Success Stories

Every year we receive calls to help rescue birds trapped in chimneys. One “rescue” however stands out from the others.

We were called to rescue a Barred Owl that had fallen down a chimney and landed on the damper. The fireplace was huge. When Clint walked into it (the fire was not lit!), he could see the owl sitting on the damper looking down at him. By stretching up, Clint could touch the owl but each time he did, it flapped, moved along the damper and clouds of soot landed on top of Clint! Eventually, with Clint becoming blacker by the minute, he managed to grab the owl behind the legs and carefully bring him down the chimney.

Thankfully the owl was none the worse for his two night’s stay in the chimney and we were able to release him. Clint, on the other hand, had soot in his hair, down the back of his neck, and all over his clothes. He could not get home quick enough to have a shower.

A cat caught this young Douglas squirrel. He was 2-3 weeks old when brought to us and luckily had no serious injuries. He ravenously drank the special squirrel mixture we made for him and although he was so young, it took no time at all for him to grab the syringe with his front paws and hold on tightly whenever he had finished the mixture hoping more would be added to the syringe.

He soon developed from a sleepy baby to a boisterous juvenile squirrel, instinctively hiding his food and exercising constantly. When old enough and self-feeding, we transferred him to our squirrel house where he could see the wild squirrels in the surrounding woods. One day we opened the hatch at the back of the house and let our furry friend decide when he wanted to leave. He eventually left but did return a number of times to his “home” until he was accustomed to being free. Now, when a squirrel comes to our feeder, we wonder if it is our little guy. We like to think that one of them is … in fact we are almost sure of it!

When this Great Horned Owl arrived from Sechelt, he was emaciated, weighing only 900 grams
and was suffering from worms and coccidiosis (internal protozoan parasites). He responded well to treatment and when we released him six weeks later he weighed 1575 grams!

When we received a call that a mother duck had been hit by a car and subsequently died leaving her six orphaned day old ducklings at Sechelt Marsh, volunteer Barbara Lee Fraser and Irene knew we needed to rescue them. The ducklings had been on their own for two hours before we were notified.

They hurriedly drove to the Marsh and when they arrived, they spotted the ducklings. They were frantically swimming from one adult duck to another, peeping all of the time. Having no mother to round them up, they were “all over the Marsh”. Irene and Barbara Lee knew they had a difficult job ahead of them if the ducklings were to be saved. There was no way they could catch the ducklings as they were not near the shoreline, so they asked Charlene Clarke from Sunshine Kayaking if she could help. Charlene brought her kayak to the Marsh and herded the ducklings, one by one to the shore

Even tiny ducklings can run fast and it was not easy trying to catch them. A number of spectators watched the drama unfold and one of them, Kelly, decided not just to watch the action but to become involved! She waded into the Marsh, along with Barbara Lee and Irene, and eventually all of the ducklings were safely in a box lined with soft towels.
Soon the ducklings were snuggled together in a warm kennel cab in our Centre and gradually over the next few weeks they grew their adult feathers and were transferred to our outdoor aviary. One warm, sunny day Irene, Barbara Lee and Kelly watched six healthy full grown young ducks be released back into the Marsh. Thanks to the efforts of Irene, Barbara Lee, Kelly and Charlene, those small lives were saved. With team work anything is possible!

We (Clint and Irene) rounded up a Mallard Duck and her nine ducklings when they were chased by a dog. The mother flew onto the highway and ended up on the other side of the road. She had a broken wing and broken leg. Her ducklings ran into a ditch which was covered with thick weeds. It took us two hours to find the 2 day old ducklings! The mother recovered from her injuries and she and her babies were eventually released to the wild when the ducklings were full grown.