Our Education Ambassadors
Education presentations are FREE, simply call 209-283-3245
to schedule a session.
to schedule a session.
Some of our 'Saving Wildlife Saves Us' friends
These animals are the main attraction that brings people in to hear our message about saving wildlife. They leave a lasting impression with their awe inspiring beauty and with it a lasting message of the importance of preservation
Meet Joey
My name is Kelly. I started to volunteer for Tri-county wildlife a year ago. I was interested in rehabbing Opossums. TCWC got Joey in September of 2021 from Sierra Wildlife rescue in Stockton who got him in June 2021.
In receiving him for rehabilitation, I noticed that he hissed at me but never tried to get away from me. That told me he was not afraid. I called Susan Manning and told her my findings, her advice was to keep him in our big opossum cage with other opossums and we would reevaluate him weeks later. Our plan was to release other opossums that we had in our charge.
The time came to let our other wards go but Joey was not to go with them. He was not afraid of people and for his safety we decided to use him for an educational animal. Our ultimate goal however is for all of our wildlife to be released into their natural environment.
Joey is around one year old and one of the first things people notice is his size (10 lbs.) and his hair coat. He does not have to forage for food and is fed a gourmet dinner for an opossum. He gets mice, a variety of fruit, eggs scrambled or hard-boiled, applesauce, and yogurt, he likes dry dog food as well. His diet and his meticulous cleaning shows in his hair coat
Opossums groom themselves like a cat would, they are always grooming.
Opossums are our nature’s cleanup crew. They eat snails, slugs, rats, mice, worms, lizards. They are impervious to any kind of venom; Rattlesnake, water moccasins, copperhead, scorpions, and bees, they will eat them if they can.
Opossums will eat an average of 5000 ticks in a three month period. Ticks carry Lyme disease and are very toxic to other animals as well as humans. You will also find opossums eating roadkill.
One of the biggest misconceptions about opossums is that they carry rabies. Their body temperature is at 94° and rabies can’t thrive in their body.
Opossums will have babies from February till June, although we have had them well into the fall. Their gestation is 10 to 13 days. A Joey (baby possums) will travel 3 inches into a warm furry pouch and will find a milk source and stay nestled in her pouch for at least three months to finish developing. Opossums are the only marsupials (pouch bearing) in the United States.
Opossums are not aggressive by nature but cornered they will hiss at us and open their mouth and show their 50 teeth. If you see them out and about usually at night let them go their own way, they’re just looking for food.
Their demise is other animals, bobcats, coyotes, wolves, eagles Great Horned owls ,dogs and of course man and cars.
Their life span in the wild is about one to two years, in captivity maybe seven.
There is so much other information I would like to write but then it would be a book.
Our goal as volunteer rehabbers is to educate people about these extraordinary animals and to understand and learn about their uniqueness.
Opossums have been on our planet for 65 million years with little change.
In receiving him for rehabilitation, I noticed that he hissed at me but never tried to get away from me. That told me he was not afraid. I called Susan Manning and told her my findings, her advice was to keep him in our big opossum cage with other opossums and we would reevaluate him weeks later. Our plan was to release other opossums that we had in our charge.
The time came to let our other wards go but Joey was not to go with them. He was not afraid of people and for his safety we decided to use him for an educational animal. Our ultimate goal however is for all of our wildlife to be released into their natural environment.
Joey is around one year old and one of the first things people notice is his size (10 lbs.) and his hair coat. He does not have to forage for food and is fed a gourmet dinner for an opossum. He gets mice, a variety of fruit, eggs scrambled or hard-boiled, applesauce, and yogurt, he likes dry dog food as well. His diet and his meticulous cleaning shows in his hair coat
Opossums groom themselves like a cat would, they are always grooming.
Opossums are our nature’s cleanup crew. They eat snails, slugs, rats, mice, worms, lizards. They are impervious to any kind of venom; Rattlesnake, water moccasins, copperhead, scorpions, and bees, they will eat them if they can.
Opossums will eat an average of 5000 ticks in a three month period. Ticks carry Lyme disease and are very toxic to other animals as well as humans. You will also find opossums eating roadkill.
One of the biggest misconceptions about opossums is that they carry rabies. Their body temperature is at 94° and rabies can’t thrive in their body.
Opossums will have babies from February till June, although we have had them well into the fall. Their gestation is 10 to 13 days. A Joey (baby possums) will travel 3 inches into a warm furry pouch and will find a milk source and stay nestled in her pouch for at least three months to finish developing. Opossums are the only marsupials (pouch bearing) in the United States.
Opossums are not aggressive by nature but cornered they will hiss at us and open their mouth and show their 50 teeth. If you see them out and about usually at night let them go their own way, they’re just looking for food.
Their demise is other animals, bobcats, coyotes, wolves, eagles Great Horned owls ,dogs and of course man and cars.
Their life span in the wild is about one to two years, in captivity maybe seven.
There is so much other information I would like to write but then it would be a book.
Our goal as volunteer rehabbers is to educate people about these extraordinary animals and to understand and learn about their uniqueness.
Opossums have been on our planet for 65 million years with little change.
Meet Brutus
Brutus is a Saw Whet Owl, and arrived at TCWC with a frozen right wing from a poorly healed wing fracture obtained as he fledged from the nest. He is unable to fly, but a beautiful and common owl in our area. They are rarely seen because they are low on the food chain and hide in the bottom branches of dense conifer trees to avoid being eaten by larger owls.
Brutus is a Saw Whet Owl, and arrived at TCWC with a frozen right wing from a poorly healed wing fracture obtained as he fledged from the nest. He is unable to fly, but a beautiful and common owl in our area. They are rarely seen because they are low on the food chain and hide in the bottom branches of dense conifer trees to avoid being eaten by larger owls.
Meet Marbles
Marbles is a little Screech Owl that was found sitting on a log in broad daylight on a ranch. This owl's eyes looked like 2 cloudy white marbles and he showed no response when approached.
He was taken to Rocklin Eye Center where they confirmed that he had cataracts in both eyes probably from blunt trauma. We get these small owls in frequently and often they are hit by cars.
This little guy is now in training to see if he will do well tethered. Although he is said to be totally blind, he can fly and he lands well too. We think Marbles will make a great addition to our education team.
Marbles is a little Screech Owl that was found sitting on a log in broad daylight on a ranch. This owl's eyes looked like 2 cloudy white marbles and he showed no response when approached.
He was taken to Rocklin Eye Center where they confirmed that he had cataracts in both eyes probably from blunt trauma. We get these small owls in frequently and often they are hit by cars.
This little guy is now in training to see if he will do well tethered. Although he is said to be totally blind, he can fly and he lands well too. We think Marbles will make a great addition to our education team.
Meet Stella
Stella is a Barn Owl being trained now to be an education bird because she came to us with a missing wingtip and will be unable to fly and hunt. These are incredibly aggressive birds and also very beautiful. She is being imprinted with the permission of the governing agencies so that she may be handled.
Stella is a Barn Owl being trained now to be an education bird because she came to us with a missing wingtip and will be unable to fly and hunt. These are incredibly aggressive birds and also very beautiful. She is being imprinted with the permission of the governing agencies so that she may be handled.
Meet Radar
This fine young Great Horned Owl was surrendered to us after a well-meaning individual attempted to care for him. His condition was such that he could not be released, and we received a permit to keep him as an ambassador for our education program.
This fine young Great Horned Owl was surrendered to us after a well-meaning individual attempted to care for him. His condition was such that he could not be released, and we received a permit to keep him as an ambassador for our education program.
Meet Roj
Roj came to us in June 2015 as a nearly naked eyes closed tiny white bunny. He had been found in the middle of the road by kind people who thought he was a wild bunny. We took him in thinking perhaps it was an albino brush bunny. Roj showed he was not a brush bunny within a matter of weeks because he grew and Grew and GREW. We are pretty sure now that Roj is a New Zealand White rabbit and will weigh 9-12 lbs when full grown.
He is a great new education animal that will clearly show the difference between wild things that you cannot pet and domestic animals that we are happy to let people pet. Roj also shows the difference between wildlife with
amazing camouflage and domestic pets with none.
Roj came to us in June 2015 as a nearly naked eyes closed tiny white bunny. He had been found in the middle of the road by kind people who thought he was a wild bunny. We took him in thinking perhaps it was an albino brush bunny. Roj showed he was not a brush bunny within a matter of weeks because he grew and Grew and GREW. We are pretty sure now that Roj is a New Zealand White rabbit and will weigh 9-12 lbs when full grown.
He is a great new education animal that will clearly show the difference between wild things that you cannot pet and domestic animals that we are happy to let people pet. Roj also shows the difference between wildlife with
amazing camouflage and domestic pets with none.
Meet Tiago
Tiago is a Swainson’s Hawk who came to us in the Fall of 2016 as a baby. He seemed like a perfectly normal bird, but he's refused to fly or to join up with the other Swainson’s Hawk in the flight cage.
When the person who brought us this bird was questioned, we learned that she had kept him quite a long time. Tiago, we realized, was imprinted and unable to fly due to an improper diet.
The Swainson’s Hawk became threatened by DDT which was used on the lands where it migrates. The Swainson’s is now making a comeback after their migratory lands discontinued the use of DDT.
Tiago is a beautiful and calm bird and is great addition to our education team.
Tiago is a Swainson’s Hawk who came to us in the Fall of 2016 as a baby. He seemed like a perfectly normal bird, but he's refused to fly or to join up with the other Swainson’s Hawk in the flight cage.
When the person who brought us this bird was questioned, we learned that she had kept him quite a long time. Tiago, we realized, was imprinted and unable to fly due to an improper diet.
The Swainson’s Hawk became threatened by DDT which was used on the lands where it migrates. The Swainson’s is now making a comeback after their migratory lands discontinued the use of DDT.
Tiago is a beautiful and calm bird and is great addition to our education team.
Meet Flash
Flash is a Peregrine Falcon that came to us in 2016 with a fractured radius and ulna. Pat worked with Dr. Smith to wrap the wing and we were hopeful he would be released. Peregrines need perfect flight because they hunt birds and can exceed 200 MPH as they dive to capture their prey.
Flash did not heal perfectly and showed that he would make a great education bird because of his calm demeanor. Flash teaches us about the dangers of chemicals with the near disappearance of this bird from our use of DDT and it was listed as in endangered in 1971. With the outlawing of this pesticide and captive breeding programs, the Peregrine has made a comeback and was delisted in 1999. This bird is handled by Denise Montano.
Flash is a Peregrine Falcon that came to us in 2016 with a fractured radius and ulna. Pat worked with Dr. Smith to wrap the wing and we were hopeful he would be released. Peregrines need perfect flight because they hunt birds and can exceed 200 MPH as they dive to capture their prey.
Flash did not heal perfectly and showed that he would make a great education bird because of his calm demeanor. Flash teaches us about the dangers of chemicals with the near disappearance of this bird from our use of DDT and it was listed as in endangered in 1971. With the outlawing of this pesticide and captive breeding programs, the Peregrine has made a comeback and was delisted in 1999. This bird is handled by Denise Montano.
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