We hope you had a chance to see Clover on Discovery Channel's Daily Planet yesterday.  She did a great job and everyone loved her!  Here is a pic of her (and her personal assistant Jody) on set.  If Daily Planet posts yesterday's episode online we will post a link to it in the next few days.

We put Clover outside before we had to load up for our big trip to the city and despite slipping on the ice (somewhat like Bambi on a frozen pond), she did not see her shadow.  She did not want to hide or find cover.  She just wanted to be left alone so she could explore.  CONCLUSION:  Clover just predicted an early spring!

Take a minute to think about how important wetlands are in nature.  Any time of year it is fun to visit one, on cross-country skis, on foot or with snowshoes...but remember to never leave a trace of your visit behind when you leave, except your foot/snowshoe/ski prints of course!  You will not be disappointed because they are teeming with WILD LIFE! 

Here is a Hinterland Who's Who 60 second video about wetlands: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=M-fDkQFw9nU ...  Or check out this short (10 min. long) wetland themed video made for youth by the same folks who bring you Hinterland Who's Who:  http://tv.hww.ca/video/watch/4  ...They both star our very own centre director, Jody.  Happy World Wetlands Day!!!  

Clover the groundhog will be spending some time in the city tomorrow on the set of Daily Planet.  She will be interviewed about her experience predicting the arrival of spring over the years.  Stay tuned for more about her big day and of course, most importantly stay tuned to find out what she predicts tomorrow when she goes outside...    to be continued

From our staff and our critters, to you and yours... Happy Holidays!

We will continue to be open throughout the winter on weekends from 12noon to 5pm both Saturday and Sunday.  We will however, be closed on Christmas Eve Day, Christmas Day and New Years Day. 

We have roughly 70 creatures living here at the Muskoka Wildlife Centre and each individual is treated as just that, an individual.  They all have their very own little personalities and each has a very specific set of needs.  We work hard to make sure that they are all given the highest level of care possible and some of the costs associated with their dietary, medical and housing needs can be quite high.  For example, our pair  of moose, Chocolate and Lucky eat a specially designed "moose kibble" that is shipped up from the U.S. just for them.  They eat a bag of it every day and each bag costs $32.00!  Our cougar, Kokanee can eat about 4.5kg (10lbs) of fresh meat every single day!  As you can imagine these costs really add up.  During the winter months we don't have very many visitors and we struggle to make it through to spring every year.  By sponsoring an animal here, you will be covering the costs of food and routine veterinary care for the year.  If the cost of an animal you choose is too high, consider a partial sponsorship for a portion of the year instead of the whole year.  Visit http://animals.muskokawildlifecentre.com/adoptanimal.asp for more information or call us at (705) 689 0222. 

Well known local wildlife artist, Lynn Norris, will be donating 50% of proceeds earned from the sale of her work, to the subjects that have inspired her stunning pieces of art.  Her hand carved, one of a kind original wildlife paintings are done on slabs of kiln dried wood, carefully selected for their natural beauty and many are even relief carved.  Perhaps one of the available works would make an unforgettable gift for the wildlife lover on your Christmas shopping list?  Take a look at the pictures of Lynn Norris' unbelievably gorgeous pieces (prices are listed and do not include HST, sizes are listed as well) and contact us at the wildlife centre for more information or to purchase one.  If you decide to purchase a piece, you will be helping us to care for our wild family.  This time of year the expenses are greater than ever and we have very little income coming in to support the extensive costs of food, bedding, heat, veterinary bills, hydro, etc.  Make someone who loves wildlife smile and make a difference in the lives of our creatures here at the centre.  Call (705 ) 689-0222 or email artforwildlife@muskokawildlifecentre.com 

It is always hard to say how these introductions will go so we had wildlife handling gloves, a net and a crate ready just in case.  Here's how it went...

Casper the albino skunk came to us a few months ago after being retired from his life as a participant in RABIES research. He was not a skunk that was hand-raised with the tenderness or exposure to positive experiences with humans that is typical of any one of our teaching animals. He was instead housed alone in a cage and only contacted when he was required for testing. I am guessing big gloves were used to prevent him from biting if he was nervous or uncomfortable. The work he was part of was necessary to ensure that the vaccines used to treat our wild skunks in Ontario would be effective and was no doubt done as humanely as possible, but being a research animal usually doesn't result in a creature that likes people a whole lot. It was our intention to have Casper live in an enclosure with Petunia (our hand-raised female skunk), as her companion, but we never thought of the possibility of Casper being handled by our staff and definitely not being used as a education animal during our "Meet the Creature" sessions. In an effort to closely monitor Casper's health, especially after his extensive dental work (12 teeth were pulled in one day), our head animal care person Keith was gently touching him daily to rouse him from his sleep. Keith noticed that Casper seemed to be okay with the idea of a touch on the back. Slowly over time, he noticed that Casper seemed to enjoy being stroked, then scratched and rubbed. One day Keith reached under Casper to check his belly weight and the little skunk didn't seem to mind that either. Each day Keith would try something new, being ever so gentle and over time Casper built trust with him. Then one day Keith picked him up for a few seconds, expecting Casper to be quite upset and expecting to be bitten, but he was okay with that too. Each day Keith has spent more and more time with the little stinker and other staff started to take up the torch, and following Keith's lead, were also able to make friends with Casper. We ...

Both the Muskoka Widllife Centre and A Wing and A Prayer work tirelessly to help animals in need and struggle to make ends meet when the bills come pouring in.  This incredible event has been created to raise funds for the important work we do.   We hope you will show your support by attending and we truly believe it's going to be a great day!  Where else can you enjoy great company, fill your belly with delicious food, get some fantastic deals on auction items, meet live wild animals up close, meet and hear our celebrity guest Rob Stewart from "Sharkwater", and enjoy a 2 hour scenic cruise in Muskoka aboard a steamship for just $100?  It's a great deal AND you are helping us help wildlife in need.  It's a win-win situation.  So give us a call and order your tickets right now and show that you too care about our provinces precious creatures. 

Muskoka Wildlife Centre (705) 689-0222