Hi everyone, We hope
everyone enjoyed (?) our early winter during October.
Although September was beautiful in the Brainerd/Garrison area,
we paid for it with a VERY COLD October. There were
quite a few days when the temperatures barely got above
freezing. We did get a lot of rain, which we really needed,
and even a little of that white stuff that stayed on the grass
for a day or two. Let's hope that November is at least
normal, if not above normal.
Activity is slowing
down at Wild & Free as it usually does this time of
year. We only received about 15 animals
during the month of October. As
of October 31st, the following animals were still
at the Wild & Free facility: Bear
Cubs (4)
Barred
Owl Merlin
Red-Tailed Hawks
(2) Trumpeter
Swans
(3)
Bald Eagles
(2)
Great Horned Owl
Volunteer Hours:
During the month of September (October
hours won't be available for another week or so) our
volunteers donated 362 hours of service. So far,
in 2009, our volunteers have donated 2,997 hours of their
time. Isn't that a great total? We are
getting fewer animals in each month, and things are not as
busy at the facility. This is a good time to take
inventory of some of our supplies, do some cleaning, and just sit
back and relax, but just a little. If you
would like to get involved, whether for a couple of hours a
week, a couple of hours a month, or just help out
occasionally with one or two fundraisers throughout the year,
please contact Kristin Thompson (Volunteer Coordinator) at
218-330-8418, Bob & Char Wrobel at bwrobel@brainerd.net, or 218-764-2625, or call the
Garrison Animal Hospital at 320-692-4180. We will
provide all the details and work out a schedule with you for
a quick training session on how to provide for the animals'
needs.
Wish List As usual, we still have a
Wish List of items that are needed at the facility. If you
have any of these items, or perhaps other items that you think we
may be able to use and are willing to donate them to Wild
& Free, please send an email to Bob & Char at bwrobel@brainerd.net, call us at 218-764-2625, or contact
the Garrison Animal Hospital at 320-692-4180, and we will make
arrangements to get the items to Wild & Free. Items we could really
use right now:
"Hard" Plastic Kid's Wading Pool (For Swans & other
animals) (Not inflatable type---animals would
puncture) Wet/Dry Shop Vac
Kitchen
Shears (poultry shears) Projector Screen - Do you have
a tripod mounted projector screen that you want to get rid
of? (from the days of
viewing
photographic slides or movies) We could use
one when we give our Wild & Free presentations to
various
groups. Give us a call and we'll
make arrangements to get it.
Items
we use a lot and always need:
Postage Stamps Mop Pens
Bleach
Wood
Shavings Laundry Soap Heating
Pads
Weather-stripping Rubbermaid
Containers Copy
Paper Paper Towels Large Garbage
Bags (30 Gallon or larger) New Members and Renewed Old Members
Note: All donations are
tax deductible Animal
of the Month: Trumpeter Swans "Swan
Wrangling" We recently received two
Trumpeter Swans at our facility. Now Trumpeter Swans are
very big birds. They are approximately 5 ft. tall with a
wingspan of almost 7 ft. They also weigh between 25 and 30
lbs. Some exceptionally big swans have stood almost 6 ft.
tall with a wingspan of almost 10 ft. and weigh about 50
lbs. As I said, they are BIG birds. One of the swans was shot by a hunter, (and
I use that term loosely as you have to wonder who would shoot
such a beautiful bird especially since it is a protected specie
and no hunting is allowed) and required surgery to one of
its wings. So far it is healing nicely, and we hope it can
eventually be released.
One of
the procedures that was required daily was to catch (thus the
term "wrangling" as it felt like wrangling young
cattle) the injured swan to drop a pill down its throat.
When we would go into the pen, we would have to separate the two
swans, corner the injured one in the pen, get a hold of
it, pry its bill apart and deposit a pill deep into its mouth and
hope that it would swallow it before it spit it back out,
only to be repeated again until the task was
accomplished. Believe me, the first time I tried, it took
four times before I was successful. It's no fun wrestling
with a 25 lb. bird. In the meantime, the other swan was
hovering about 10 ft. away, hissing, grunting, and
honking, with its wings spread trying to scare me
off. As soon as the pill was swallowed, both swans would go
back to their normal routine until the next time. Quite an
experience. After one or two experiences in catching these
birds, it does get easier.
Pine Marten In past years, we've had a couple of pine martens at
Wild & Free. The pine marten is about the size of a
domestic cat with a long slender body, a bushy tail and
shiny brown fur. Its claws are semi-retractable so that it
can easily climb trees, and it has large pads on its feet to
enable it to maneuver atop hard snow, making it easy for it
to hunt for food. Its preferred food is small mammals,
but it will also eat fish, frogs, insects, fruits, and carrion if
it is available. One of the pine martens
that was brought in was a very young one that was just covered
with wood ticks. The veterinarians and techs spent a
lot of time removing each one before we were able to put it in
one of the cages for its stay with us. Since they
are in the same family group as mink, fishers, badgers,
wolverines and weasels, they can be very cute when small but
can be pretty vicious out in the wild. It's certainly not
an animal that you would want to mess with. Since they
are most active at dawn, dusk, and at night, they are not very
commonly seen by the general public. If you would like to learn more about the trumpeter
swans or pine marten, we suggest that you go on-line and do some
research. There are many sources of information that will
probably tell you more than you really wanted to know about any
animal that we've encountered at Wild & Free. Also, go to our website, http://www.wildandfree.org, where Jim Lease and Becky
Miller have posted a picture of the trumpeter swans, a
red-tail hawk, and a new picture of the bears. Apples
and Acorns At this time, we have all the apples we can
use for our bears.
Please do not call us with more apples. After our call for apples
with an article in the Brainerd Dispatch newspaper and the last
email update, we received between 2,000 and 3,000 lbs. of
apples from all our friends. We also received at least
1,000 lbs. of acorns. The bears use the acorns to fatten up
for the winter. Since bears lose about 1/3 of their body weight
during hibernation, and our bears have really bulked
up, they should be fine through their hibernation
period. Thanks to everyone who provided apples
and acorns. We really appreciate your help. Our 4 bears will probably be released into
the wild sometime after the deer season in late November.
We'll keep you posted with the details next month. If you would like to see
pictures of the bears at the facility, go to the Wild & Free
website http://www.wildandfree.org. Jim Lease and
Becky Miller have done a great job of taking pictures
and posting them on our website. The pictures show them
eating, playing, splashing in the water and just having
fun. We're sure you'll really enjoy them. Highlighting some of our animals each
month Since we will not be getting many animals over
the next few months, starting with this "Update",
we will be highlighting some of the ones that we received
over the last couple of years. We'll tell you some facts
about the animals, try to provide a picture or two on our
website, maybe even have a story or two about some of the
experiences we've had while taking care of them. Over
the winter months, we'll try to make this email update as
interesting as possible until we really start getting busy again
next spring with new arrivals as the baby season
begins. Pictures of Animals
Featured This Month We have always avoided
sending pictures with the monthly updates since many people still
have dial-up email, and it would take well over an hour to
download a bunch of pictures while also tying up their phone
lines. Well, we're happy to report that
we've "sort of" solved that problem. Jim
Lease & Becky Miller, who keep our website updated each
month, have graciously offered to put pictures of this
month's featured animals, along with pictures of other
animals that we have taken care of. So, if you want
to see what some of these animals look like and also see many
more pictures and other information, go to http://www.wildandfree.org, and browse the
site. What
a great addition to our website. Thank you, Jim &
Becky, for updating our website with such interesting
pictures and information. Update on
"Harley" the Motorcycle Eagle Remember
"Harley" the eagle that was rescued by a man on a
Harley motorcycle who then wrapped it in his leather
jacket and bungee-corded it to the back of his cycle and drove it
to a rehabber in Duluth? We often wondered what his jacket
smelled like after having the eagle wrapped in it for a couple of
hours. Well, "Here's the Rest of the Story". Recently, while listening to a radio
station in the Twin Cities, they reported that the
Harley-Davidson Company heard about the eagle rescue and was
impressed with what this man had done to help the eagle.
They then proceeded to send him a complete new set of leathers to
replace the jacket that he used in the rescue. What a
fantastic gesture on their part. Nice going
"Harley-Davidson"!!!
Dry
Dog Food Our bears also will still
go through a lot of dry dog food between now and hibernation
and we will continue to need dog food for other animals in the
future. If any of you have any dry dog food that your dog
isn't especially fond of, you can drop it off at the Garrison
Animal Hospital as we are always in need. "Special" Wild & Free Slide
Presentation The staff and volunteers of
Wild & Free occasionally give a FREE slide presentation
to various organizations such as schools, service clubs, church
groups, etc., that also include stories about various
animals that have been at our facility as a way to let people
know what we are all about. During November, we will be
giving at least two presentations in the Brainerd area. We are wondering if anyone
receiving this monthly update would be interested in
attending a FREE "Special" presentation just for friends of Wild &
Free? It would be presented somewhere in the
Brainerd/Garrison area, and would last approximately one
hour. We would provide a brief summary of what Wild &
Free does, slides of many animals, stories, and a question and
answer period. If we can get a minimum
of about 40 people who are interested, we will see if we can set
something up in the near future. All ages are welcome as
children are especially interested in the animals, plus you
may invite any of your friends who may not be on our mailing
list. If this is something that you would like to attend,
please send an email to bwrobel@brainerd.net as soon as possible, let us know how many
people would be interested in attending, and we will put you
on a list to be notified when we schedule the presentation.
If we get enough responses, we will try to schedule an event
soon. Brainerd Jaycees 20th
Anniversary $150,000 Ice Fishing Extravaganza ---Volunteers
Needed On Saturday, January 23,
2010, the Brainerd Jaycees will be having their 20th
Anniversary $150,000 Ice Fishing Extravaganza. Last year,
we had about 10 people from Wild & Free who
registered with the Jaycees to volunteer to help with the Ice
Fishing Extravaganza. Each person worked for
approximately 6 hours each, and in return, Wild & Free
received a donation of $2000.00 from the Jaycees. Our
goal this year is to try to get at least double that
number of people to register as volunteers from Wild &
Free and maybe the Jaycees' donation
will increase. Can you help us raise a lot of money for Wild &
Free, with approximately 6 hours of volunteering??? We already have a few
people who have volunteered, but we could use at least 6
or 8 more. Why not get a couple of
friends together, get out your snowmobile suits, warm boots,
gloves, hats, etc. and have a fun day helping with the event
and watching up to 10,000 or more fishermen/fisherwomen trying to
catch a fish big enough to win a new truck, a 4 wheeler, or
any of the other great prizes that are given out that
day? Most who donated their time last year said they
had a great fun day and would do it again. Why not join
them? If you would like to
volunteer and help us, we need you to let us know Now
so that we can register your names as soon as possible as Wild
& Free volunteers. Please contact Kristin
Thompson (Volunteer Coordinator) at 218-330-8418, Bob & Char
Wrobel at bwrobel@brainerd.net, or 218-764-2625, or
call the Garrison Animal Hospital at 320-692-4180. P.S. We also have it on good
authority that this year's event on Saturday, January 23rd, will
be warm, sunny, with light winds. ;0) Click for Wild and Free
Great news! Have you ever wanted to help a charity
but are short on money and time? Here's a way to help Wild
and Free with just the click of a computer mouse. That's right,
if you do your internet searching by using www.goodsearch.com, every time you click, Wild and Free earns
a penny. I know a penny doesn't sound like much but imagine all
the sites you check when researching something on the web then
multiply that by all our members and their friends and I think
you can see how quickly a penny can turn into dollars. All you
need to do is to go to www.goodsearch.com and designate Wild and Free as
your charity of choice. After you've set it up on your computer,
remember to tell your friends.
Fundraisers Just a reminder that our Avon Product Fundraiser is
still in progress. Kathleen DyClos, who sells
Avon Products, has generously decided that she will give a very
generous portion of her sales of Avon Products to Wild &
Free. Our goal from now on is to try to sell enough
products to raise at least $100.00 per month. Although that
doesn't sound like a lot of money, we could easily raise
$1000-$2000 per year. Here's where we need your
help. If you use Avon Products and are interested in
helping Wild & Free, send an email to Kathleen at kathylduclos@yahoo.com, or call her at
218-678-2213, and include your name and mailing address, and she
will send you a catalog. If you order your products through
her, mention Wild & Free, and the profits from any products
that you buy will then go to Wild & Free. It's as
easy as that. Send her an email, or call her today, before
you forget, and our animals will reap the rewards. We now have another offer to sell
products with a generous portion of the profit going to Wild
& Free.
Azure Davis,
who sells Premier Designs Jewelry, has sent us the following
information:
I sell
Premier Designs Jewelry and people can purchase items in various
ways. I can do a home show for them and their
friends, they can do a catalog show, or they and their
friends can order directly from the catalog. If they do a
home show, they receive 20% to 30% in FREE jewelry. No
matter which way they decide to purchase items, I will donate a
portion of the profits to Wild & Free. So, if you are interested
in purchasing some beautiful jewelry and helping Wild & Free,
you can contact Azure at 612-747-4247, or by email at azure.premier@gmail.com and let her know
if you are interested in a home show, a catalog show, or if you
need some catalogs to pass around to your friends. Be sure to mention Wild
& Free when you contact Azure. With the Christmas season quickly approaching, this would be a great time to do your shopping early. Attention Current and Past Volunteers of Wild
& Free If you have any interesting
or funny stories about some of your experiences while
helping to care for or transport animals at
Wild & Free, we would like to talk to you. Think
back about some things that have happened and made your time as
a volunteer worthwhile. We have an idea for a
fundraising project and we need your input. It will only
take a few minutes of your time, but it will help us
immensely. Please call Bob or Char at 218-764-2625, or send
us an email at bwrobel@brainerd.net as soon as you can and we
will provide further details.
Wild
& Free Board of Directors There
will be 3 openings on the Board of Directors for Wild &
Free in 2010. If you are interested in being a candidate,
or if you know someone who may be interested, please contact one
of the current board members, or send an email with
your/their name and phone number to bwrobel@brainerd.net, and we will pass on the information to
the board. Ripple River Open House
& Ruttger's Oktoberfest
Wild &
Free was invited to have a booth at both events, and we had a
great time. At Ripple River, we not
only met a lot of interested individuals, but we also got to
partake in the "Raku Firing". They provided the
clay pottery which each person coated with different types of
"paint" in any design of your choosing. It
was then fired in a kiln at about 1700° until ready, then placed
in a sawdust mixture to cool. Depending on how the heat
from the kiln hit the pottery, each piece came out completely
different. Some turned out so-so, others were very
pretty. No two ever come out the same. Ruttger's Oktoberfest was attended by
thousands of people who came for the craft show, exhibits, food,
dance, kid's events, etc. Although neither event is a big
fundraiser for us, we do get a lot of exposure so that people are
aware of some of the great things we do for our animal
friends. We hope that they remember to call us in the
event they encounter an animal that needs our attention and
care. Thank you to both Ripple
River Gallery and Ruttger's for allowing us to be a part of their
event, and we hope they invite us back next year.
November Event Wild & Free will be having its fall Wine Tasting
event at Lonesome Pine Restaurant on Bay Lake on Saturday,
November 28, 2009 from 3:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. The cost for the event will
remain at $20.00 per person and tickets are available at Cash
Wise Liquor in Brainerd (both locations), Lonesome Pine
Restaurant, the Garrison Animal Hospital, and if any are
left, at the door the day of the event. Hors d'oeuvres
will be provided along with a silent auction with many
wonderful items available, plus more. Why not get a
bunch of friends together and plan to attend this fun
event? Tickets are limited, so get your tickets as soon as
possible. Membership Information If you have not sent in your membership for
2010, or are not already a member and would like to
join, please go to the Wild and Free website www.wildandfree.org, print and cut out the membership
registration form, make out a check for the proper amount, and
mail it to the address on the form. If you know anyone
else who may be interested in being a member, please feel free to
pass this form to them. Thank you, and we hope you
enjoyed receiving this update about our animals and some of the
upcoming events. Please feel free to forward this email to
anyone who may be interested and ask them to contact us with
their email address if they would like to receive an update each
month. We would also like your comments about what you
would like to receive in future updates. Please send your
comments to: bwrobel@brainerd.net Have a great November and get outside
to enjoy Mother Nature before it really gets cold.
Enjoy it now because we all know what it will be like in
another month or two.
Wild and Free If you change your email address, you must
notify us by email of your new address if you still wish to
receive these monthly updates about Wild and Free. Send
your new email address to bwrobel@brainerd.net. If your email bounces due to your
account no longer being active, we must remove your name from our
records until you notify us with the new address. UNSUBSCRIBE If you do not wish to receive our monthly email
update and want your name removed from our mailing
list, please reply to this email and write
"unsubscribe" at the top of the email and we will
remove your name immediately.