at WERC and just one day before he was to be transported back home, he decided to go on the lam again. He had industriously chewed through a plastic cable, got out of the cage, dug under the enclosure, and escaped into the woods.