And they're off.......Michelle's group gets released.

Sunday night Laurie and I released the last of the gang going out this fall. We were a little more attached to this crew so it was a little bit tougher saying goodbye! We brought Vin back over too. He healed well and was ready to go. We figured it would not be difficult bringing him back into the pen since none of them had an issue with each other the day we found him in there.....and we were right! He immediately had friends coming over to say Hi and play! Laurie became a human tree when some treats were brought out to make everyone come over so we could check them before releasing them.....it's blurry but great! They were moving so fast I'm lucky I got it at all!

Two of the beach boys had some issues....one had a scraped nose and one had an abscess right between his eyes! What the heck! While mulling the situation over in my mind, he ended up popping it in the mad rush for treats and was very diligent using his paws to clean it. So issue resolved.....abscesses are very common in them in the wild and most usually resolve themselves unless they are as extensive as Vin's were. This is already draining now and he can easily reach it to keep it clean and draining so he should be fine. We'll keep an eye on him also.

So decision made, a final goodbye to the gang....especially my sweetheart Michelle.....
(sniff, sniff!)

....and out the door they go!

The abscess was already looking better.....and he's still doing a great job keeping it clean! He certainly isn't acting like it bothers him!

A den box was put on top of the pen after we put the gang in there in case another of Vin's gang made their way back injured....this way they would still have a safe place to hole up since they wouldn't be able to get into the pen for a while. This crew wasted no time investigating it.

The rest of the time we were there they spent running around like maniacs and obsessing over acorns! This crew didn't just melt off into the woods like the first crew.....they hung out around the pen like they usually do and Laurie and I finally snuck away to leave them with their fun!

Vin's second release...he stuck around this time.

We didn't see Drake there when we released them, but I'm sure he's around and will catch up with them....I saw him hanging out near the pen just the day before so I know he's doing great and will be very happy his buddies can join him now!

Laurie went by Monday morning and the majority of the gang were sacked out in the den boxes in and on the pen. Vin really likes this gang and he's apparently decided to stick with them instead of head back out to wherever the rest of his brothers disappeared to a couple months back.

We'll keep an eye on the area for a while until eventually, they too will move on and find their own homes in the woods.