Adopt a Pumpkin at the Suisun Wildlife Center

SUISUN CITY - Come to the Suisun Wildlife Center to adopt a 'wild' pumpkin for a small donation, and help support the Center's work of rescuing and releasing back to the wild injured and orphaned wildlife.

The Pumpkin Patch is open daily from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Wildlife Center, 1171 Kellogg Street, Suisun City.

When you pick out your pumpkin make sure to visit the Center's non-releasable wildlife family, including a coyote, raccoon and golden eagle. Also stop by the education center to learn about Solano County wildlife and the Suisun Marsh.

For more information, call 707-429-4295 or go online to www.suisunwildlife.org

Suisun Marsh Makes "California Top 11" List

CALIFORNIA TRAVEL INSIDER NAMES MARSH A TOP STATEWIDE DESTINATION

A noted independent California travel writer has named the Suisun Marsh among her Top Eleven for California list of favorite destinations.

Writer Barbara Steinberg included the Suisun Marsh with this summary:

Suisun Marsh – The largest contiguous brackish water marsh remaining on the west coast of North America it encompasses 116,000 acres and includes 52,000 acres of managed wetlands. Incredible hikes and wildlife viewing; you pass right through on Amtrak’s Capital Corridor trains. Enjoy easy hikes from the Rush Ranch Visitor Centerpart of the Solano Land Trust off Grizzly Island Road. Enjoy a sunset kayak trip; a little fishing; explore Indian grinding stones; or views of white pelicans as they glide across the sky. Suisun Marsh is part of California's natural and historic past.

The best way to get into the Marsh is through Suisun City (on Highway 12 just east of I-80). The southern border of the City is formed by the Marsh.

You can drive in or take the Capitol Corridor train service to the Suisun-Fairfield station and enjoy the easy walk down the Promenade to the Suisun City Waterfront District.

At the south end of Kellogg Street, you'll find the Suisun Wildlife Center, a state-sanctioned nursery and safe-haven for abandoned infant wild animals from the neighboring Marsh. Next to the Center's main gate is the entrance to the Peytonia Slough Ecological Reserve and the Suisun City boat launch.

You can even get out into the Marsh itself aboard a guided tour boat trip aboard the California Sunset or by renting a kayak in town and heading out on your own or with an experienced guide.

Local Bald Eagles

I was perusing the Suisun Wildlife Center web site recently when I noticed a terrific little link to a bunch of photos of a bald eagle hunting in a pond near Travis Air Force Base.

The photos are terrific (I sampled one at right) but the information on the page was wonderful! >>Click here for more!>>

It's great to know that our area is becoming a habitat for our national bird!

Stop by the Suisun Wildlife Center any day to visit the resident animals native to the Suisun Marsh and environs.

Take a Walk (or Tour) on the Wild Side!

Here's a bit of news from our friends at the Suisun Wildlife Center:

The 13th annual San Francisco Bay Flyway Festival is taking place February 6, 7 and 8th.

As part of this wonderful event celebrating the Bay and its marvelous ecosystems that includes field trips, tours and all-day events and exhibitors on Saturday and Sunday, the Suisun Wildlife Center is offering a Wildlife Center tour on Friday, Feb. 6, from 2-3 p.m.

Come visit the new non-releasable Coyote, see the Golden Eagle up close, and find out how the Wildlife Center has rescued and cared for Solano County's wildlife since 1977!

We will also be at the Festival on Mare Island in Vallejo on Saturday and Sunday.

To register or for more information, call the Wildlife Center at 707-429-4295. Call today, space is limited!

The Suisun Wildlife Center, located at the south end of Kellogg Street in the Waterfront District, is one of our local gems and well worth your time if you haven't gone by to see it!

Visit the Suisun Wildlife Center

The Suisun Wildlife Center will host an open house 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. this Saturday (Nov. 8).

The Center - perched on the edge of the Suisun Marsh at Peytonia Slough - is a care and release facility for animals native to the area, particularly specializing in infant animals abandoned by or separated from their parents. The staff and volunteers from this terrific nonprofit educational foundation also host a wide range of field trips and nature experiences for area school children.

Located at 1171 Kellogg Street in Suisun City, the Center has a number of resident animals on display. If the weather cooperates, the Center's resident golden eagle will make a special appearance at noon & 2 p.m.

After you stop by the Center, you can go right up Kellogg Street to a trio of terrific restaurants for your breakfast and lunch needs, including Bab's Delta Diner, Athenian Grill and Joy of Eating. Park and walk around the Waterfront District and the beautiful Promenade.

A trip to the Suisun Wildlife Center also makes for a great day trip destination, especially if you can couple it with a train ride on the Capitol Corridor to the Suisun City station or with a stop at the Jelly Belly factory just down Cordelia Road from the Suisun City Waterfront District.

Media: Suisun City center breeds love of wildlife

By Carol Bogart Daily Republic

SUISUN CITY - Sedit the coyote watched expectantly as Lee Munoz, 70, approached with food. The coyote, found tied to a post as a pup, never learned how to be 'wild.'

Sedit, the American Indian word for coyote, has resided at the Suisun Wildlife Center in Suisun City for many years.

For the past two years, Munoz has been volunteering at the center. She prepares meals for an aging opossum that regards visitors balefully from beneath a blanket. Munoz feeds dead mice to raptors at the center such as a great horned owl. Her favorite resident, though, is Sedit.

'I just love animals,' Munoz said.

Munoz retired from the Fairfield-Suisun School District and still lives on the Green Valley ranch where her mother was born.

She has had more exposure to animals than birds at the ranch, so she is drawn to the animals at the wildlife center.

Matching volunteers with the animals and birds that interest them is the goal of Cindy Forrest, the center's rehabilitation director.

For example, Sherry Moyce, 48, has turned her Suisun City home into a nursery of sorts. Moyce uses a dropper to feed two baby gray squirrels blown out of a tree during a recent storm.

It's clear the two have embraced Moyce as 'mom.'

After their meal, they burrow under her sweater and nestle against her neck. 'I get real attached,' Moyce said. 'I like having babies. This gives me my 'mommy' fix.'

Jim Furco, 68, who retired as a sergeant in the Fairfield Police Department in 1993, has volunteered at the wildlife center for 12 years. His wife, Margie Furco, 61, is also a volunteer. The couple took a three-day course at UC Davis to learn how to handle raptors.

Furco is the center's primary handler of a resident male golden eagle. Sool, the American Indian word for eagle, lost half a wing and can't fly.

Sometimes, Furco said, Sool will make a barking sound when a hawk or another raptor passes overhead.

Sool may be trying to attract a female, Furco said. 'After 11 years in a cage, he'll take anything that flies,' he joked.

All jokes aside, Furco would love to see Sool soaring free. Knowing that's not possible, Furco arrives at the center at 1:30 p.m. each day except Sunday to work with the disabled eagle.

Leather protects Furco's hand and arm from Sool's huge talons.

As he held the enormous bird on his forearm, Furco fed Sool and told stories. For instance, Furco said Sool has so much strength in his feet that he could crush his handler's hand.

When Furco first started working with the bird five years ago, Sool was so aggressive Forco was 'scared to death.'

The two have since formed a bond. 'He's not tame,' Furco said. 'He's just got manners.'

Reach Carol Bogart at 427-6955 or at cbogart@dailyrepublic.net.

WILDLIFE VOLUNTEERS

For information on becoming a volunteer at the Suisun Wildlife Center, call 429-HAWK (4295). The center, located at 1171 Kellogg St. in Suisun City, is open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily.