Tag archives: Santa Barbara Wildlife Care Network

Sheryl Crow
By Gretchen Lieff   |   July 2, 2020

I was a “Secret Garden” … “Green Mansions” kind of child. Deep forests, bright brooks, wide fields, and ocean waves beckoned my young exuberance. On the seldom occasions that an adult might be missing me, I would be found deep in the forest, grabbing minnows and crayfish from a tiny creek under the redwoods, or […]

A Walk on the Wild Side
By Lynda Millner   |   June 4, 2020

The Santa Barbara Wildlife Care Network (WCN) is a wild and amazing place located at 1460 North Fairview in Goleta. The Spring babies are here! Wildlife doesn’t know about the pandemic. They just need to be fed and cared for. Because of the virus the Wildlife volunteer force is absent and the small staff has […]

Duck Duck Two
By Gretchen Lieff   |   May 28, 2020

In last week’s Journal you’ll recall “ducknappers” had snatched a nest with a mamma duck, three ducklings, and seven eggs from under an oak tree at Montecito’s Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church parking lot. Our “Duck Column” describing the story had “gone viral” as pressure mounted to “find the ducks.” It’s been an exhausting […]

Letters to the Editor
By Montecito Journal   |   May 21, 2020

Tribute to a Community treasure, John Venable It’s extremely rare to find a person that gives so much of themselves unselfishly to their community as John Venable. John was always “there” and “ready” for whatever task that lay ahead. He was the first to volunteer to help organize and videograph our first Village 4th Parade […]

The Great Montecito Duck Caper
By Gretchen Lieff   |   May 21, 2020

Monday morning… animal rescue phones at the Santa Barbara Wildlife Care Network ring endlessly. Breathless callers trying to save a wild life, Samaritans rush in babies of all shapes and sizes; fawns from the Gaviota Fire, Red tail fledglings, bunnies and squirrels and pelicans and racoons and hummingbirds and on and on and on… Cars […]

Spring Baby Season Adds Urgency to Wildlife Rescue
By Nick Schou   |   March 26, 2020

Although for humans it might seem like life has come to a complete stop, the cycle of life and rebirth in the natural world around us continues. This pattern is never more striking than during spring, however, which to wildlife rescue experts has another name: “Baby Season,” which is when mammals produce the bulk of […]

WCN Hospital Underway
By Richard Mineards   |   February 27, 2020

Santa Barbara’s 32-year-old Wildlife Care Network, which is building a two-story, 5,000 sq. ft. animal hospital on its 1.8 acre Goleta property, has raised more than $3 million of its $6 million budget, including a hefty donation of $3 million from News-Press owner Wendy McCaw and $250,000 in a grant from the Oiled Wildlife Care […]

A Hoot and a Half
By Richard Mineards   |   November 7, 2019

The party animals were out in costumed force when the popular charity Santa Barbara Wildlife Care Network threw its 31st annual benefit at the Carriage and Western Art Museum with nearly 300 guests raising around $150,000 for the Goleta-based facility and rescuing more than 3,500 animals annually. The fun fete, co-chaired by Gretchen Lieff and […]

Roof Roses
By Richard Mineards   |   October 17, 2019

It was a night on the tiles when the Santa Barbara’s Wildlife Care Network hosted a Rose on the Roof sunset soiree at the Union Bank on Anacapa Street for 60 guests. As well as quaffing the wine, donated by co-chair Gretchen Lieff, the animal lovers noshed on a variety of treats from Santa Barbara […]

Spring and Summer Tree Care and Wildlife Safety
By Claire Garvais   |   May 16, 2019

by Claire Garvais and Emily Komessar It’s Baby Season! Hundreds of owlets, squirrels, woodpeckers, and hummingbirds are nice and cozy in nests of all shapes and sizes throughout Santa Barbara County. Some of these babies will fall prey to forces of nature; they may fall out of their nests early or be harassed by natural […]

Party Animals
By Richard Mineards   |   April 25, 2019

Santa Barbara’s 31-year-old Wildlife Care Network, which rescued 3,297 animals of 170 different species last year, hosted a supporters party at its seven-year-old Goleta headquarters. Just the same day the organization had rescued two six-week-old skunk babies and a fox cub of the same age. Among the animal lovers turning out for the bijou bash […]

The Refugio Incident
By Lynda Millner   |   March 28, 2019

The Santa Barbara Maritime Museum (SBMM) held another of its lecture evenings, this one about “The Refugio Incident: A Wildlife Responder’s Perspective” as told by Elaine Ibarra. Elaine graduated from California State University at Channel Islands with a bachelor’s degree in chemistry and is a trained and experienced oil spill responder. She had extensive volunteer […]

Wild About Wildlife
By Richard Mineards   |   February 14, 2019

Montecito animal activist Gretchen Lieff and Beanie Baby billionaire Ty Warner‘s luxury beachside club, the Coral Casino, hosted a boffo bash for the Santa Barbara Wildlife Care Network, which last year helped 3,297 animals in distress. The event, Love Our Wildlife, was a “friend raiser” to also help garner funds for the 31-year-old organization’s busiest […]

Wildlife Resolutions
By Claire Garvais   |   January 10, 2019

Many of us have New Year’s resolutions for 2019. It’s common to shoot for the stars and find out that two weeks into January our resolutions are more difficult to keep up than we thought. Not to worry! Here’s an easy resolution to stick with all year: saving wild lives. The finches at our feeders, […]

Wildlife Benefit
By Lynda Millner   |   November 22, 2018

For 30 years, Santa Barbara has been taking care of wildlife. In 1984, 12 people decided to share resources to care for injured and orphaned wildlife. In 1999, Santa Barbara Wildlife Care Network (SBWCN) leased a small downtown center that housed songbirds and small mammals. In 1992, June Taylor opened up a seabird pond in […]

Four-Legged Friends
By Richard Mineards   |   November 8, 2018

The party animals were out in costumed force when the popular charity Santa Barbara Wildlife Care Network threw its 30th annual benefit at the Carriage and Western Art Museum, with a record 260 guests raising around $80,000 for the Goleta-based facility that rescues and treats more than 3,500 animals annually. The bustling bash, co-chaired by […]

Sycamore Canyon’s Baby Bobcat
By Tim Buckley   |   June 7, 2018

On a balmy spring day in early April, a resident of Montecito walked outside to her back yard to hear small, mewing cries coming from under a bush on her property. To her surprise, she found a kitten crying and apparently abandoned right outside her house. When the Santa Barbara Wildlife Care Network (SBWCN) first […]

The Brush Rabbits
By Kaitlin Lloyd   |   March 22, 2018

The Santa Barbara Wildlife Care Network (SBWCN) just released its first baby animal intakes for 2018. Two juvenile brush rabbits, one weighing 76 grams during intake and its sibling weighing 78 grams, were discovered by a community member’s dog and subsequently removed from their nesting den in Santa Barbara. The individual concerned about their well-being […]

Western Grebes Migrate into Santa Barbara
By Kaitlin Lloyd   |   December 14, 2017

As Santa Barbara transitions into winter, various wildlife species adapt and move into the coastal waters for the season. Large populations of water birds such as western grebes migrate into the Santa Barbara Channel for wintertime. They are completing a migration pattern that can range from the Pacific Northwest in the spring and summer to […]