Laurens Wildlife Rescue

 
Laurens Wildlife Rescue just learned that 100 acres near our current location is for sale. This would be an ideal release site, as it’s heavily wooded—a mixture of hardwoods and pines—and there’s a clearing that would be perfect for an eventual state-of-the-art facility. Of course, LWR operates on a shoestring budget, so coming up with the $160,000 to purchase the land is going to require a miracle…or a lot of generous “angels.”  Every little contribution would help; if you know people who have deep pockets and would like a huge tax deduction, refer them to me ASAP, please. (Or just send them to this website; every page except this one has a PayPal link at the bottom, and LWR’s mailing address is on the “How you can help” page.) This is an excellent price for the land, and I’ve already been dreaming about the gorgeous facility we could construct there.

Why do we need the land? Because we continue to grow!  LWR had 33 intakes for the month of July—the second time this year we’ve had more intakes in a month than days in the month. As of July 31, the total intakes for the year are 143. To give you an idea of what a heavy year this has been, for 2008 the total intakes for the entire year were 139.  We’ve already surpassed that, with 5 months left in 2009…and baby squirrels are starting to trickle in…

 
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Speaking of which, on July 21, I received an app. 10 day old gray squirrel. At this age, we call ‘em pinkies. Look at the photo and you’ll understand. The umbilical stump was still present. Pinkies are such helpless little things: they’re furless, blind and deaf; they can’t pee or poop on their own; and they can’t maintain their body temperature. Even feeding them is a laborious process, as we have to be extremely careful that they don’t get formula into their lungs and end up with aspiration pneumonia—and they have to be fed every couple of hours and at least once during the night.
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She’s doing well, though, as evidenced by these photos from July 27…
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…and August 1. See the grayish shadow on her face, back and tail? It's her fur coming in!
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Shortly after receiving her, I got in another gray squirrel, this one app. 6 weeks old. She’s also doing well and eating quite enthusiastically. You can’t see it in this photo, but she’s got a nice little pot belly goin’ on!
The passel o’possums mentioned in the last update have all been released; with possums, it’s a matter of size rather than age, and they’d all reached the right size for release. Below are some photos of the cute little buggers prior to and after their release.
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Here we have snack time…
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…being a possum in rehab is a hard life…
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…really hard…
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…which might explain the snarls upon release!
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And we have this final shot of one of the girls just before she clambered down and ambled off.
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I have two more small possums, but no photos of them yet—they just came in Friday.

The mourning doves have been released; here’s a photo of one of them after release.

 
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The blue jay who came in with the leg issue has been released. After his vet visit, mentioned in the last update, he never had another moment’s problem with that leg and is doing great outside the flight pen. Actually, he’s hanging around with two previously released jays from this summer, all of whom randomly scream at me and demand food, which they get, of course. Blue jays are such shameless little beggars!
Unfortunately, the bluebird who had been having health issues in the last update didn’t make it. He began losing weight despite being fed every half hour for 14 hours a day. Even with the weight loss, he remained alert and vocal until a couple of days before I decided to euthanize. For the two days prior to the euthanasia, he struggled to swallow the food I was now having to force-feed; he slept all the time; and it was obvious that he was going downhill fast. The morning I called it, I walked into the “nursery” (my former dining room; I now eat at the bar) and found him on his side in his crate. Shortly afterward, we made the trip to Smalley’s, where vet Shelley Baumann agreed that euthanasia was the kindest option.
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On a happier note, the deer have all been released. They’re at the right age, were pacing the pen restlessly, and have been ecstatic since their release a few days ago. Since I do soft releases with most of my rehabs, I’m able to monitor them for adequate food intake, etc. until they adjust totally to being on their own. These babies will probably hang around for a month or so, until they figure out they really don’t need me anymore.
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Finally, just a reminder—let me know of any funding sources you might be aware of that could help LWR purchase the gorgeous release site I mentioned at the beginning of this update…all contributions will be cheerfully accepted!
 


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