Help Us Build a Forever Home for Wildlife!
Pacific Wildlife Care is thrilled to announce our plans for a new, permanent home in San Luis Obispo. Located on a beautiful 10-acre property, the Kim and Derrel Ridenour Wildlife Rehabilitation Center will enable us to better serve our community’s wildlife. Our comprehensive goal of $11.5 million will secure funding needed for the construction of this transformational project and create a sustainable future for PWC. Thanks to the generosity of our supporters, we’ve raised $5.7 million towards the $7 million needed for initial planning and construction needs. Additionally we have raised $3.8 million in legacy gifts to help create a sustainable future for PWC.
With construction starting in early 2025, your support is vital. Donate today to help us create a brighter future for wildlife in San Luis Obispo County.
Behind the Scenes at PWC
Pacific Wildlife Care (PWC) has been an advocate for wildlife in San Luis Obispo County since 1984.
From that time we have grown from a small group of dedicated home rehabilitators into a successful non-profit organization with a well-equipped rehabilitation center, a full-time wildlife veterinarian, a small paid staff, and nearly 200 volunteers. In addition to the Rehabilitation Center, which is open every day of the year, we maintain a Wildlife Hotline that the public can call to report distressed wildlife (injured, sick, orphaned) and to receive information about our local wildlife.
The Latest from PWC
Pacific Wildlife Care News
What Happened with Those Baby Bats?
A small cadre of PWC staff and volunteers gained a new level of appreciation for bats this summer, when they […]
Red-tailed Hawk 24-1516: The Final Chapter
The multi-episode saga of RTHA 24-1516 had all the dangers and plot twists of a summer blockbuster. The nestling hawk […]
Golden Eagle 24-1834: The Mystery and Challenges of a Very Large Bird
The story of Golden Eagle 24-1834 was a medical mystery full of clues, detective work, challenges, and one red herring. […]
A Very Good Badger
“Charming” is not a word used in wildlife rehabilitation, but everyone was secretly charmed by American Badger 24-936. More precisely, […]
The Summer of Baby Bats
In the sweltering July heat, baby Mexican Free-tailed Bats dropped to the ground like unripe fruit. These tiny mammals need […]
A First for PWC!
On Friday, July 26th a California Department of Fish and Wildlife Services biologist brought an endangered California Condor into PWC’s […]
Facebook Posts
A sticky situation! This young gopher snake was brought to us completely immobilized, stuck to a wad of packing tape. Our team carefully freed the snake using swabs soaked in a special degreasing solution and then cleaned the snake up. Luckily, no wounds were found once the tape was removed. After a day of fluids and monitoring, this little gopher snake was released back into the wild.
Got snake questions? We're fortunate to have Dr. Emily Taylor and her team at Central Coast Snake Services serving our region. They provide FREE snake identification and humane rattlesnake removal/relocation! Visit centralcoastsnakeservices.com for more info.
A reminder to always dispose of trash responsibly and to not use glue traps! If you find a wild animal stuck to tape, a glue trap, or another adhesive surface, do NOT attempt to remove them yourself. Instead, cover the sticky areas with tissue, flour, or other non-toxic material to prevent the animal from getting stuck further, and bring the animal to your local wildlife rehabilitation center.
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🐰 We’ve already had several baby bunnies brought to our center…yikes! Our mild winter may mean we start seeing more babies early in the season. Here are a few reminders:
➡️ Check before you mow! Bunnies build shallow nests in grassy areas that can be well camouflaged. Check for nests before mowing or disturbing—look for areas that may look like dead patches in your lawn.
➡️ If you come across a nest of baby bunnies, have no fear...they are not abandoned! Their mom only comes to the nest a couple times per day to quickly feed them so she doesn’t attract predators. If they are not injured, let them be.
➡️ Keep pets away from nests to let the babies grow. Good news is the babies grow quickly and are usually out of their nest after just 2 weeks!
If you find a bunny that is injured, cold, wet, has been in a cat or dog’s mouth, or is otherwise obviously unwell, please contact your local wildlife rehab ASAP! Keep the bunny in a warm, dark, quiet box while transporting, and do not feed. Bunnies are particularly sensitive to stress. Give us a call if you have questions!
#Cottontails #BrushRabbits #NotAbandoned #NotAPet #CheckBeforeMowing #Bunny #Rabbit #BabySeason #KeepWildlifeWild #Wildlife #WildlifeRehab ... See MoreSee Less
Check out these Common Murres bathing and preening vigorously in our seabird pool! 🔊 Volume on to hear them calling!
Preening – rearranging feather barbs – is an essential routine for all birds, and especially important for birds who live on water. The feather density and feather structure keep aquatic birds like these murres totally waterproof.
Did you learn Common Murres are the DEEPEST DIVERS in our area from our post yesterday? They have been recorded diving to 590 ft underwater!! Although we can’t provide 600 ft deep pools, we do have two large seabird pools, made possible by generous donations from the Hind Foundation.
These murres came to our center for a variety of reasons (one was oiled) and after about 45 days in care, all three were healthy enough to be released back into the wild 🌊
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Ever wonder how deep seabirds dive? Check out our infographic with the diving depths of common species on the California Coast!
The solid line shows the depth commonly reached and the dashed line shows maximum depths recorded, numbers are in feet.
🏆 Common Murres take the trophy for deepest divers in our region—they regularly dive to 230ft but have been recorded at almost 600ft! 🏆
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