Rescued raven gets new mews: homeless nevermore
The injured raven was brought to the centre when she was in need of intensive rehabilitation, and after months of care was deemed unreleasable by vets due to her poor eyesight. Photo: David Carmichael, MARS Wildlife Rescue
MARS Wildlife Rescue Centre in Merville is building a new mews for resident raven Kora.
Ambassador animals such as Kora are ones that cannot be released back to the wild due to their injuries, and are docile enough to be safe with guests who visit the rescue centre to learn about wildlife.
According to an update on the MARS website, the injured raven was brought to the centre when she was in need of intensive rehabilitation, and after months of care was deemed unreleasable by vets due to her poor eyesight. Because the raven was found to be docile and curious toward humans, the centre says staff decided she would be a good fit for their ambassador program in early 2024, and gave her the name Kora.
Mews construction began on Monday with a volunteer party to clear ground, remove invasive plant species, and pour a concrete foundation. Photo: Warren Warttig
Now MARS is beginning production on a large habitat for the raven to live in; the mews construction began on Monday with a volunteer party to clear ground, remove invasive plant species, and pour a concrete foundation. The next step will be another work party to build a fence. Progress will continue into the spring, and the full project is expected to be completed in about three months.
MARS started as an exclusively avian rescue centre, but expanded beyond birds to all wildlife when current director Warren Warttig brought his experience to the team.
Warttig said the rescue centre has one simple rule for who not to take in.
“General rule of thumb, if it can kill you, then we don't, we don't try and capture them,” the director said.
While the goal of the rescue centre is to heal and release wild animals, not every creature is able to be helped, and of those that survive not all are safe for release. Warttig said the average survival rate for wildlife care hospitals across Canada is 30%, and that MARS has achieved 33%, which he said is “remarkable.”
“Especially with birds. If you can capture a large bird like an eagle or a hawk by hand, that means they've been injured or sick for a very long period of time and they just fluff themselves up to look like they're still healthy and tough,” he explained.
Warttig said that 2024 was a particularly difficult year with the avian flu, something that is picked up during migration and easily transmitted between animals, so those numbers may be down.
Warttig attests that education is a major part of the work done at MARS: “at least half of our mandate is education.” He says that ambassador animals like the raven Kora increase that education.
“We've had three and four year olds name off all of our ambassador birds, then come back and remember them and ask about them, it's quite heart warming sometimes,” Warttig said.
From helping to construct new habitats like Kora’s raven mews, to raising mealworms or washing laundry, Warttig said there is always lots for volunteers to do.
MARS rescue says if you find an animal you think is injured, “Don’t Touch: Wait, Watch, Call!” Details of what to watch for can be found on the MARS website, and if you find an animal you believe to be in distress, the centre urges citizens to call the MARS helpline at (250) 337-2021 before attempting a rescue.
People interested in volunteering, booking a tour, or learning more about the raven Kora and protecting local wildlife, can find more information online at marswildliferescue.com, or on the MARS Wildlife Rescue Centre Facebook page.
Funding Note: This story was produced with funding support from the Local Journalism Initiative, administered by the Community Radio Fund of Canada. Reporting done in the Comox Valley is done in partnership with CVOX.