WILDLIFE REHABILITATION
2001 Critters
It's been a busy year, both with critters and paperwork. I have been busy creating, along with several friends, a local organization to assist rehabilitators. It's called North Country Wild Care and I've made up a a basic information page but a complete website is still in the making.
A year in the life of a rehabber... and a year full of firsts.
January
Received my first snow goose. It refused
to eat until placed with other waterfowl. I placed it with another
rehabilitator, hoping it would be released come spring.
Took in a Cooper's hawk, who just needed
a little cage rest after a collision with a window.
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Also got in this northern flying squirrel with head trauma. It would not eat solids for a month. Finally got it eating and after two months in my care, I found him dead in his nest box, no apparent cause. These are the hard moments in this work. |
February
Overwintered two possums for other rehabilitators.
Never tire of these guys, they act so fierce, but are such pussycats.
April
The baby grey squirrels start rolling in,
and I get my first baby chipmunk and my first yellow bellied sapsucker.
Squirrels continue to come in through May, at one point I have two cages
of greys, one of reds and one with chipmunks. Had to give a baby
flying squirrel to another rehabber, just didn't have the time. More
than four or five cages to get to in the morning and I'm sure to be late
for work.
May
22 animals accepted by myself and one assistant
in this month alone! One of the most memorable, a baby great horned
owl, found wandering in the street. I reunited him with his/her parents
the same day he/she came in.
June
I have a young red fox with mange and assorted
other parasites and a young mallard who was the victim of a boy's slingshot.
Mange is a killer for foxes but it is treatable. Of the three baby
foxes received this month, only one survives.
July
| Received a canada goose from Mohegan Island (on Lake George) who must have tangled with a boat propeller or something that left a nasty wound on its head. After a few more weeks of incarceration it is set free to hopefully rejoin its parents and flock. These are very social birds. Also received my first baby snowshoe hare. |  |
August
Received and released my first loon this
month and housed my first almost adult coyote. The loon only stayed
a day, found one mile from water with fish line wrapped around its beak,
but otherwise healthy. The coyote had a broken pelvis from a collision
with a car. She stayed for a few weeks before I found another
rehabber with coyote close in age with which to place it for a long recovery.
Now the second wave of baby squirrels hits.
They often come in alone, newly orphaned... |
We teach them how to accept formula from a syringe rather than from mom... |
Match them with others of the right age... |
Introduce them to solid food... |
Teach them a few dance steps...(just kidding) |
and release them when the time comes. |
More to come...