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00:01Wildlife is not just in the wild.
00:03It surrounds us, whether we want it to or not.
00:08I'm Jan Shattuck.
00:10I run Living Sky Wildlife Rehabilitation.
00:14Rehabilitating wild animals is intense and exhausting,
00:19and it is incredibly rewarding.
00:24Our goal is to fix the animal,
00:28teach it what it's going to need to know to survive in the wild,
00:32and release it back where it belongs.
00:55This spring is all upside down.
00:59Usually we spend the winter catching up on paperwork
01:03and catching our breath so that we're ready for the spring chaos.
01:09But we have been taking care of animals non-stop.
01:13Now they all need to go free to make room for the next bunch.
01:22Here we go.
01:26We're going to go in the holes.
01:33Yay!
01:34Oh, it makes me happy.
01:35OK.
01:36I'm not going to cry.
01:37I'm not going to cry.
01:41There he goes.
01:42Oh, that's so exciting.
01:47Beautiful flight.
01:59Oscar and Eddie have been with us since last summer.
02:05Young otters are notoriously difficult to keep alive.
02:11Somehow, some way, Emma and I have helped these two otters survive through a pretty cold winter.
02:21These little tiny babies are now giant.
02:26So they're kind of our miracle babies.
02:29But that success came at a huge personal cost.
02:34I don't think we realized what a crazy undertaking it would be.
02:39It was crazy racing back from school every day just to get soaked with ice water and then go back.
02:46Emma and I did an amazing job of limiting their exposure to just the two of us and keeping them
02:53wild.
02:54It's a lot of work.
02:57At this point, we're both just running on fumes.
03:01We've given them everything except their freedom.
03:06Our mothering is mostly done.
03:09We just have to make sure that they can catch their food.
03:13It's not optional.
03:14If they can't fish, they can't go.
03:18Today is day one of live fish testing.
03:20When Osher was a baby in the summertime, we tried giving him, like, little goldfish.
03:27But he kind of wasn't very good at catching them.
03:30Here we go. Let's go. Woo-hoo!
03:36Ah! Yes!
03:38There's always a risk when an animal has been raised in captivity.
03:43They don't have the parents to teach them.
03:49Oscar's chasing them, too.
03:51He's not quite as fast as her, but...
03:54Come on, you guys got it.
03:56There's a possibility that Oscar may not be able to actually figure out how to catch fish.
04:02He wouldn't survive in the wild, which would be really tragic.
04:08Woo-hoo!
04:08That was almost.
04:09Go, go, go, go!
04:11All right.
04:11Where did that hurt?
04:13That's Eddie.
04:22Oscar!
04:23Yay!
04:23He got one and he's eating it.
04:26Good work, Oscar!
04:27I'm very relieved.
04:29I'm as ready as they are to see them go free.
04:32But the water's not thawed yet is the problem.
04:34We just have to hang on a little longer while the northern lake they came from thaws.
04:41What can go wrong?
04:50We have this juvenile sawed owl.
04:53We got this massive snow storm and this little guy couldn't quite get back out of the snow.
04:59So he just needed a few days for the weather to clear and we're going to see if we can
05:03reunite him with his family.
05:06Yeah, you get to see your family.
05:10Releasing animals to the wild can be really joyful, but there can be a whole lot of other feelings mixed
05:15in there too.
05:16There's often uncertainty.
05:19Saw-wet owls nest inside cavities in tree trunks.
05:23We know roughly where this little guy was found, but we really need to find his family.
05:28And that won't be easy, even for our owl expert, Martin.
05:35We are losing daylight.
05:38They also said it was high up, right?
05:41I'm just going to have a look at those two evergreens.
05:46That's a woodpecker.
05:51We can't find the owlet's nest.
05:54Without his parents, he won't last long.
05:58My suggestion would be stick it here in the tree, walk away.
06:02That young will be asking for food the whole night and the adults will hear it and they will feed
06:08it.
06:09And that won't be a problem for any like predators or anything like that who might come.
06:12There's always a risk.
06:14You have to realize that 50% of these young are not going to make it into the next year.
06:21I don't love those odds.
06:23But I guess the best we can do is leave him in this tree and hope his parents hear him
06:28calling.
06:32Hopefully the parents still are around here.
06:36Yeah.
06:43I actually found the nest.
06:45Oh, my God.
06:46Oh, that's really relieving.
06:48I was getting a little worried about just leaving him out there.
06:52Can you see him?
06:53Right underneath that heavy branch.
06:56Oh, yeah.
06:59Let's first see if there's anyone home.
07:01Okay.
07:07Oh, I see, I see, uh, it looks like a juvenile.
07:10I see a little white unibrow.
07:14It, it might just be the one in there.
07:16Okay.
07:18I would still stick a navigate.
07:21Yeah?
07:21Since it is close enough.
07:23Close enough.
07:24And I wouldn't be surprised if there's another one already flat.
07:27Yeah, so they'll be a little spread out.
07:30Yes.
07:31Okay, buddy.
07:34He's a fledgling.
07:35This is his natural territory.
07:36He would probably be in a tree just like this, had that storm not hit.
07:40If there's only one little guy left in their nest, that means there was probably others who have spread out
07:45a little bit.
07:47This feels a lot better knowing his parents are definitely nearby.
07:52I can't even see him from here.
07:54He'll be okay.
07:58Success!
08:14I love how Makayla told me that they need them to fit in their little hands, the pieces.
08:18Really?
08:19Even though they're ginormous animals, they won't eat it unless it's their little hands-sized.
08:22You know what?
08:23At this point, they're like princesses.
08:25They are.
08:26I think it'll be fine though because when they like get released, suddenly they remember that they're wild.
08:33We've had these two porcupines since last year.
08:35If they're both wild enough and healthy enough, they can go free.
08:41Porky is shy, which is good.
08:44But Pinky's always seemed a little more human friendly.
08:48It is incredibly dangerous for Pinky to be human friendly.
08:51I know there are people who would be willing to shoot a porcupine, so she can't really be going up
08:57to people.
08:57She loves that watermelon.
09:00Yeah, and she'll go around before Porky can even get to them and eat every single one of them.
09:06Our number one job is helping her get wild, even though everyone adores her.
09:11That is why we gave her the winter here with Porky to detach from humans and remember that she's actually
09:18a porcupine.
09:21Like she's kind of snorty and hiccupy.
09:25She developed some respiratory issues over winter.
09:28She was doing that hiccupy thing when I was giving her meds and it worried me.
09:31I hope that Pinky's hiccups don't mean her respiratory illness is back.
09:35I really don't want anything to jeopardize her release.
09:38I'll come check on her later.
09:48We've been planning for months and now the ice has finally melted on the Otter's Lake up north and it's
09:55release time.
09:56It's going to be overwhelmingly stressful for us and certainly for them because they won't know what's happening.
10:06My worry is that a stressful journey is going to make them too stressed to release.
10:13Whoo-hoo, it's a big day, kids.
10:17Oh, wow, look at that. Look at that. We got one hit.
10:21This is the biggest release journey that I've ever attempted, geographically and emotionally.
10:29Yeah, I got you in.
10:31All right, kiddos, take them out of this place.
10:32After everything that we've been through with these otters, I'll be damned if I'm going to let them go in
10:39a place where anyone can harm them.
10:41Even if that means that we have to go to the ends of the earth.
10:44Let's get them in the car. Let's get them covered.
10:46Moving.
10:46We found them a perfect spot on their northern lake with lots of fish, with some other otters and absolutely
10:54no people around.
10:56You can only get there by boat.
10:59I just hope that the stress of all this travel isn't going to be too much for them.
11:04Okay, it's okay.
11:07This is the part that makes me really anxious.
11:15Breathe deeply.
11:21We're going to have to drive however many hours it is out to the lake,
11:26then boat over to the release site.
11:28So it's going to be, whew, it's going to be a huge ordeal.
11:37Okay.
11:39Okay.
11:42Okay.
11:44Okay.
11:47Great.
11:48We have two and a half hours left.
11:51We've spent every day of the last year trying to protect these otters and today we give them a stressful
11:59journey and at the end of it, they lose us.
12:02Essentially, they lose their moms.
12:06Hey, hey, hey.
12:07It's okay.
12:09He's chilling.
12:11She finally chilled out.
12:16It's a really tense period because we have no idea how they're going to react.
12:24And getting to the lake is just the first step.
12:28Boat.
12:29We still have to make it through the boat ride.
12:32Looks like it's going to be a bit choppy.
12:35Release time?
12:36Release time.
12:38We got this far.
12:40Yeah.
12:45Right now.
12:46He's scared.
12:54Brooklyn, are you still coming on the porcupine release?
12:57I don't think I can, honestly.
12:59It's way too busy here.
13:01So, Mikayla, the experienced one, will come?
13:03Yes, I would love to come.
13:05They're your babies, so it's kind of good, I think.
13:08I kind of want to see how Pinky's respiratory issues are doing.
13:12Just because she was so hiccup-y last time.
13:15I think it's just because she's eating her food too quickly.
13:19Can I listen to your breathing?
13:24Oh, you sound good.
13:25Yeah, no snorts.
13:28It's always weird going on releases without Jan because she has so much knowledge.
13:32I find that staying calm helps the animals be calmer too.
13:36And that's a good thing when they're covered with sharp quills.
13:40There's no way it's that easy.
13:42Get your bum in there.
13:47What a bum.
13:48Oh my God.
13:49Now we can only pray that the other one will be this easy.
13:52Yeah, right.
13:55I know.
13:57You can see her showing all those quills.
13:59We'll go nice and slow.
14:02You have to be really gentle and patient with porcupines, for their sake and your own.
14:11Don't climb up.
14:13Try and scoop under.
14:16I'll help with my...
14:18Come on.
14:21I know.
14:22Oh, beautiful.
14:24She's got a strong tail on her.
14:27She got me a little bit, which is awesome to see.
14:31Good to see she has good attack reflexes.
14:36Jan's far away with the otters, so we're here on our own.
14:40I feel like we've done everything we can.
14:42But young wild animals have about a 50-50 chance of surviving out there.
14:47I'm nervous and excited for them to go out into the wild.
14:51I think we've prepared them the best we can.
14:54This is probably the part where Jan would say, we're not out of the woods yet.
15:04We're headed to a place that has everything they need.
15:08There's even an old beaver lodge that they can use as a shelter.
15:15But the further we go, the more worried I feel.
15:22You're almost there, Aski.
15:26It hit home that when we boat back, they're not going to be with us.
15:32We have to hope and pray that we did everything right and that they're going to be okay.
15:42I know exactly how Jan is feeling.
15:45I'm feeling it too.
15:46Her baby is scared and she's tossing him out into the big, dangerous world.
15:50As soon as she sees him truly embrace it and go for it, I know she'll feel better.
15:58Is that good?
16:04Yeah.
16:09What do you think, silly boy?
16:12Yeah, it's been a ride, hasn't it, sweetie?
16:15There's no one to protect him out here.
16:19I'm just praying he gets off to a good start.
16:23You ready, Jana?
16:25It's a huge leap of faith.
16:27I think where I struggle is the faith in me.
16:34Did I do everything I could?
16:39Oh, God.
16:41My babies.
16:46He's not quite sure.
16:59Yeah.
17:07Look at him go.
17:10There we go.
17:12Yay!
17:15He was the first one to go in the water.
17:21Unbelievable.
17:28Oh, Eddie.
17:30She will be fine.
17:32I think Oscar will too.
17:35I don't know if I will be, but they will be.
17:39Yeah.
17:40And that's what counts.
17:43Hey!
17:44Yes!
17:46He is way off over there.
17:48I hope he's finding the deeper water to have fun in.
17:51There he is.
17:53Yeah, he's just exploring, which is brilliant.
17:56I'm going to miss you too, Miss Eddie.
17:59But you two together are going to be amazing.
18:05They kept sort of roaming further and further and being gone sort of longer and longer periods of time.
18:12You know, first it was two minutes, then five, and then ten, and then, you know, then it's like half
18:16an hour.
18:16And it's like, I haven't seen, where are they?
18:20You know, the fact that I need to pick up my binoculars to find the otters...
18:24Pretty good sign.
18:25...is a really good sign.
18:30I mean, it's been about a half an hour, and we haven't seen them.
18:34I think we should get out while we can.
18:38I'm going to miss them.
18:40Oh, I'm going to so miss them.
18:43They're so happy.
19:03Okay, yeah, so I want to put a trail of peanuts into the bush, just so it kind of leads
19:09them in the right direction.
19:12I'm quite nervous to release Pinky specifically.
19:14I personally think Porky will just go off.
19:17He doesn't like us, but I am worried that Pinky will want to stay with the humans.
19:22And an animal that is too attached to humans is actually considered unreleasable.
19:28Porky, are you ready to be wild?
19:30I think she's ready.
19:32We're going to open the doors and kind of book it, so they don't see us.
19:37We're going to hide behind some trees.
19:42We've spent so much time with these guys, caring for them.
19:45Seeing them leave and kind of being uncertain of what's going to happen to them is a little scary.
19:51Okay, ready?
19:52Ready?
19:53Three, two, one, go.
20:00She seems to be heading out.
20:02Good.
20:06Pinky doesn't even care.
20:07She's just eating her bushes over there.
20:12They're so happy.
20:16Well, that's good.
20:18I thought she'd be after us.
20:22Doesn't care about us at all.
20:24Not even a little bit.
20:25I'm almost sad.
20:28We worked so hard to rewild Pinky, and to see her go so wild is incredible.
20:35Bye, guys. Good luck.
20:37Bye.
20:47Okay, so this is the trail cam footage.
20:50Oh, yay.
20:55Oh, two babies.
21:14Looks like a straight tail.
21:16Yeah, that looks like Eddie.
21:22This is Oscar.
21:23That's Oscar.
21:24It's totally Oscar.
21:25That's Oscar.
21:26I see the guys here.
21:28And there's Eddie.
21:34Our babies are wild now.
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