I love being a wildlife veterinarian!  However, working with over 160 species means that I need to know about many different types of animals; this makes me more of a generalist (ie. your family doctor) rather than a specialist (ie. an oncologist).  When an animal has a problem that I’m unfamiliar with and books aren’t helping, I’m not afraid to call in the true specialist for a second opinion.

This female mallard came into us after being hit by a car.  She had some wounds at the base of her beak and some scratches on one eye (a large one is visible in the photo below).

The scratches didn’t heal with typical treatment (antibiotics, pain medications), so I called an ophthalmologist.  Luckily, Dr. Olivero from the Animal Eye Clinic in St. Louis Park, is nice enough to volunteer his services for wildlife.  He examined the mallard with me and provided additional suggestions for its course of treatment. WRC is very lucky to have boarded veterinary specialists like Dr. Olivero to help our patients when needed.

Thanks to Dr. Olivero, this mallard is well on her way to recovery!

A Northern Leopard frog was brought into the Center about a week ago, it was found on top of the ice of a frozen lake, and it was thought that it was trying to get under in order to hibernate, but unfortunately had made it just a bit too late.

It had some minor scratches to its skin, and a curious air bubble on its upper back, beneath its skin. I learned this is called a subcutaneous emphysema (see picture above).

The Northern Leopard frog is actually the state amphibian of Minnesota! It has been housed in an aquarium within our reptile and amphibian ward, and given some much-needed warmth and food. Now its lesions are healing nicely, and the subcutaneous emphysema has completely disappeared! Unfortunately, this frog will have to stay with us over the winter, since although it is a species well adapted to the cold, it is well past the date when it should have found a hibernation spot. It’ll be released with other over-wintered amphibians and reptiles in the spring.

‘Tis the season for reflection and party conversation, for simple answers to complex questions and for small talk and big ideas. That came home with me recently when I was asked, “So what do you do for a living?” Of course, I always eagerly anticipate that question because I love what we do at WRC. It’s also an easy question because what we do at WRC is actually quite simple. We provide medical care for injured wild animals – this year about 8,000 – and provide training to hundreds of students and volunteers.

I’ve found that what we do is seldom a conversation stopper. My answer inevitably leads to another question. “Why do you do what you do?” The answer to this question might seem simple, but it’s more complex and I think quite profound – it’s a big idea.

What we do is about the health of a single animal. While we take pride in our improved medical outcomes, that alone is an incomplete, perhaps even insufficient, reason. Why we do what we do is a reflection of our collective responsibilities as stewards of our world. I believe that by its presence in our community, WRC helps create a culture of hope, compassion and kindness. We provide a place for seemingly small, often individual, acts of compassion; a place for people to act on their instincts to assist.

Indeed, I believe there is a sacred quality to the nature of our work. It inspires us to ask deeper questions about our role on earth. While I believe we should be at the cutting edge of wildlife medicine, science can only tell us so much about whether and what animals feel. But we know that as individuals we feel, and all of us have been touched in some way by the animals with which we share our world, especially when we witness injured and orphaned animals.

As the days shorten and darkness deepens we gather with friends, family and neighbors often to just share small talk about our daily lives, but in a deeper way we gather to celebrate the promise of renewed light and rejoice in the spirit of compassion and hope.

Make no mistake, what we do is a big idea – it does make a difference in the lives we live and world we leave for future generations.

Thank you for being part of this truly inspiring enterprise. I hope we can count on your continued support in the form of a generous year-end contribution to injured animals; and to the spirit of our community.

Warms regards and best wishes for a happy holiday season.

Hi everyone! Thank you Tami for introducing me, I don’t have much to add other than I’m really excited to be here, and to have the opportunity to help out at such an amazing organisation like the WRC! I heard about the Center from a friend that I met out in Africa – proving that the news of the great work you do really does travel far!

So my first blog is going to be about a pelican that came in on Friday 2nd December – caught on a frozen river out near Hudson, Wis.

I can’t think of any birds that we get in the UK that are nearly as big as pelicans, so it was a really great experience for me! Unfortunately, it was quickly apparent upon vet Renee’s admit examination that the patient had an amputated wing as a result of some accident. We thought that this could have happened from flying into a power line. As this injury made the bird non-releasable, unfortunately the only option was euthanasia.

It was, however, amazing to work with the pelican up close. We found pouch-lice inside its bill, (see photo).

And holding the pelican felt like gripping bubble-wrap! This is due to the large amount of air sacs under the bird’s skin. These help to keep it insulated in cold temperatures, and also keep it buoyant.

Also, we managed to salvage the pelican’s other wing, which was in perfect condition. It will soon be incorporated into an educational display of avian wings in the conference room, scaling all the way down to a tiny hummingbird’s!

I’d like to introduce you to our newest WRC Pulse blogger: Eve Smaller. Eve’s visiting us from the United Kingdom on a year-long work study.

She has lots of incredible experience including work in Namibia, Uganda and Wales.

Thanks for welcoming her to our team!

Last week the swan who was shot in Wisconsin was finally ready for release!  He needed to get outside so he could stretch and strengthen his healed wing, so he was released at a park preserve that is fenced in (no ground predators can sneak up on him) and supplied with food.  We call this a soft release. It gives him time to restrengthen his flight muscles while being protected.  Another swan that was with us was also released at the same time.

Every year, approximately 20-30 veterinary students have the privilege of gaining hands-on experience in wildlife medicine and rehabilitation through summer internships and 4th-year externships at WRC.

We are very excited that this fall, we co-taught a new 4th-year veterinary student elective course through the University of Minnesota (UMN). The 2-week rotation, titled “Exotic Medicine,” is targeted toward the student who wants to go into private practice (usually small animal), but may see some exotics or a wildlife case here or there. Therefore, they would like to be prepared and have basic knowledge of species recognition, husbandry, first aid/triage and patient stabilization.

Students spend three days a week in the classroom attending lectures and going over cases, and two days a week on field trips, where they spend the day at either WRC, Como Zoo, The Minnesota Zoo, or Minnesota Sealife Aquarium.

While at their rotations, the students gain hands-on exposure to common exotic and wildlife species.  Based on feedback from the students, the first year of this rotation was very successful! We will continue to work collaboratively on this course each fall.

Below is a picture of Vet Renee and I with students Erika and Chad, as they examine a Western Painted Turtle.

Recently we admitted a Sedge Wren, a species we haven’t seen at WRC for years!  This little bird hit a window; a little rest and some anti-inflammatories did the trick–it was ready to go the next day!

I was able to sneak up on it while it was eating in its enclosure and get this video.  It was thrashing the mealworms around to kill them before eating.  A very simple but cool bird behavior to see up close.

Sedge Wrens are one of the most nomadic territorial birds in North America, flying around from habitat to habitat.  It’s common to see them one year and not see any in the same area the next year.  They prefer to live in short grass and sedge marshes. Sadly, their numbers  are declining due to habitat loss. Amazingly, it’s estimated by Audubon Minnesota that more than 32% of the global population of Sedge Wrens breed here in Minnesota.

Over the last few weeks, we’ve received our first swan patients of the season! During the summer we typically admit a few cygnets, but adult swans don’t seem to come in until migration starts. Over the winter we’ll see anywhere from a few to as many as 20 adult Trumpeter Swans come into WRC.

The adult (white, left) has a fractured wing due to a gunshot and low-level lead poisoning.  The juvenile (grey, right) is thought to have accidentally flown into a building and has bilateral shoulder fractures.  Read all about the adult swan’s story in our new Case Studies web page!

Remember the post from a week ago about the leucistic nighthawks we admitted? (scroll down for post) Turns out that they were actually Sennett’s nighthawks: a subspecies of the Common Nighthawk uncommonly found in this region. Many thanks to Bob Russell of USFWS for the heads-up in identifying the birds.

In fact, when I took the one specimen we had over to the UMN’s ecology building for their scientific collection, I learned that it’s most likely the only Sennett’s specimen that the UMN has; and their collection is from around the world dating back to the early 1870s!

Here’s Jennifer Menken of the UMN’s Bell Museum with the nighthawk specimen drawer:

The bird will be tagged showing when and where it was found (Springfield, Minn.), its sex, contents of its stomach and all sorts of other fascinating info:

As an organization we’re fortunate to be a part of the “big picture” and to help scientists record species and conduct studies on the specimens we salvage. Although this bird died, the wealth of information it will provide to scientists will live on for generations. NOTE: this Sennett’s died from seizures, the other needed to be euthanized due to severe fractures. We do not ever euthanize an animal purely for specimen purposes.

And, for those of you who have never seen a nighthawk fly, here’s a video of a release from a couple weeks ago by our Avian Nursery Coordinator Jessika Madison-Kennedy.