Ringer pays a visit.

My #1 girl Ringer paid another visit the other night....this time she wasn't alone! It was time to parade the kids in front of grandma...... as she has every year since being released in 2006! She has 4 big, beautiful babies. They are almost as big as her (she is on the right)! One was pretty bold, the rest were shy. I finally managed to get 3 of them to pose momentarily, but #4 was having none of it, grandma or not, and stayed under the shed until the coast was clear. Stay safe little ones.....

Dusty and crew update....

Last weekend, 2 weeks after release, these 3 were still hanging around! All of them were hanging out in a tree nearby the pen. Dusty and Sissy roused when I went out there. They came down for a visit, had a little snack, a little dip in a little pool and all was well. Buddy on the other hand....well I got the ears back, body flattened against the branch, if I don't move, you can't see me pose!

This past Wednesday I ran outside in the middle of the night to the sound of what appeared to be a raccoon in mortal danger! Raccoons sound nasty enough when fighting, but this was the sound of something very wrong. Of course my running out to where the noise was coming from ended it. I poked around a little then made my way back to the pens to check on things. In hobbles Dusty....very beat up! He retreated into the pen of course and after checking the extent of his wounds the next day, decided he needed to stay in for some treatment. All 4 paws chewed up, a good wound on the bridge of his nose causing bad swelling and making it difficult for him to breath out of his nose and other various wounds everywhere else! Poor boy! Well he's been in through the weekend on metacam and antibiotics and is doing much better! Boy do they heal much faster than domestic animals! He's able to breath again and can walk and climb around the pen without discomfort. He's looking to get out again so I gave him a shot of convenia to keep infection at bay and I will most likely open the release door again tonight. Sissy was around last night looking for him too. Lets hope he's not like Vin and doesn't go out and get himself into the same trouble all over again!

It was a busy weekend.Ten of  Romeo's gang (Romeo, Juliette, the 6 Brockton babies, Bear and Picasso) were vaccinated and moved outside finally! Last night was the first night I was able to sleep in peace and quiet...no raccoons across the hall chattering and making a racket from 2am to 5am every morning!
The Rowley 4, Rikki, Tikki and Tavi are still in there, rejoined by Digger and Itty Bitty.
Laurie brought over 12 of her bigger babies and the last empty pen is now full.

We are working feverishly to finish the new pen so we can have room for everyone (now that we both have trashed spare bedrooms that were taken over by the overflow of raccoons this year!). The enclosed section of the roof is on, the sides have been wrapped in the welded wire and the door frame is on. The wire section of the roof needs to go on, the openings in the rafters of the enclosed roof section need to be filled in and the door needs to be finished.....then, just maybe, we'll have everyone outside and get some breathing room!

8 more skunks have arrived here as well. Lisa got them in mid week and they were in pretty rough shape. She did the hard part of getting them all re-hydrated and onto clinicare and I took over on Friday. Most are doing great! A couple were not looking so good, but appear to be holding their own and are now out drinking formula from a bowl. They refused to take it from me via syringe or bottle, but when I put them down in front of the bowl.....voila! Whew!

We're halfway through it....

A HAPPY AND SAFE 4TH OF JULY TO ALL!

 At last we have reached July and we are a little more than halfway through baby season! Thus far it has been a CRAZY time for all of us, with another round of baby squirrels right around the corner....

Between us, we have taken in approximately 133 squirrels, 39 skunks, 51 possums, 60 raccoons, 40 bunnies, 9 woodchucks, 2 porcupines, 3 mice and 2 chippies! And that's just the babies! It does not include the injured adults or other various animals such as the coyote pup, fisher or beaver that we had temporarily until they could be transferred to other rehabbers. 

Whew...I'm tired all over again just thinking about it!

I don't think you've had a chance to see the ever adorable baby quill pig Mary has! I finally managed to get some pics of "Orb" when I picked up some skunks from her. Poor thing was found huddled by it's dead mother who had been hit by a car. A sad beginning for this little one, but it couldn't have ended any better getting spoiled by Mary!

Just a few of the many very cute bunnies JoAnn has taken care of!

 Not to jinx us at all, but as we head into July there is somewhat of a lull for us, giving us a chance to focus on our annual upcoming fundraiser at Flatbread in Bedford/Burlington. Once again, on Tuesday, July 23, a part of the proceeds from every flatbread pizza bought that night will go towards NEW ARC and all those babies we have been caring for. So if you're in the area, come on down for some good food and some good fun for a great cause!! :)

Out with the old, in with the new!

The original 5 stinkers have been released! They are still hanging around, utilizing the feral cat shelters I have out there, but free to roam as they please!
Now on to 7 new ones. Mary has been flooded with skunks so I took this adorable crew of  7 off her hands. Just as full of attitude as the last, I get the stomp and tail end when I approach. Unless they are sleeping! They sleep like the dead! In fact a couple of them freaked me out the first time, sprawled out and just laying there. I ran over and opened the cage, yelling the whole time, and still no reaction! Luckily I noticed the chests rising and the steady breathing before I decided to rudely shake them, or I would have seriously regretted it, LOL. After the Awwwww moment while I enjoyed watching how cute they were as they slept, I gave a little scritch to the chin just to make sure it was, in fact, just a deep sleep. When they gently started to rouse I let them be and heaved a sigh of relief. Jeeze, I hate when they scare me like that!

They are all settled in and eating like pigs and will go into the vacated outdoor pen as soon as I get it cleaned up!

Dusty, Buddy and Sissy are not cooperating by vacating the pen! They are still using it on a regular basis....something none of the coons have ever done since I starting rehabbing them. Of course, the one time I need them to move along quickly so I can get it cleaned out and move babies in there.......ugghhhh!! And of course I don't have the heart to force them out either! What a dilemma!