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
Hanging by a Wing
Such an innocuous thing – a piece of string, likely from a kite. Innocuous, maybe, to the human eye, but […]
Bringing Up Baby (Owls)
The surge of baby birds at PWC every spring and summer – beginning with raptors, followed soon by songbirds – […]
The Care and Feeding of All Those Babies
Spring is turning to summer, and the demands of the Baby Bird Program (BBP) are intensifying. At the hub of […]
PWC’s Test Pilot
In May 2023, rehabilitated Brown Pelican 23-757 became the first ever pelican to be fitted with a promising new tracking […]
Winter of the Grebes
For a while this season, PWC turned into “Grebe Town.” Western and Clark’s Grebes filled the treatment room, carriers, drying […]
Release Story: RTHA #2717
On Christmas Day, PWC received a call from a Paso Robles resident, Alton, who explained that his kids were playing […]
Facebook Posts
A friendly reminder to please respect posted signs – it helps keep wildlife safe! Here are ways you can help:
🌱 Stay on designated trails to avoid trampling sensitive plants, nests, or burrows. Walking off-trail can cause soil erosion and damage habitats animals rely on. Staying on trail also makes your presence more predictable to wildlife, which can help minimize their stress levels.
🌱 Don’t feed wildlife – this disrupts their natural diet and behavior, and can lead to dangerous human-wildlife interactions. Keep wildlife wild by letting them find their own food.
🌱 Leash your dog and properly dispose of pet waste. Wildlife see dogs as predators, and even just a dog’s presence can stress animals and disrupt their routine. Save off-leash fun for designated off-leash areas.
🌱 Practice #LeaveNoTrace principles: leave trails, plants, and natural features for everyone to enjoy, and always properly dispose of trash.
Thank you for protecting our wildlife and wild spaces!
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🌊 Next in our seabird series: COMMON MURRES!
If you think you’ve spotted a penguin on the Central Coast, chances are it’s a Common Murre! Sometimes called "flying penguins," murres rock a tuxedoed look but are actually relatives of auks and puffins. These pelagic birds spend most of their lives on the open ocean, only coming to land to breed. Murres nest on rocky cliffs and islands in massive colonies.
Common Murres typically sit on the ocean surface and dive underwater to hunt for fishy prey, “flying” through the water with their wings. This is different from loons and grebes, who use their feet for propulsion.
🤿 Murres regularly dive ~100 ft but have been recorded going as deep as 590 ft!
🥚 Murres lay a single egg each season, and these eggs vary in color and markings, helping parents identify their own amid the crowded cliff colonies.
🌎 Like loons, Common Murres are found only in the northern hemisphere. (Penguins, meanwhile, stick to the southern hemisphere and the Galapagos.)
🎂 The oldest recorded Common Murre was at least 34 years old.
⚠️ If you spot a murre on the beach, it needs help—contact your local wildlife rescue. If you’re in SLO County, call our hotline!
Later this week we’ll continue our seabird series and dive into the world of sea ducks! 🌊
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✨👀 Do you think Rocky enjoyed his photo shoot? We couldn’t pick just one so here are a few of our favorites!
Still shopping for the holidays? Our Animal Ambassador merchandise, created by the talented Woollybear Travels, makes a great gift and every purchase supports wildlife! 🎁 Click pacific-wildlife-care.square.site/s/shop to visit our online store or shop Melisa’s items in-person at SLOcally Made at 877 Monterey St., SLO.
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American Kestrel 24-2803: A Cautionary Tale
The case of American Kestrel 24-2803 is a reminder: Things are not always what they seem. To the rescuer who found this victim of a window strike, the kestrel must have seemed “just stunned,” not injured, so she placed him on a tree branch and stepped back. But then, wisely, she called PWC. The hotline volunteer asked her to bring the bird to the PWC clinic for evaluation.
Far from uninjured, AMKE 24-2803 was found to be severely dehydrated and depressed (abnormally passive, with a loss of interest in food), for which he was hydrated, hand-fed, and given medications. The bird was also found to have issues with the use of his left foot, requiring a surgical procedure. In time, he healed, became normally responsive, and graduated to an outdoor aviary, where he proved his flight ability.
However, from the time the kestrel was admitted to PWC, it took many weeks before he was fully healed and cleared for release back to the wild – a lesson for wildlife rescuers in the need to question our first impressions – and that erring on the side of caution is not erring.
If a bird collides with a window, it’s crucial to get it to a licensed wildlife rehabilitator right away. Such accidents can result in severe injuries, including fractured beaks, internal bleeding, or brain swelling—some of which might not show symptoms immediately. Our team is equipped to care for these birds, providing treatment and monitoring until they’re ready to return to the wild. If you’re in SLO County, call us at (805) 543-9453 for assistance!
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