Save that date...... for all our local supporters!

Sunday, March 11- 4pm my place!

OK folks, here is a fundraiser that is a win-win for everyone! You don’t have to spend a dime! In fact you can go home with money in your own pockets!!  Come and hang out with good friends, drinks and munchies! All you have to do is bring any old gold and silver jewelry you no longer wear and want to get rid of. Then cash it in and get money for it on the spot!  It’s that simple!

So spread the word and save that date!!

I will update you soon with more info., but if you have any questions don’t hesitate to contact me!

We look forward to seeing you all then!

In other exciting news, a group of us, including Rascal Rescue &

Wilmington Wild Things, are in the process of becoming  one consolidated 501(c)3 non-profit! So do not be surprised if in the future, you start to notice name and email address changes.

Together we will be forming NEW  ARC, the North

East Wildlife Animal Rescue Coalition.

Move over Noah! There’s a “new Ark” in town!

Hope to see you all in March!

Deanna

After the storm...

OK...being from New England and all, anything under a foot is more like a dusting than a storm to me! So, after our last "dusting" of about 3 inches.....the clouds cleared out and it was a beautiful sunny day. Throw in a little wind and all that light, fluffy snow blew around in the sunbeams making for some lovely scenery outside my kitchen window!

Kind of like those "Jesus Clouds", you know, when the rays of sun come out through the clouds like in the pictures from the bible...??

I have my own "Jesus clouds" here with a little help from Mother Nature!

Some of my favorite birds.

I love the red bellied woodpeckers! I have a lot of them around here but I don't often get close. They are pretty skittish like the mourning doves and quick to fly off at the first hint of movement through the window. It's great in the summer when there is a group of them (Mom and Dad and the kids), swooping around in the woods making quite a racket! The kids learning life's lessons, following the adults around while instructions are squawked to them.

Always very cute...the black-capped chickadee. They may be little but they are quite brave! Many of them will come right over to the feeders as I fill them and sit  right next to me, watching, as if to say "hurry up already, we've been waiting!" Quite the characters!

An interesting tidbit about these guys....these tiny little birds are able to survive very cold temperatures by practicing nocturnal hypothermia. At night, they puff up their feathers to increase their insulation and lower their body temperature by as much as 15 degrees! This allows their stores of fat to last longer so they can survive  long winter nights. Their body temperature begins to rise before sunrise to be ready for the next days activities.

And one bird that can always brighten a gray day! I have tons of these guys around! Had they decided to perch closer together in the bushes here, you would have seen 4 splashes of bright red!

And the mourning doves! I have a huge flock here and have always loved these pretty birds. Although they sound sad (thus the name!), my flock seems to be pretty happy! They should be...they have a crazy lady keeping bird feeders full for the squirrels and birds! LOL

The boys are keeping warm.

I wouldn't want to get out of my nice cozy bed in the frigid weather we have been having either! Chester does his best to scoop up breakfast in bed........

...but eventually he had to emerge to reach more!  They are crazy if they think I'm going to make it easy for them and put the food right in there with them so they can stay all cozy and warm while I freeze my ass off delivering it to them! LOL

One if Laurie's boys came right out when he realized food was involved....while you can see the rest of them waiting inside for a special delivery they are not going to receive.

Boston is as handsome as ever...

...and his foot is almost totally healed. Just some scabbing left on the top. He is definitely thrilled to have company to cuddle with in some of the frigid temps we've had lately!

The reds are settled in.

The reds have totally made themselves at home. Now when I go in there they are all running around scolding  me instead of hiding in the nest box. They are loving the nice big outdoor cage....which is MUCH bigger than the cage they were going to be spending the winter in. Characters they are....all 7 of them! Adorable little buggers!

Like I said......

....I love the unexpected beauty I find right outside my front door!

I was heading out to bait the fox when I saw a lump that just didn't belong down by my driveway. Once I realized it was my ever elusive cooper's hawk, I ran and grabbed the camera of course! I was a little concerned it migh tbe injured....the ones that live in my woods are more skittish than the mourning doves and it was quite surprising to see it just sitting there so calmly. I usually only get a glimpse of a blurr once I realize they are around. Had it been ripping apart a meal it would have been a different story....but it wasn't.

So after admiring it for a few minutes, I started to approach it to see how it would react and if a net was needed. Happily it was fine....

....and I managed a couple of cool pictures of it flying away, since I kept the camera on it the whole time I approached in case of just such a thing!

Of course I was not quick enough to get the awesome pictures of it as it took off again flying towards me, then over me back into the woods behind the house. Damn! I finally caught a good look at you though...awesome!

Soaring high.

As much as windy days can be a pain in the ass around here when out in the cold taking care of the animals, it can also be beautiful! The red tails around here love to soar over my house in the wind. You can tell they are having fun....not hunting, truly just up there to enjoy themselves! On this particular day there were 4! One pair soaring right over head, one pair a little further away.

One in particular spent a lot of time right over me, just drifting in the breeze. It gave me ample opportunity to take advantage of it's proximity and snap away with the camera. I think once he knew I was taking pictures he decided to show off a little! LOL

They really are amazing to watch....as long as they are staying away from my squirrels! :)  Absolutely beautiful and so peaceful...wish I could soar up there with them!

I love that I never know what unexpected beauty I may run into when I walk out my front door, courtesy of Mother Nature!

A pleasant fox update.

Well I am very happy to report that  the fox I had feared dead with a terrible case of mange appears to be doing well!  This one had a totally hairless tail and it's face was quite affected the last time I had seen it on the motion camera. It was not as predictable as my other one and I was never actually sure if it got any of the medicated meals left out there...where the other was kind enough to ingest all its mice for me to witness!

What makes me think it is that particular fox is the tail fur. Now, mind you, these pics actually make this one look better than it is! But there is new hair growth....the longer red fur around the neck, shoulder and sides is growing in long and nice. The areas that look like shorter fur is in fact starting to grow back in, but it is still pretty mangy looking in person. And the tail....still partially hairless but not totally anymore. Lots of new, lovely fur growing in there!

The eyes are bright and alert....not as mange encrusted as they used to be.

A lovely spring to it's gait and not plagued by itching. Able to see enough and active enough to hunt, I am finally quite hopeful for my fox population out here!

This one prefers looking by the feeding area across the front yard for morsels as opposed to the landscaped island on the opposite side of the front lawn. So I will redouble my efforts to make sure this one continues to improve by baiting that area as well as the island with the hopes both continue to get their doses! Since they both generally like to visit between 10am and 3pm, and since I have a clear view from inside the house to those areas, I should be able to keep a pretty good eye on who got what and when!

Calling all these foxes Foxy is getting too confusing. So I guess, at least while I can tell them apart, I'll call this one Lucky. The healthy one I saw on Christmas....lets say Holly? and Foxy can be the one that started it all!

New guests.

A fellow rehabber got into a little pickle when she fell and broke her shoulder. Ouch! She had some gray and red squirrels overwintering and it was going to be a little difficult to handle with the injury. So the 7 little red's have been welcomed here. They are quite happily settled into a nice big outdoor pen!

It didn't take them long to redecorate and make this nest box their own!

Most of them are pretty shy, but there is one that will come out and chatter away while I'm in there feeding and cleaning. She likes to keep an eye on me.

It's pretty funny to sneak over there during the day when they are all out and listen to all the chattering and whistling they do.....not a quiet bunch!

Boston is just one of the gang now. All 6 boys can be found packed into the same den box together down there. He is one happy camper!

Boston gets some friends!

We have been so lucky with such mild temps up until now! Unfortunately that is coming to an end, and with single digit temps predicted (accurately I might add!) to start today, I was under the gun to shuffle some of the gang around while it could still be done. I didn't want to risk frostbite and more importantly, quite frankly, I just didn't want to freeze my ass off!

So....... thanks to a LOT of help from Laurie, coonies have been successfully shuffled just in time to beat the freezing temps out there today! It's not like we had anything better to do with our time off than run around in the woods fixing pens and moving coons around, right? LOL

The boys have been totally separated from the girls. Not going to have a repeat of the Vin Adventure's this year! Totally different pens so there can be no B&E's and larcenies of raccoon maidenhood! LOL

And the best part of all....Boston has friends! We moved him into the big pen downtown first and I'm happy to report he's walking and climbing with no problem! The inside of his leg has totally healed and the top of his foot is better every day.

Once the rest of the boys started arriving he was a little nervous at first and slunk around hiding from them. Then he ended up in this den box....followed by the 5 boys. Now he had no choice but to say hello....like it or not! LOL

I'm happy to say the boys were on their best behavior with him. Eventually he chanced a little look-see outside......

....then he got braver, and actually got a little excited about it I think! The worst he got was a little huff from Bama, but Chester here and the rest were nothing but encouraging to him. Good ole' Chester even gave his ears a little lick. Although he wouldn't come out of there while I was in the pen, for the first time he actually chanced a little sniff of my hand when I approached the den box instead of retreating to hide inside. He was definitely cognizant of my interaction with the boys and seemed to realize that I might just be OK if other coonies are not afraid to be near the big scary monster! Regardless, he is a gentle soul, and we had no problem vaccinating and transferring him to the big pen! (unlike some of the brats we raised from babies!)

Speaking of brats.....hehe. Cooper down below and Chester on the left were very good boys for the process. The other 3 (Bama and Laurie's 2- on the right and the next pic)......ugghh! But once they got settled in they were a little forgiving of us.

Bama here was the worst and as you can see, remained quite peeved even after settling in.

Chester is loving it!

Cooper .....

...not quite sure what to make of the fire hose bridge!

So.... the hammock that was here.....you're, ummm,  planning on replacing that right?

 We are gonna have a blast!

New friends, new pen....what could be better!