Laurens Wildlife Rescue

 
It’s only April 18, and LWR has already received 33 animals for the month.  Yep, you read that right—33. This doesn’t bode well for the rehab load—or my sanity—for the remainder of baby season.

The five older squirrels from the April 4 update are now pretty much on their own; I see them once or twice a day but they’re increasingly skittish, which is good. That, after all, is the goal of wildlife rehab: to put these animals back into their natural environment with the skills they need to survive…and unfortunately, because of the high levels of idiocy, cruelty and apathy in the human race, fear of humans is a necessary survival skill for wildlife.
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The “fragile” squirrel is no longer the least bit fragile but is still shy. He’s in pre-release now.
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The three pinkies are, as you can see, no longer pink. They’re a bit dehydrated in this photo; the unusually low humidity, combined with their need for supplemental heat, caused some issues for them but they’re looking less wizened now.
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The “mourning doves” turned out to be Eurasian collared doves, and they’re now in the flight pen. Their name comes from a faint “collar” around the back of their neck—you can’t see it in these photos, and it’s actually pretty faint on these birds. Some have more pronounced collars, though. These two are sweet and quite gorgeous and have about another two weeks before they’re ready to leave the flight pen.
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Of the 33 animals I’ve received thus far this month, 21 of them were possums. Of course, 6 of them came in Easter Sunday, in time for the April 4 update. Another 9 came in that Monday, in two groups, and on April 12, yet another 6 came in.  In a bizarre case of “what the…?” all 21 possums died, most within 12 hours of coming in. Seven were just too young; their mouths weren’t even fully formed and they should have still been vacuum-sealed to Mama’s nipples in the pouch. The remainder were severely underweight (half their normal weight and size) for their developmental stage. I consulted with other rehabbers, and the best explanation we can come up with for the widespread underweight issue and sudden deaths is that the recently-ended winter was unusually harsh, meaning Mama Possum had nutritional deficiencies that led to more severe issues for her babies. 

I’m still a bit shell-shocked by the sheer number of possums received in such a short time, and their unexplained deaths have done nothing to improve my overall mood. Possums normally do quite well in rehab, so I’m not real happy to’ve lost so many so quickly, for no apparent reason. As I’ve said before, that’s one of the frustrating things about wildlife rehab—sometimes when you’re doing everything right, it still doesn’t matter and the animals die.

 
LWR also received a turkey vulture who’d been shot; X-rays clearly showed the lead pellets (see above ref. high levels of human idiocy, cruelty and apathy). He was slowly dying of lead poisoning, and the pellets had broken his wing, so we euthanized and I reported his shooting to DNR and FWS, as both the state and feds must be notified of suspected illegal activity.
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A young rabbit whose sibs were killed by a dog spent a few days at LWR before being released. Despite his small size, he is independent. For future reference, any young rabbit who’s at least 2/3 the length of a dollar bill is out of the nest and own its own, requiring no interference from humans unless it’s injured or ill.
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We’ve also had two GHOs come in: a female with a broken wing that couldn’t be mended and a runt male who’d hit a barbed wire fence. The female probably had babies in the nest, which is heartbreaking, since without their mother they will most likely starve to death. The male’s wing is pretty nasty-looking but nothing is broken, so he should be good for release in a few days.  Since he’s an adult with an established territory, he’ll be released near where he was found.
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Just as the doves were reaching flight pen readiness, three nestling mockers came in. Their eyes were just beginning to open, so they were less than a week old at intake. They’re doing just fine, growing by leaps and bounds.
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This fledgling brown thrasher wasn’t as lucky. He was attacked by a cat, probably on his first flight out of the nest, and we thought his right leg had sustained only bruising, as it wasn’t broken. Within 12 hours, though, he’d also lost the use of his left leg, leading us to suspect a busted hip, which won’t show in x-rays of birds. His chances don’t look good at the moment, which is another heartbreaker. He’s sweet, alert, eating well and he’d like to fly, but he can’t perch since his legs are currently useless. If it is a busted hip, rest is the only treatment while the fracture mends—and that still might not resolve the issue. He may still have to be euthanized.
Which leads me to another rant: people, control your cats and dogs! I love the cats who share my life. But they don’t go outside, because they’re predators and will prey on the very wildlife I rehab. Same thing with dogs—they see an unnested bird or squirrel, and it’s instinct to go pick up the live squeaky toy and chomp down on it. Obviously, some dogs are just too large to be inside-only, but they can be trained to leave wildlife alone—if you don’t have time for that, here are two suggestions: 1) maybe you just don’t have time for the dogs, period; 2) provide them with a spacious pen that gives them room to run and play but keeps them from harassing the resident wildlife when you’re not able to supervise them. Keep your domestic animals away from wildlife, for the safety of all concerned.

On an “up” note, those of you on the LWR mailing list received a message last week about the Green Choice Campaign that LWR was recently invited to participate in. For those who didn’t get the e-mail, here’s the important stuff again:

You have an exciting opportunity to help us make even more of a difference in our community. GreatNonprofits – a site like Yelp – is conducting a campaign to find the top-rated environmental nonprofits and has invited LWR to participate.

Won’t you help us participate in the campaign by posting a review of your experience with us? All reviews will be visible to potential donors and volunteers. It’s easy and only takes 3 minutes! Go to:

www.greatnonprofits.org/reviews/laurens-wildlife-rescue-inc  (You may have to copy and paste this link.)

Be sure to choose "Green Choice Campaign" from the drop down menu of campaigns when writing your review.

 

AND…LWR is now listed with GoodSearch, a useful and painless way to donate to our efforts! Here’s how that works:

Just download the GoodSearch – Laurens Wildlife Rescue toolbar at http://www.goodsearch.com/toolbar/mode/   (Again, you may need to copy and paste the link.)

Each time you search the web with GoodSearch's Yahoo-powered search engine, about a penny will go your charity or school.

Also, every time you shop online at 1,000 participating stores including Amazon, eBay, Target, Apple, Staples, Expedia, etc., a percentage of your purchase will be donated for free! The site also has thousands of money-saving coupons!

To give you a sense of how the money can add up, the ASPCA has already earned more than $30,000!

 

And yes, I’ve been working on this update all day, between feedings. Around here this time of year, somebody always needs feeding…

 
 


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