Peninsula Humane Society & SPCA opens Wildlife Care Center in Saratoga

Treating baby hummingbirds and squirrels to bobcats and coyotes, nearly all wildlife in the Peninsula area can be taken care of at the center, Director of Wildlife Operations Nicole Weger said. 

On the large property, only about 10 acres are developed, preserving the surrounding natural habitat, and housing the rehabilitating animals in as natural of an environment as possible. Very few people are running around the center, making sure to keep human interactions to only what is necessary so the animals “stay wild.” 

“You can hear so many birds, and they’re not even our patients, it’s great,” Weger said. 

While the services offered at the center aren’t new, the new facilities allow for improved care, giving the staff the space to work with intention for each unique species, Weger said. This summer will be the first peak season at the new facility. 

“Because the property is really large, animals can be very spread out from each other,” Weger said. “All the animals are in the woods, separated. They get to finish in a very natural environment. It’s less stressful for them.”

Occupancy at the center will fluctuate with the seasons, with upwards of 500 animals during the peak summer months, and as low as 30 during the winter, Weger said. 

“We’re preparing, but we have done this already for many years at other sites, so we’re happy to have so much more room to do this work in, but we have done it in the past,” Weger said. 

The nursery is the first place to get busy each year, with incubators housing baby squirrels and hummingbirds in the early spring months. Wildlife rehabilitation technicians syringe feed the animals tailored formulas throughout the day, taking close care to each baby. 

“Our workers are amazing, the squirrels get fed five times a day, little baby hummingbirds get fed every 45 minutes all day long, once we get in songbirds, they’re fed every 30 minutes,” Weger said. “These guys work really hard, they love their animals.” 

The Saratoga wildlife center is dedicated to the long-term treatment — which can be anything upwards of a couple days — of animals brought to local animal controls or other PHS/SPCA sites, including the center in Burlingame. Residents who have used those services at 1450 Rollins Road can continue doing so, but staff welcomes anyone to visit the new center. 

In addition to the animal hospital, a major component of the center is the imperiled species breeding program, working to introduce threatened animals back into the wild to help boost population numbers. Currently, PHS/SPCA is treating the Santa Cruz long-toed salamander and the giant garter snake. 

The center intentionally treats all species under the overarching term “imperiled,” which extends the care beyond the technically designated federally endangered species. Getting an animal on the endangered species list is challenging, requiring lots of paperwork and knowledge of the animal, which is difficult to always obtain, Dr. Regina Spranger, senior lead biologist at the center, said. 

The new facility offers not only the increase in space for breeding projects, but provides the means to mimic environmental conditions best suited to these imperiled species. The goal is to consistently provide an environment similar to what could be experienced in the wild, Spranger said. 

“Having high-tech facilities means we can get very, very close to the environmental conditions a lot of these animals face,” Spranger said. “This gives us the ability to start from scratch and build things the dream way we’d want them to happen.” 

The Wildlife Care Center officially opened Sunday, March 16, marking an exciting growth in what the organization can do and see its expansion, said Lisa Van Buskirk, senior vice president of Development, Planned Giving & Community Engagement.  

“We’re really excited,” she said. “We did have a wildlife program in Burlingame but this is just beyond any dream for local wildlife.” 

Although the new rehabilitation center is private to staff, an intake office is open to the public seven days a week where residents can bring in ailing animals or check out the education center featuring an informational walk to a pond down the hill. The wildlife intake center is open 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. seven days a week.