Tree coons.

As predicted....the boys have had to find other accommodations with the new flooding. Both these trees.... in the exact same spot in the branches.....were popular last year so I was not surprised to find an occupant in each this afternoon. The rain has FINALLY stopped, the weather is warm and the branches form an excellent nook to ride out the day...out like a light!
The summer homes are officially opened and occupied!

I know I am certainly feeling water logged...as I'm sure all the critters out there are...and it was quite a relief to see the deluge end today...hopefully for a while! I'm so sick of being wet!!! Ugghhhh! I can live without the record breaking rain fall, thank you!

...and they're out again!

More record rains....more record flooding! No sooner do the boys get back into their den, get it all fixed up and cozy again....and the flooding begins again. I haven't actually been over there to check...the ground is to spongy and I don't want to cave any of it in...but there is no doubt. Luckily again it's the boys, and the weather is warm otherwise. They'll be fine till it dries out yet again!

Part of the Gobble Gang has returned! One of the girls is hanging around again. Hopefully the other girl and tom will be back soon also.

The pics aren't great...these are the one's from my cell phone, but this was our unfortunate leg hold trap raccoon. He was able to cradle himself on the fence when the trap got tangled in it so at least he wasn't hanging from his horrifically injured leg.
It's very difficult to look at....so I guess it's good that the quality of the picture isn't crystal clear...but you get the point. Yes that little white piece...the bone of one of his toes.
Just upsetting and enraging beyond words to me.

I'm heading out in this crappy weather to try to start taking one of the release pens apart from last fall so we can use it to enlarge another one. This crew is ready to go so time to get them set up!

The boys move back in.

Well the flooding forced them out temporarily...very little activity at the den, just the occasional check in to see if they can come home.

In he goes...oh,is it good ...nope, back out again..still full of water!

But luckily the waters are receding. It was dry when I went over and grabbed the camera and as you can see, they have since checked it out, spread the word and moved back in!

Well? What's it like......we're good! Lets get in there and clean up!

Yet another sucky day!!

Another day of doom for the animal kingdom. We picked up another adult raccoon hanging out next to someones house. She was pretty neurologic and had some injuries. Turns out the injuries were bite wounds. Coupled with the neurologic symptoms, rabies was most likely.

Enter Laurie and Lisa. They drive by a dead beaver in the road....so they thought. Upon going back to check it, it was alive....attempting to drag itself onto the sidewalk with a broken back.

So while Laurie and Lisa take the coon and the beaver to get them euthanized, I get a call for a raccoon stuck in a trap. Turns out to be a leg hold trap and it was horrific! The animal rescue league responded for him. Their vet would take care of him so they could document it all in the off chance the asshole that put the trap out there can be found. As soon as I get the pics I'll post his story here ...it's a lesson in cruel and inhumane trapping everyone should be aware of.

2 unfortunate souls in 2 days.

Well Sunday I had the misfortune of coming across a body in the road. It turned out to be what was once a beautiful otter. There was a dead frog near him as well. My guess is he wasn't paying attention to his surroundings very well while catching the frog. What a shame. We don't see much of them around here. The flooding probably brought him in closer to this area...unfortunately.

Our second soul was this young male raccoon found hurt by a tree. Couldn't seem to walk well due to a problem with his back end. Got him to the vet and gassed him down in his carrier.

His left rear leg turned out to be EXTREMELY swollen! While we were setting him up for xrays he quietly died. As soon as his breathing started to seem shallow we took off the mask to check his color. Pale is what we expected, but boy were we surprised!

He was totally yellow. On closer examination of his skin...also very yellow. He was in total liver failure. The anesthesia, processed by the liver, was the final straw. It was just a matter of time...the liver was beyond recovery....but at least this made it a quicker more peaceful end.

We took the xray anyway and no breaks. What appears to have happened is a bite wound or injury that caused a massive abscess. For some reason it never popped and drained and resolved itself like they usually do in the wild. His leg swelled and thickened so badly he couldn't even move the leg. We couldn't even stretch it out straight for the xray. This led to sepsis where major organs stop functioning normally and finally septic shock where they just stop functioning altogether.

Not the way I wanted to start the season....but sometimes it's not always about helping them live....sometimes it's about helping them pass peacefully and humanely instead of slowly and painfully.

They're Grrrrrrrreat!

The girls and the boys are back together.....the boys not so thrilled about it I think. They spend most of their time looking over their shoulders trying to avoid a good bite to the ass! Time to start arranging to move them to a release site now that it's spring!

Thanks John for the AWESOME 2 in 1 treat.....it's a yummy snack and a toy!! The girls ruled it...

River eats like a lady.

But the boys were not forgotten! They got some frosted flakes in some higher spots in the pen away from the moody girls. Fozzy was thrilled!

The girls aren't just mean to the boys either! Here River attempts to drown one of her sisters by pushing her head under when she was trying to take a drink! Wow.....just down right evil! LOL

Willie isn't going anywhere near the girls.....NO WAY!

Peanut casually enjoys his frosted flakes away from the craziness.

River wants more!

Ellie...do you mind?? Some privacy please....

River again...she wants all the mom time.

Fozzy made the mistake of venturing down. While at my feet trying to get my attention one of the girl snuck up behind him with a surprise bite in the ass....leading to his escape the only way he could go....straight up me! Once at the top, this new exciting toy took his mind of the trauma he incurred below! LOL

Noah get your Ark on over here!

Three days of torrential rain and winds had flooded us all out! Both the city I work for and the town I live in declared a state of emergency and words cannot describe how high all the water levels are around here. A lot of homes are under water, including our fur butts! Daisy's Den across the pond is flooded out. Luckily it was the boys in there and not mom's with kits. Easier for them to relocate temporarily.

Right up to the main entrance!

Not so warm and cozy in there now! Poor guys! Luckily the biblical rains were followed by beautiful, sunny, warm weather. Any tree will do for them right now.

One of the entrances totally submerged.

The higher entrance is still high and dry at least. It's possible there is still some usable dry den under there...I know it's pretty extensive so It's safe to assume there is dryer room under there somewhere also.

Two beautiful sunny days off and I got a lot of work done in the pens. Lots of branches down mean lots of new branches to replace the old in there. I really hope this weather is here to stay...lots more to get done for baby season...pinkies are coming in all ready!

Good news for the Tasmanian Devils.

A while back I told you about the plight of the Tasmanian Devil. A horrible cancer turning these adorable creatures (at least as babies-not so "adorable" when older as they live up to their names! LOL)..... Pictures from ZooBorns and the Taronga Zoo

....into these suffering and dying animals! It's horrific and it's wiping out the population.

Well luckily it appears things are starting to look up for them. Taken from the NWRA newsletter, The Wildlife Rehabilitator:

In spring of 2009 the Tasmanian devil was listed as an Australian endangered species, largely due to the fatal Devil Tumor Facial Disease (DTFD). It has wiped out 60% of the population since 1996. In 2007 it was discovered the cancer cells from multiple devils all share distinct genetic markers not found in the individual animals themselves. Using a large-scale genetic analysis in 2009, cooperating scientists from Australia and the US discovered a set of active genes in the tumors that are normally active only in the nerve cells known as Schwann cells. This indicates that a single Schwann cell from a single animal was the progenitor of all DTFD tumor cells, and that the disease is young as no cellular variation has occurred. DTFD is also unique in that only one other known cancer (in canines) has a natural parasitic-like infectious transmission of cells. The good news is now that the origin and active genes have been identified, development of treatment options for the devils, including a possible vaccine, can begin, hopefully before the population is devastated beyond recovery.

Read more about it here. At least for one species it seems hope may be on the horizon....

An important bill to be aware of!

H.R. 615 This bill could save the life of your pet's and wildlife!

It's purpose is to amend the Federal Hazardous Substances Act to require engine coolant and antifreeze to contain a bittering agent so as to render it unpalatable.

The main ingredient, ethylene glycol, is sweet tasting and is attractive to animals. It only takes a small amount (1-2 teaspoons for cats, 3 tablespoons for a med dog for example) to poison and kill anything that ingests it. Read more about Antifreeze poisoning and it's affects.

The little stinkers!

Well at least one of the skunks seems to be doing fine! I was happy to catch this quick video of one of them and he looks nice and fat and happy.

Sunday night I ran into one again. Coming home from the MRI on my shoulder I encountered one in my driveway. He scurried off to the side down a little embankment. It's a nice brush tangled area with old cement culverts that were abandoned there when the house was built. Perfect area for a skunk to be denning up! Though I can't be sure it's one of mine, I have lived here 5 years and always commented on the lack of any skunk activity whatsoever. Only 1 sighting that whole time so I like to think all the stinker activity is a result of my little gang!

A little pool time.

Hey......is that a pool mom's bringin' over here?? Pssssttttt....hey guys, get out here, I think were gettin' the pool back!

OH MY GOD! OH MY GOD! IT ISSSSSSSS THE POOL!!!!!!!!!!

OHHHHHH.....AND GRAPES TOO!!!!!!

Oh I have just been DYING to soak my hands again......ahhh that feels soooo good!!

And so all the girls had a thrilling day with a mini pool.....not the usual big pool since the water is not turned on outside yet and I wasn't going to lug buckets into the woods to fill it....but this little tub certainly did the trick!

Ohhhhh thank you SOOOOOO much mom!

And so another little treat over the spring-like weekend was had by all! The boys got it the next day, but it didn't see much action until evening since they were too busy moping in the den box or obsessively pacing in front of the girls!

Hissy, Dad and the boys!

An awesome spring-like weekend around here. The geese have been gathering again making all kinds of noise and I was pleasantly surprised when I went out back and was greeted by Hissy and the Missus! I started chatting away to a couple on the beaver dam like I usually do (Yes I'm the crazy lady out in the woods talking to myself and any other animals that care to listen!) and I got a squawk back in reply as the two made a bee line toward me. It could only be my Hissy boy! He's the only one that comes rushing over when he sees me or hears me calling!

And so it was! Of course I only had my cell phone....

Dad was over doing some temporary repairs after the nor-easter blew through here. The girls were thrilled about all the activity on the roof!

Hey....what's goin' on out there?
Phoenix felt it was her responsibility to oversee the whole project....I think ya missed a spot there!
Boys will be boys.....when they bother to come out, Gonzo spends his time pacing in front of the girls. Back and forth, back and forth.....He's got 2 bald spots now, one on each side.

Peanut spends his time squawking at the other boys.

Willy stays holed up in the den box....unless of course I have some tasty treats to give him!

And Fozzy is just the cutest boy! What a mush...and a ham!

The girls are all right!

Spring-like weather was predicted for this weekend, and Friday has lived up to the expectations! All the girls were more than eager to put the hormonal bitchiness aside for a while hang out in the fresh, mild air for some play.

Ellie...good as new with no sign of her previous injuries.

Chicken....one of the littlest, but by far the moodiest! NO ONE goes near her when she's got her chicken wings! Tasmanian devil x 3!!!

Phoenix...always a sweetheart.
River...always wants to be the center of attention! Pick ME up mom!

Chicken grabbing for some marshmallows.

Piggy...very sweet. She looks so much like Nel Mezzo from my 2006 group!

Phoenix and Witchey...

Little Raquel...the smallest little girl. My fingers are her favorite toy!

Cinnamon...she's got some funky marking changes with her mask...getting a little H on her forehead.

Phoenix...get my good side mom!

Witchey....she just LOVES Auntie Laurie....NOT!! It's amazing, as soon as she sees Laurie the ears go back, she starts barking and growling and tries to charge her through the cage! She's usually such a gentle soul too! We think it's because Laurie tripped in the pen one day and fell toward her, freaking her out. Ever since then Auntie Laurie has been on the BAD list!

I'm hoping all their heats pass soon so I can put the girls and the boys back together before their final release in the spring. They can still interact through the wire door...just not in the baby-making kind of way! LOL Last thing I need!