Blog
Meet Scarlet, our new educational ambassador
By Amy Redfeather “Scarlet,” as we call her, was brought to Native Animal Rescue one sunny day in March. Scarlet is a Long-Tailed...
Fox Pays a Visit
By Marilyn DuHamel The local fox used to be brazen – a true vixen. Would match my longing for a glimpse with startling appearances that left me breathless. Since those magical times, fox encounters have become more elusive. No in-person sightings, but my motion...
Morning Brunch
By Marilyn DuHamel We all have our morning routines. My day begins with opening the blinds, curious if it’s cloudy, blue skies or morning mist outside. I put on my flip-flops and scoop a big cup of birdseed from the bin by my sliding glass door. Since no humans can...
Ask Monique: Hummingbird Orphans? Or not?
Dear Monique — We have a tiny hummingbird's nest in our backyard with two babies that hatched a few weeks ago. We haven't seen the mother for at least two days and are afraid she might have died. Should we bring the nest to Native Animal Rescue? — Concerned Dear...
Small Wild
By Marilyn DuHamel I am surrounded by many wild creatures, mostly small, mostly young. This is why I volunteer for Native Animal Rescue where I get to tend these injured or orphaned animals until they can be released back into their natural habitat. Warblers, finches,...
Ghost
By Marilyn DuHamel There’s a ghost in my house who only comes out at night – that’s when I can catch a glimpse of his silvery form. For now, this ghost lives in a cage. I’ve only touched him once – when I transferred him at Native Animal Rescue (NAR) into a large...
Ask Monique: Fox in the Neighborhood
Dear Monique — My stepdaughter, Heidi, lives in a rural area, and a fox has taken up residence in her backyard. Every day it poops around the yard and sleeps on the picnic table. Heidi has two adult cats that the fox doesn't bother, but she'd like to know if there's...
It’s Fawning Season. Think Before You Act!
Please be aware that spring is the prime birthing season for a wide variety of wildlife, including deer. Finding a fawn (baby deer) alone in the woods or a meadow is fairly common. Many people assume that young wildlife found alone are abandoned, helpless, and need...
Rat Poison is Killing Birds of Prey, and People are Finally Paying Attention
November 14, 2018 By William Freedberg, Mass Audubon Most rat poisons kill more than rats—they also pose a fatal threat to birds of prey. This topic recently made the news after a Bald Eagle on Cape Cod died of what appears to be rodenticide poisoning. The tragic...
Coyotes are all over SF to stay, even if they sometimes kill pets
July 19, 2017 By Peter Fimrite, San Francisco Chronicle The fatal coyote attack on a small dog at the front door of a San Francisco home has prompted a raging debate on social media and in public forums about allowing wild predators to remain in the city. The...
San Francisco: Still Wild at Heart – a film by Melissa Peabody
Proceeds will benefit Native Animal Rescue, the Santa Cruz County non-profit dedicated to the protection, rescue, rehabilitation, and release of injured, sick, and orphaned native wildlife. San Francisco: Still Wild at Heart, a film by Melissa Peabody, and featuring...
Native Animal Rescue’s Really Big Year
Most of Santa Cruz knows about Native Animal Rescue for its work rescuing, rehabilitating, and releasing injured, sick and orphaned wild animals back to the wild. But did you know that Native Animal Rescue also works to: —increase the understanding of and respect for...
The Importance of Wildlife Rescue Partners
Wildlife rescue organizations work together in order to provide the best available care to injured, sick and orphaned wildlife. One of Native Animal Rescue's vital partners is International Bird Rescue. International Bird Rescue cares for sick, injured, abused, and...
The Case for Indoor Cats
By The Wildlife Center of Virginia Help wildlife, cats, and the environment by keeping cats indoors! While most of us love our kitties, free-roaming outdoor cats are a major threat to wildlife. These non-native predators kill...
Get to Know Your Neighbors
By Tai Moses A working knowledge of natural history could reduce a lot of the unintentional harm we do to wildlife. Here’s a troubling fact: many of the fawns brought to wildlife rescue centers in spring have accidentally been “kidnapped” by people who mistakenly...
Santa Cruz County Catio Tour 2016
Update: First Catio Tour...Success! On April 9, 2016, Native Animal Rescue and the Santa Cruz County Animal Shelter co-hosted a free self-guided tour of 11 Santa Cruz County catios located from Boulder Creek all the way to Watsonville. A catio is an outdoor enclosure...
An Ounce of Prevention…Check Trees Before Trimming
By California Council for Wildlife Rehabilitators Every year wildlife rehabilitators across the nation receive orphaned and/or injured baby tree squirrels because they have lost their nest trees due to tree trimming and removal. Tree squirrels typically...
Fake Halloween Cobwebs Pose Real Threat to Birds
by Tai Moses Halloween and Christmas decorations can harm birds and wildlife. That's not fun. Oct. 25, 2015—One recent Halloween, a Marin family opened their door to a particularly raucous trick-or-treater only to find a live Western screech owl hanging upside-down...
High number of coyote reporting continues in Santa Cruz County
By Samantha Clark, Santa Cruz Sentinel SANTA CRUZ >> Coyotes have been emerging from the shadows in Santa Cruz County likely because of drought conditions, worrying residents and hikers who have been reporting a rise in sightings for months. As the clever...
Starved sea birds overwhelming Native Animal Rescue
By Samantha Clark, Santa Cruz Sentinel LIVE OAK >> A troubling number of starved and weak seabirds are washing ashore on beaches from the Monterey Bay to Alaska at a similar rate not seen since past severe El Niño years. Scientists think that ever-warmer...
Squirrels in the Attic? Pointers on Humane Wildlife Removal
This wonderful article describes one family's discovery about when and how to "evict" wildlife that has taken up residence in their house. Best advice, in a nutshell, "let the squirrels hunker down until they are ready to leave the attic on their own, and then provide...
Local family reunites baby squirrel with its mother
This is the story of how local residents Kimberly, Doug, and their daughter, Faith reunited a baby squirrel with its mother after the baby had fallen out of its nest located in a nearby tree. After checking to ensure the squirrel wasn’t injured, the family placed the...
Was this fawn kidnapped?
ALERT: Every spring and summer, concerned people find and rescue fawns that seem to have been abandoned by their mothers. In reality, healthy baby fawns are frequently left alone for up to twelve hours while their mothers forage for food. In past years, a high...
Native Animal Rescue sees an influx of creatures needing care
SANTA CRUZ >> Step into Native Animal Rescue’s Live Oak office these days and you’ll find yourself surrounded by young animals. Baby birds peeking their heads out of a small basket, chirping for food. A young skunk smaller than a puppy. Young deer with thin legs...
Offering Sanctuary To An Injured Adult Deer
By Tai Moses I glanced out my kitchen window and saw a Black-tailed deer making its way down the hillside behind my home. This wasn’t unusual—a well-used deer trail looped through the neighborhood and I saw deer nearly every day —but there was something about...