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

Centre director Jody Gienow is the on-screen host for Hinterland Who's Who - public service announcements and just travelled to the arctic to produce two more television spots.  The p.s.a.s are produced by the Candian Widllife Federation and Environment Canada and are designed to give Canadians an appreciation and understanding of wildlife and wild spaces found in our country. There are over twenty t.v. spots so far and the next two that will be added to the roster will focus on the Tundra and the Narwhal.  Visit www.hww.ca to see some that have already been made and keep your eyes open for the new ones which will be released into your living room over the next year.

In a few days Jody will embark on the adventure of a lifetime, thanks to her role as on-screen host for the nationally broadcast public service announcements.  Jody has been the Hinterland Who's Who host since 2003 and can be seen in the over 20 television spots that highlight wildlife and wild spaces of Canada. She also writes content for this project, which is done as a prtnership between the Canadian Wildlife Federation and Environment Canada. This year she will be travelling to the arctic to film 2 spots; one on the Narwhal and one on the Tundra.  She hopes to send updates throughout her 7 day adventure, so stay tuned.   In the mean time, visit www.hww.ca to view some the work she has already done.  (Click "Whotube" or "Media Gallery" at the top of the homepage) 

We discovered that our new albino skunk was in need of some major dental work, while we had him in to the vet to be neutered (we felt it necessary to neuter him as he will be mixed in with our female skunk Petunia in the near future and we certainly don't need more than 2 skunks here at the centre).  While under sedation Casper had a full physical.  He had some pretty bad teeth in his mouth that needed pulling.  I think his very lazy nature may have been attributed, in part, to multiple tooth aches as he has an all new lease on life since his visit to the vet.  We gave him a bath, ear cleaning, manicure and pedicure while he was sleeping too, so he will look and feel fabulous.  Once fully recovered, he will meet his new friend and hopefully they will hit it off. 

This brilliantly blue and rare little bird is called an Indigo Bunting and we had him brought to our centre by a neighbour after he hit her window.  Sadly, window collisions are a very common occurrence and too many birds die this way every day.  Fortunately this little guy was just stunned and after about a half an hour he was ready to be returned to where he was found. 

Glass does not exist in nature and many birds either fly into it when they don't see it or when they see confusing reflections of trees and sky in it.  Please make sure you don't put feeders close to windows and put decals (store bought or home made work the same) on windows to help the birds out.  Here is a great website that will give you all sorts of tips to make your dwelling a safe place for birds to dwell too: http://www.flap.org/new/prevent.htm .