Wild Animal Rescue
Hold On, We’ve Got Bird Flu
We’re in the rescue-baby-animal season; translation: “abandoned” fawns, fledgling birds on the ground, exposed bunny nests, and snakes on the patio.
Here’s the short answer from wildlife rehabbers: It’s best to leave nature alone. A doe often parks her well-camouflaged fawn in a safe place for the day. Bird parents feed fledglings until they can fend for themselves. Cover up the rabbit nest. A snake will move on with a quick squirt of a garden hose.
But if the situation is dire, be aware that the avian flu is putting a halt on some wild bird rescues. The wildlife rehab center at Hiram College’s James H. Barrow Biological Field Station (330- 569-5231) won’t take birds this spring. The Kevin P. Clinton Wildlife Center at Lake County’s Penitentiary Glen Reservation will take birds on a case-by-case basis, by appointment only (440-256-1404). Lake Erie Nature & Science Center’s Wildlife Rehabilitation Program in Cuyahoga County advises would-be rescuers to call their wildlife hotline (440-871-2900) before intervening.
If you’re lucky enough to see a baby animal in the wild, remember this advice from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources: Human intervention is always a wild animal’s last hope for survival; never its best hope.
Everything You Need to Know
About Postcards (but didn’t think to ask)
We’re giving you plenty of notice: the first full week of May is National Postcard Week. Consider this your reminder to send a card. Who doesn’t like getting interesting mail?
If it’s been a long time since you’ve stepped into a post office, a postcard stamp is 56 cents, a bargain (according to me) considering it will be hand-delivered to even the most far-flung places in the United States.
But did you also know about the Akron Postcard Club? Members meet monthly in the University of Akron’s Postcard Library at the Institute for Human Science and Culture.
Which raises another question: What?
UA is home to the 250,000-card David P. Campbell Postcard Collection, which is why the club meets at the college. They explore the collection, and meetings are “inspired by the collection’s messages, images and historic record.” You can see samples from the collection on its website. Go to uakron.edu and search “Postcards.”
Film Festival Returns
March 27-April 5
Here’s an antidote for the “Why won’t winter leave?” blues: the Cleveland International Film Festival.
Forget what’s going on with the weather (probably gray skies and not-high-enough temperatures). Head into a cozy theater at Playhouse Square and get lost in movieland.
The festival has more than 300 films from around the world. Check the website clevelandfilm.org to plan your week.
To make your choices easier, festival organizers created Sidebars, films grouped by subject or theme. Sidebars this year are: After Hours, Arab Cinema, Black Cinema, Comedies, Family Films, Film is Art, Indigenous Cinema, Jewish Cinema, Latinx & Hispanic Cinema, Music Movies, Parability Cinema, Queer Cinema, Teen-Friendly Cinema, and Women of the World.
Forget what’s going on outside. The real action happens in a movie theater during festival week. Happy viewing.
Free Computer Expo:
Talk Tech with Experts
Almost nothing is more frustrating than having a phone, a laptop and/or the internet, and not knowing how to use them.
Our tech columnist Tak Sato feels your pain. He and his wife Mely run the popular Cleveland-area nonprofit Center for Aging in the Digital World (empowerseniors.org). Their free classes take the scare factor out of technology for people 50+.
Their 9th Annual Living in the Digital World Senior Expo & Conference is set for 9:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. Thursday, May 15 at the Rocky River Civic Center, 21016 Hilliard Blvd.
The expo includes a workshop on using QR codes, an AI panel discussion, vendor tables, food and refreshments.
For more information, visit empowerseniors.org. Submit questions through the contact page on the website, or call and leave a message at 440-787-2020.
