A baby beaver-warning, cuteness overload!!!

My friends at Urban Wildlife

http://www.urbanwildliferehab.org/

have outdone the cuteness of Porky and her baby! They now have this adorable baby beaver!

According to the finder, he was fishing and sitting on the ground and he heard the baby cry. Then the baby came out of the woods and climbed into his lap. Unsure how true or embellished the story is, but any baby beaver found alone like that is very unusual and most likely orphaned.

The baby is doing fine, even swimming under water, and a little brat at times! LOL. Has little tantrums when they are trying to feed it and it just doesn't want to eat any more!

Cinnamon, Peanut & Phoenix move outside.

Well the 3 youngest kids are finally weaned and wreaking havoc in the shed now! The last few times I've tried to bottle feed them Cinn and Peanut can't be bothered, and Phoenix gives the nipple a half hearted nibble. But put a bowl of puppy chow in front of them and get out of the way!!

Getting into places I have no idea how they reached!

It's a toy now....not food.

Awwwww!! What do you mean I have to come down!!

Phoenix follows me outside......

....while Cinn and Peanut work on destroying the place!

Button, Outlaw & Charger...free at last!

They are big and beautiful and ready to go so the door was opened and out they went! The weather finally looks like it may hold for a few day to give them time to adjust out there so it was time to say goodbye! When I caught up with them around midnight last night, Charger came and followed me around a little and I heard some clashing in the brush since the regular mom's were out with kits by then, but nothing nasty and all was going well!

Hey guys.....look mom forgot to close the door!

Quick! Make a break for it!

After running around the outside of the pen for a while it was time to let loose and play in the trees!

I am always amazed at their ability to climb so easily face first down a tree as Charger demonstrates here!

Outlaw checking out every inch of the area.

Button got a little nervous when she got separated from her brothers, but a quick peek from higher ground and all was well again.

Tosser's visit and raccoons on video.

Out filling the feeders one day and Tosser was more than happy to see mom. On crappy days he seems to hole up in the den box on the top platform so when he hears me he pops out to say Hi (and in this case more like "take me back home pleeeeeese!") LOL

There are ton's of moms and kits spending lots of time at the feeding station. More like a social gathering place as well for playgroups with the kits. Red, Belle and Lexi were hanging out there together with more kits running around than I could count!

LOL! Apparently social hour is tiring on everyone! The whole crew on the top platform is out like a light! They obviously know they are safe here....and have one mom staying awake as the look out!

A raccoon's prickly encounter.

This is what happens when not so careful raccoon meets porcupine! This poor guy was lucky enough to be living in an area where the homeowner enjoyed his presence and loved wildlife. Upon seeing he condition he managed to trap him (after a skunk and another raccoon) and get him in for some help!

Waiting for the anesthesia to take effect.....

Finally asleep......the work begins.

He was VERY lucky...one was dangerously close to his eye, and there were 2 inside his mouth! It's a wonder he was actually still eating out there!

Finally the quills are out....along with a few bloodsucking freeloaders....

And this big beautiful boy is looking more like a raccoon again!

He went home that evening and spent the night waking up in the trap and the next morning off he went. His benefactor says he is doing well and hopefully he learned his lesson!!!

Disney World for Raccoons

Flipper, Willie and Einstein are finally weaned and in with Baloo, River, RJ and Scootch. After a few play days in there to get acquainted, everyone is getting along and they are now permanent residents with the older four and loving it!

River of course loves everyone and they were immediate friends as you can see here with River and Flipper....

RJ took a while to warm up to them, but since they invaded her hammock and obviously were not going to go away she has come to terms with it and enjoys playing with them now!

Willie was all over the hammock when he discovered it!!What a fun toy!!!

Goldie and the 3 bears and Razz and Diesel's group continue to enjoy their new big pen with all the fun stuff to climb and play on! They now have mosquito netting covering the pen and the bug free environment is WONDERFUL!!!-for all of us!! I've got more on the way for the other kids pen too!

Grizz and Goldie enjoy lunch!

Diesel has a relaxing meal.

Play time in the pool...before they all start peeing in it! Ugghh!

Pine cones are ALWAYS a fun toy!!

...and Panda is not about to share his!

Tank comes over to say hi to mom.

The older raccoons.

Outlaw (left), Charger (right) and Button (squeezed in the back!) are out back in the release pen getting ready for freedom. They are big and beautiful and ready to go!

In about a week when (and if the way this summer has been!) we get a good stretch of nice weather the doors will be opened and they will be free to go on their big journey!

The littlest raccoons.

The 3 youngest kids are getting some outside time and loving it.....Cinnamon, Peanut and Phoenix are enjoying wrestling in the grass....

.....a dip in the pool.....

....and just climbing all over the place. Although Phoenix (left) is a bit younger than the other 2, she certainly has no problem keeping up with them!

I am really hoping they start to sprout fast! Otherwise it looks like these 3 may be spending the winter this year...they only have until September to get to a release weight of about 10-12lbs and they are definitely not on track for that right now!

Tosser pays a visit.

Out checking the feeders the other day and look who pops in for a visit. Tosser is looking good and happy to see mom again!

He hung out for a while getting some lovin' and chowing some food. The wound he had on his rear leg is healing well, the swelling is down and the missing toenail will eventually grow back in again most likely.

Then off he went again.......

The Elastic coon.

Here is yet another example of the harm we cause some animals with our garbage!! This juvenile coon was visiting a woman's porch for a meal with a sibling when she noticed he needed some serious help. He had a large elastic stuck around his midriff.

Luckily she was able to trap him and get him in to be helped.


The elastic was removed, the wound cleaned and antibiotics given and the little guy was brought back to his sibling and home. He has continued to visit his benefactor and she reports he is doing well!
It is unknown how the elastic got on the poor thing.....hard to believe someone could have gotten close enough to have done it purposely, but if they had gotten hold of him when he was young enough it's a possibility. It was obviously on there for a while! Regardless, this was one of the lucky ones spared a very horrible death out there!

Funny smelling raccoons.

Well I ended up with these little stinkers the other day. Had to rig an enclosure for them because I'm so full of coons I don't have room! They are doing great-eating solid foods luckily! They were found with their dead mother-and I will tell their story, but if you are squeamish skip to the last paragraph, and skip the 3rd picture......

SQUEAMISH PEOPLE STOP HERE......AND GO TO LAST PARAGRAPH

The babies were with their dead mother. She had been dead at least a couple days, but even in death she managed to save her kids. They were old enough to be eating solid food and they ended up surviving by eating her. As a result they were in very good shape when I got them and are now settled in with various (and better!) foods....puppy chow, yogurt, eggs, chicken wings and formula for starters. All eating well with good appetites!

Below is the picture of the dead mother....look closely at her neck. The plastic container stuck around her neck is possibly what led to her eventual demise but I have to admit, it was very disgusting and I was more concerned with getting the babies out of there and didn't investigate it too closely.




SQUEAMISH PEOPLE CAN BEGIN READING HERE AGAIN

Another sad example of how our trash affects other living things! These babies were lucky-she survived long enough to get them to where they were eating solid foods. Others are not always so lucky, many dying long painful deaths that are followed by the slow starving deaths of their babies when they are not old enough to be on their own.
Please remember this when throwing out your garbage!! Skunks have short stubby legs that are not very powerful so when they get things stuck on their heads it is almost impossible for them to get it off without help! Those that are found and assisted are the lucky ones, other's like this mom are not so lucky, but this time her kids were....

Poopie update!

Remember Poopie the adorable little possie I had briefly? Well she's doing great at Mary's. She and her step brother are in with the older 6 possies now and she's just as big as them now.

Mary's also got a couple more cute little ground hogs in the mix too...as well as a few skunks that were too camera shy!

Meanwhile back on the home front one of the released squirrels takes a moment to tease the crap out of one of my cats! They are wise guys-they know the cats can't get them through the glass door so it's a great place to lounge!

The beaver is released.

I've been so busy with the coonies I totally forgot to update on the beaver Laurie and I brought to Tufts!! She did awesome and was finally released a couple weeks ago. Unfortunately I had to work the day she was released so I couldn't be there, but Laurie got this quick picture as she merrily went on her way to freedom in the area she was found.

Finally!!! A sunny day off!

I finally managed to end up with a day off that was sunny to work on the new cage!

Started the day with some coffee.....

....Made a couple of phone calls....

...then fed and played with the babies for a while.

Then on to the 3 that were last moved into the shed. Flipper, Willy and Einstein ran around wreaking havoc as usual while I cleaned their cage.....

And finally....to the new cage with the 10 little devils that are more than ready for a bigger cage! I got Goldie and the 3 bears out there along with Razz & Diesel's group. Throw in a little decor like trees, branches, a den box and other various fun things to climb on and play in....

....and oh what a fun time for all!!! All 10 use the den box and the litter boxes they way they should and are now permanently out there and as thrilled as can be about it.