2017

[boonibarb]

 
Marielle, the veterinarian from Island Wildlife Natural Care Centre - Marine Mammal Rescue, called me about a Seal pup caught in the rocks down at Heron Rocks!
i gathered my tub, towels, phone numbers & camera & drove down there.
i was worried no one would know what i was talking about when i got to the office for the campsite down there, & then where would i begin too look for the pup?
Especially if he or she is tucked down into a crevice somewhere.
Fortunately there was someone in the office who knew me & knew why i had come.
She took me down to where the pup had been trapped.
But first i was told by one of the campers that she had dumped cold water on the pup because he looked *desiccated*, which is NOT what you are supposed to do which i told her, but she was an expert & assured the campsite manager behind my back that the Seal pup was just fine.
Sigh...
Here we go.
How can she possibly know that the Seal pup in the hot sun alone & unfed is just fine.
& she says so with such assurance.
A few years ago we rescued a pup from the hot baking sun after a woman with a special needs son had sat with him & argued all day with the campers who assured her all was well & she should just leave the pup alone.
She was a nurse & she just knew something was wrong.
After battling with these people all day Marielle told me to just go in there, don*t talk to anybody, just get the pup out.
i forget if this one died of stress hunger & dehydration before they could even be delivered to IWNCC?
& of course the campers were telling me that the mother was swimming around after crying for her baby that we stole from her.
Marielle chuckled about that, saying adult Seals don*t cry, only the pups vocalize.
When we got there, two men were there watching, & the pup was no longer trapped.
It turns out that they had moved one of the rocks so that the pup could get out.
Both of them were sure that the mother had left the pup there & would be back.
One even was regretting letting the pup out, believing that the mother had stored the pup there on purpose to hide him.
& one of the guys was one of the people who argued, he said *discussed* with the woman with the special needs son & here he was now arguing/discussing with me.
i try to stay calm.
i try to answer their concerns.
But people don*t listen.
They think they know what is right already.
So i tell them to ask Marielle over the phone, & she gives them the long answers, such as, no Harbour Seal pups are not hidden in the rocks by their mothers, no, touching them will not stop the mother from caring from them if she returns, & no, this is not a zoo, this is a hospital, the pups are given the best of care & are released to the wild again once they are healthy.
Fortunately there is a caring woman there as well, who mostly gets it.
i tell her to let Marielle address her concerns over the phone, after feeling like my answers are not convincing her.
Meanwhile, the pup is crying & moving himself along the beach.
i pick up the pup, he is surprisingly heavy! get the pup into the tub & the woman takes fotos of the pup & sends them to Marielle via her cellphone.
Marielle wants to know if there is any injury or swelling from being trapped in the rocks.
To us, all the flippers look fine.
She wants a foto of the face, the whole body, & the umbilical cord which appeared to be bleeding fresh blood.
We get all the fotos to Marielle, who calls us back on the woman*s cellphone.
She thinks the pup looks in good health, is a good weight, was perhaps just born & has not had time to lose the nice weight he was born with.
Surprise surprise, she tells me to put the pup back where we found him, facing the water, in some shade.
i assure her there is no shade.
It is hot hot too.
We are to stay 100' away & observe the pup.
Don*t put him in the water, don*t dump water on him, let him rest if that is what he does, let him go in the water if that is what he does.
The tide is coming in.
The woman has to leave, & feels bad that she does, but assures Marielle & myself that she will come back & keep an eye on the pup.
i stay around & watch the pup for over an hour.
There is a cat there also watching the pup!
Which has me worried, because at a few points the cat looked as though to stalk & pounce on the pup.
i make some noises that startle the cat & snap him out of it & at some point the cat goes back home to the manager*s cabin, i hope.
Finally one of the men come back with two girls.
He is the one who Marielle assured that the mother would not tuck the pup into a rock to hide him.
i talk to the girls for a bit, try to engage them in the situation, tell them to stay 100' away, to not dump water on the pup or put him in the water & to keep an eye on the cat, then i lug my gear back to the car.
Now i wait to hear from the campers or Marielle today.
Here are some of the assessment videos i took yesterday evening.
The first one shows you the pup suckling the side of the tub!
The poor thing.
Listen to the suction he creates!
& notice the saliva created, which hopefully indicates a good level of hydration.
You can also see the fresh blood on the white towel, likely from dragging the umbilical cord over the rocks & barnacles.
 
july 30 2017 17:57 - Harbour Seal pup suckling tub
 
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C9-GCYaMT_g" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C9-GCYaMT_g</a>


Wanting to show Marielle what the pup got up to, & how feisty & mobile he is.


july 30 2017 18:58 - Harbour Seal pup

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O9L_dzK9JiU" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O9L_dzK9JiU</a>
 

Looking desperately for something to suckle.

july 30 2017 19:01 - Harbour Seal pup

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MLmzGj15k1s" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MLmzGj15k1s</a>


july 30 2017 19:09 - Harbour Seal pup


<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q0TZlqVFbic" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q0TZlqVFbic</a>
 
link to my fotos page - 
 
https://www.flickr.com/photos/43214021@N08/

[jeavverhey]

It must be discouraging to try to educate the masses but even if you  only educate a few the world becomes a bit better - keep hanging in there - what you do is so very important! 

[Tigerlady105]

Thank you for sharing this story with us, booni!  The animals and birds are very fortunate that both you and wren are ready to help them!   

[Donnae]

Awww the poor wee thing.... hope he/she is okay and Mom returned .... any word Booni. Thanks for all you do, and I am sure it gets frustrating at times dealing with people.

[boonibarb]

 
Marielle & i didn*t believe that Heron Rocks pup had a Mum, else he wouldn*t be on the shore with people & dogs & a cat.
The Mums keep their pups with them, close, out on the rocks where it is safe.
But that pup hasn*t been spotted again, darnit.
& you can tell in the video that he is very hungry.
i think if i had been able to show Marielle my footage, she would have had me rescue that pup.
As it was, she only had crummy cell phone fotos to go by, & my assessment.

Yesterday i was sitting inside knitting a sock & getting a bit cool, trying to decide where to take Otto for a walk where there would be no people, & the phone rang.
It was Marielle & she was very surprised that i actually answered the phone.
People visiting Hornby were out at Helliwell somewhere & had spotted a Seal pup alone on the shore way up at high tide in the hot sun.
My heart dropped, because Helliwell is huge, there is so much shore, & finding a pup somewhere has been very difficult, even impossible.
But it was the pup*s lucky day.
One of the pair would meet me in the parking lot of Helliwell, next to the outhouse, her partner stayed with the pup & tried to move him to shade!
Well, there she was waiting for me when i got there, so i had help lugging the tub all the way out to where the pup was.
i never would have found this pup without their help, & it was lucky lucky that he was spotted.
They had taken a path off to the left, through the yellow grass towards Whaling Station & had spotted the pup on the shore.
They eventually got the number for IWNCC, & Marielle told them what to do.
There was the man waiting with the pup.
They had no cell reception out there, so were unable to send a foto to Marielle, who can tell a LOT from a foto.
So she was counting on my assessment of the pup.
She said, you have seen Seal pups, you know what to look for.
Yikes.
i took assessment fotos while i tried to decide what to do.
Meanwhile Marielle was on the phone talking to me.
We decided the pup needed rescue.
Well, once again, i was grateful to this couple who had spotted this pup in the first place & knew enough to try to call for help & advice, but also i was SO GRATEFUL that they carried the tub out with the pup in it!
i don*t know what i would have done on my own.
i picked up the pup with a towel over the head & it is always amazing how such a tiny thing can be so heavy.
i need to devise some sort of sling for this work, as the tub is very cumbersome, even for two to carry.
Just lugging my camera & the spare towels had me huffing & puffing & sweating, keeping up to these younger two carrying the heavy awkward tub.
They were sad to leave the pup, & took many fotos as we loaded him into my van.
Meanwhile Marielle had arranged for Jim Funk*s Water Taxi to be waiting for me at Ford Cove.
She wanted me to pour some water on the pup, first over the back flippers, & if he didn*t freak out, over the rest of him.
She wanted him to cool for a bit in an inch or two of water, but not to aspirate any!
i decided to head straight for Ford Cove & Jim & i did the water treatment right there on the dock next to the boat, which was ready & waiting.
i then sponged out the water & left the pup on the wet towel, & we loaded him into the boat.
By the time i got back to my van, Jim was already heading out.
Marielle arranges someone to meet Jim at Deep Bay, where they transfer the pup to another tub for the trip to where the lineup for the Saltspring ferry is.
What a wonderful system, that works every time.
Marielle was yawning.
She was so tired & said she needed a week off.
Yet she eagerly takes on this new pup, who needs our help.
i wrote to Marielle last night, worrying whether i had made the right decision to nab this pup.

Marielle, did i make the right decision to send you that pup today?
~barb

She replied - Absolutely! He is 22 lbs, and 10 to 14 days old (judging by the lack of umbilical cord and the teeth) very long and very thin. He is basically just skin over bones. He could get even skinnier but this is a very thin pup.

Orphan . 200% sure

Thank you again for doing this!

Marielle

PHEW!!!
 
august 7 2017 15:05 - lone Harbour Seal pup
 

 

 
They make such endearing cries.
The adults never speak.


 

 

 
link to my fotos page - 
 
https://www.flickr.com/photos/43214021@N08/

[Donnae]

Thanks Booni for all you do, you are so wise and you do know if an animal needs help or not. I would put my faith in you any day!!! I am so glad you were able to help it and I also am thankful you had help. That would have been a job and a half trying to do that yourself. Yes, it is too bad about the one at Heron Rock, but you had a lot of interference their also. Wish people who don't know would mine their own business... they may mean well, but if you don't know keep quiet!!... Again thanks for all you do... Hornby is a better place for animals with you there!!!
 

[Tigerlady105]

Thank goodness the pup was found and you had help when you rescued him, booni! The arrangements to get him to rehab worked so well.  

Hopefully, he will be able to gain weight and recover.  A mother seal's milk is rich so a pup can gain weight fast.

H.E.A.R.T. to the rescue!  

[jeavverhey]

  HEART critically important work

[boonibarb]

 
If you can believe it, another Seal pup rescue!
i*d had a busy day & was invited out for dinner.
It was hot & it was looking like i might get to sit & rest for half an hour & knit before having to go out again.
But i*d gotten a call about a small Seal pup on *North Beach*, which i*d never heard of.
It is near impossible to find a pup without the help of the person who first spots them.
To me North Beach was Collishaw, which would be a HUGE hot area & a long walk to have to search.
So i*d been calling & calling the fella, hoping to reach him fast, as i*d only just missed him & it sounded like he was leaving the area & he said the tide was coming in.
i kept getting his voice mail.
Just as i was getting close to being able to sit for a bit the phone rang & it was him!
He*d been busy with his Hornby Festival duties & would be busy again soon, yet he said yes, he would show me where he*d seen the pup, even though it had been hours & the tide was coming in.
It seemed hopeless, but i at least wanted to know where the pup had been.
So i met him there & he immediately took the tub from me & set off down the hill to the beach.
Yay, a helper!
Once we got to the beach, he pointed, & oh, yes, there was a Seal, but to me this looked more like a regular sized Seal!
You don*t usually see them on the shore like this?
This was something different.
i asked him if he had his cell phone with him but he didn*t, so said he would go back up the hill to get it!
Wow, to be young & energetic again.
Meanwhile i started photographing the Seal, trying to figure out what was going on.
 
august 8 2017 17:46 - lone Harbour Seal pup
 


The closer i got, as i took fotos, the smaller the little guy got.
This was just a tiny pup!
Look how noticeable the shape of the skull is.
That should be all fat & filled out there where you can see the neck.
& you can see how thin the body is.
The area of the body just before the back flippers is thin, too, you can almost see the hip bones here.
Not good.
 


i think there should be wet circles in the fur around their eyes, if they are properly hydrated.
The shape of the skull under the skin shouldn*t be so noticeable.
 


Having a yawn in spite of it all.
 


He seemed to be humping along the shore, keeping higher than the tide coming in.
 


My helper has come back with his cell phone.
i tell him i am going to walk out to the water & circle in to the pup in case he makes a run for the water.
Which he doesn*t.
i pop the towel over him & pick him up & he yowls.
i am amazed at how light he is.
Usually it is shocking how heavy such a little thing is.
i pop him in the tub & call Marielle via my helper & she calls us back.
She begins to arrange transport.
i take this little video of him trying to suckle his own tail!
Marielle says they do that.

august 8 2017 18:01 - lone Harbour Seal pup

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5bMRFyqFrPE" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5bMRFyqFrPE</a>

My lovely helper once again grabs the tub & scampers up the hill with it, barefoot by the way, while i huff & puff after him carrying the bits & pieces.
We get to the car & Marielle is having trouble reaching Jim Funk with his Water Taxi.
i tell her i will stop at his home then head towards Ford Cove.
It is 6pm & i am expected for dinner, but Marielle has arranged for the pup to be picked up at Deep Bay at 7 & we need to find Jim!
& my helper has to go before the Co-Op closes!
He kindly lets me keep his phone so that Marielle can call me back & we agree to meet at the Co-op on the road to Ford Cove.
Well you*ll never guess who was just getting in his car there!
Jim Funk!
He goes home & i tell him to call Marielle & tell her we are on for the meeting at Deep Bay at 7.
Jim starts second guessing my nabbing of the pup, saying i should have waited a few more days, the pup looked fine, so now i am worrying.
But the more he looks at the pup the more he sees how thin & tiny he is.
& off he goes again.

i wrote to Marielle this morning - What was your assessment of this one Marielle?
Did i do the right thing?
~barb

She replied - 300%
16 lbs, half of birth weight

Marielle


Yayyyyyy!

 
link to my fotos page - 
 
https://www.flickr.com/photos/43214021@N08/

[boonibarb]

i e-mailed Reg today because i was reminded of our lovely little Merlin we*d rescued who had a broken wing.
Someone had spotted who was likely a sibling, down at Hidden Beach, on a rock.
She was able to approach & hang out with him for quite a while before he flew off & landed on a log on the beach.
He then hung out there even as she approached.
She thought this a bit strange & wanted to show me fotos.
So i showed her fotos of the Merlin we rescued & she said that was the kind of Bird she saw.
She will keep looking for him.
So this reminded me of our Merlin.
Well, three seconds after i sent the e-mail, the phone rang, & it was Reg!
It turned out putting a rod in wasn*t necessary.
Reg had wing wrapped the Merlin & had aligned the bones perfectly.
Now the bones were knitted perfectly but the Merlin isn*t flying well & maybe needs Reg to give some physio to get the wing strong again.
Reg is on a much deserved break right now.
This seemed a long time to me for wing recovery, the song Birds knit so fast, i thought, but Reg assured me this was actually quite a quick repair.

Then Reg mentioned the Wiig Eaglet was being sent back from OWL for release!
They were wanting to release him on Hornby but Reg thought that wasn*t a good idea & i agreed.
All the youngsters & adults & pairs are leaving now for the Salmon spawning Rivers, so his family won*t be here & there is no food.
Reg said he would prefer to release him where the other Eagles are in Campbell River where there are Pink Salmon running now.
i agreed.
Apparently he asked OWL to connect with Aaron, who had rescued the youngster, about the Eaglet, so i wrote to Aaron right away & explained how Hornby would not be the place to release this youngster right now.
He agreed that Campbell River would be better.
So perhaps we will hear back from Aaron some day about the release of this little fella!

[Cawatcher]

Fantastic!! 

[Donnae]

Wow Booni.... busy girl.... and I know nothing about seals but yes that seal pup looked thin to me ..poor wee thing. Thanks again for all you do, so glad again you had a helper, that makes thing so much easier.  Wishing the Merlin and the Eaglet much success. I know Reg. will really work on the Merlin and if anyone can help it... he can.

Thanks again.... your terrific!!!

[Tigerlady105]

H.E.A.RT. is almost like a full time job lately, booni.  It's great that Jim was right where you could see him!      

I'm glad you had a good helper who seemed to really want to assist you with the pup.   

[jeavverhey]

So many acts of human kindness and caring!   This is what I want to be watching on the 6:00 news - instead of all the garbage!

[Tigerlady105]

Thank you for the update, booni.  I hope the Merlin will heal and recover well, with help.   Lots of issues to handle for him in rehab.