Foxtail and Fushia Awards

In celebration of our anniversary, I’d like to offer the first annual "Foxtail and Fuschia Awards". A field of beautiful California Fuschias will be awarded to those who did good things for our native wild species. A field of Foxtails goes to those who did not.

Fuschias go to...
	Anthony and John who watched over an injured coyote in Hillcrest until we could arrive on the scene. They moved this comatose, shocky coyote to the side of the road, covered him with a blanket and kept us advised of his condition, via car phone, for the 45 minutes it took our volunteers to reach the Hillcrest area. The coyote recovered from his head injuries and broken foot and was released "back home" two months later.
Foxtails go to...
	The gal in Santee who purportedly has "a way with animals." She chose to raise two young kestrel falcons on hamburger rather than bring them to our facility, although she knew of us and the other area wildlife groups and had been a regular visitor at our facility. She brought them to us only when they became too weak to eat. One youngster had already lost the use of his legs due to metabolic bone disease caused by an improper diet. The other was on his way down. We were able to save, rehabilitate and release only one young falcon. The other died.
Fuschias go to...
	Every citizen who, upon finding a baby songbird fallen from its nest, took the time to either place the youngster back in its own nest or place it in a makeshift nest in the area of the original nest. These folks saved literally thousands of man hours for wildlife rehabilitators and saved the lives of many baby birds.
Foxtails go to...
	Every citizen who fed milk to a baby songbird. I’m still looking for mammary glands on that mother bird!
Fuschias go to...
	People who know the difference between a mountain lion and a golden retriever.
Foxtails go to...
	People who trim trees during the spring, thus destroying thousands of nests and roosts of our native birds.
Fuschias go to...
	Those of you who use native and drought-tolerant plants for landscaping and attracting the birds, bees and butterflies.
Foxtails go to...
	Folks who keep pet food and small pets outdoors after dark and then complain about pets and pet food being consumed by the native wildlife.
Fuschias go to...
	Parents who do not allow their youngsters to use BB guns on native wildlife.
Foxtails go to...
	The fool who assaulted the skunk with a hockey stick and left it to die a slow and painful death.
Fuschias go to...
	Every citizen who, when visiting our parks and lakes, spends a little time picking up litter, kite string and fishing line.
Foxtails go to...
	The yahoos who leave their litter, old kite string and fishing line at our parks and lakes.
Fuschias go to...
	All of you who love, appreciate, respect and co-exist with our native wildlife. Thank you for making our job a little easier.