LTWC has leftover frozen salmon fillets from the Kokanee festival for sale! $20 for four frozen 8-oz filets.
We had terrible weather for the festival this year and didn't sell nearly as many barbequed salmon fillets as we usually do. This is a great chance to stock your freezer with some delicious fish and help out LTWC! To purchase, please contact Tom at tom@ltwc.org or 530-577-2273. Thanks!
Sue Horst and Vicki Entrekin have shared some more webcam screenshots of the cubs with us, all taken in the past week. Enjoy!
We all know that the webcam is all a matter of timing -- tune in at the right time, and you'll get to see all of the cubs swimming, playing and looking for their treats. Time it wrong, and all you get is an empty room, where the only action is the tire swing moving ever so slightly in the breeze.
Thankfully, Sue Horst and Vicki Entrekin have timed it right, and taken some webcam screenshots of the cubs at their playful best to share with everyone. Just click on an image to see a larer version. Thanks Sue & Vicki!
Last Saturday (July 25, 2009), LTWC released this young bald eagle, who had recovered from an injured wing. Tom Millham of LTWC is handling the eagle with a pair of raptor-handling gloves so that she can't bite or claw him, despite her best efforts.
Many thanks to Carrie Reiter for taking most of these photos and sharing them with us. Click on any photo to enlarge.
Enjoy, and stay tuned for a video of the release!
Join us this Sunday, August 2, for an inside look at LTWC during our Annual Open House!
The Open House, which is from 10am until 4pm, is the only time during the year when LTWC opens its doors to the public for tours of our facility.
We have a full house of orphaned and rehabilitating wildlife this year, including baby river otters, coyote pups, a weasel, a mink, barn owls, raccoons, chipmunks, squirrels, lots of baby birds and -- of course -- our five bear cubs!
Lake Tahoe Wildlife Care is located at 1485 Cherry Hills Circle, which is right off of Elks Club Road in Meyers. For directions, click here.
Don't miss it!
Adam and Celeste Deem just let us know that copies of Saving Li'l Smokey are now available for purchase! Click the link below to order your copy today. ($11.99 + tax and shipping)
This is an orphaned Steller's Jay chick, so young it hasn't grown feathers or opened its eyes yet!
Two orphan Chickaree Squirrels, who both have cataracts in their right eyes -- we assume this is a genetic anomaly for the siblings. They're otherwise healthy (and hungry) little guys.
A baby Bald Eagle. Bald eagles do not develop their distinctive white head feathers until they reach maturity, usually in their fifth year.
One of the two orphaned Coyote pups at LTWC, peeking around the opening of its den (a crate).
These shots of the pups were taken a few days after the one above, after they had been moved into a larger enclosure, full of lots of straw for them to nestle into. They're either camera-shy or really, really comfortable in there.
Two of four orphan Barn Owls at LTWC. Barn owls have been given a variety of unsettling nicknames, such as "ghost owl," "demon owl," and "death owl," likely because they make a hissing noise that sounds (to me) like a haunted snake pit. Despite these names, they are excellent mousers, and an important part of our ecosystem.
This is an orphan River Otter, getting his close-up. Thanks to LTWC board member Helen Tanner for holding him -- the little guy won't sit still for a second on his own! Baby river otters love to play -- and playing actually plays a vital role in their development.
This little guy is still small enough that he stays indoors. But he'll soon be able to enjoy LTWC's River Otter rehab cage -- the only one in California.
If you'd like to see a young River Otter in action, check out this video of another orphaned otter LTWC raised a couple of years ago.
Here, Cheryl is managing to keep the otter still long enough to get him to eat. Although he seems to be enjoying his milk, he'd actually rather be playing.
Here is our first photo of the bears you haven't seen on webcam yet -- three boys from Yosemite. Dr. Willits will examine the cubs next week.
On Saturday, June 6, LTWC received two new bear cubs. Like the two cubs we got on May 29, these are probably about five months old and are also orphans. Unlike the two cubs we already have, however, these two are locals, from the Carnelian Bay area of Lake Tahoe.
Although they've been through an ordeal, they appear to be healthy. They're currently in LTWC's Bear Cage (where the Six-Pack resided last year), but after they're examined, they may be able to join our other two cubs, which would mean a four pack on webcam!
Below are a few photos of the new cubs after they first arrived at LTWC yesterday.
This is the first cub, who arrived a few hours before his/her sibling.
The second cub, arriving at LTWC.
After getting out of the travel crate and into LTWC's Bear Cage, the second cub quickly found the highest, darkest hiding spot he/she could. However, the siblings soon found each other after we left them alone.
These are photos of the two little bear cubs that we got in on Friday, May 29.
The cubs came from Duarte, CA (in L.A. County), at the foot of the San Gabriel Mountains. They were with their mother when she was shot and killed. The shooter said that the mother bear had been walking through his yard and scared his wife, so he went to get his shotgun and killed her.
It took F&G two weeks to catch these little cubs. They were examined at the Wildlife Investigations Lab in Rancho Cordova on Thursday, May 28th, and LTWC we got the call Friday morning and went to pick them up.
On Friday evening, Dr. Willits examined the cubs, and we were able to take the photos below. Aside from several foxtails found in their ears, they both appear to be healthy. They both certainly have healthy appetites (as our webcam viewers have noted during mealtimes!).
Tom picks up the first bear cub. Both cubs were sedated before Dr. Willits examined them.
The second cub -- a fighter!
Dr. Willits examining the first cub.
Cheryl holding a healthy bear paw!
This photo shows the foxtails that Dr. Willits removed from the cubs' ears. Both of the cubs had inflammed ears thanks to these unwelcome little guests; they're going to be a lot more comfortable without them.
Kool April Nites is happening this week! For those of you who can attend, here's the scoop:
The LTWC Smokey Booth will be at space 122. We'll let you know where that is as soon as we
find out Wednesday.
Schedule
Sue's Tips
Wear comfortable shoes!
Be prepared for warm days and "Kool Nites"! Don't forget sunscreen.
The pancake breakfast is a real bargain at $4, and is served from 7-10AM. There are lots of food and beverage vendors, so you will not go hungry.
Don't miss the Sundial Bridge. It is connected to the
convention center, and is worth the short walk across. If you're warm, you can take the path down to the water. If you like this sort of thing
it is truly a work of art and it's story is very interesting.
You may even
see an eagle and for sure a goose or two.
Sundial Bridge can be found on
google.
Directions:
Interstate 5 north towards Redding.
Exit 678 stay to the left taking Highway 44 to Eureka.
Continue west on Shasta St.
Just past California St., turn left (1/2 block) and turn into RABA Passenger Parking.
Parking is on both sides of the station area, so if one area is busy there is more further down.
RABA is free and runs about every 10 minutes. It will let you off right in front of the car show. It picks you up and takes you back running round trips all day long.
Hi everyone,
We know that many of you are curious about whether Fish & Game have been able to track Li'l Smokey since his release last month. So, we want to let you know that we don't have any news yet, but will let you know as soon as we do!
Keep in mind that due to the state's current budget crunch, anything not necessary has been curtailed or eliminated, such as telemetry flights. However, last week, we got notice from F&G that they had attempted to get near Smokey's den by vehicle, rather than by airplane, in order to track him, but were not able to get close enough due to the snow on the roads in the area (a good thing!). They are hoping that they'll be able to get closer and see if he is still in the same area by the middle of April - just
about the time of Kool April Nights!
Hi Everyone,
We just got the following update from the California Department of Fish & Game:
"The four cubs released north of Truckee were all found alive via telemetry (only hear beeps, don't actually see the bears) and still located near their den sites."
With the arrival of spring, it's time to get rid of our winter design -- and we need your help! We'll be using one of the designs below, but which one we end up using is up to you. Check them out, then cast your vote for your favorite below!
Click on an image to enlarge.
This was the last time Smokey was handled by human hands. It occurred at about
12:35pm, Thursday, February 5, 2009. All three of the California F&G
personnel carried Smokey with a litter from his travel crate to his den,
about 15 feet away.
Once he was placed in front of the den, they lifted him (remember, he is about 100 pounds) from the litter and placed him into the the prepared den with pine boughs and straw. All of this took about 3 minutes, to make sure that his head was facing in the proper direction and that he was able to breathe without interference. Once in the den, then the log boards were placed in front of the den, to protect him. None of them were that heavy and Smokey would have been able to easily move them to get out again. My feeling is that this was an excellent release site.
Tom
In this picture, Adam and I are watching the ear tagging procedure. I am video
taping the process and Adam - at this point - is simply watching. This was
probably about 12:30pm. I think that it was within the next 5 minutes that
Smokey was placed into his den.
This is a view of Smokey's new den, after a thin layer of straw
had been placed against the dirt on the bottom of the den, then a layer of pine
boughs, followed by a handful of straw. Once this was prepared, then the
biologists went up the bank to the truck to get Smokey, bring him down,
anesthetize him, put on his ear transmitter, then put him in the den.
-Tom
Below are just a couple of photos from Smokey's release yesterday, as well as some links to news stories about the release.
Smokey getting his ear transmitter from Nicole Carion, Calif. F & G
Wildlife Rehab. Coordinator.
At 12:35pm, Thursday, Feb. 5, 2009, Smokey is placed in his release den where he
will no longer be dependent on humans. He is now a wild and free bear.
New Stories:
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/outposts/2009/02/black-bear-cub.html
http://www.redding.com/news/2009/feb/05/lil-smokey-returned-wilds-siskiyou-county/
Smokey's Igloo. As you can see, Smokey has barricaded himself in his igloo with
straw. This picture was taken last Monday, January 19 and when I went in to
take the picture, not a straw was moving! You can see "Black Bear" in the
foreground and it would seem that he has seen better days!
This picture was also taken on Monday, January 19. This is the "den area," where
the "Six Pak" spend most of their time. The area is 6' deep, by 10' long and 8'
high. There is a fluorescent light above the chain link ceiling, which (I hope)
they are unable to reach. But, I have said that before, like with web cams or
Cat5 cable. The picture was taken later in the day, so NONE of them were
sleeping, except for, maybe, the three on the bottom. "
Good evening. Well, as you all have seen, Li’l Smokey appears like he is getting ready to bed down for the winter. Actually, I don’t think he will. He has so much nosing around to do yet. After all, he missed about 4 months worth of growing up and he needs to catch up, eh?
As I promised you, here is a picture of his current and final cage here at LTWC! Some of us should live so well! It is 20’ wide (from your left to right) and 14’ deep (front to back). At the tallest point, this cage is about 14’ high as well. Smokey can’t get quite that high, but his highest platform/perch is at about 9 – 9 ½ feet off the ground.
As you look at this picture, you can barely see the rounds of wood in the front right of the cage. Directly behind the rounds is his igloo. Therefore, the camera is on the left side of the cage. You can’t see his ramp, but it would go from lower right to upper left.
The orange thing on the front left of the picture is the water spicket we use to furnish Smokey his water. The pipe is buried about 2 ½ feet under the surface, which is--most of the time--below the freeze line. Yes. We have had it so cold here before (30 degrees BELOW zero) that this line has frozen. It has only happened once or twice, but definitely NOT the norm.
On the inside of the cage, as you can partially see, is chain link, which was a requirement of Fish and Game to allow us to use this cage as a second bear rehab cage. And, indeed, we have used it, ever since installing the chain link. This year, we also installed chain link on the Raccoon Cage, which you can see on the far left hand side of the picture, right next to the water supply. The cage Smokey is now in, in case I haven’t told you before, is the Bobcat Cage. Each of our cages is named for the animal for which it was intended. But--like a lot of other wildlife rehab facilities--we have to make do with what we have, so our cages also must be versatile. In the Bobcat Cage, we have had everything from bears to eagles to raccoons to skunks--and yes--even the occasional bobcat!
Here is another view of Smokey's cage. From this view (looking north by north-east), you can see more of the walkway, our chair lift chair and the width of the walkway (about 4'). Sometimes, a second view gives you a better perspective. Just to remind you--we did receive about 16-18 inches of snow earlier this week, but we then received almost one day of rain! Basically, what the rain did was to compact the snow. So, instead of seeing 1 1/2 feet of snow, it only shows about 12 - 14 inches. But--alas--more on the way.
It was sunny today, but they are calling for a winter storm warning tonight through late tomorrow and even on Christmas Day. So, if you have trouble seeing the web cam, rest assured, we will do what we can to get it up and running as quickly as possible. While Cheryl and I are gone, two of our board members will be coming by on a daily basis to check in on all the bears and the golden eagle we have in house now and make sure they are all getting what they need. Both of them are fairly computer savvy, so if there are any problems, I have the utmost confidence in them to get things resolved. Well--at least one of them!
Talk to you all tomorrow. Tom
According to Typepad:
"Categories and Archives lists are not displaying correctly on some blogs. We are currently working to resolve the bug and apologize for the inconvenience."
I'll keep you updated if and when I hear more. Until then, it looks like the best thing to do if you're having issues is to refresh the page. You may need to do this a few times, or wait a few minutes before refreshing. Thanks for your patience, and sorry for the inconvenience!
Karen