Hobbitstee Wildlife Refuge
1226 Concession 4 Walpole N0A 1J0 Jarvis, ON

I am told this week is #animalcontrolappreciationweek. This is a great time to thank all the hardworking staff at the large number of SPCA’s, Humane Societies and Animal Control Agencies we work with on a daily basis. I have had the pleasure to know some of the staff for at least 12 years or more. ... Animal Control is not an easy job. It involves a heart breaking tasks, dealing with irate people and seeing types of abuse and neglect nobody wants to see. Many of the staff work very hard all hours for not a lot of pay while often having to deal with people bad mouthing them in person and on social media. Animal control staff are in the job because they love animals. A huge thank you to all of you who go above and beyond to help us help more wildlife! Brant County SPCA Cambridge & District Humane Society KW Humane Society Guelph Humane Society Hillside Kennels Animal Control Lincoln County Humane Society Niagara SPCA & Humane Society Niagara Falls Location City of Hamilton Animal Services Burlington Animal Services Oakville & Milton Humane Society Brampton Animal Services Fort Erie Spca (I hope is didn’t forget anyone, please let me know if I did...it is not on purpose)

After a tree removal these eggs were found. According to the literature these are Purple Finch eggs. After checking the eggs for viability they are now residing in our incubator.

This Common Loon is so lucky to have been rescued by the staff at Stelco. The loon was found stranded on dry land entangled in fishing line. Xrays done at Scott Veterinary Clinic showed the loon did not swallow a fishhook, but despite that the loon is not in good shape and certainly in poor body condition and badly dehydrated. We are working on hydration right now and hopefully we can get this bird healthy enough to resume migration.

This Turkey Vulture created a bit of a stir in Platsville. He was found stumbling down the road and we received many calls out him. One of the callers kindly covered him with a box to await our volunteer Peggy. There was some confusion over mill street east and west, but luckily a hydro crew escorted Peggy to where the Vulture was waiting for her. This poor lad was in deplorable shape on arrival. The picture was taken several hours later. I believe he has consumed some type... of neuro toxin. All his symptoms point in that direction, but unfortunately there are no test to confirm this diagnosis. As seen in pic he was feeling a bit better after several hours of IO fluids and warmth, but he is far from cured.

With a little internal happy dance I moved the adult male fox to an outside enclosure on the weekend. He is able to stand and walk now. He is still having balance related issues, but he has improved much faster than I had anticipated.

This warm weather is certainly having an impact on wildlife. Not only are turtles on the move already, but we never have had this many orphaned mammal and bird babies is this soon. Due to the number of animals we have in care and the call volume right now we will be slower than usual in responding to update requests. Please don’t be offended, but unfortunately there is only so many hours in a day.

I think this juvenile opossum has the right idea on this gloomy day...staying in bed! And yes, if looks could kill I’d be dead.

Set # 3 Hey friends! The time has come to do our one day auction for the full set of keychain and original 4 sponsor wildlife. Bidding starts at a $1 and all proceeds above the shipping $2 will go to our friends at Hobbitstee. If you want it for Xmas and are local to Hamilton... we’ll drop it off. If you’d like express post ... we ask that you cover the $7 so the whole winning bid goes to Hobbitstee. ... Any questions please direct to myself through email of messenger here in FB. Happy bidding Hobbitstee friends!! Victoria who is in charge of these auctions can be reached at: [email protected].

As funny as this is...I bet there is a truth to it.

This little lad is a Sharp Shinned Hawk. He suffered a serious wing injury and is sleeping comfortably with the help of pain medication. He came to us with the help of City of Hamilton Animal Services.

Not the best picture, but it makes me happy nonetheless. This red tailed hawk arrived with severe head trauma several weeks ago. Trauma to the brain is unpredictable and we never know what the healing process will bring and as long as we see progress we keep moving forward I was starting to lose hope that he would ever get his balance back and would be able to stand, but this morning he is sitting up. The side you see in the pic is his bad side. That eye was swollen shut pr...eviously, but his vision is intact and he is alert and feisty. This lad never lost his appetite or fight and I think regaining his ability to sit up is a huge step in the right direction.

This gorgeous Ruffed Grouse was attacked by a dog and sustained some injuries and wounds. He is recovering nicely and we are hopeful he will make a full recovery.

When grapes taste this good! This opossum has been with us for some time and will need to stay for the winter. She has some skin/fur related issues.

This tiny fellow was found out in the cold. It is a storeria dekayi or DeKay’s Brownsnake. Not sure how he ended up there, but as an ectothermic species he is unable to produce his own body heat and movement would be almost impossible at these low temps. We have to see if it warms up enough yet for us to return him to near his home so that he can hunker down and brumate for the winter. If not he will get to stay with us until it warms up enough. ... These guys eat invertebrates such as slugs and worms and some other types of insects. They grow to be about 30 cm long.

This gorgeous lady Red Tailed Hawk returned to her life in the wild today. Of course she waited with flying until after I put my camera away. This girl hold the record for the heaviest red tailed hawk we have had in care ever weighing in at 1760 gr.

Yesterday we received 2 gorgeous snakes who had been found stuck in the holes of a sign post. The person who found the snakes painstakingly and carefully removed them both. They are unusual looking and I had to confer with experts to get a proper ID on them. They both are Eastern Gartersnakes, but a morph (colour pattern) I had never seen before. The snakes will join some of the DeKay’s Brownsnake and American Toad we already have in the incubator so that they may brumate s...afely till spring. Brumation is a dormant period where bodily functions slow down to a minimum. In reptiles and amphibians it is dictated by environmental factors such as temperature. This incubator was donated by Exo Terra and it conveniently not only helps us hatch turtle eggs during the summer, but also brumate reptiles and amphibians during the winter months.

Let's not unnecessarily delay medical care for wildlife. They deserve treatment and pain management just like any other animal. https://medium.com/@h/the-predator-prey-factor-416067a8952b

This White-Winged Scoter survived the long trip to us after being found stranded earlier today on the shores of Lake Huron. We were very lucky to have some awesome folks drive the bird all the way here and it just arrived. We went to work right away to hydrate and cool the bird down. Scoters are seabirds and very easily overheat when they get stuck on dry land. There are some minor physical injuries, but I doubt they are the cause of the full scope of issues this duck is de...aling with. Our blood chemistry analyzer agreed with me and found the blood to thick to run and gave me an error, so we have settled for cooling, hydrating and stabilizing prior to doing a full exam. The bird is in critical condition. We will hopefully be able to do a more in depth exam in the morning.

With the previous post in mind I have a whole bunch of ideas in mind. One of them is to help create some resources to prevent bird injuries and illnesses. For starters I have written the following blog. I am looking for feedback on if this is helpful or not? I know this topic has been covered many times over, but I have tried to condense it and add my own two cents. ... https://hobbitsteewildliferefuge.medium.com/bird-feeder-dis

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

This Broad Winged Hawk has been with us for almost two months and today after recovering from head trauma with a slight loss of vision in her right eye she was able to return to her life in the wild. Broad Winged Hawks are migratory and this girl is a little behind on this, but she should have enough time to migrate yet and catch up with her own kind.

We are joining the Nature Canada team to help with creating 'Bird Safe Communities'. We are thrilled to be able to contribute to reducing bird injuries and mortality and to work on increasing bird friendly habitat and general knowledge about birds. Stay tuned to learn more...

A Burlington OPP officer rescued an injured swan from the lanes of the #QEW this week, and we are pleased to report that the bird is expected to make a full recovery. It is currently at the Hobbitstee Wildlife Refuge. Officers considered charges for jay-walking. ^dh

Just wanted to share with you a ‘fun’ part of wildlife rehabilitation. These are feather mites. All birds have them, but the raven we have in care has way more or them than normal which is unhealthy. After handling him for an exam I took a video of my hand and arm. Needless to say I had to go shower and chance my clothes after his exam and anti-parasitical treatment (I was contemplating anti-parasitical treatment for myself also, but a shower did the trick). Luckily feather mites can’t live long on humans and don’t cause and really issues.

Difference between an American Crow and a Common Raven: This is one of each side by side. The crow in the front is a good bit smaller and has a smaller shorter beak. The raven in the back has a curve at the tip of his beak and is considerably larger than the crow. In flight: a crow has the same length tail feathers, so giving the tail a straight edge. Ravens have shorter outer tail feathers giving the tail a more diamond shaped appearance. ... For me when in flight the most obvious way to tell them apart is the sound they make. We have a breeding pair of ravens around and I frequently hear them well before I see them. They sound very different than the more familiar caw of the American Crow.

This raven was caught in a hail storm and unable to fly and was lucky to be caught by one of the dedicated volunteers from Coyote Watch Canada and transported to us with the help of the Guelph Humane Society. The raven has some underlying medical conditions which we are are working on. Ravens are extraordinary birds, highly intelligent and fast learners. I hope we can get him past his issues and back to his family.

Had to share...how awesome is this dog? https://youtu.be/ckV1K6_2Dbg

It appears the swan we received from the City of Hamilton Animal Services had a bit of an ordeal. Thank you Ontario Provincial Police and everyone involved for rescuing this animal. The swan is with us recovering from minor issues, but should make a full recovery. ... https://www.chch.com/swan-rescue-on-the-qew/

On a positive note: the porcupine continues to improve.

I am sad to say the little coyote pup did not survive her extreme emaciation. Her death was followed soon by this emaciated adult coyote. We have not yet been able to figure out what her problem is, but she is not well. She is eating and drinking however which is positive. I do mourn the loss of the animals who don’t make it or need to be euthanized, but through dedicating my time and energy to helping other of the same species recover I feel I honour the memory of the animals who don’t recover and it helps me carry on.

This tiny little coyote lady is barely hanging in there. Kind people found her exhausted in their horse barn earlier today. Thanks to a relay of awesome volunteer drivers the pup has arrived here. She is profoundly emaciated and dehydrated with a bad case of Sarcoptic Mange. The finders has been seeing coyotes on their farm with mange but had been unable to capture them. ... We will do the best we can for this pup, but her life is very much in the balance. She is receiving warmed IO fluids and gets to sleep in one of our nice warm incubators. Hopefully she has it in her to recover.