Host Gail Buhl connected with Rachel Avilla, co-founder and project manager of the database Wildlife Rehabilitation MD , or "WRMD." Rachel gives us a synopsis of her origin story, starting with her first career step out of college, which was a summer internship at The Bird Rescue Center in Santa Rosa. That led to an internship at Lindsay Wildlife Rehabilitation Hospital . There she met Devin, her husband and partner in creating WRMD. Rachel and Devin continued working in the wildlife rehabilitat...
Jun 22, 2023•49 min•Season 2Ep. 11
Dr. Michelle Rivard and Casey Mclean, marine mammal expert guests from SR3 in Washington are back in conversation with Gail Buhl, sharing more about the release phase of caring from Harbor Seals. Later in the episode they get into some of the nuanced differences among pinnipeds, particularly the California Sea Lion. We learn what a what makes a seal a "true seal." This episode also dives more into the nitty gritty of daily operations of a marine mammal rehabilitation facility, which is no small ...
Jun 07, 2023•44 min•Season 2Ep. 10
Host Gail Buhl connected with marine mammal veterinarian Dr. Michelle Rivard, and Casey Mclean, of SR3, the Washington state based organization named for its missions: sealife response, rehabilitation, and research. Casey and Dr. Michelle tell Gail about SR3’s origin, how they came to be involved, and all about the work they’re doing with harbor seals. This is a two-part series. In Part-1, we cover some common reasons harbor seals land in rehabilitation, what their rehabilitation process looks l...
May 25, 2023•54 min•Season 2Ep. 9
Dr. Dave Scott began his career as an electrical engineer, working for 10 years at the Department of Defense, then decided to attend veterinary school. He practiced small animal vet med and emergency care for several years, but eventually followed his heart into wildlife medicine. He again went back to the Department of Defense, but continued to practice wildlife medicine on a volunteer basis.A paid full-time staff vet job in wildlife medicine ( rare opportunity) opened up at the Carolina Raptor...
May 09, 2023•36 min•Season 2Ep. 8
Host Gail Buhl caught up with Lauren Glickman, a former Volunteer Manager at PAWS (Progressive Animal Welfare Society) in Seattle and current organizational training and development consultant. Lauren Glickman began her career in the Peace Corps, then found her way into wildlife rehabilitation in the Seattle area. There she volunteered at PAWS and quickly realized she had found a passion for animal care. After landing a full-time role as a volunteer coordinator, Lauren established monthly ethics...
Apr 28, 2023•1 hr 1 min•Season 2Ep. 7
Host Gail Buhl breaks from the podcast's usual taxa-specific format to discuss a topic of growing importance and interest in the wildlife rehabilitation world: databases. Such databases are the wildlife medicine equivalent of electronic medical records now used in most (human) healthcare systems and hospitals. In this episode Karra Pierce, a veterinary director at The Wildlife Center of Virginia, discusses the WILD-ONe database, which was launched there and is widely regarded as a top choice amo...
Apr 13, 2023•40 min•Season 2Ep. 6
In Episode 5, Host Gail Buhl caught up with Rebecca Duerr, MPVM/DVM, one of the world's leading experts on water birds. Dr. Duerr serves as Director of Research and Veterinary Science as well as the primary veterinarian at International Bird Rescue's two wildlife centers in California. Jennifer Martines, one of IBR's talented veterinary and rehabilitation technicians, also joined the interview, which we recorded onsite at the 2023 NWRA Symposium in Wilmington, Delaware. Dr. Duerr and Jennifer fi...
Mar 09, 2023•1 hr 19 min•Season 2Ep. 5
Host Gail Buhl invites Partners For Wildlife podcast producer Kirk Klocke to step out of the booth and onto the mic to discuss public outreach, which is a big part of his role as the new P4W Outreach Specialist. Gail and Kirk quickly realize in the course of their back and forth about issues around public outreach communications & education that this discussion can spin off into deep dives across multiple areas, ranging from social media best practices, to how best to help staff and voluntee...
Feb 23, 2023•53 min•Season 2Ep. 4
Host Gail Buhl is back for a Part-2 with Brittany Turner, Rehabilitation Director at the Wildlife Rehabilitation Center of Minnesota, or "WRC." The conversation began in Episode 2 with a a look at Brittany's background and career at WRC. In this episode, we get into the nuts and bolts of songbird care, from intake through feeding, housing, and preparation for release. We also touch on a metabolic bone disease that is increasingly being seen in North America.There is SO much to cover about songbi...
Feb 08, 2023•59 min•Season 2Ep. 3
I'm so glad you came back to listen to episode 2 of our second season, which began to drop in January, 2023. I spoke with Brittany Turner, who serves as Rehabilitation Director at the Wildlife Rehabilitation Center of Minnesota. Brittany has led a fascinating and ambitious career, having started as nursery intern to a Director in just under 10 years! She has experience with all the 200+ species the WRC sees. Over the years Brittany has always had a special place in her heart for songbirds, which...
Jan 26, 2023•50 min•Season 2Ep. 2
This episode kicks off Season 2 of Wildlife Rehabilitation: From Rescue to Release! I am so excited about this episode. I think you will enjoy listening to it as much as Leslie Kollmann and I had recording it. I know you probably would not normally put “joy” and “infection control” in the same room, let alone the same sentence but when you find out how you can take simple steps to protect yourself and the animals you care for, you may actually stand up and cheer. Leslie Kollmann is a Certified V...
Jan 12, 2023•1 hr 12 min•Season 2Ep. 1
Calling all plant people, foragers and rehabilitators! Ready to forage for a cause? Naturalist Kate Guenther is working to bridge the gap between the foraging community and rehabilitators through her ongoing project Wildfoods4Wildlife . As a website and database designed to share knowledge of wild foods and animals’ diets, Wildfoods4Wildlife is a wonderful resource for rehabilitators, and volunteers interested in the connection between flora and fauna in wildlife rehabilitation. In this episode,...
Jul 22, 2022•1 hr 37 min•Season 1Ep. 20
Host Gail Buhl is joined by Tim Jasinski, Wildlife Rehabilitation Specialist at Lake Erie Nature and Wildlife Center in Bay Village, Ohio . We talk about an underappreciated bird the Timberdoodle. What is a Timberdoodle you ask? Some know it as the "Bog Stomper." Bog Stomper is my new favorite name for the American Woodcock (Scolopax minor ) . Lake Erie Nature and Wildlife Center receives 200+ woodcock every year for rehabilitation. Tim and I talk about the natural history of the Woodcock and wh...
Jul 08, 2022•2 hr 8 min•Season 1Ep. 19
In this episode, Stephanie McMahon, Board Chair of Aspen Valley Wildlife Sanctuary in Ontario Canada and licensed therapist, and Dr. Renee Schott, Medical Director of the Wildlife Rehabilitation Center of Minnesota rejoin host Gail to elaborate on last episode’s conversation on compassion fatigue. They further explore the intersection of self-care and rehabilitation. Listen to learn about the different elements of self-care and what rehabilitators can do avoid burn out and compassion fatigue. Al...
Jun 22, 2022•34 min•Season 1Ep. 18
Stephanie McMahon is the Board Chair of Aspen Valley Wildlife Sanctuary in Ontario Canada and a licensed therapist, and Dr. Renee Schott is the Medical Director of the Wildlife Rehabilitation Center of Minnesota. These expert guests take the stage in the next two episodes to bring attention and awareness to a condition many rehabilitators suffer from but may not know they have. Compassion fatigue: What is it, what are the identifying symptoms, and, more importantly, how does someone prevent or o...
Jun 08, 2022•54 min•Season 1Ep. 17
This is the last in our series of episodes on Eastern Cottontail rabbits. Laura and I had a great conversation talking about housing of cottontails at all ages. They are a little easier to house than many of the other animals rehabilitators care for. We also talk in depth about release criteria and all the details to think about to make their transition to the wild as successful as possible.This is a long one, so you may have to pause and come back to it --maybe while you are feeding baby buns! ...
May 26, 2022•53 min•Season 1Ep. 16
So you are able to get your young eastern cottontail rabbit eating formula--or maybe you are tube feeding the youngsters. They are growing and developing so quickly! It is time to start weaning the young rabbits. Here in lies the danger however--switching to solid food too quickly can be devastating to the developing gut of the rabbit. Laura Davich Jette and I sit down and have a detailed conversation about weaning young cottontail rabbits. I learned SO much about setting the rabbit and you up f...
May 08, 2022•1 hr 8 min•Season 1Ep. 15
Eastern cottontail rabbits are a high stress prey species. They are one of the hardest wild animals to rehabilitate. This episode I speak with Laura Davich-Jette a Minnesota based wildlife rehabilitator that specializes in cottontail rabbits. Since stress is a real experience for all young cottontail rabbits, everything rehabilitators can do to reduce stress needs to be considered. The episode explores intake exams and how to reduce the rabbit's stress. Laura shares some pro-tips about how to do...
Apr 21, 2022•54 min•Season 1Ep. 14
North America is currently experiencing an outbreak of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) in both wild and domestic birds. To discuss this devastating disease and the implications for wildlife rehabilitation, I am joined by Dr. Victoria Hall, Executive Director at TheRaptorCenter at the University of Minnesota. Dr. Hall is the Patrick T. Redig Endowed Chair in Raptor and Ecosystem Health. She holds a Master of Science in Preventative Medicine and a Doctorate of Veterinary Medicine from Mis...
Apr 11, 2022•46 min
Rabbit Hemorrhagic Disease Virus-2 is a disease that affects both domestic rabbits and wild rabbits and hares. It is a fatal disease that is also extremely contagious. If that wasn't bad enough, this disease is very hardy in many environments and is easily moved from one place to another via fomites -- clothes, shoes, cages, cage furniture etc. Laura Davich Jette is an Eastern cottontail rabbit wildlife rehabilitator in Minnesota. In her day job she is an Emergency Room nurse. This makes her ver...
Apr 07, 2022•58 min
In our last two episodes on creance flying raptors I talked in depth with Lori Arent, Assistant Director of The Raptor Center (TRC) about her journey to TRC and what eventually led to a study regarding reconditioning raptors using the creance technique. Tune into this final episode Creance Technique in Practice as we focus on what creance flying looks like--the ins and outs of this useful tool to ready raptors for release. Lori goes into the details of a raptor exercise program including the nit...
Mar 27, 2022•57 min•Season 1Ep. 12
Host Gail is joined again by Lori Arent, Assistant Director of The Raptor Center (TRC) at the University of Minnesota, for a captivating conversation about how the science of the creance technique for reconditioning raptors was developed. So much of what is done in wildlife rehabilitation is educated guesses. This episode explores how educated guesses and trial and error led to the study of reconditioning. It is an art that pulls from the biomechanics of flight, sports physiology, and horse raci...
Mar 10, 2022•18 min•Season 1Ep. 11
This series of episodes will focus on creance flying as a reconditioning technique for raptors as the last step before release back into the wild. Host Gail is joined by Lori Arent, Assistant Director of The Raptor Center (TRC) at the University of Minnesota for an interesting set of conversations about creance flying. They discuss Lori's journey from interest in animals to a passion for raptors. She became a falconer early in her career at TRC to learn as much as possible about raptor flight an...
Feb 23, 2022•23 min•Season 1Ep. 10
This is part-4 of a conversation with Debbie Sykes about white tail deer fawn. We spend more time on nutrition and the types of plants the young fawns should be exposed to as they are growing to get them ready for release. The episode continues with housing, covering both indoor and outdoor housing, and what are the most important factors for each from the fawn's point of view. We also touch on Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD), which is affecting deer in many places around the country. We also have...
Feb 09, 2022•45 min•Season 1Ep. 9
Debbie talks in detail on how to evaluate a white tail deer fawn when it comes into care. What are the factors for first housing a fawn? How does grouping of young fawn reduce stress? We also talk a lot about the GI system of deer and critical importance of nutrition. What are the components of nutrition, when should you introduce solid foods, and in what form should it take? If that is not enough, Gail and Debbie talk and have a laugh when and how often to stimulate a fawn. Special thanks to Pa...
Jan 26, 2022•42 min•Season 1Ep. 8
Listen as Debbie Sykes of Nashville Wildlife Conservation discusses white tail deer fawns and the first point of contact wildlife rehabilitators have with that fawn -- the public. Gail and Debbie discuss how to enlist the caller/finder as an advocate for the fawn, including when the fawn should be left alone. As rehabilitators, we want to educate the finders on what is the best for the fawn. Gail and Debbie also discuss strategies to make the right decision for the individual animal. Special tha...
Jan 16, 2022•21 min•Season 1Ep. 7
Debbie Sykes tells us about how her college biology program led her to discover wildlife rehabilitation as a fulfilling career. In just a few years, Debbie's passion for the field carried her from rehabilitator newbie to expert specializing in North American White Tailed Deer. Special thanks to Partners For Wildlife and The Raptor Center at the University of Minnesota College of Veterinary Medicine. Our executive producer and host is Gail Buhl. Our producer is Kirk Klocke.To learn more about The...
Jan 06, 2022•31 min
Wildlife rehabilitator Sara Cole, of Duluth, MN discusses the process of becoming a licensed wildlife rehabilitator and establishing a home wildlife rehabilitation practice. Special thanks to Partners For Wildlife and The Raptor Center at the University of Minnesota College of Veterinary Medicine. Our executive producer and host is Gail Buhl. Our producer is Kirk Klocke.To learn more about The Raptor Center, visit Homepage | The Raptor Center (umn.edu) . For more on Partners for Wildlife, visit ...
Nov 05, 2021•40 min•Season 1Ep. 2
