By Karen Melton
The Philadelphia Metro Wildlife Center (PMWC) relocated in July of 2019 to a three-acre property just north of Norristown in Montgomery County. A 2020 Sierra Club Huplits Grant has enabled the center to expand the number of outside enclosures available for housing injured large raptors while they mend and prepare to return to the wild.
Based on a prototype built by PMWC staff and materials paid for by the Huplits grant, Boy Scout volunteers and others built five large raptor enclosures that have housed a variety of hawks, vultures, Great Horned Owls, and even a Snowy Owl in the past year.
Large raptors that are brought to PMWC are seriously debilitated or they could not have been captured. Most often they have a fractured or broken bone so are unable to fly and consequently, they are also often starving. Others are suffering from concussions after colliding with buildings. PMWC rehabilitators are able to set some fractures at the center, while others require a visit to the Radnor Veterinary Hospital for X-rays and possible surgery.
Initially kept in indoor enclosures, staff and volunteers interact as little as possible with the animals to minimize stress while maintaining cleanliness and a steady supply of food. Once the bandages are off, large outdoor enclosures provide a safe and private space for the final period of healing.
The Huplits-funded enclosures occasionally have other occupants. Squirrels can produce offspring two times a year – February/March and August/September. In 2020 several orphaned baby squirrels were brought to PMWC much too late in the fall for them to mature, establish a home territory, and gather a store of food for the winter. Instead, they overwintered with PMWC in one of the Huplits enclosures (pictured). The squirrel houses were built and donated by local school girls.
PMWC is one of fewer than 30 organizations in all of Pennsylvania with certified rehabilitators who are authorized to care for injured and orphaned wildlife. The Pennsylvania Game Commission manages the certification of rehabilitators which involves passing an intensive exam for each category of species: raptors, passerines, mammals, native reptiles and amphibians, rabies vector species, and endangered/threatened species. Of the facilities in Pennsylvania only 8 are certified for all species, and more than half have a single certified rehabber. PMWC has three rehabbers certified for all Pennsylvania species, so is able to provide a broad range of animal support in the Southeastern PA region. They include PMWC Director Rick Schubert, Assistant Director Michele Wellard, and Education Director Jackie Kent.
Jackie was awarded a 2018-2019 Huplits grant to conduct up to 40 free wildlife education programs at schools and community groups in theSoutheastern Pennsylvania region that could not have otherwise afforded one.
Thanks to the previous Huplits grant, hundreds of children and others of all ages are getting to learn about the wildlife around us, and thanks to the 2020 grant, injured raptors in Southeastern Pennsylvania have these sturdy, handmade enclosures in which to heal and prepare for return to the wild.
While certified wildlife rehabbers are scarce, funding is non-existent. Wildlife rehab centers must raise all of their own money for the considerable expenses involved--there is no public funding. In addition to staff, there are incubators for orphaned babies, costly special foods and formulas, and a wide variety of indoor and outdoor enclosures appropriate for each species. Baby birds require feeding every 30 to 60 minutes, and baby mammals every 4 hours, so wildlife care involves many volunteers, 365 days a year – an opportunity for Sierra Club animal lovers to consider.
Karen Melton is the Education Co-chair of the Southeastern Pennsylvania Group and a volunteer with Philadelphia Metro Wildlife Center.
This is one in a series of articles about projects supported by Huplits Wildlife Grants The annual grants are awarded and administered by the Sierra Club Allegheny Group with funding provided by the Huplits Foundation for projects involving public education, litigation, land acquisition or research directly focused on protecting PA wildlife, its habitats, and preventing cruelty to animals.
This blog was included as part of the Spring 2021 Sylvanian newsletter. Please click here to check out more articles from this edition!