Over summer Critter Care was fortunate enough to receive a steady supply of vine clippings from the Township 7 Winery, Langley, to feed their 6 hungry fawns. This fall, the winery's support continued, and Critter Care took part in their annual harvest and "Grape Stomp". This year's grapes, too small to use for wine, were a perfect donation to feed our 17 hungry bear cubs at the centre. The Grape Stomp - a day of live music, homemade food and good wine - involves members of the public teaming up to stomp grapes and produce 6 bottles of "wine" in the shortest time - Critter Care were the chosen charity to attend the event (and of course join in with the stomping!). We had a great day campaigning, fund raising and promoting the word of Critter Care to the hundreds who attended. A huge thank you from the staff, and animals, at Critter Care for all donations received, and of course to the Township 7 Winery for their continued support.

The Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure (MOTI) and Mainroad Lower Mainland Contracting teamed together to participate in a community partnership project supporting Critter Care Wildlife Society. The Community Partnership Program is a new initiative this year combining the resources of road building contractors and the Ministry.

The project consisted of building a roof over Critter Care’s triage centre and constructing a new rodent free food storage facility. The fawn cage was expanded, new floor tile was installed in the skunk nursery, and a canopy was erected over the entrance to Critter Care’s intern building. Other small jobs included upgrading pathways around cages using concrete slabs donated by Abbotsford Concrete and painting door trim. Ministry and Mainroad volunteers donated their time, materials and equipment on Saturday, October 22nd to complete the new structures and repairs.

Click here to read more about Mainroad Lower Mainland Contracting

Update on our bear cubs - December 21, 2011

With winter finally here Kody, Karsten, Keeton, Rascal, and Shade have all settled together in a den. Kaymona, Rose, Kira, Sabbath and Jeanette are sharing a den in the other bear enclosure, and occasionally letting Max in as well. Max is usually sleeping in one of the dens in the enclosure by himself.

Kala was not quite ready to hibernate yet so she was moved into bear pen 3 with Simon and Apples. Simon is determined to make friends with Kala, though Kala is a little reluctant to make friends with anyone. Apples prefers just to observe from the safety of his den. Even though Simon, Kala, and Apples are not hibernating yet, they still spend most of the day in their dens being lazy. In fact their days usually consist of eating, sleeping, and short romps around the enclosure.

Charlie is now in with Corky. The reunion between the two (possible) brothers wasn’t what we were hoping for as the two just seemed to ignore each other. After a few days however the boys are nestled together in their den. Like Simon, Apples, and Kala – Charlie and Corky spend their days eating, sleeping, and occasionally playing. Most days it’s to cold for them to venture out of their den.

All the staff, interns, bears, raccoons, and other critters wish everyone a Merry Christmas!

If after Christmas you are looking for a place to bring your Christmas tree, the animals would love to have them. We hang Christmas trees in the Raccoon cages for the raccoons to play one, and the bears love to use them to block of their dens and keep the chill out all winter long.

If you would like to make a donation towards the care of our 16 bears, or any of the other critters we care for, simply click on the donation button on the right hand side and donate using Paypal, or you can mail a cheque or call the center at 604-530-2054 to make you donation via Visa or Mastercard.
 

Thank you for supporting Critter Care Wildlife Society!

If you like to read all our bear stories please click here!
 

Simon The Snow Bear was built by Rosanna Stevens, Stephanie Mok, and Jessica Olinsson. They are students living in the Townhouse Residences at Simon Fraser University, right where Simon the real bear cub was captured by conservation officers and transferred to Critter Care on November 5th, 2011.

Click here to read the story about the real bear Simon and his 16 'siblings'.
 

Watch Linda Aylesworth's report on our little bear from Whistler, Jeanette. She arrived on the evening of October 20, and is the daughter of Whistler’s iconic bear Jeanie.

Greg Harper checks out what Critter Care Wildlife Society is all about!
Aired August 23, 2011
 

Watch the full video here (10.28)

The beautiful 2012 Critter Care calendar is still available!

Learn fun facts about native British Columbia wildlife, and see some of the baby animals Critter Care rescued, raised and released in 2011.

Available now for only CAD 10.00 (plus postage).

AS OF DECEMBER 19TH CALENDARS ARE 2 FOR $10.00 (plus postage).

Please call 604 530 2054, email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or stop by in person to place your order.

Now also available at karmavore vegan shop in New Westminster!

WALK ON THE WILD SIDE - Thank you Wildlife Lovers

On Sunday, October 2nd, close to 100 Wildlife Lovers and their furry friends gathered at 11:15 a.m. for our third Annual Walk "Walk on the Wild Side" in Campbell Valley Regional Park.

It was a great morning – perfect for a stroll around the Park. After a rousing send off from The Old Orchid Group Picnic Area, walkers grabbed some water and granola bars and headed off to stroll around the Little River Loop. At the end of their walk, they were greeted with a delicious Burger, chips and drink served up by our Langley Lions Club Sponsor.

We are excited to announce that we met our match! Our Walk-a-Thon was a great success and raised $ 10,800 to help Critter Care Wildlife Society to accomplish their mission to Rescue, Rehabilitate and Release native mammals of British Columbia and the Lower Mainland, from Black Bears to Fawns. This money will go directly towards projects that will benefit animals at our facility. Fundraising is essential to Critter Care Wildlife Society in order for us to maintain the quality services the mammals need and we rely on the generosity of our donors to help make this happen.

Thanks so much to everyone who walked – and everyone who sponsored our walkers, for your dedication to helping out the animals !  

With special thanks and appreciation to our corporate and individual donors, because of their support, the barbeque and prizes were a big hit:

- Animal Actors
- Bear aware, Drake Stephens, Coquitlam
- Campbell Valley Regional Park, Langley
- Metro Vancouver, Lori Bartley, Langley

- Langley Lions Club, Langley

- Safeway, Philip Warburton, Maple Ridge

"We appreciate and thank all the volunteers who worked so hard to help make this Walk-a-Thon a success!" Volunteers are crucial to the success of any event and as always, we are appreciative for the help. Whether it was cleaning a table when setting up, hanging a sign, sitting at a checkpoint, flipping burgers or cleaning up after the event, every little bit helps and the day would not have been as successful without the team effort. But, above all, our volunteers do it with a big smile and with a big heart!

Next year's our Walk-a-Thon “Walk on the wild Side” will be taking place Sunday, October 7th, 2012, and we want to make it even bigger and better ! We are looking forward to seeing you again !