Our first Harbor Seal pup of 2020 arrived at Wolf Hollow on May 31^st. This is 3-4 weeks earlier than we usually see seal pups at the rehab center, because she came from Ocean Shores on the Olympic Peninsula where pupping season is earlier than it is around the San Juans.

She was seen alone for several days, and over the busy Memorial Day weekend, was constantly harassed by people trying to take photos or get her back into the water. A Washington Department of  Fish and Wildlife biologist rescued the pup and took her to a vet clinic for initial care. When she arrived at Wolf Hollow, we discovered that she was emaciated (only weighed 14 pounds), dehydrated, had wounds on her flippers and had an umbilical infection, but she was active and had a very loud voice.

She started off in our seal nursery, being fed a special high-fat formula while she regained her strength, but has now progressed to swimming in a pool and learning to eat fish. Our naming theme this year is scientists, so she was named Fossey, after Dian Fossey, the American primatologist famous for her research on Mountain Gorillas.

We welcome our summer Seasonal Wildlife Rehabilitator for 2020,  Rylie Chabot.

Rylie grew up in Seattle and is proud to call Washington home. She began gaining wildlife rehabilitation experience in 2015 while attending Western Washington University, where she completed an interdisciplinary degree bringing Animal Husbandry and Wildlife Ecology together. During this time she volunteered many hours at Whatcom County Humane Society’s Wildlife Rehab Center and also completed their internship program. Rylie went on to do an internship at an accredited Wildcat Sanctuary, where she fulfilled her dream to work safely and professionally with big cats. Before finding her way to San Juan Island to pursue her next goal of earning a wildlife rehabilitation permit in WA, Rylie worked as a vet assistant with domestic felines. As our seasonal wildlife rehabber, Rylie will spend the next six months assisting other staff in animal care and training interns and volunteers. 

Our first intern of 2020 is Shaelyn Campbell, who is currently a student at Washington State University, working towards her degree in Environmental Science, Wildlife Ecology and Conservation. Her animal care experience includes caring for family pets, showing goats for 4-H, working with horses and volunteering with WSU’s ungulate facility.

Our second intern, Zoe Halliday is also a student at Washington State University, pursuing a degree in Wildlife Ecology, with a minor in Forestry. She grew up on San Juan Island and has worked at a number of farms where she gained experience dealing with cows, sheep, chickens and goats. She has also cared for family pets, ranging from hedgehogs to snakes, and has many years of experience riding and training horses.

Victoria Robertson joined our intern team in mid-June. She is currently a student at Western Washington University, working towards a degree in Environmental Science, specializing in Freshwater and Terrestrial Ecology. Victoria has cared for a wide range of pets including fish, hamsters, dogs, rabbits and horses, throughout her life, and at an early age developed a reverence for the nature of wild places. She plans to go on to a career in wildlife ecology, focusing on conservation and restoration.

Alyssa Nelson joined us in late June, as our fourth intern of 2020. Her hometown is Mt Vernon, WA, but she is currently a senior at Oregon State University, where she will soon graduate with a degree in Animal Science, with a minor in Fisheries and Wildlife Biology. Alyssa has a wide variety of animal experience, ranging from volunteering at an exotic animal rescue and at the university’s sheep center, to carrying out seabird behavior monitoring on the Oregon coast. She will be with us through till mid-October.

Our final intern of the year is Abby Severns, who arrived in mid-August and will be with us through till late October. Abby has just graduated from Western Washington University with a degree in Environmental Science. Her wildlife-related experience includes being a research assistant observing Harbor Seal foraging strategies and behavior and taking part in a field class studying foxes on the Channel Islands in California.

Wolf Hollow is still open and willing to help wildlife!

With the recent Washington State “Stay Home Stay Healthy” mandate, we have made further changes to our operation, but we are still available to take care of injured and orphaned wildlife, and to answer your wildlife questions over the phone.

For at least the next 2 weeks staff members will be alternating who is on-site and on call, so that only one person is at the center each day. Staff will answer the regular 360-378-5000 number. If you call when we are not at the rehab center you will receive instructions on how to reach the on call staff person. We will be operating without on-site animal care volunteers.

We are asking people on San Juan Island to call ahead if they have an injured or orphaned wild creature so that we can gather all the necessary information over the phone and arrange to receive the animal while maintaining social distancing.

On other islands and the mainland, some vet clinics are willing to continue working with us and a limited number of animal transport volunteers are available to collect animals. They too will be taking precautions in order to minimize contact and reduce risks.

We realize that it will be more challenging to transport animals to our rehab center and to provide care with limited personnel, but we will do our best to maintain this essential service to wild creatures in need and to our local community.

With your help we’ll get through this and we’ll keep helping wildlife.

Celebrate Spring Wildlife

When so much is uncertain, it’s good to know that nature is continuing as normal. Spring is here, new, fresh leaves are sprouting, flowers are blooming and birds are singing. To celebrate the beauty of spring we invite you to share your photos of local wildlife. Whether you’re out for a walk, working in your yard, or watching from your window, take a moment to enjoy the antics of your local wild creatures, then take a photo and email it to us. We’ll share the best and funniest on our Facebook page and web site.

This is the time of year when many birds are arriving back in our area for the summer, so each week we’ll have a special category for photos of a particular bird, starting this week with the Rufous Hummingbird. To inspire you, we have included a photo taken by Richard Foxenberger a few years ago.

Please email your photos to wolfhollow@wollhollowwildlife.org, and don’t forget to include your name and where and when you took the shot.

We look forward to seeing all your beautiful photos.

Baby season at Wolf Hollow officially started on March 1^st with the arrival of a batch of tiny infant squirrels that were found on the ground in a yard in Sedro Woolley. This is the earliest we have ever received baby mammals. When they arrived, the little squirrels were only a few days old and were pink and furless, but in just 2 weeks they have almost doubled their weight and have grown a soft down of grey fuzz. Their ears and eyes should open soon, so stay tuned for more photos of these youngsters.

We wanted to reach out and let you know what Wolf Hollow’s plans are in the event that COVID-19 has a major impact on our local area.

First, we have made the decision to cancel our annual Open House. Of course we never want to cancel events, but we felt this was the right decision in the current circumstances. The health of our members, donors, volunteers and community has been and remains a top priority.

Second, we plan to continue normal operations as much as possible. Our rehabilitation staff will continue to be on site seven days a week and be available by phone after hours for emergencies. If staff members become sick, we have experienced volunteers who are available to fill in so that our wild patients continue to receive care.

We rely heavily on our network of Animal Transport Volunteers on other islands and the mainland to get animals to us for care. As long as our volunteers are able and willing to do this, and the ferries to the islands are running, we plan to continue serving all of San Juan and Skagit Counties and Northern Whidbey Island.

Wildlife “baby season” is here and you can rest assured that we will do our best to continue to provide care for all the injured and orphaned wild creatures that need our help at this time of year.

We are grateful for all the support you have shown our organization throughout the years. We hope you and your loved ones remain well.