“Rescuing one animal may not change the world, but for that animal, their world is changed forever”
GROWLS AGM REPORT
WHEN Thursday, May 18, 2017
WHERE Roxy Theatre @ Twin Beaches Mall
CHAIRED BY Carol Hemrich
Attendees: Liz Ciocea, Carol Hemrich, Ian Lawrence, Judy Carson,
Jane Giffin, Vicki McDonald, Tracey Begg, Thelma Buitendyk, Eileen Kaarsemaker, Fred Karsemaker, Liz Rollerson, Andy Rollerson, Mike Super
AGENDA
SHOUT OUT
Congratulations Andy!!
The world can now find Andy on YouTube “Gabriola Island News with Andy Rollerson”
Congratulations Iain!!
Iain Lawrence’s new book “The Skeleton Tree” received the Sheila A. Egoff Children’s Literature Prize.
OLD BUSINESS
AGM Meeting Report (2016-2017)
Jane Giffin read the AGM Meeting Report minutes for the previous year.
TEASURER REPORT
Financial Report prepared and submitted by Treasurer Vicki McDonald
NEW DIRECTORS
Director Nominations
Liz Rollerson read out current Directors, asking if they would like to continue for the year 2017-2018.
Returning Directors 2017-2018
Liz Ciocea
Joanna MacKenzie
Ian Lawrence
Jane Giffin,
Vicki McDonald
Andy Rollerson called out 3 times asking for nominations, ensuring everyone present had a chance to nominate a Director.
New Directors Nominated 2017-2018
Tracey Begg
Thelma Buitendyk
Eileen Kaarsemaker
Duties of a Director
4 public meetings per year
Directors meet before each public meeting
Discussion
Rhonda Bruce can continue as secretary, no need to be a director.
Would like to see a media person added. Could be a director or not.
Motion to accept – Vicki McDonald / 2nd Judy Carson
CASE STUDIES (February 9th to May 18th, 2017)
Report prepared by Shirley Highfill.
Read by Ian Lawrence
Deer
Two deer were hit by cars
#1 on Barrett and near Moby Dick’s Way – According to the driver who did report it – she just nicked the back end – but this doe had serious injuries + she was pregnant. GROWLS volunteers went right away and stayed with her until RCMP arrived.
#2 This doe was reported on North Road – she was in the middle of the road buy someone had moved her – again there was concern that she might have been pregnant.
#3 I had a call about a deer that was behaving like a horse with colic. This person was going to report back – a week later I got a report back from the property owner and I am assuming the same deer was in more distress. The RCMP were called to dispatch.
Three reports of deer dead on properties Carmen Road – Coast Road – Killer Whale Lookout.
Raccoon
Not usual raccoon behaviour – one was trying to take up residence underneath a property owners house. The owner had set up a trap – I referred him to Alternative Wildlife Solutions for further advice.
Otter
The Haven called for advice on an otter trying to nest under their main hall. I didn’t hear back so I assume they able to seal up the hole before she actually set up her nest.
Swan –
We had several calls and updates about a swam in Bolten’s field next to Petersen. I did not know until this year that Boltens usually have a flock Swans of varying sizes – locations and behaviors on their property. This flock was between 20- 30. Usually the flocks would leave as a group – this year they went in small groups. This was also to case with the flocks in Comox area. But in this case a juvenile stayed behind. Folks were concerned that it was injured – but no one could see an injury. I contacted Shirley Nicolson and Boltens and promised to keep an eye on the swan. By this point it was moving around more. There was no concern about it not having sufficient food and water. In any even it finally flew away.
Ravens
We had two Ravens
# 1 Carmel came across one being attacked by other ravens. She rescued it and took it home – it was evening and it looked alert – so the plan was to transport it to Errington in the monring but it died overnight.
#2 A senior citizen reported an injured one behind the fire hall – Carmel searched and searched and couldn’t find it.
Eagle
We had the report of an Eagle carcass on Brickyard Beach – as you know you could not find it and of course it is illegal for a citizen to have a eagle carcass in his/her possession
Hummingbirds
The rufous hummingbirds are back and in their usual amount of trouble.
We had two calls – both of these guys had it a window and neither were standing. It takes some courage to handle these little guys because they seem so fragile. In both cases the property owners picked them up one took considerable attention – the other minimal – They both came around and were on their way.
Turkey
We had a call from Roger on Dirksen. Some one had come to his door asking him to call us because a turkey had an injured leg. After asking for more details, he went out to check the turkey for himself but alas the turkey had a gobbler sitting on top of her. So we had a little talk about the “birds and the bees” and concluded that lameness was as good of an excuse as a headache.
We had another report of a bird hitting a window at Surf Lodge. I didn’t hear back so I assume it recovered
COMMITTEE REPORTS
Eagle monitoring by Ian Lawrence
- There were 23 eagle nests, now 18
- 3 nests have fallen down
- No nest in the old vineyard now. Tree taken down & wind storms
- Nest on Shaw Road with a telescope for viewing.
- Number of nests with babies
- 2 on Shaw with babies
- El Verano Drive
- Dragon’s Lane
- Behind the Golf Course
Membership report by Judy Carson
- 50 paid members
- Members can join on the website but cannot pay
- Applications for membership are at the Raven
- Had a good day at Roberts receiving new members for 2 hours
- GROWLS table to be at the Famers Market
- Having the total number of members will allow us to apply for grants
- 178 members on the website, which is under review for accuracy
- Directors will be meeting to discuss how memberships will be handled in the future
Library Project prepared by Amy Dawly (read by Jane Giffin)
Here’s a list of the books/DVDs:
| Title | Author | |
| 1 | Bird Brains: The intelligence of crows, ravens, magpies, and jays | Savage, Candace |
| 2 | Birds of Southwestern British Columbia | Cannings, Richard |
| 3 | Hearts in the Wild | Snopek, Roxanne Willems |
| 4 | Owls of the US & Canada | Lynch, Wayne |
| 5 | Raccoons | Zeveloff, Samuel I. |
| 6 | The Secret Lives of Hummingbirds | Lzaroff, David Wentworth |
| 7 | Transients | Ford, John K.B. |
| 8 | Wild Life & Trees in B.C. | Fenger, Mike |
| 9 | The Salish Sea | Benedict, Audrey DeLella |
| 10 | Wellness to Wilderness (DVD) | DVD |
| 11 | Nature Anatomy: The curious parts and pieces of the natural world | Rothman, Julia |
| 12 | Super Suckers | Cosgrove, Jim A. |
| 13 | Marine Life of the Pacific Northwest | Lamb, Andy |
| 14 | The Sea Among Us | Beamish, Richard |
| 15 | Birds of British Columbia, Multi-volume Set | Campbell, R. Wayne |
| 16 | Answering the Call of the Wild | Luther, Erin |
| 18 | Birds of Coastal British Columbia and the Pacific Northwest Coast | Baron, Nancy |
| 19 | Birds of British Columbia and the Pacific Northwest | Cannings, Richard |
| 20 | Dam Builders | Runtz, Michael W. P. |
| 21 | Pacific Seaweeds: A guide to common seaweeds of the west coast | Druehl, Louis D. |
The last set that was purchased (Answering the Call of the Wild, Birds of Coastal British Columbia, Birds of British Columbia and the Pacific Northwest, Dam Builders: The Natural History of Beavers and Their Ponds) depleted the funds to $29.30 remaining in the kitty. Pacific Seaweeds was added as a donated item.
BAT MONITORING BY Liz Ciocea
- This is GROWLS 1ST year counting bats
- Vanessa Craig (Roxy) & Larry & Sherry Bossum gave $100.00 for the bat program
- Currently have 15 people for counting & 10 sites
- 4 bat counts per year, now, and 2 counts in June, again in August
- Best time to take a count is at sunset and cival twilight
- Little Brown Myotis, Big Brown Bat, Yuma Myotis & Townsend’s Big eared bat all carry rabies in their guano.
- Rabies shots cost $800.00
- Places to count bats are protected and the owners have to sign to allow us to come on their property
- White nose syndrome has killed over 1,000 bats. It’s a fungus where spores get on the bat’s notes. Kills them for they have to scratch and this expires their energy when the are supposed to be hibernating.
- Swab the noses of dead bats to track the fungus
Website report by Peter Llewellyn
Peter was unable to attend the AGM
Availability requests for on call by Jane Giffen
Last directors meeting talked about changing the message on the phone “only respond from dawn to dusk – please leave your name & number, and we will respond in the next morning. Please call RCMP if you feel this is urgent”
Jane and Shirley tried reaching out by email if anyone could transport. They received 3 responses back. They will continue to email requests
Discussion on training more phone people. There is one phone number and the call goes to the pager/phone. There is a list of people who rescue (approximately 20) and a list of drivers. GROWLS needs another person to answer the calls, and not only Shirley.
NEW BUSINESS
By Liz Ciocea
Ocean Day June 11th from 1 – 4
Descanso Bay Reginal Park
- Volunteers: Liz Ciocea, Judy Carsen, Tracey Begs
- Seal pup tips
- Craft Fair – making mobiles out of twine
Signs
A discussion with regards to posters at all parks re new fawns. Deer are pregnant and due any day. Posters are to remind people about the fawns, and to keep their dogs on a leash and under control.
Seal posters need to be refurbished due to fading. Hard to read.
Gabriola Theatre Festival August 18th & 19th
Ian Lawrence’s “The Club” will be preformed with the wildlife puppets. Liz will be sending out an email requesting volunteers. Require 6 weeks to practice. The plan is to sing “We are Family” Liz is requesting Robyn Bruce to choregraph a dance with the salmon.
Meeting adjourned at 9:20pm
Thank you for supporting GROWLS
Next GROWLS meeting, Thursday August 24th, 2017