The overwinters.

Ok, been really busy here! I also went to 2 conferences back to back so I've been away for about a week also. First I went to the NY state wildlife conference with Mary and Laurie. I can't thank JoAnn enough for all the care she gave Roxy and the gang while I was gone!!!! Then home and right back out to a 911 conference for work. Kudos to Laurie this time for taking care of the gang! Boy is it GREAT to be back! I picked up Roxy last night from JoAnn so everyone is back where they should be now!

Here is Roxy....doing awesome after her surgery. The staples are out and the dress is finally off. The incision healed perfectly and she is leaving it alone!

Today she got some outside time in the pen to exercise her legs and practice getting around on her injured leg. She was thrilled and enjoyed playing with some of the others.

Here was her opinion of the "dress" I made her! Is it any wonder I am not a designer!!

Now we have the young kids....Outlaw (complete with scarred nose), Charger and Button. They have settled in perfectly in the outdoor pen and are now weaned. Soon I will start giving them time in the 10ft side of the pen so they can get used to it and then have the run of the whole pen.

They are absolutely adorable! Here is Charger...

Charger and his bro Outlaw....

And the cute little Button on the right with her bro.

Button...

And last but not least, the big kids out back in the downtown release pen and loving every minute of it.

Tosser is getting big!

Mo gives his opinion of the cuisine!

The twins, Stinky and Nosey...

Stinky...

And of course our little Quinny. He looks more and more like Toto every day, and is almost as big already!

Rollo wouldn't come out for a picture...being a little camera shy right now. He's probably a little self conscious about his ear! The hematoma is almost gone, but his ear is a little "cauliflower like" now.

More bad news.

Forgive me for making this short, but it's too upsetting to spend a lot of time on. Stormy's luck has run out. I got a call from Laurie Wednesday night....Stormy was out at the feeding station and she was not using a hind leg....bad like Roxy. So Laurie brought her into work with her and they checked her out. It was a severe break and dislocation of the growth plate above her ankle. We had to make the unfortunate choice of euthanizing her. Now she too is home again, overlooking the pond she grew up on, next to her sister.

Right now myself, Mary and Laurie are at the NY state wildlife conference. Had a wonderful tour of Hawk Creek Wildlife. I got lots of great pictures that I will post when I get home and download them! JoAnn is caring for Roxy at her house and taking the time to trudge over to my house to care for the rest of the gang in their various pens! I CAN'T THANK HER ENOUGH!!! This trip would never be possible without her. Already checked in with her and Roxy is doing wonderful!

Bambi and Thumper

The real Bambi and Thumper through the lenses of Tanja Askani. What a wonderful story, I'm only sorry they couldn't remain together!

This translation from the photographers photos was kindly posted by Alison at ThrillingWonder:
The pictures weren't staged. The accompanying German text on these pages explains how the fawn's mother was killed shortly before it's birth and the fawn was then raised in a rural town with help from townspeople (this part is not so clearly explained). The wild rabbit showed up one day. At first the two just grazed in the same area and after a while got closer until they became "friends". They grazed together and kept each other company the whole day, the rabbit built a nest next to the deer instead of burrowing and other cute stuff like that. The author (who is also the photographer) mentions that the two could have formed this friendship to be able to better protect themselves from predators by warning each other and also the deer helped the rabbit have easier access to food in the winter. The rest of the story is available here in German, and although you won't understand the story, there are more cute pics of the pair.

Eventually when the fawn was old enough it was sent to a park where it would be released into the wild. The second picture shows how after the fawn had been anesthetized for easier transport and despite strange humans being around, the rabbit went up to the deer and supported its sleepy head "as if it were saying goodbye"

Patience & Wisdom.

Love it! That's one smart dog!

Brief update.

It's been crazy around here! I haven't had time to get photo updates but I'm working on it!

The 3 little kids Outlaw, Charger and Button are all moved into the small side of the big boys pen and loving it! Eating and climbing well...it won't be long before they can have the run of the whole pen, including the 10ft. high section. Outlaws abscesses are healed up, just hoping another doesn't mysteriously pop up.

Roxy got her staples out today and the incision looks great! The dress will be off very soon and I don't think it will be long before she is able to go into the big pen and start climbing around again.

While working on the opossum cage at Mary's house this past weekend I took a peek out back to see if any more of the releases were around and was happy to see Stormy had made her way back there. I was worried about her after her traumatic trip a mile or so down the road where her sister was killed, but she's doing great and has hopefully learned a very valuable lesson about roads! Seeker was also out there with Oakey, Sugar, Meeko, Bear and Winny.

The 6 older boys Tosser, Mohican, Stinky, Nosey, Rollo and Quinny are all out back in the big release pen for the winter and loving it.

This weekend myself, Mary and Laurie are heading to the New York state wildlife conference at Niagra. It was touch and go for a while there with so many staying this winter and one injured girl back in, but thank God for Joanne! She is unable to go with us, but will be able to pop over to my place to take care of the gang. Roxy will probably go home with her so she can keep a closer eye on her. Thank you Joanne....I know they are safe in your hands!

My released gang out back are doing great. It's that time of year.....they are eating up a storm and packing on weight. All the pics from the cooncam show a very crowded feeding platform and amazingly they all appear to be getting along very well.

The little kids check out the big boys pen.

Outlaw, Charger & Button got to check out the big boys pen....and they are loving it!! No problem whatsoever getting around, up and down the trees and into the inside section. I think this weekend the 6 older boys will go to the release pen out back and I'll move these guys into this pen.

Button......

Charger.......

And Outlaw with his goofy nose!

Charger was the bravest and the first to try out everything!

Our little patient Roxy is doing well also. Should be getting her staples out at the end of the week so I can finally take her "dress" off! She will be thrilled to loose that thing!

Here she gets a break without her dress. When I am able to sit for a while with her to keep her from picking at the staples I take it off for her.

Outlaw's issues continue.

Little Outlaw ended up at the vet again! Yet another abscess developed over his shoulder blades. No wounds, just like his nose. We drained it and put him on antibiotics. If another one mysteriously appears, we're going to culture it. It's all very odd!

Here's the poor little guy in the ever dependable hands of his Auntie, Dr. B....silly looking nose and now a hunchback!

Was at Mary's early evening last night and was very happy to have Buster come in for a visit...along with his brother Seeker, Meeko, Bear, Winny, Oakey and Sugar.

Roxy's recovery.

Well Roxy has had surgery on her broken leg and is doing great. I had to improvise a way to keep her away from the staples and incision. This is her new dress! Pretty, huh?? I basically took the sleeve of a sweatshirt and cut out holes for her legs. I had to make it long enough so she could not pull it up and get at the incision.

When I am with her, I can roll it up to give her a little more freedom when she's moving around.

Right now she is basically resting comfortably and getting spoiled as hell! She has made herself comfortable on Laurie's dog bed in my room! She spends her time sleeping on the bed and at regular intervals I roll up her dress, put her in a crate lined with papers, she does her business and poops and pees if she has to, then I roll her dress back down and she goes back to resting again.

She is being incredibly good and luckily staying quiet enough to let the leg heal quickly. It won't be long before she's back to normal I think! She's a lucky girl!

A terrible & tragic weekend in raccoon world!

Saturday was not a good night. Mary & I were grabbing a bite to eat when Laurie called. She was out checking the gang and Roxy came in injured. She appeared not to be using her leg. So we rushed back and luckily Roxy is a sweetheart. I had no problem getting her. Something is very wrong with her right rear leg....not using it at all and dragging the foot behind. But there are no open wounds which is good. She's got an appointment with the vet this afternoon and we'll know more then. Fingers crossed!

Unfortunately after leaving Mary's tragedy struck our little family. Laurie called me, she came across a raccoon hit by a car about a mile down the road. I turned around and met her there, my heart in my throat. It had just happened probably minutes before Laurie drove by, and it was really hard to tell with all the blood and the dark. Not to mention the lack of life and character in the eyes and face, but it was a female.

While we were there another coonie kept popping out of the woods....obviously looking for her friend. I finally walked down toward it to investigate. It started running away, but then I called and it stopped in it's tracks. My heart sunk more.....it waited for me to approach and finally came over for a sniff and a scratch. It was Stormy. So the choices were Tugger, Growler or Thunder back there in the road. I still am not sure, but he odds are against us. I don't think it was little Tugger & I saw Thunder last night with Seeker. So unless Stormy happened to make friends and start hanging out with another wild coonie (which is a possibility)...I believe it is our little Growler we have lost. We'll be keeping our eyes out for the girls out back still in the hopes of ruling them out, but that's just the denial speaking I think. Either way, she is home now...on the hill overlooking the pond she grew up on.


And finally we get to our little Outlaw. Don't panic....he's doing fine! He's in with his brother and sister and they are all very happy! But he ended up developing a little abscess on his nose! A silly little speed bump thing! Well it quickly grew and just as quickly popped and he is healing well with hot packs and antibiotics.




So....we'll see how Roxy is this afternoon. Luckily she is being very cooperative and that should help at the vet!

The family portrait and more!

Well here is mom and her new family! 4 new kits to add to the cuteness factor out back!

Can you guess what time it is???? If you guessed FEEDING TIME you got it!

Little Quinny is getting big....and he looks a LOT like Toto!

Momo being silly as usual!

Toto likes to hoard the food by planting himself right in the middle of it!


Momo gettin' some mommy time!

Sweetpea...one of the older girls, strikes a pose.

Poor Rollo still has a silly looking ear thanks to his hematoma. It doesn't seem to faze him at all anymore.


And just some plain old silliness from the gang......Toto.....

........Stinky.......

........Nosey........

....Quinny.....

.....one of the twins, I can't remember which....

......Momo......

.....and finally Toto!

Here you can see how big Quinny is getting! He's about 8lbs. now. Toto and Rollo are about 10lbs. and the rest of the boys are about 12lbs. now

A quick visit out back turned up sisters Silly and Red, and they are still getting along very well together! Walking right up to each other and grooming one another. Feisty was also out with Siren. They appear to be hanging out together as well. This time the skittish Siren didn't panic and run. Instead she looked to Feisty and he often turned to her and reassured her in between cautiously taking snacks from me!