The Ohio Wildlife Center

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The Ohio Wildlife Center

• Amber Taylor
• Rehabilitation Intern

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Mission Statement

• The OWC is an organization committed to
  fostering awareness and appreciation of Ohios
  native wildlife through education and
  rehabilitation.

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• Founded by veterinarian Donald Burton
• It is the only wildlife hospital of its kind in
  Ohio
• Admits over 4,000 wild animals each year
• Over 70 of animals admitted are injured or
  orphaned due to human-related causes

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Rehabilitation

• Wildlife rehabilitation is the process of caring
  for injured, orphaned or sick wild animals and
  releasing them back to the wild when they are
  able to survive on their own. 
• Permits are required from the Ohio Division of
  Wildlife to rehabilitate any native wild animals.
  
• Additional permits are required from the U.S.
  Fish and Wildlife service to rehabilitate native
  birds. 

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OWC HOTLINE

• OWC operates a 24-hour hotline, 793-WILD. This
  line is available as a local community service if
  an injured or diseased animal is found and is in
  need of care. On a national level, the hotline
  serves as a resource for any caller seeking sound
  wildlife management and conservation information.

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Educational Programs

• Education center
• Summer Day Camps
• Tailored Presentations
• Group Tours and Workshops

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The day begins

• Sign In- 800 AM
• Check the laundry
• Check in with my supervisor
• Pull charts for twice a day medications
• Feed infants in incubator
• Evaluate animals from previous night

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Throughout The Day

• Clinic opens at 900 AM and presenters
  immediately start arriving
• The day involves
• Receiving new patients and performing physical
  exams
• Making sure all of the other animals get cleaned,
  fed and get their once-a-day medication
• Organizing the other volunteers and making sure
  the clinic runs smoothly
• Depending on how many new patients and how many
  volunteers came in throughout the day, my day
  usually ended no earlier than 10 PM and some
  nights it took until 12 or 1 AM to everybody
  clean, fed and medicated

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Water Fowl Room
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Water Fowl Protocols

• Always use towels when handling the ducks/geese
• Always wear gloves to avoid the parasite called
  Giardia
• Make sure birds that can not swim get misted
  everyday
• Most animals in here get tube fed and
  subcutaneous fluids

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Orphan Ward
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Orphan Ward Continued

• Not only orphans
• Most animals in here have high metabolism
• All animals must get weighed every day
• Check priority tagged cages first
• Mostly use pillowcases for restraint
• Most animals in this room are on antibiotics

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Avian Ward

• Most common restraint is towels
• Always wear gloves!
• Plan before attempting they sense your fear!
• Messiest ward
• Newspaper on floor and on cage doors
• Always have a net ready

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Avian Ward Inhabitants
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Mammal Ward
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Mammal Ward Continued

• Most likely prey species or omnivores
• Many different diets
• Raccoon Roundworm found here
• Always use gloves
• Must have pre-exposure vaccine to handle adult
  raccoons

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Aquatic Room

• Most injuries caused by fishing hooks and cars
• Turtles get to swim for 1 hour per day
• Turtles tend to eat more of an item if it is red
• Snapping turtles may look innocent but beware!!

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Patient Intake

• Take down a thorough history
• Use a field guide for help with identification
• Take to exam room
• Weigh the animal
• Start a physical exam

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Physical Appearance

• Check animals appearance
• Is it alert?
• Is there anything unusual about posture?
• Look for open wounds and check for broken bones
• Administer appropriate medications antibiotic,
  anti-inflammatory, steroids, dextrose, eye drops,
  subcutaneous fluids

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Physical Exam

• Check
• Palpebral Reflex
• Papillary Light Reflex
• Capillary Refill Time knowing what is normal
• Dehydration skin count in mammals, mouth test in
  birds
• Emaciation keel protrusion in birds

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Repairing the Injured
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Ethical Considerations

• 15 of animals admitted are euthanized
• Had to be able to assist with Euthanasia
• Had to call presenters and notify them
• Also, not all animals make it even with
  rehabilitation Slow healing, hair and feather
  loss, suppressed immune system
• Cage Myopathy repeated exposure to stress
• Death on contact very hard to deal with

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Bucky the Beaver
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Ethics and Bucky

• Habituation an animal becomes used to a stimulus
• Taming the animal becomes used to humans
  socialized
• Imprinting permanent, compromises animals
  well-being in the wild

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What I learned

• Animal Restraint and Handling
• How to administer shots, give oral medication,
  draw blood, give IV fluids, take an X-ray
• Also, the different diets that animals in the
  wild eat
• How to hand feed babies such as squirrels and
  rabbits
• How to hand feed adults that wouldnt eat, such
  as raptors and opossums

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What a great experience!

• I had a patient, knowledgeable supervisor willing
  to answer each and every question I had
• She pushed me to try new things and instilled
  confidence when I was afraid

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My favorite part The Release
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More Animal Pictures
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The End!

• Interested in becoming a volunteer? Check out
  www.ohiowildlifecenter.org
• Or contact Lisa Fosco at 614-761-0134
• Thank you for coming!