WEST SHORE WILDLIFE  CENTER

“A Home Away From Home” 

December 2023 and January 2024

West Shore was founded in 2019 and treated 420 animals during its first year.  During the first nine months of 2023, the number patients had increased to over 2,100!  West Shore was in an emergency situation. The Center, which is fully licensed in The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the only provider of these services in a county of nearly 500,000 people, had outgrown their existing residential location and needed to relocate within three months to continue providing critical rehabilitation and education services to comply with township zoning laws. 

After meeting with the Founder and Executive Director and learning more about all the ways in which West Shore Wildlife is helping wildlife in an area of need, we decided that helping to secure a new forever location was the perfect opportunity for The HOW Foundation’s first investment.  Our investment included an immediate grant to support the down payment and/or purchase of a new property and an additional grant to support expenses related to upgrading the new facility, adding capacity and equipment.

To learn more about this amazing organization please visit their website at https://westshorewildlife.org/

“It’s Not Bat S*** Crazy”

March 2024

Bats are a “keystone species” that play an essential role in the lives of humans. A single bat can eat 5,000 insects a night, making bats an incredible resource in curbing insect population and growth, and helping the agriculture industry. In the US, bats are estimated to save the agriculture industry over $3 billion annually in pest control and pesticide costs.

The PA Bat Rescue, located in Mertztown, PA is one of the largest rehabilitation centers in the Northeastern United States treating over 300 bats annually.  In addition to rehabilitation, the Rescue also provides education about bats, participates in many research projects and offers sanctuary for native and rescued fruit bats.

We feel that bats are an overlooked, underserved and integral part of our local ecology. We were very excited to be a part of the expansion efforts enabling the PA Bat Rescue to continue to provide care, sanctuary and raise awareness about such an important species.  To learn more about the rescue, please visit their website at  https://pabatrescue.org/.

THE WILDERZ AT POCONO WIDLIFE CENTER

“When Momma Bear is Gone”

April – August 2024

Orphaned bear cubs have little hope of surviving on their own without their mother. Typically cubs stay with the mother an average of 17 months after birth, learning to forage and defend themselves. So, without mom, most orphaned cubs die.

An early April storm with high winds caused a tree to fall and destroy Pocono Wildlife’s bear cub enclosure.  Pocono Wildlife is the only rehabilitation center in Pennsylvania that is licensed to accept and raise orphaned bear cubs. Because baby cubs are born in the spring, the enclosure needed to be repaired immediately.  Bear are another species that we feel are overlooked and underserved, and important to our local ecology.  We were able to make an emergency grant to enable the repairs to the pen to be completed in time to accept any bear cubs in need in the spring of 2024.

We visited the facility shortly after the repairs were completed and were very impressed with the bear cub enclosure as well as the rest of the center.  We learned that several improvements were also needed in order to bring the bear cub enclosure to the current game commission standards of care and of several enhancements that were needed to improve the enclosure for future occupants.  We were happy to be able to grant the funds to make these improvements a reality.  We are also hoping to install a “bear cub cam” in the future to share the experience and bring awareness as to why bears are an important part of our eco system.

 For more information about this center and the dedicated staff that make it all possible, please visit https://poconowildlife.com/.  You can also follow them on social media, where they share the stories of the many animals in their care.

THE WILDERZ AT POCONO WIDLIFE CENTER

“Bear Cub Enclosure Part 2”

Fall 2024

After the initial repairs and improvements were made to enable the bear enclosure to be functional for the summer of 2024, the center informed us of some drainage issues with the enclosure and their ideas for additional enhancements to make the enclosure the very best place for successfully raising orphaned bears.  We were so impressed with the first set of improvements that we decided to grant funding to “finish the job.”

The finished enclosure now has proper drainage, a food station, a swimming tub with its own water system and different types of terrain for the cubs to grow and learn on. 

THE WILDERZ AT POCONO WIDLIFE CENTER

“Committment”

Summer 2024

Orphaned baby beavers are the most expensive wild animals to raise from birth to maturity.  Their requirements include two years of care and feeding as well as a large specialized enclosure that includes a pool large enough to enable them to develop into healthy, releasable adults. Because of this time and expense, very few rehabilitation centers are equipped to accept orphaned baby beavers.

When the rehabilitators at Pocono Wildlife Center learned of a baby beaver needing a home, they decided to commit to the two years of care and embark on building their own specialized beaver enclosure. Having seen the quality of their existing enclosures and the dedication of their staff, we were happy to be a part of the construction of their new beaver enclosure.

Most people are not aware of how important Beavers are to our environment. When a beaver builds a dam in a stream, pond or lake, it actually alters the filtration of the water.  This change introduces “good” bacteria to the water, which encourages new fish, aquatic life and beneficial plants near their dams.  In addition to giving these babies a chance to survive and thrive, we hope that they are able to raise awareness of how important their species are to our ecosystem.

Not long after the completion of the enclosure, Pocono Wildlife Center learned of another baby beaver, nearly identical in size and age, in need of a home. The two were introduced and are now being raised together.  Please follow them on social media to watch as these adorable babies grow to adulthood.