This season, give wildlife a second change at life

One of the most rewarding aspects of working with wildlife is being able to share stories of the successful rehabilitation and release of patients who, because of your support, have been able to return to their natural life.

Earlier this year, we received a call to our Helpline about a nest of Vaux’s Swifts that had fallen down a chimney at a monastery in Agassiz, BC. Four nestlings, only a few days old, had survived the tumble but without feathers, a home or their mom, they would not live for long.

Luckily, they had you… As a Wildlife Rescue supporter, you know that injured and orphaned wildlife can have a second chance when they receive prompt medical treatment, appropriate nutrition, and care.

That is why I am writing to you today. As human populations continue to rise, Wildlife Rescue sees more and more injured and orphaned wildlife brought to us for treatment and we don’t want to turn any of them away.

You can help us feed and care for vulnerable animals by sending an urgently needed contribution to Wildlife Rescue today. Here’s what your tax-deductible donation can provide:

• $50 will provide electricity needed for incubators for 4 days
• $100 will provide animal care for a day by a junior wildlife technician
• $250 will provide veterinary medical treatment for a critically injured animal
• $500 will provide full treatment, rehabilitation and release of one animal

You are the reason so many animals have a second chance at life. Thank you. I hope you will continue your commitment to urban wildlife by making a generous gift to Wildlife Rescue today.

Now, you may be wondering whatever happened to the four baby siblings, that family of Vaux’s Swifts from Agassiz?

When our rescue volunteer arrived at the hospital with them, the birds were quiet, dehydrated, and weak. Featherless, the nestlings were unable to regulate their body temperature on their own and hospital staff quickly got them settled in an incubator.
Meanwhile, Wildlife Rescue staff, knowing that Vaux’s Swifts cannot perch or walk, and that their feet and tail feathers are designed for clinging to vertical surfaces, constructed a specialized vertical structure to house them, one that loosely resembled a makeshift chimney.

Over the next several weeks, hospital staff took on the role of mom by handfeeding the chicks every 15 minutes from dawn to dusk and providing the critical nutrition for their bodies to grow. Soon, all four of the babies began to flourish.

As feathers grew in and wing muscles developed, they started climbing the walls of their enclosure and began to explore. Within a few weeks they started to test their wings, flapping and taking little jumps up the wall. Monitored throughout their stay, Wildlife Rescue staff were at last confident that these now healthy, young adults could be released to join a robust colony of wild Vaux’s Swifts in North Vancouver.

You made this possible! Because of you, Wildlife Rescue is able to give each wild animal what they need to recover and succeed. Your support today will help provide injured and orphaned wildlife with the expert medical attention, species-appropriate nutrition, and rehabilitation care to return to the wild.

As a Wildlife Rescue supporter, you understand that every wild animal is special and deserves a chance at life. We are deeply grateful for your continued support. Your gift today makes a big difference tomorrow and every day!