A possie update.

Well 3 of the possies are doing great. Unfortunately we lost 2 one night a week or so ago. Both were fine when I fed them at night, then the next morning it was as if they just curled up and died. Laurie brought all 5 up to Tuft's to have the 2 dead ones get a necropsy and the 3 live one's examined for any problems. No problems uncovered in the necropsy and the other 3 passed their health check with flying colors! So I wish I had an explanation....but I don't.

Now every time I go in there I cringe expecting another sudden death for no reason!

The girls are doing fine so far and quite actively voicing their opinion of me invading their den box!! LOL They have quite a growl that equals the serious set of teeth there!!

On the menu for this particular evening, a nice potpourri of goodies...greens, veggies, scrambled eggs and the shells they came out of , peter's food and some fruit.

For desert some frozen yogurt.....I freeze the individual cups...you know the ones that come in 6 packs.....then put chunks in there for them.

So we're keeping our eyes on them...and looking into some results from another necropsy
done on an unrelated possie that died just like our situation. Laurie got some additional info on possies and diets that she's going to run by Tuft's and see if there is anything else or additional we should be doing.


The rest of the gang is fine....3 porky squirrels doing great as well as all the coonie's. It is absolutely freezing here (10 degrees if we are lucky!) and coupled with the frigid wind, no one poking their head out today! Smart furbutts!!

Some of the other regulars.

The snow isn't keeping anyone away. Visits from the coonies slowed way down, but didn't come to a complete halt! Our other residents were unperturbed by snow altogether!

Our little red fox friend was un-burying some chow for dinner. He or she has been around during the day sometimes too! Just saw it Sunday afternoon...beautiful animal with a wonderful, full healthy coat.

One of our resident coyote friends. Also looking quite healthy! Definitely more weary of the feeders. He or she will only take stuff out on the ground outside of the boxes. I can see why they are difficult to live trap....very cautious of unnatural things!

Then there are all the buns JoAnn has released around here! LOL Hi Mom...we're doing great!

The past couple days have been very warm and rainy....barely any of that snow is left on the ground now! Wooo hooo!!! I'm sure it's short lived, but enjoying it just the same!

Wildlife humor.

While the gang is being boring and holed up in the cold...here is some humor to keep us warm!

If you haven't checked out this website, you should! Lots of cute animal pics with silly captions.

http://www.icanhascheezburger.com/

It's a lot of cats, but there are some cute wildlife gems in there...here are a few. I'll post more for our entertainment as I come across them!

The storm that ended the meltdown.

Well, so much for nice sunny weather! This is what the overwinters are looking like now...frosted!

A lot of trees are not thrilled either....mostly the weaker birches. They are literally bent right down to the ground!

The bat house is the only thing standing straight among this group of trees! They're not small trees either...that bat house is 16-20 feet high!

Here we have the only living thing enjoying this weather....Boo would sit out there all day in this if I let him!

Everything is covered in a thick layer of ice....I'm going to have to bring a tool out there to chip my way into the pens again!

A warm weeked...just a tease!!!

This past weekend was a balmy 40 degrees and sunny! It was great! Most of the snow in the pens and in the woods was melted. Even some of the overwinters ventured out to enjoy some nice warm sunshine.

It was a good time for Dad to help me get a tree for the second squirrel pen. I found a big, dead, hollow tree near the downtown pen. I checked it out and upon discovering nothing was already living in it, set my sights on it!

After a good workout sawing forever....Dad finally managed to get it down! It's been cut into 2 pieces to fit in the pen and I'll drag them up there eventually! I just wanted to make sure I got it down before something else moved into it....then I'd have to leave it there of course!

Unfortunately our lovely weekend weather was short lived! Sunday night we were hit with another snow storm....worse this time. Not the light fluffy snow like the last one. This was wet, heavy snow and it was topped off with a finishing glaze of frozen ice that has a lot of trees bent over to the ground with the weight of it. Stay tuned for those pics!

Your blog to book.

OK....as I add more and more photos to my blog, I notice that there is less room for them. So it dawns on me that at some point I am probably going to have to delete some of the oldest ones to make room for the new.

So I decide I want to print my blog so I will always have a copy of what has essentially been my journal/photo album of my wildlife rehabilitation life! What I ended up finding is this website:

http://www.blurb.com/

(you can click on the links at the bottom of the sidebar to see what the 2 I made so far look like..you can literally page through the whole book!)

It is free to download the program and it literally took my whole blog and put it into book form in a program where I was then able to edit it to my liking. Just what I was looking for....it was very easy and I love it! Once you make your book you can purchase a copy and prices vary depending on type of book and number of pages. It' s a little pricey....especially for me having almost 300 pages for each year I put into book form. That is due in part to having a lot of pictures to put in there! But I now have a hard copy of my journey over the past few years in the land of wildlife rehabilitation and all the cute pictures to go along with it...journal and photo album in one and well worth it to me!

One thing the first book taught me was when working with pictures of cute animals, don't use the little thumbnail pictures...they are too small for all that cuteness!! Make the pics bigger and spread them out over more pages!

So if you have anything you want to put into book form...check out the website!

5 Possie's join the crew.

Well 5 overwintering possie's have made the move to bigger accommodations at my place. Laurie and I picked them up from Mary's then we all set up the empty pen and made it nice and cozy for them!

Out of the carriers and into a new warm den box. They are all now snuggled up together in there.

Hey....make sure you leave plenty of food lady!

The Possum Ritz is now open!

Willie and Ellie are fully recovered!

Well it's safe to say Willy has finally recovered from his wounds! His left eye looks like he needs a little plastic surgery.....the lid is droopy and doesn't open as wide as the other, but it's definitely functional!

His foot has healed...as well as it could...and that also works fine now. Two toes are stubs, but it beats the awful hamburger mess that was there! It's hard to believe this is the same foot. He's definitely a lucky boy.

Ellie is also healed up fine! I have to remind myself which foot was injured...they both look perfect now and she's using her tail normally. On those rare occasions when she lets me fiddle with her tail, there is no more than a scab to be felt. She fared much better than Willie! Let's hope they both get some self-defense lessons from the rest of the gang while with them! I know the Muppet's definitely have some talent in that area! LOL

How to rouse sleepy raccoons.

What's a good way to get sleepy raccoons to come out and visit?? Mini-marshmallows!!

Sniff....sniff......Do I smell marshmallows????

Oh YESSSS!!!! Gimme, gimme!!!

LOL...I had every one's attention......the whole gang was grabbing for the sweet little treats!

Raquel...

Chicken....

Cinnamon....

Willie....

River was especially grabby! She was going in double-fisted!

Double dipping....both dive in to grab it!

Gonzo (surprisingly!!) and Phoenix were ever so polite about asking for theirs.

Of course the second the treats were gone, no one had any interest in me anymore and right back inside they went....little brats! LOL

The domestic kids.

OK...while the furbutts are all tucked away in their den boxes over this stormy holiday weekend, I might as well introduce you to the rest of my rag tag crew. It's not just all wildlife around here after all!

First we have Boo Boo, the only non-rescue around here! I will always have one of these gentle giants and would have gotten a rescue had one been in need at the time....

Next we have Marley....thrown out of a car window down south and left on the sidewalk to die. (Just like our Tosser boy!) Finally rescued by a kind soul...he lost his rear leg due to his injuries, but finally made his way up to MA and into our home. Another gentle soul, who's afraid of his own shadow I might add, he gets along with everyone and everything! You'd never know he was 3 legged either.....faster than most 4 legged animals for sure!!

Boo and Marley became best bud's INSTANTLY!!

Marley's favorite seat is on Boo!

Awwww.....they look like such angels! NOT!! They are maniacs when they are up and horsing around!

On to the cats.....

Cruiser was a tiny kitten found wandering the streets one night while I was working. The officer that found her brought her to the station and of course I HAD to take her!

Then of course Cruiser needed a friend....so from another litter of abandoned kittens being fostered....Cuffs came to join us.

Another friend doing feral work came up with this guy in need of a home. He was so beautiful I just had to have him too! LOL So in keeping with the police theme....Rookie joined the crew.

Just a couple months ago 2 more joined our family...

Chubs...

..and his sister Lucy. Both fostered and raised by a friend, they went to live with a friend of hers who ended up passing away. They sat in a kennel from this past March until October while they tried to find a home for them...but being older cats and a little shy, they had no luck. Sooooooooo of course once baby season was over and things quieted down a little here........well you can guess the rest!

We are now one big happy family and everyone gets along great....with the exception of a couple little tiffs between Cruiser and Chubs, all species coexist in peace and harmony......

What can I say...I'm a sucker for an animal in need and I can probably guess more will be added eventually....or maybe some fostering for some unfortunate dogs????