Salthaven Wildlife Rehabilitation & Education Centre Inc.

We’re doing everything we can to save this cottontail. He was found entangled in a soccer net and when he arrived at Salthaven he was suffering from organ congestion (the heart can’t beat well enough to push blood through the body; blood begins to back up leading to congestion) and shock. It’s still too early to tell what his prognosis is. We are treating him for shock and keeping him comfortable and warm.

We get lots of visitors to the Salthaven pond but the steep embankment makes it challenging for young geese and ducks to get in and out. That shouldn’t be a problem anymore. A big shout out going to Wes and Bryce from Firefield Landscape in Strathroy for generously donating their time and equipment to level out an area and help those little webbed feet access what we fondly refer to as the Great Salt Lake. Thank you!

Bat Squad’s Back! With the weather turning colder Salthaven’s Bat Squad is back, ready to help rehabilitate sick or injured bats over the winter months. Will we have another set of twins born this season? We’ll keep you posted. In the meantime, if you find a bat in need of help, give us a call at 519-264-2440.

Check out the improvement this cottontail is making! It came to us a few weeks ago after being hit by a car, suffering from torticollis, a neurological dysfunction that prevents the rabbit from holding up its head. Under the care of Salthaven volunteers, the cottontail is recovering nicely, eating well and gaining weight. ... We are now cautiously optimistic that it will make a full recovery and be able to be released.

Gus is an 8 foot black rat snake and one of Salthaven’s wildlife ambassadors. Like all of us, she loved the summer-like weather this past week and was given the freedom to roam our property. Rat snakes are indigenous to southwestern Ontario. However, because of habitat destruction and secondary rodenticide poisoning they can only be found in two small segregated areas in Ontario and as a result are very rare.

A year ago today and we were returning a group of eastern grey squirrels back to where they belong, in an environment rich in food and shelter although some needed a little coaxing. DYK the word squirrel means shadow tail in Greek. They can also rotate their feet 180 degrees which helps them out when trying to navigate our squirrel-proof bird feeders!

Yesterday we showed you an easy way to help prevent birds from flying into your windows. Today, the Salthaven team is nursing a northern saw-whet owl back to good health after it collided with a window. Just one example of the many birds and owls we see each year that have been injured after a window strike.

October is Bat Appreciation Month. At Salthaven, we love bats and every winter, our Bat Squad is kept busy rehabilitating the flying mammals that have managed to sneak their way inside our homes looking for warmth. Bats really don’t deserve the reputation they get. They are nature’s insect control. One bat can eat 7,000 insects/night! They’re also great pollinators and seed dispersers. How can you help the bat population? If you have old or dead trees on your property, leave them standing, if it’s safe to. Or put up a bat house (it’ll help keep them out of your house too!)

Turtles are ectotherms which means they can’t regulate their own body temperature. When in care at Salthaven, we make sure to provide the ideal temperature range to support their healing process. Because they can’t regulate their body temperature, they hibernate over the winter, surviving without using much energy at all. We recently released a turtle in plenty of time for it to prepare for the cold months ahead.

The last of our blue jay patients was recently released. This one came to us as a fledgling after being injured by a cat or dog. One of the most colourful and loudest birds, the blue jay likes a varied diet. It mainly eats nuts, seeds and fruit but also enjoys insects and has been known to eat small rodents, frogs and other birds’ eggs.

This cottontail was hit by a car and is now suffering from some neurological dysfunction. It’s called torticollis where it can’t keep its head in a normal position. We see this often at Salthaven, especially when birds have flown into windows. Anti-inflammatory medications will often work if treatment can be started quickly. We are continuing to work with this cottontail. It is eating well but it’s been with us a few weeks now with no improvement so unfortunately, the prognosis is growing increasingly grim.

You think you’re having a bad hair day! This poor guy fell into a mud pit and couldn’t get out. Fortunately, he wasn’t injured but our friends at Salthaven West in Regina kept him overnight for observation before releasing him. ... Check out the transformation!

This is a Little Gull and yes, that is its official name. It’s tiny; about half the size of a Ring-billed Gull. As an adult, its head will become black. They love crickets and mealworms. This one has a badly fractured right wing. You can see the green wing wrap that is helping with treatment. The Little Gull is relatively new to North America with the first species found nesting here in 1962. It likes to nest around Hudson Bay and the Great Lakes, and heads out to the east coast for the winter.

Did you know? Goldfinches are one of the latest hatchlings we get at Salthaven, usually coming to us in late August. They’re quite irregular with their migration and you can often spot them in southwestern Ontario over the winter, if there is an adequate food source. One other interesting tidbit the female builds the nest into a solid, compact cup of plant fibers and fibers. It’s so well built, it may even hold water!

We’ve admitted 6 red-breasted grosbeaks at Salthaven this year. Did you know they’re part of the cardinal family? You’ll most often find them at the edge of a forest or in a park. They love fruit and sunflower seeds and are common visitors to backyard feeders. They set out for their migration in early autumn, preferring to travel at night as they head for Central and South America.

It’s the first day of fall and most of the mallard ducks at Salthaven have already started out on their migration. While it’s not unusual to see a mallard in southern Ontario over the winter, the majority prefer the ice-free ponds and lakes of the southern and central United States. They’re also one of the first ducks to return to their breeding grounds in the spring.

Community rallies behind red fox's rehab ICYMI The story of the red fox from Bayfield that stole people’s hearts while recovering from mange at Salthaven. St. Thomas Times-Journal https://bit.ly/3kCFpzF