Wetland, Wildlife, and My Community

On January 6th 2010, someone from the Rehabilitation Society of Edmonton came to our school to teach us about wildlife. She taught us that if you find or your friend brings you a baby deer, bird or hare that is all on its own, you should leave it alone, because their mother put them there while she's gone looking for food. The mother leaves them alone and is not worries about her baby being found by predators because the babies have no scent (but baby birds do have scent), so when foxes look for them, the baby deer or hare will not get hurt. When an animal is hurt, they first examine it to see if it is really hurt. A baby hare’s defense is to hide and stay still while its parent is away.

Of the animals that are here in Edmonton, 15% are mammals and 85% are birds (of that, 15% are raptors, 20% are water fowl, and 65% are songbirds). Of the animals that are brought in or picked up and brought to the Rehabilitation Society of Edmonton, most are birds and some small mammals. There are usually only a few raptors brought in, such as owls or eagles. The owls can hiss like cats sometimes. Workers must be very careful when handling animals such as raptors.

Birds

We learned about different kinds of birds. Here are some: Songbirds, waterfowl, raptors. These birds can be divers and dabblers…
Divers: dive into the water.
Dabblers: Stick only head into the water when they’re swimming.

Some defenses:
-Pretend their wing is broken
-Quack
-Fluff up their wings to look big
-Parents dive bomb to protect nest/babies

They gave us their hotline and website, so if we do find an injured animal, we can call them and find out what to do. It was a very interesting presentation!

Hotline: 780 – 914 – 4118
Website: wildlife-edm.ca

-J