FWC Policies Must Change About Helping Wildlife

EDIT NOTE:  Since writing this I have received some other information regarding the incident below.  FWC contacted me after I inquired about it.  Their version is not the same as the one given below.  I found out that the fawn was kept 6-7 days before FWC took it from this person.  The officer had the option of not giving a citation as they do when it’s only been a couple of days in possession, but since this had been a week he cited the man.  A neighbor evidently made an anonymous call to FWC regarding this.

If you find injured/orphaned wildlife you are supposed to call FWC and let them handle it.  The humanity in us makes us wants to help the animal ourselves and certainly it’s even more so when it seems urgent, as this did.  FWC says they will respond within two hours.  With all of us carrying cell phones these days, we should be able to contact them quickly.  I don’t know why this person said there was no response from them.  I can only  trust this is what happened.   If you are not licensed to handle wildlife or keep them, you can be fined.  It’s sometimes a toss-up but just know the risks.

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This is shared by permission:

 

Thursday 4/25/19
Approximately 3:30

A baby fawn was walking up to a lady by a busy roadway in Orlando. The lady attempted to call FWC multiple times. The mother deer was deceased nearby, she presumed to be hit by an automobile. The lady who called was advised by FWC to get the fawn to a fawn Rehabilitator. I had been in the area, the person was frantically trying to keep the deer from entering the busy road and getting hit. I offered to take it to a rehab place nearby, the person I knew was unable and unavailable to help because his recent fire and his facilities were destroyed by a recent fire. (Jim Bronzo) He advised me to take it to a rehabilitation facility in Brevard since I lived there I agreed to help. It was noted by both of us that the baby fawn’s ears were extremely curled, which is a sign of severe distress and needed immediate attention.

 

On my way home I bought temporary supplies, (receipt in hand) at Tractor Supply to begin nursing the starved, dehydrated, approximately 3-day old fawn.

Upon returning home the baby fawn was by this time going into shock from hunger and dehydration. The torque test revealed it was severely dehydrated. With having had a class 3 license in 2004, I knew what to do, act quickly on behalf of the fawn if it was going to make it to a rehab facility.

So I began using a Pedialyte liquid, (baby Gatorade) for hydration administered by an eye dropper. I administered 2-3 ml every 30 minutes by mouth to get it fluids. The baby deer improved slowly over the next 3 days and began to eat a 1 oz of baby kid (goat) formula by bottle. Using a warm washcloth stimulation, the baby deer finally urinated and had a bowel movement by the fourth day. Feeling the baby fawn was improving slowly, I researched several wild animal rehabilitation facilities nearby, left messages with no return calls. By the fifth day, she was eating 3-5oz of formula, every 3-4 hours, readily from the bottle.

Also during this time, my other half had been admitted to Holmes regional hospital for asthma attacks associated with pneumonia. So I was quite busy holding the homestead together with my 3 children and my 84-year-old demented mother, and a distressed baby deer.

By the 6th day, the baby fawn was ready to be placed at a rehab facility, but no return calls had been received, my other half had returned from the hospital on Wednesday evening.

 

On the 7th day while I was at work, May 2, 2019, an FWC officer showed up at the residence, around lunchtime. (Officer Delano) Unaware of who reported the deer, my significant other showed him the baby deer, who was kept on a screened back porch. The baby deer was kept isolated there, with two bedding areas available for her comfort. It had a piece of indoor/outdoor carpet. She was isolated in hopes of a successful return to the wild. Officer Delano requested her to sign over the deer, which she cooperated fully. Tara also donated the bottle and kid formula to the rescue the deer would be taken. Tara had prepared a large transport box with hay for the 45-minute ride to the rehab facility. I, Paco, had a conversation about how I obtained the deer because Tara was unaware of the facts of the deer situation. Officer De Lano requested that I call him back upon returning home from work, which I complied with 2 times, De Lano sent FWC officer Hatfield at 7:30 pm to have me sign the deer release form and deliver a violation with fine of $331. 😕

The baby deer was taken to Creature safe place, in Ft. Pierce Florida, with Wynn Burns, who has stated, I did an excellent job rehabilitating the fawn, and the fawn was doing very well. She recommended I be placed on her list, to become a licensed independent rehabilitation person by obtaining a class 3 license.

I am making a $100.00 donation to Creature safe place on behalf of the deer. She stated she would write a letter of what a good job was done rehabilitating the baby fawn. Please share this story. It’s the ONLY way this crazy stuff is going to stop.

This was the officer, he was young polite and professional according to my other half, however, inexperienced being 3 months with FWC, I only spoke with him on the phone and answered all his questions. My other half signed a release for the fawn, the officer instructed me to call him when I returned home, I did so twice only to have another officer deliver a citation to me at 8 o clock at night, also after several attempts to text the officer on where the baby fawn was taken. Not one return text or call concerning the safe delivery of the baby fawn. I had to call 6 different places in Ft Pierce, the officer had told me during the phone conversation that the only rehabilitation facility is in Ft Pierce. But he didn’t even know the name. 🤦🏽‍♀️ The second FWC Officer did seem rather embarrassed having to deliver a citation.

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There needs to be a policy change regarding people helping orphaned and injured wildlife.  Obviously, this fawn was of no threat to the man who helped it.  It’s not like he was trying to help a full-grown injured bear.  People run across injured, sick, orphaned, entrapped, etc. wildlife all the time and sometimes they must act to save the life of the animal.  FWC cannot always be there at the time to do anything to help the animal and as most of us know they often choose to euthanize rather than to save an animal.

Please email FWC’s commissioners to ask them to inform people better about these rules.  The majority of people do not visit the FWC website and are not educated about handing orphaned/injured wildlife.  https://myfwc.com/contact/fwc-staff/senior-staff/commissioners/

 

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Ocean & Co – Selling Turtle Bracelets – Making a killing

Would you like to buy this for less than a dollar and free shipping?  Of course, you would.  But most unsuspecting people will pay $20.00 for it and pay for shipping too.  Why?  Because they think they are really helping to save turtles.

Only 10% of PROFITS  are donated to various charities by Ocean & Co.   They get to deduct THEIR donation to the charities from their taxes and you don’t.  Why, because you gave to a BUSINESS.  You made a purchase of a bracelet.  YOU did not donate, THEY did.

Now let’s look at what you could have done.  You could have gone on Ebay or Aliexpress and bought the bracelet for less than a dollar. The rest of your $20.00 could have been sent to a legitimate charity and you could deduct YOUR donation from your taxes.  You would have given $19.00 to the charity instead of less than $2.00.  What a difference that would make to the charity if everyone did that instead of what people are doing.

What is the true “Cause” here?

The true cause of businesses like Ocean & Co and 4Ocean etc. is to make themselves rich.   You may be thinking, well, what’s wrong with that?  The problem is this is a very deceptive way to do business.  To me it’s criminal.  It’s preying on the sensitivities of people who genuinely care about the “said cause” which in this case is saving turtles lives.  These “cause” businesses mask that you are really doing very little to help the turtles, nor are they.

If you look at the mission statement for Ocean & Co, you will see where they put down 4Ocean for what they do to try to make themselves look more legit.  As I’ve said before, I hate deception.  In any form.  To me, this is as are all cause businesses that are not upfront about what they are doing and transparent about their giving to charities and their profiting for themselves.

Below is an anklet sold by Ocean & Co.  As you can see, the price is $17.99.

Below you see the same bracelet.  From .66 cents to $1.65.  This is true.  Companies like Ocean & Co buy it for probably less if they are buying in bulk.  Or maybe they are paying the listed price and having it drop shipped.  No shipping cost to them.  Easy peasy. And they tell you “Thank you for your SUPPORT.”  I say they should be saying, “Thank you for your BUSINESS!”  Stop the deception!

Give to an honest charity

 

You can Google “Turtle Rescues” and find many.  One that is in Marathon, Florida is owned by Richie Moretti.  A local businessman that used to sell Volkswagons in Winter Park, Fl who sold his business and bought a small motel in Marathon, Fl in the Keys.  He later turned it into a turtle hospital and rescue.  He has been on Sea Rescue many times and you have probably seen him on Saturday mornings on your tv.  You can give to his turtle rescue and I’m sure it would be oh so appreciated.

http://www.turtlehospital.org/

 

Please also see the blog post about 4Oceans here.    Thank you for taking the time to read this.  And please feel free to share.

Please make your donations really help!  Don’t buy cheap Chinese jewelry to give a business a big profit that benefits saving turtles very little.  Thanks.

4Oceans – A look at what a “Cause” business looks like.

I hate deception. And when I see it, I usually have to talk about it.
Hence this about 4Ocean.

Get rich quick scheme. That’s what 4Ocean has discovered and they are making
millions. And please note, they are NOT a charity. They are a for-profit business.

You would think people would do a little checking into something before they go
all out promoting a company. But that’s what passion does. It gets you so excited
that you lose your common sense red flags. And it’s that passion that 4Ocean
has capitalized on.

This company started out ordering from a company like Aliexpress or Alibaba
out of China with vendors that make bracelets for pennies and sells them for under a dollar. 4Ocean figured out that they can imply that they are saving the ocean, the turtles, the whales, you name it and charge  $20 bucks for these bracelets, plus shipping and make a handsome profit.

Well, before long they started getting questioned by people. How do you save
the ocean, the turtles, sharks etc? By now, they had made enough money to buy some equipment or have signage put on a boat to make them look more legit. Then
as time went on they figured out they could go out in their Florida area ocean
and pick up a little bit of garbage and they would be even more valid.

• An estimated 14 billion pounds of trash-most of it plastic -is dumped in the world’s oceans every year.   Think about that and how much of an impact one pound of trash is being pulled (picture a can of soup), from the ocean times only millions is doing.  I’m thinking at a rate of 14 BILLION pounds per YEAR – this is nothing!   It’s like trying to empty the bathtub with a thimble as the faucet is running. Ludicrous!

Anyway, back to 4Ocean, from there they blossomed, (meanwhile raking in more and more money) getting a captain for a boat, flags, and other paraphernalia with their name on it and soliciting volunteers who would gladly help them. After all, they were helping to clean the ocean. From what I understand they take their hauls of trash and sell them for even more profit.

Their bracelets, under scrutiny, went from being just what they found on a Chinese website with turtles, dolphins, or whatever they could use to create a cause for,(Remember, they have to appeal to people’s passions) to getting a charm logo on them and being made of recycled plastic. Not the plastic from the ocean, however, the plastic in India. Be it whatever. (They now buy from India)

Currently, they offer different colors of the same bracelet without the cute little turtles, etc., and they offer you a set of bracelets you can buy all
at one time to support many causes in one fail swoop. “One pound of garbage
for every bracelet bought.” You have to wonder who is keeping track of that.
And by the way, nothing else seems to be being done except the trash and
a donation to each cause, which is unknown. I really wish their “sponsors,”
which are the causes they send a token to, would not connect their
name to them. Maybe there is some kind of agreement, like “we will donate
to you if you will sponsor us.”  I’m sure there has to be something like that.

You can see here (https://4ocean.com/collections/all-products) some of the
many causes they have tried to appeal to. Same bracelet, different colors,
all with their logo and $20 a pop. I bet they are paying fifty cents for these
now. Doesn’t it make more sense to take your $20 and send it to the
charitable organization you want to help so they get the entire $20 and not
some minute fraction of it? They, after all, are the ones that are really making
a difference. Remember, 4Ocean is NOT a charity.

It doesn’t take much Googling to find comments about this company and their
shady business practices. One such is Reddit, where some smart people have realized
what a sham this is. https://www.reddit.com/r/IsItBullshit/comments/8sqmdh/isitbullshit_are_4ocean_bracelets_really/

As I was writing this and looking at 4Ocean’s “shop,” I saw that they are selling water bottles with their logo on them too. So I went searching for the water bottles to find out how much they cost, when I stumbled upon another company doing the same thing 4Oceans is doing only they will plant trees and they are not the only other cause business, there must be tons! I’m remembering the sock business that donates socks and there is a cuddly animal or doll business that donates meals to starving children. I’m telling you this is a lucrative business! It’s called a “Cause” business. And inherently there is nothing wrong with attaching a cause to your business. People like that. The problem is when you decieve people by what you are doing. And that’s how 4Oceans started out and continues to do in some fashion.

You know, as long as you give some small portion to the cause that you claim you are helping, you can do this too. You don’t have to be a charity yourself. Genius, Suckers!

It’s all about the money.

Legitimate Charities to Give To:

https://www.underseas.com/blog/best-marine-conservation-organizations-donate-earth-day/

https://oceanconservancy.org/trash-free-seas/plastics-in-the-ocean/

Fire Destroys Animal Sanctuary and Home

https://www.gofundme.com/help-second-chance-wildlife-sanctuary-rebuild?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=fb_dn_postdonate_r&fbclid=IwAR2NZLTMkQZEj3BziA6qNUxWdjzmYbggu09jTZ6o4OsnkUiGgNXpFuH7aqY

Please help to rebuild Jim’s Wildlife Sanctuary and his home.

Jim is an amazing person. He has a deep love of all animals and an unquenchable spirit of love and kindness to all.  He humanely traps animals to help fund the sanctuary and is an accomplished artistic painter which also helps him with the sanctuary and his livelihood.

Recently there was a terrible fire that burned Jim’s home on the property and killed many animals.  Jim was asleep when a peacock began squawking which woke Jim up. He was only able to rescue one of his pet dogs that slept with him.

Many animals were in cages below the two-story home that sat on stilts.  They all lost their lives.  Jim lost everything.   His clothing, phone, computer, painting supplies, you name it.  He was left with just the clothes on his back.

Although Jim has lots of support, it is going to take a lot to rebuild.  And even after that the sanctuary will need to be funded.  If you can donate, you can donate through the above GoFundMe account or through Jim’s website at: http://www.secondchancewildlifesanctuary.org           – Thank you!

 

 

 

 

Protected: Joel Rosenthal has lived with bears, foxes and much other wildlife.

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New Guided Nature Hikes in Central Florida

Ecotiere.com is now offering nature hikes and lectures.

 

Expert wildlife specialist Fred Bohler is now ready to take you hiking and teach

all about Florida’s wonderful wildlife. You’ll explore and learn about tracks, bones,

habitat, creatures and many other things while you enjoy a fun hike with one of

Central Florida’s most knowledgeable nature lovers. 

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About Fred Bohler:

Fred Bohler is a wildlife specialist and an accomplished speaker desiring to further the understanding between humans and wildlife.

.Fred has a special interest in reptiles, crocodilians, and arachnids.

His work has involved radio and television including programs such as Animal Planet.

He has also worked as a herpetologist and animal care specialist for zoological institutions and various government agencies and has closely worked with black bears.

His “life mission” is solving myths and phobias through wildlife education for the general public as well as one on one.

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Guided Eco Nature Hikes

There are three locations to choose your hike from:

 

• Wekiwa State Park – A  7,000-acre Florida State Park in Apopka, Florida.
• Fechtel Tract – Lower Wekiva State Preserve – 8300 W. State Road 46, Sanford, FL
• Rock Springs Run State Reserve Park – 30601 County Road 433
  Sorrento FL

Lectures

Lectures take place at Wekiva Island – 1014 Miami Springs Dr, Longwood, FL

For Booking Your Hike or Lecture and More Information, Go To –  http://www.ecotiere.com