Lake Tahoe Wildlife Care's new facility taking shape

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - There has been a lot of activity at the future home of Lake Tahoe Wildlife Care (LTWC) on Al Tahoe Boulevard, with foundations in and buildings taking shape. When completed it will feature one rehabilitation center and 12 cages/buildings.

By October, seven of those cages will be completed and LTWC will celebrate with a grand opening.

Spread out over 27 acres, the new animal care facility now has all foundations of the new cages and buildings poured and builders have almost completed the waterfowl, beaver/otter buildings. Inside those insulated and heated buildings there will be four beaver/otter rooms and two for waterfowl. These will be the only fully heated units so their swimming water doesn't freeze in the winter.

Installation of the underground utilities is completed. Also finished is the 1,500 feet of barb-wired security fencing that surrounds the new compound, not only to keep uninvited people out but to also keep wildlife from venturing in. This wasn't a cheap addition with a price tag of $100,000.

The aviary building will have nine separate units inside (at their current location there are only three). The high ceilings will give the birds plenty of room to fly around. The framing is done and the roof will be installed next week.

The bear building will have doors into an enclosed backyard play area. The foundation and wiring are complete and crews will start the building construction next week as well. When done there will be nine isolation rooms and four cages.

The flight cage for raptors will be much different than the current mew. A permanent roof will cover a flight cage. As with many of the other buildings, the mew will have doors that can move aside and allow for more space for activity.

The raccoon cage will be seven times bigger than what is located in their Cherry Hills location and there will be outdoor access through doors.

Squirrels, chipmunks and weasels will have nine units though that building is coming later as is the fawn pen.

Since 1978 Tom and Cheryl Millham have been operating the wildlife care facility that takes in sick and injured wildlife from across the region. For the first four years, they operated out of Bender's Marine (now Camp Richardson), then moved it into their home on Cherry Hills Circle.

The new facility will be so spread out that they will need golf carts to transport food and staff.

Completion of the rehabilitation center/staff housing will come during the next phase. For this winter they will install a trailer for temporary housing of the person who will be taking care of the animals.

So far $4M has been spent on the facility and they need $2M more to complete. To help LTWC accomplish that goal, donations are accepted on their website, https://ltwc.org/, or for more information, call Tom at 530.573.CARE(2273).