Supervisor Pam Slater Grants $$$ to Care Center
 On December 6, Supervisor Pam Slater personally called Project Wildlife to give us the good holiday news: She would be awarding Project Wildlife $15,000 in community project funding for improvements and equipment at the Care Center.

Thanks to this funding, we'll be able to repair the roof to the outside aviary! The Care Center will be outfitted with a computer - we'll be able to manage information and do online purchasing. We'll acquire much needed incubators and sterilization equipment. Plus, with new shelving and efficient storage areas, we'll be able to make better use of our limited space. Thank you, Supervisor Slater! We truly are grateful and complimented by your extraordinary commitment to San Diego's wildlife. 

PW Awarded Grant by the San Diego Foundation

On June 20, 2002, Project Wildlife received the San Diego Foundation's Blasker Environment Grant to fund its research project, "Parasite in Local Waterfowl with Possible Zoonotic Effects." As representatives of Project Wildlife, Ruth Hayward and Bryn Moser attended the award ceremony held at Point Loma Nazarene University. Other recipients of this prestigious grant were the San Diego Society of Natural History, the Conservation Biology Institute, the San Diego State University Foundation, and UCSD.

As the key researcher in this project, Bryn, a care center volunteer, UCSD student and aspiring veterinarian, will identify and classify parasites hosted by waterfowl living at local lakes and ponds and determine which parasites may affect humans. The $5,000 Blasker Grant has allowed Project Wildlife to purchase a high-quality research microscope and provide Bryn will a partial stipend for this work. Her field work, which is being directed by Care Center Manager Debbie Beam, has begun at Webb and Chollas Lakes.

"It is a real honor for Project Wildlife to be acknowledged and funded by the San Diego Foundation," said PW president, Ruth Hayward. "I think it really shows how much Project Wildlife has grown as a professional organization and how we can contribute to the scientific knowledge of the San Diego area." 

Education Video Project Completed

In 2000, Las Patronas, a philanthropic and service organization based in La Jolla, awarded Project Wildlife $8,000 to film and produce an "education video." As part of PW's popular education program, the video would be shown to the growing number of schools, clubs and civic groups that request education presentations from Project Wildlife.

Thanks to the effort of Wade Smith Productions, the project was completed in the summer of 2002! Wade showed extraordinary commitment in capturing Project Wildlife's story. He dedicated months of filming during the baby season which gave the video an insider's perspective to Project Wildlife's rescue and rehabilitation work. Even after the final edits, Wade did some professional cutting and pasting to work in PW's successful deer rescue at Lake Hodges. Indeed, the final, final version is now ready! Thank you, Wade, for being a true supporter of our mission. 

October Rescue at Webb Lake Makes Headlines

Rancho Bernardo - Between October 10-17, PW's Duck Team and Care Center were overwhelmed with rescuing and treating extremely sick Mallard ducks from Webb Lake. The weekend rescue effort and the week-long stream of Mallards entering the Care Center caught the eye of local TV stations. Along with our feathered patients, Dawn Wilson, Debbie Beam and several other PW volunteers were featured on local news programs and in newspaper articles.

It started on Thursday (October 10), when Dawn Wilson, Duck Team Leader, got a call to pick up three sick ducks at Webb Lake. This was nothing in comparison to the next Saturday. 

"Saturday was the biggest removal," said Dawn. "We had to call in Wildlife Assist to help and ended up retrieving about 35 ducks. I took the 10 that were alive to my house to rehabilitate." 

On Sunday, Wildlife Assist returned to Webb Lake and subsequently delivered 5 more survivors to the Care Center. "The ducks arrived gasping for air with their eyes closed," recalls Care Center Manager, Debbie Beam. "Their heads were stretched out - something they normally don't do, a bad sign - and they couldn't move their feet. They were soaked and their eyes were laden with green, frothy slime. After that we had sick Mallards arriving on a daily basis for a week." 

According to Dawn, those that did survive have made a complete recovery. Thanks to some research from Brian Clark of the Union Tribune, Project Wildlife has learned that the final report from the California Fish and Game Lab in Sacramento attributed the possible cause of the duck die-off to botulism. 

Mating Season Keeps Deer Team Busy

A young deer survives a car collision in Sorrento Valley. PW Deer team transports him to the vet. (photo by R. Hayward)

Thanks to the early morning response of the Deer Team in October, a juvenile Mule deer was able to survive a collision with a car in Sorrento Valley. He was taken by stretcher to receive treatment for head trauma (see page 9 photo). Then the young buck was transferred to PW's deer rehab enclosure. He is doing very well and is expected to make a complete recovery. He'll be release back into the Sorrento Valley area to join with the rest of the herd.

Other Deer Team successes:

• August 2002, a Mule deer doe was freed from a mud hole in Lake Hodges. KUSI ran the story using Wade Smith's video. 
• December 2002, a young deer survived a minor collision with a car in Tierra Santa. The PW deer team used a stretcher to transport her down an embankment then successfully released her that night.

Do We Have Your Current E-mail Address?

We'll send you advance notice of special events, remind you when it's time to renew your membership, send invitations to members-only lectures, and more! Eventually, we will even be able to send you the Back to Nature newsletter electronically!

Please take the time to give us your e-mail address either by visiting our web site at www.projectwildlife.org. 

Thanks for your help!

Back to Nature newsletter is published quarterly by:
Project Wildlife
4343 Morena Blvd., #7
San Diego, CA 92117

Project Wildlife is a nonprofit, nonpolitical, volunteer organization dedicated to the rescue, rehabilitation and release of San Diego County Wildlife. Project Wildlife is also dedicated to the education of San Diego County residents on local wildlife and how to coexist with local mammals and birds.

To get in touch with Project Wildlife, see our contact page

Ways to Give:
Endowment Program
United Way Donations
Flowers for Wildlife
Protectors of Wildlife

Programs:
Education Department and Programs