Yep, you read that right–mockers at midnight! Regardless of the temps outside or what the calendar says, I know spring has arrived when the odd mockingbird begins singing randomly all night long, and this week I had one serenading outside my bedroom window from about 10:30 p.m. until the wee hours of the morning. Mockers ain’t right, but ya gotta love ‘em, even when you’re muttering obscenities at their irritating territorial aggressiveness. For those who may not be blessed with a plethora of mockers, let me explain that they defend not only their nests but also their perceived territory very aggressively, dive-bombing people, pets, and other birds...and they tend to claim rather large territories, too!

And I had surprise visitors to Laurens Wildlife Rescue last week: two wood ducks, a male and a female showed up early one morning, hung around long enough for me to snap a few telephoto shots, and then flew away. Wood ducks are interesting critters: their name comes from the fact that their nests are often in wooded areas miles from any water source. When the ducklings hatch, they hop from the nest and follow Mama Duck for miles to reach the water source, many of them falling prey to larger animals along the way–which is why wood ducks generally lay an amazing number of eggs. They also are not above "dumping" their eggs into another wood duck’s nest, leaving some hapless female to incubate sometimes up to 24 eggs. There have actually been instances of overloaded nests being abandoned, as the female decided there were just too many eggs to worry with!

Baby season is slowly gearing up, as well: I had three young rabbits come in last week. Their mother had been hit by a car and they were not quite weaned yet. The person who brought them to me knew where their nest was in her garden, so when she saw the mother dead in the road, she retrieved the babies. They were only days away from being fully weaned and are in fact ready for release now, but the weather’s a bit inclement at the moment, so until the rain chances decrease, I’m walking on eggshells to avoid stressing out these wee ones.

Rabbits are, to borrow a phrase from the Broadway musical "Wicked," tragically beautiful. They’re gorgeous little critters who can quite literally stress out and keel over if you look at them wrong. Really, rabbits are nothing like the self-confident, wise-cracking Bugs Bunny that most of us grew up watching–if anything, they’re the polar opposite. I think their first coherent thought must be "I’M GONNA DIE!!!" which then becomes their mantra throughout their rather short and paranoid lives. About 90% of rabbits born in any given year don’t see their first birthdays.

For the record, a fully-furred rabbit who’s around 4-5 inches long is actually considered a young adult, out of the nest and on his/her own. Yes, I know they look tiny, helpless and unbearably cute, but you’re doing them no favors when you chase ‘em down and "rescue" them–all you’re doing is stressing them out to the point that they may die in your hands. Also, nature has gifted rabbits with the unique ability to break their own backs, so attempts to "rescue" one of these uninjured young adult rabbits could cause it to break its own back as it struggles to free itself from your grasp.

One final note–I’ve updated the LWR wish list, so please take a moment to check it out and see if there’s anything there you’d like to donate. Of course, monetary donations are always appreciated, too, as they help pay for formula, greens, mealworms, etc. for the animals who come through our doors. We have PayPal links on all pages of the website except this one, or you can go to the "How you can help page" for our mailing address.

While February was a "slow" month in terms of intakes, it more than made up for its lack of numbers with the horrific conditions the intakes were in when they arrived–see the Feb. 15 post for details. The past two weeks have been blessedly quiet, a break I really needed to gear up for baby season, which is rapidly approaching. All I’ve had to deal with is Harvey Wallbanger’s stubborn refusal to begin using his wing!

To refresh your memory, Harv, an adult male pileated woodpecker, came in on New Year’s Eve with a broken wing. Three weeks ago, we unwrapped that wing and, of course, after nearly six weeks of not being able to use it, Harv refused to even move it. Early last week, I took his stubborn little feathered butt back to Smalley’s for an X-ray to confirm that the wing had indeed healed correctly. It had healed beautifully; Harv is just being ornery–something his species excels at.

We’re doing PT three times daily, stretching and manipulating the wing to restore movement and remind Harv that he does have a functional right wing. Yeah, he luuuvs his PT: pecks at my hands (got me under the nail the other day–now THAT felt just lovely!), claws me, snaps at my hair and clothing, slams his head backward into my chest, tries to shimmy up my chest to get in range to peck at my eyes as I’m looking down at him while working the wing...such a winning personality!

The good news is that the wing does appear to be slowly loosening up, so I have every expectation at the moment that he’ll be releasable in the near future.

As I mentioned at the beginning of this post, baby season should be kicking into high gear fairly quickly–some rehabbers already have their first babies of the season–and that means it’s time to remind people that keeping wildlife without the proper permits is against the law, even if you plan to release it. Georgia state law prohibits the possession of wild animals without a permit, and federal law prohibits the possession of wild birds without a permit. If you know of people who find wild babies of any species, please alert them to these facts and have them contact me at               478-697-5319        or call the DNR hotline at               800-241-4113        for the rehabber nearest them. If you’re outside Georgia, call your state’s Department of Natural Resources or Game & Fish Division for the number of a rehabber licensed by your state.

For more tips on what to do if you find a wild baby, see the section "I found a wild baby-what do I do?" (http://www.laurenswildliferescueinc.org/i-found-a-wild-baby---what-do-i-do.html ) on this website or call me for more detailed advice. There are times that intervention is really not necessary or is needed only in the form of making sure the babies are unmolested until the parents can reclaim them: mother squirrels are excellent at re-nesting their babies, given a chance, for example; and unless you see his mother’s corpse, it’s generally not a good idea to move a fawn.

This time of year, songbirds will begin looking for suitable nesting sites, and I understand from raptor rehabber Steve Hicks that owls already have babies in the nest and hawks are beginning their mating rituals. With this in mind, please remember that disturbing a nest with eggs or young, whether songbird or raptor, is a violation of federal law.

Our state’s wildlife is a part of our inheritance and a part of our legacy to future generations. I’m all for nature taking its course, but 99% of the time, it’s human activities (including not supervising cats, dogs and children) that create orphaned, injured or unnested babies, so take the time to do the right thing and get these babies the help they need to survive, ensuring that this rich legacy will remain intact for future Georgians.