Lake County has an abundance of wildlife. Deer, wild turkeys and even the occasional mountain lion can be seen within the city limits of Lakeport and Clearlake as well as other residential areas around the county.
As conflicts between humans and wild animals become more common as homes are built into the areas inhabited by these creatures, what happens when a wild animal becomes injured and crawls into your yard? Who do you call and how do you treat an injured animal without endangering yourself or your family?
That was exactly the predicament facing Trish Williams, a resident of downtown Lakeport. On Sunday morning, Williams looked out into her backyard and saw a severely injured raccoon writhing in pain on the ground. What do you do? She knew she couldn”t pick up the raccoon because it might bite and it could have rabies. She then did what 90 percent of Lakeport”s residents would do, called the police.
The dispatcher told her to call a telephone number in Sacramento. When she did that, she was told to bring in the injured raccoon. The problem is that Sacramento is 130 miles from Lakeport. She was then instructed to call the federal trapper, but he lives in Red Bluff. In the end, Williams said she was given five different telephone numbers and none could give her an answer.
A distraught Williams finally called me. I told her to call the local Department of Fish and Game (DFG) game warden. But presently Lake County has only one game warden assigned in the field and he wasn”t available. All this time the raccoon was suffering. I then called Sandi Elliott of Spirit Wild, a volunteer Lake County wild animal rescue organization located in Middletown. Elliott immediately responded.
When Elliott arrived at the Williams residence the raccoon had crawled into some bushes to hide. Elliott coaxed the animal out and captured it. According to Elliott, the raccoon”s front leg was broken, the bone showing and its ears were torn. She said the raccoon would have to be euthanized as it was too severely injured to survive.
A check with the Lakeport Police Department on Monday revealed that all emergency calls on weekends are routed through the county dispatch office. A spokeswoman with the Lakeport Police Department said that had this happened during the week a police officer would have been dispatched to Williams” home. On Monday, I called the Central Dispatch Office to see what the county”s policy is regarding injured wild animals and received a recorded message that I would have to call the sheriff”s office. That call resulted in another recorded message saying they were unable to take my call. I now understand the frustration that Williams felt on Sunday.
The primary responder for injured wildlife in Lake County is Spirit Wild. Elliott said her organization handles dozens of calls for injured birds and other small animals. Spirit Wild operates on a very limited budget and survives primarily on donations. The county did give them $3,000 last year but that doesn”t go very far in today”s economy.
DFG game warden Lt. Lynette Shimek said people who find injured wildlife can call her at 275-8862 or warden Loren Freeman at 998-9208. Shimek no longer patrols the county but still lives in Upper Lake and will respond if available. She also said people can call Spirit Wild at 928-6665.
The problem as I see it is that the county should assume more responsibility in dealing with cases such as injured wildlife in residential areas. Lake County”s Animal Control department doesn”t take calls on wildlife. The county says that all wildlife is the responsibility of the DFG, but is that a sufficient enough answer? DFG is busy much of the time patrolling the national forest and is not available for calls concerning injured wildlife.
Down through the years we”ve all been taught to call local authorities for problems such as this. But from what I, and other others, have realized is that you often get very little response. I couldn”t even get an answer from the sheriff”s department on the protocol if you find an injured wild animal in your backyard.
If the county is unable to respond to these type of calls then it should be willing to fund organizations such Spirit Wild. A deer or raccoon can”t go to the emergency room if it gets injured and we have to accept some responsibility for our wildlife neighbors.
