what damage are the gulls doing to the "dump"???

Today is the 1st anniversary of the explosion of the oil rig in the gulf, which killed 11 men and flooded our coast with oil. Undoubtedly you will see/hear much reference to the event.

This will be broadcast on HBO tonight....check local listings for time in your area.....FABULOUS !! I went to the premiere monday and they have done a remarkable job of documentation. children as well as adults...... Its well told story of ONE pelican and its journey through the oil.....very well done!

http://www.hbo.com/documentaries/saving ... opsis.html

Once again someone is trying a new approach to rescue this pitiful tiger that lives in a cage in a parking lot of a GAS STATION!!!

‘Tony’ tiger case goes back to court"
The Advocate, May 5, 2011

Animal rights activists will square off against the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries in court Thursday over a tiger being kept at a truck stop in Iberville Parish as a roadside attraction.

The Animal Legal Defense Fund, an animal rights nonprofit group, sued the state last month to have Tony, a 550-pound Siberian-Bengal mix, removed from Tiger Truck Stop in Grosse Tete.

to read more http://www.2theadvocate.com/dailydigest/121320594.html

This week in awesome: Truckstop tiger granted freedom

Written by: Walter Pierce
Friday, 06 May 2011
Independent Weekly

A Baton Rouge judge Friday granted a permanent injunction preventing the Louisiana Department of Wildlife & Fisheries from renewing a truckstop owner’s license to keep a 550-pound Siberian-Bengal tiger in a 700-square-foot enclosure at his Tiger Truck Stop in Grosse Tete. The ruling by District Judge Mike Caldwell means, barring an appeal, that Michael Sandlin will have to get rid of Tony the tiger in December when the permit lapses. Caldwell denied the plaintiffs’ motion that the permit be revoked immediately. Court costs were assessed against LDWF.

to read more... http://www.theind.com/news/8255-today-i ... ed-freedom

this article includes a picture of the magnificent tiger.....behind bars!!!

Grosse Tete tiger heads to court[/color]
The Indedpendent Weekly


Written by: Walter Pierce
Thursday, 05 May 2011

The battle over an Iberville Parish truckstop owner keeping a 550-pound Bengal-Siberian tiger in a 700-square-foot enclosure is in court in Baton Rouge Thursday.

http://www.theind.com/news/8255-today-i ... ed-freedom

Owl rescued from Suisun Bay's 'ghost fleet'

By Elisabeth Nardi /Contra Costa Times June 17, 2011

It turns out that the Mothball Fleet, a collection of abandoned warships in Suisun Bay, is host to an unexpected aviary.

Sandy Plate, a volunteer with the Lindsay Wildlife Museum in Walnut Creek, recently boarded a rusted-out oiler to save a barn owl. Aboard the vessels, she witnessed nests of other birds who made their home on the ships -- purportedly raccoons and even an opossum have been found in the "ghost fleet…."

The bird had taken flight from a large hole on the ship where it was living in when it landed on an osprey's nest. The osprey had cornered the owl and was preparing to attack it when crews at the Mothball Fleet found the owl.

Plate took a small boat out to the large ship and climbed aboard to find the owl hiding above a cabinet. She was able to grab the owl, which was not hurt but was a fledgling that had not yet mastered flying. It could have drowned if it had landed on the water, she said. The barn owl is likely male, though wildlife experts are not completely sure…

The bird, now at the museum's wildlife hospital in Walnut Creek, was treated for insects in its ears, said Polly Gusa, Lindsay's barn owl species manager. At the hospital, the owl receives medication and eats about six mice a day…

On Wednesday, workers brought the 11-week white-faced owl with deep-set eyes out of its carrier to record its weight, which is about 400 grams. The owl made a hissing, screaming sound as though someone was strangling a cat. Gusa said it was being defensive.

With gloved hands, technicians stuck a tube attached to a syringe deep into the owl's throat to hydrate it.

Within the next few days, museum officials will check on the owl's progress by freeing live rodents in front of him and seeing whether it still has its predatory nature to scoop up prey. The owl likely will be released in Benicia, near where he was rescued, within a few weeks….

The museum usually sees about 150 barns owls a year, said Susan Heckly, wildlife rehabilitation director. A couple of barn owls also are on display at the museum.

In the central United States, barn owls are becoming endangered, as there are fewer barns for them to live in, Heckly said. In California, they thrive mainly because they have adapted to living in palm trees --and apparently boats in Suisun Bay, she added.

link to full article

B.C. 'pot bears' shot after demanding food from residents

A sad ending to the story of the black bears which were used to protect a grow-op at Christina Lake, BC.
The bears were allowed to go into hibernation for the winter and it was hoped that they would then go back into the wild on their own this spring. Unfortunately, that has not happened.

Two of several black bears near Christina Lake have been shot after continuing to demand food from area residents.

Conservation officers say the bears are among 30 bruins that were trained to eat dog food and hang around a rural Christina Lake property in southern B.C.

Efforts were made to wean the bears off their primary food source before they hibernated last fall, but conservation officers say the bears had to be shot because they showed no fear of humans this spring – and were walking right up to houses to seek food.

Link http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/nat ... le2065113/

Lindsay Wildlife hospital received 224 animals last week, bringing the total to 3325 for this year.

Five of the patients were young white-throated swifts. Swifts spend most of their day aloft, feeding on insects in midair. They commonly nest in cliff crevasses, and under overpasses and other structures in our area. If they land on the ground, they are unable to take off because their wings are long and their legs are short. If they leave their nests before they can fly well, they are likely to end up grounded and unable to get off the ground.


White-throated Swift (not a Lindsay photo)

Pair of injured eagles prove to be lovebirds.

The two seriously injured bald eagles, found two months apart and more than a mile away from each other near the Iroquois National Wildlife Refuge, were rescued and reunited in a wildlife rehabilitation facility in Medina last week.
Wildlife rehabilitator Wendi Pencille already was treating the female bald eagle, who snapped a tendon in her wing, at her Bless the Beasts Foundation, when she picked up the injured male bald eagle.
"What if he's her mate?" Pencille thought at the time.
The chances were slim, almost impossible. But these eagles beat the odds.
To read the rest of their story, go here:

Reunited raptors re-establish bond