Checking the release site.

We've been keeping an eye on the release site of course and so far so good. A couple have been back with injuries, but nothing that warranted us bringing them in.

One day Camy, one of Laurie's from Vin's original group was holed up in a den box with a bite wound to a rear leg. But the wound looked good and clean, wasn't bleeding anymore, and he was using the leg without a problem so we left him there.

The next time I went out I opened the box Camy was gone and one of the beach boys popped his head out! He was very happy to see mom....

....and upon realizing I had some tasty marshmallows as a treat he was more than eager to come out so I could check him out for injuries.

He also had a bite wound on a rear leg. Unlike Camy though, he wouldn't use the leg to walk on. However after watching him for a while, he did use the leg to try to scratch his ears....so he can use it, he is just choosing not to, probably because it is very sore. The wound is easily accessible to him to clean and chew at so I have no doubt he'll keep it clean and if it does abscess he will be able to keep it draining and it should heal fine on it's own. He was gone the next day also.

I'm sure if either of them get as bad as Vin did they will be back....they obviously know they have a safe place to stay when they need it. These are wounds they get out in the wild all the time and most times they just hole up until they are healed enough to get back out there. Our gang will have the added advantage of getting help if it does get worse instead of better like Vin's did.

And then there is Vin! I ran into him in one of the den boxes Wednesday. He appeared fine and walked out of the den box but he was not about to let me get a closer look at his ass! LOL He kept it tucked out of sight and out of reach into the back corner of the den box every time I tried to look. Laurie headed over the next day to check on him and while I'm at work I get the call...."I think he needs to come in." She forced him to get out of the den box and walk around and he wasn't walking right. Soooooooooo....I meet her over there after I got out and we take him in.

*Sigh*....Vin, Vin, Vin....what the heck is going on out there with you!

Well he's got new wounds, re-wounding the original ass wound and both hocks are very swollen and sore. It was a late night working on him until about 10pm so sorry, not time to stop and take pics....we just wanted to fix him up and get outta there! We took an x-ray of his hips just to be sure nothing was broken because of the way he was walking, (whew! nothing is!) then Dr. Grange ( who was kind enough to stay that late to help him...thank you so much!) decided to try and just close the wound up. She did an awesome job....now we are just hoping he decides to leave the sutures in! But I'm not holding my breath! It's worth a try though, and worst case if he pulls them out we just continue to treat it like an open wound like last time.

Once again he is being an awesome patient! He will be easy to treat thank god and it's safe to say now he is officially one of the overwinters...so there will be plenty of pics to come.

The rest of the gang are emptying the feeders regularly out there...so this gang is sticking around more so than the first, although Vin and Camy coming in to utilize the safety of the den boxes shows the first gang hasn't totally forgotten!