They are common sights during the spring, when many animals in the wild are born.

Although Evans used to be "very frightened" of wild animals—which made her wary of helping these injured creatures in her yard—volunteering at the Wildlife Center of Silicon Valley last spring has helped to quell her fear.

"Picking up an injured bird was not easy for me to do because I was afraid it could hurt me or that I would hurt it," says Evans, a retired social worker for the county's child protective services.

So she let her husband pick up the sparrow and a neighbor put the squirrel in a box to transport it to a wildlife center.

Now she doesn't hesitate to hold a dove in her hand, much less open its beak and stick a tube into its body to feed it. She does it daily as a volunteer at the wildlife center. Unlike finches, mockingbirds and sparrows, pigeons and doves don't gape—open their mouths widely—to receive food so it is necessary to tube-feed them, she says.

Photograph by Niki Desautels Human Lifelines: Willow Glen resident Carol Evans has been volunteering at the Wildlife Center of Silicon Valley for two years. The center trained her to care for various kinds of baby birds, which she feeds with a syringe.

She gained enough courage from working at the center that when the baby hummingbird got stuck in her feeder, she could place it on the ground and look for injuries. It was able to fly away.

The Wildlife Center of Silicon Valley, a rehabilitation and release facility, celebrates its 10th anniversary in May. The center recently moved to its new facility inside Penitencia Creek Park in San Jose, where members of the public deliver sick, orphaned or injured birds and mammals. Skilled volunteers then allow the animal to destress, ask where the animal was found and conduct a full examination.

The center's mission is to take care of those animals, rehabilitate them and then release them back into the wild.

Photograph by Niki Desautels Playing Opossum: Juvenile opossums are some of the animals that are brought into the Wildlife Center of Silicon Valley. One of the animal care supervisors examines this opossum's eyes after a resident brings him to the center.

While some animals are treated and released in as little as 24 hours, most animals require long-term care. Those that stay at the center long-term include babies who have been separated from their parents. The center has volunteers who care for babies on-site and at their homes until the animals have grown enough to care for themselves in the wild.

Photograph by Niki Desautels Open Wide: Willow Glen volunteer Carol Evans feeds a tiny newborn songbird inside one of the incubators at the Wildlife Center of Silicon Valley.

Carmel De Bertaut, an animal care coordinator at the center, says adult deer and rabbits are away from their young most of the day to avoid drawing predators to them. She says the center's goal is to keep "as many young animals as possible with their parents this year."

It is also a common misconception that birds will abandon their young once humans have touched them, Alexander says. The thinking goes that the baby will smell of humans and be rejected, but in fact birds have no sense of smell.

"We try to educate people about what to do and often tell them to leave the animal or return it to where they found it," says de Bertaut.

Sometimes people find a mockingbird on the ground that is only a few weeks old and think the bird has been abandoned when in fact the parents are training it on the ground, Alexander says.

"People think a dog will kill it, but the mom is still taking care of it," she says.

Alexander and de Bertaut are two of the nonprofit organization's founding members. The two opened the center after working with the Humane Society of Santa Clara Valley, which had to close its wildlife department 10 years ago due to lack of funding.

A small group of about 15 individuals raised enough money to open the Wildlife Center of Silicon Valley in 1993 and staff it with volunteers for three years.

Today the center is run by almost 150 volunteers, and it's been able to hire three paid staff members.

With the help of volunteers and staff, each year the center cares for more than 5,000 birds and mammals representing more than 100 species.

And the center doesn't only care for animals—it also educates the public about conservation issues.

Since city buildings and infrastructure are encroaching upon wildlife habitat, the center educates the public about the animals surrounding them. It sponsors an outreach program that educates students in elementary school through college about animals and offers classes year-round to volunteers and members free of charge.

The center has seen a change of location since its early days, having been forced out of its previous location on Senter Road in San Jose because the city turned that area into the 13th hole of a golf course. However, Alexander says, the center had outgrown its 800-square-foot facility. The new facility sits on three-quarters of an acre of parkland off Penitencia Creek Road.

Looking at the black cyclone fencing and portable building the center is housed in, one would never expect to see the inside and rear areas of the facility bursting with life. But walking in, visitors are greeted with the sound of birds chirping and singing.

Since the facility is not open 24 hours a day, the Humane Society accepts wild animals for the facility while it's closed. And organization volunteers transport the animals to the center twice a day, seven days a week.

As a first-year volunteer last season, Evans was assigned to the bird and squirrel room. She only occasionally fed the opossums, raccoons and other mammals.

Volunteering once a week for 5¹/2 hours during the center's busy season—April through August—a typical day for Evans includes feeding the baby birds every 30 minutes when a timer rings, washing dishes and implements, washing the bedding and keeping the facility clean.

The feeding is the most difficult, scary and crucial part of the animal care, Evans says. She must check the bird's leg band to determine the amount to feed it and record the feeding afterward.

"It's an art form, feeding them, because a couple dozen cute little mouths are open and you have to remember which ones you fed," she says. "It's a judgment call about how much to give them because you can kill them if you feed too often."

The featherless nestlings are kept inside strawberry cartons in incubators and are fed, via a syringe, a diet consisting of puréed applesauce, baby food and vitamins. Once they grow feathers and become fledglings they are moved to wooden boxes with heat lamps and fed worms.

As they grow older the birds are fed diets comparable to that which they would have in the wild. The mammals are also encouraged to keep the characteristics, instincts and tendencies they would have in the wild.

When walking by a squirrel cage, one hisses and Alexander says, "We want them growly and hissy because we don't want to make pets out of them."

To keep them wild, build up the birds' flight ability and prepare them for release into their natural habitat, they are transferred to one of the dozen aviaries outside the center's back door once they have outgrown the room inside.

The center recently introduced the ducks to their natural environment by building four recirculating ponds, complete with waterfalls, rocks and sod.

All the labor was donated, so a project that would have cost $25,000 only cost $10,000.

There are 500 or more ducklings that will use the ponds to swim in this season. The small ponds replace plastic kiddy pools that were previously used for the ducks. At night the ducks sleep in a coop to keep them safe from nocturnal predators.

The volunteers used to empty and refill the kiddy pools several times per day because they would become muddy and too warm for the ducks in the summertime heat, Alexander says.

A proper duck pond is especially important because they stay at the center longer than most animals—three months from hatching to release. At 87 percent, the survival rate of ducks is also the highest among all the animals released from the center.

Photograph by Niki Desautels Private Pool: The Wildlife Center of Silicon Valley recently reintroduced a group of ducks to their natural environment by building four ponds complete with waterfalls, rocks and sod. All the labor was donated. There are 500 or more ducklings that will use the ponds to swim in this season.

Last year the release rates of birds of prey was 40 percent, as compared to 61 percent for mammals.

Since the center isn't large enough to house the large quantity of animals that come in daily, some volunteers take home squirrels or birds. About 650 Eastern gray and Eastern fox squirrels are taken home from the center. One volunteer takes care of fawn at his Saratoga home.

Other mammals that come into the center include rabbits, bobcats, raccoons, gophers and skunks. The center only accepts native North American species.

Because baby hummingbirds need to be fed every 20 minutes, Alexander takes the birds she cares for everywhere with her, even into movie theaters and restaurants.

When the animals have been rehabilitated or have grown enough to sustain themselves, they are released into the wild.

The "soft release" consists of opening the cage door and feeding the bird outside the aviary to gradually wean it from humans.

"Most birds move on, like songbirds that are migratory, but pigeons have a homing instinct, so they make themselves at home here and often overstay their welcome," Alexander says.

When de Bertaut talks about freeing the animals she says it "is truly the best part of the job."

On an annual basis, the center sends reports to the California Department of Fish and Game regarding the well-being of its birds and mammals and to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service about its migratory birds.

The California Department of Fish and Game requires that an animal be released within a three-mile radius of where it was originally picked up. If a group of animals is released at once and they came from various places, the center's personnel will choose a location in "an area that can best support all the animals' needs," Alexander says.

Evans says her goal is to attend a release.

"A majority of volunteering is grunge work, like disinfecting things to make sure no diseases spread," she says. "The wildlife center does great work but it's not the ideal situation for an animal. We work to help get them back out to the wild, where they belong."

The Wildlife Center of Silicon Valley invites the public to its 10th anniversary celebration, "Walk on the Wild Side," on May 3 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the center, 3027 Penitencia Creek Road, inside the Penitencia Creek Park.

For more information, contact Director Janet Alexander at the Wildlife Center of Silicon Valley, 3027 Penitencia Creek Road, San Jose, call 408.928.5850 or visit www.wcsv.org.