Mom's and overwinters.

All the local Mom's are making their appearances. Ringer usually makes her daily visit around 7 or 7:30 pm. Our coyote was definitely a she....she went from big belly to big mammary glands...a definite sign she is lactating and feeding babies!

Some of the geese on the pond are being followed by tiny yellow fluff-balls and a mama robin is sitting on a nest of eggs in the bush at my front door. Spring is in full swing here.

Laurie and I finally got a chance to get the overwinters to the release pen! They were less than thrilled about the capture and transport....but were having the time of thier lives once loose in the new pen! Cinnamon, Peanut, Phoenix, Raquel, Willie, Ellie, Gonzo, Fozzy, Chicken and Piggy are one step away from freedom. In a couple weeks the doors to the release pen will be opened and off they will go into the big world! Sniff, sniff!

Updates!

Well the Momma coon that we put in Mary's pen with her 3 babies managed to escape with one of her babies! Mary heard the babies start squawking up a storm Wednesday night.....much louder and longer than they should be. When she checked the den box, only 2 babies were in there and no sign of Mom and the third baby. She brought them in, warmed them up and fed them and they were put back out in the den box with heat for mom to hopefully retrieve that night.

No such luck!

I took them Thursday and kept them fed and we decided to try one more night. Laurie suggested mom may want nothing to do with the cage so we tried using the reuniting box outside the cage. They got their last feeding at 8pm and I set them up in the box and we all crossed our fingers!!

Mary checked the box the next morning....and SUCCESS! The babies were picked up and the family has moved on to a new home, whereabouts unknown. Gold star to Laurie for that one!

This is the new girl, Kinky. Unclear if she was left behind or kidnapped at the tender age of about 1 week....but she made it here and is doing great! She's got a cute little kink at the end of her tail!

Our little gang from the Animal Rescue League is doing great...minus one of the females. She had to be euthanized after a sudden problem with one of her arms. X-Rays showed no breaks or problems, but it was stiff by her side and getting worse. She was obviously in a lot of pain and even after some pain meds she continued to deteriorate and was obviously suffering so the difficult decision was made. The remainder of the litter are thriving and growing like weeds and already have one distemper vaccine on board! I'll breath a lot easier when their quarantine is over.

The 5 boys with attitude are also great! Playtime in the large dog crate after feedings is fun and they love their hammock!

Gerry is a riot....as soon as he's done eating he curls up into a little ball to keep sucking on his own built in pacifier if ya get my drift! When I put him in the crate, he curls up and ends up literally doing somersaults around the cage! LOL

Awwwww...look how cute! Don't let that angelic face fool ya! They are the boys with attitude for a reason!! Do not piss them off! LOL

We are REALLY hoping to get the overwinters to the release pen this Thursday!! It has been so crazy around here for all of us with so many babies we just haven't had the chance! They gotta go!

The past week!

Wow...where do I begin? It's been crazy! The 2 younger squirrels have moved to another rehabber and the six big piggies are still here doing great!

Thursday night a call from the Animal Rescue League....a mother raccoon was trapped and killed (SIGH!) and they were attempting to rescue her starving babies discovered up in their tree den. Luckily they managed to get them....all 6 of them!!

3 boys and 3 girls are all snug in their new home and doing great.

They are 3 weeks old-eyes just opening when I got them....and as you can see have made themselves quite comfortable!

Friday morning....Lisa and I head to a house to try to rescue a baby in a chimney. The man had heard the racket start up Sunday then proceeded to start spraying ammonia up there and harassing the heck out of them to get them to leave. By morning he said he thought they left but one was left there. Well it was left there because he trapped it under the flue flap with all the opening and closing! When Lisa and I looked in there we thought it was already dead, the heavy metal door pinning her body. Then she moved! Lisa pushed the door up and I pulled her out....a frozen little body! Unfortunately she didn't make it. Less than a week old poor little girl. Once she warmed up I think she began to hemorrhage internally after being crushed by the flue. She went quietly at least...and once again, unnecessarily!

On my way back with that little girl, I swung by Lauries to pick up the litter of 5 that was brought to her after a good Samaritan found them left in a box at a gas station. Again...what the hell people! They were pretty dehydrated but Laurie already had them warmed up and started on fluids. They are doing great now! 5 boys with attitudes! Older than the first group and old pro's at taking the bottle...a big help!

All very cute boys, all with attitudes....Vin Diesel, Gerard Butler, Bruce Willis, LL Cool J, and The Rock are also all cute boys with attitudes, LOL, so I think those names will stick!

My days off Friday and Saturday are a blur getting everyone stabilized and onto formula. Sunday before going into work...take in 5 more babies....mom was trapped in some other town in Eastern Ma. and the guy brought her to our neck of the woods....just let her out of the trap then left her 6 babies out in a box for 3 hours. The woman who called me ended up with them. 1 died while with her, and another died shortly after getting to me. But the remaining 4 are doing great in Laurie's care right now! People please! You are making me crazy!!!

Back to work on Sunday and a call from the Animal Rescue League. Guy capped his chimney on Thursday when momma coon left. Knew the kids were in there BUT DIDN'T BOTHER CALLING ANYONE UNTIL SUNDAY! They spent most of Sunday trying to get them. Finally got all 3 and brought them to me at work. Got the frozen babies set up on heat, but one was already dying. When I checked them again to see if they were warm enough and to give them fluids, the remaining 2 were quietly passing on.......Soooo....instead of calling someone that day and being able to easily reunite mom with her babies outside that night, he chose to let them freeze and starve and suffer for the better part of 4 days until he finally felt guilty. Unfortunately it was too late for these 2 week old souls.

It's all very frustrating....but on the other end of it, at least we have some that have managed to luck out and make it to safety....with the help of all the people that DO care and go out of their way to help! To all of you...a great big Thank You! You turn what would have been a total tragedy into a happy ending for some!

Ringer!

My Ringer girl is making appearances again....popping in early evenings before the gang. For those who don't remember her, she's one of my girls from my 2006 release and she's doing great! Every spring she starts showing up in the afternoons when she has kits and eventually brings them around too when they are old enough. I'm happy to say that even after all these years, and after not seeing her all winter, she is still always happy to see mom and say Hi when our paths cross!

The baby population here has exploded in the last couple days so when I have a chance I'll get to updating on 6 squirrels and many new raccoons!

Mom coon & babies get a second chance.

Some people amaze me! Got a call from the Animal Control Officer. A homeowner decided to trap the raccoon on their property (illegal!!!!!). So they catch it in the trap....then just leave it there....FOR ALMOST 2 DAYS!!!...until all of a sudden they hear crying in the attic. So now they decide to call a licenced pest control agency to deal with whatever is making that noise!

He finds 3 starving baby coons up there! Normally he could just release mom and leave kits out for her to collect...but nooooooooo.....ewwwww...we don't want that animal around here!....the homeowners won't let him release her there. So now he's got a dilemma. He can't relocate an adult....if he takes her he's got to euthanize her. Thank god he had heart and contacted animal control to see if there were any options before doing that...and thank god this animal control officer actually cares about animals to be willing to help them all...not just loose dogs (because believe it or not, many could care less unfortunately!)

She called me and of course...I'll take them all!! We have an open pen at Mary's and mom will do all the work, we just have to give her a safe place to do so!

So animal control got mom and babies, reunited them and brought them to me. Considering it all, mom was pretty relaxed....tending to her kits without trying to kill us through the crate.

The reunited family....

Lisa helped me get the crate into Mary's pen. Then I set it up with food and water, opened the crate door and stepped back to keep an eye on things. Mom came right out and explored the pen.

She calmly checked things out while I was in there....quietly avoiding me but accepting my presence without alarm. (It's a BIG pen...she didn't have to be too close to me.)

Finally she found the den box and crawled in there. I sat around for a while waiting for her to go back down and claim her screaming kids! It was on the cool side and I wanted to make sure they made it to the warm cozy den box with mom. Finally I couldn't take it any longer! (plus I had another round of feeding to get to.) I took the babies and put them up in the box with her. She collected them from the entrance and after everyone settled in and all was quiet I snuck away.

So my question is this....what were you people going to do, just leave her in the trap till she died? What would have happened if those babies hadn't started crying...thus freaking you out and leading you to call someone for help?? How would you feel being left in a trap without food, water and shelter for any extended period....not to mention being separated from your now starving babies!! Being clueless I'll give you that the baby thing never even occurred to you....but leaving any living thing trapped like that.......come on! That is why it is illegal for unlicensed homeowners to trap things....because some of you just don't care or are ignorant enough to cause a living thing to suffer like that unnecessarily!

Sorry....rant over, off my soapbox now!

Holy Squirrels Batman...... and more.

First of all a long overdue GREAT BIG THANK YOU! goes out to John for the awesome den boxes he made for the coonies! Four luxury suites....the babies won't want to move out! He brought them by on Easter, the last day of calm before the storm, and I've been so crazy since then I have done nothing but weed through phone calls and gather squirrels!

So I'm feeding the squirrels...(what squirrels you ask? I'll get to that.....) and I look out my window and see this guy prance by checking out the yard! Ran around the whole yard and finally just into the woods in the back yard. One of the girls from the Gobble Gang was none to thrilled either! She didn't totally panic as the fox's curiosity led it to check her out, she was just a little anxious. She is after all bigger than the fox and would definitely come out on the winning end of that battle! Managed to snap this just as the fox came out of the wood line into my backyard again.....saw the flash and off it went. Mom or dad out looking for breakfast for the kits I imagine...

Yes....lots of nocturnal animals are out during the daytime (especially this time of year!) and no....it does not mean they are sick! Many have little mouths to feed and it's safer leaving them during the day to go get food.

So....as I said the last week has been so crazy I can't even describe! I managed to finish getting the newly extended release pen ready but haven't had a second to get the gang over there! Phoenix is doing much better....most of the swelling is gone so she will be able to head over there with them if I ever get a second!

Back to the squirrels....a total explosion of orphans has left all of us loaded with babies to feed! First these 2 cuties had their tree cut down and no luck reuniting with mom.

Big yawn.....this is the life!

The ever adorable food coma after a feeding.

Then 6 more! These guys were very well taken care of for 2 weeks before coming to me...big, beefy little piggies! Just a little comfy...ya think! LOL

This VERY tiny mouse came in .....the nest was disturbed, mom moved them all but never came back and collected this little guy. It is so tiny I was cross-eyed trying to get a close enough look to see if it was eating! Poor little fella didn't make it.....I'm not surprised as mice don't even do well with mom half the time. The reason mice have a lot of babies is because a lot don't make it to adulthood....more babies insures some make it to keep the species going. (Doesn't make me feel any better about it, but it takes a little of the sting out of it!)

JoAnn and Mary are also loaded with squirrels...they probably each have around 6-8 as well and Lisa has about 14!! Luckily help is on the way for her! Laurie was on vacation for the past week during the squirrel explosion (lucky wench! LOL) but she just got back last night and no doubt Lisa was waiting to greet her with an armload for her to take over! Welcome back to baby hell Lau! LOL

Also ended up with a mom raccoon and her 3 kits in need of help. They are safely tucked away in Mary's release pen now thank god!.....I'll get to her story next....

All the little maniacs!

The gang is thoroughly enjoying the warm, DRY, sunny weather! Poor Phoenix appears to have developed an abscess on her face. Not surprising with some of the squabbles going on in there. That's why I'm trying to get the release pen done and get them out there!

Poor girl....she's starting to look like a bull terrier with the swelling. It's not fazing her much at all though, just as rambunctious as the rest of them!

This is what most of the boys are dealing with! A bitchy female, ears back, barking in their ear anytime they try to do anything. It's the perfect cliche....I can hear you guys now..."Typical female".....LOL! Well sometimes the boys deserve it too!

But for the most part....girls just wanna have fun! And raccoons certainly know how to have fun....they are definitely one of the biggest clowns in the animal kingdom!

Cinnamon's funky mask marking has returned to normal....now her brother Peanut has it going on. Must run in the family.

I finally had to make the decision to euthanize the unexpected visitor that took up residence in the pen after releasing the possies. I finally concluded she was ill, however I seesawed between it being distemper or rabies. She was starting to self mutilate-chewing at one of the wounds on her foot, and though her eyes were clear, her nose was a little gunky. She was also showing some neurologic signs. I'm leaning toward rabies, but could also be distemper. So once she was sedated I drew up some blood and had it sent in for a distemper test. It was the easier and least expensive option....and with no exposure risk the rabies testing was not required. This will basically just help me decide how much of a "hazmat site" the pen is so I can disinfect it appropriately. Hopefully the test results will be back today.

Possies, coons and cages.

Saturday was a busy day! Got out of work early and met Laurie,Lisa and Patrick and together we loaded up one of Woburn's release pens and brought it to the Framingham release site to add it on to the cage there for this spring release. We had to make the pen bigger as this group is a little older thus the girls a little bitchier. It would have been too small to put them all in there together without them chewing each other up. The poor boys need room to escape!

The possies were released last night as well! They were so ready to go.....had been starting to dig trying to get out lately. It was a beautiful night and they wasted no time. It was too dark for pics unfortunately...but it was great to see them enjoying their new freedom!

A little later after going to bed I heard a commotion at the uptown pen. I proceeded out in my PJ's and slippers to find a coonie visitor. It was a female I think....and I don't really recognize her. Looks like Mohican's and Buddy's markings with that pronounced eyebrow though....I didn't have any females that looked like them. All chattery and trying to get in and play with the gang. I was trying to determine if anything was wrong with it. Definitely a swollen rear foot with a wound and some minor wounds on the other....but using them fine and normally. I'm on the fence as to illness like rabies or distemper.....it was a little too unconcerned by my presence if it's not one of the "regulars"....but it went off into the woods before I could attempt to get it into a crate.

But of course it's me we're talking about here! I head out in the morning to see if all the possie girls are gone. I open their den box and ..................

Yup....our little visitor had made itself comfortable! So now that the pen is a "hazmat" zone since it went in there....I can keep an eye on it while keeping it from spreading anything out in my woods if it does have something.

Soooooo.......to be continued!

Is Mrs. Coyote is gonna be a mom??

One of my occasional visitors...it's not often she gets this close. I usually just get shots of her passing through. By the time she goes by the coonies have cleared it out and even if they hadn't she is usually way to shy to venture close to those weird boxes! But something interested her here...enough to bring her in close and get a pretty good look. I say "her" because the mid-section appears a little full maybe!?? Like the family may growing in size soon? Again I'm not positive...but most of the pics I end up with give me views that show she is missing a certain something that would make her a he if ya get my drift! And with this last batch with her coming in close...she's looking bigger in the belly . By the time she showed up the batteries were of course starting to die in the camera. I did get some video, but not the best quality....but it still makes me think it is in fact a "she" and she is going to possibly be a mom!

Time will tell.