The screech owl gets released.

Good news....the little screech owl made a full recovery and was released. Here is a quick video.....don't blink or you'll miss it! Good luck little one!

 Unfortunately the red tail hawk with rodenticide poisoning did not survive. Very sad....hopefully his death was not in vain and the lesson learned here saves future animals.....

Some of the gang actually came out of their nice warm den boxes to say hi the other day. OK, well only one of the gang from the big pen bothered to venture away from the den box. Natty G perched in her favorite spot briefly. She didn't stay long though.....it's cold out there and it wasn't long before she retreated back to warmer parts!

Both Henry and Roxy were happy to come out. Henry's new favorite spot is inside the big hollow tree. He loves running in and out of there, trying to get me to chase him in there I think! Sorry dude, even in my skinniest days there is now way I'm fitting in there with you!

Roxy is getting big and she's so good to her little brother. Sorry the pictures aren't the greatest...it was already dark outside and honestly I'm pretty surprised my cell got bright enough pictures at all!

The reds refuse to make an appearance but I finally managed to get proof the grey's exist! When I went inside to throw some food in, one actually lunged out of the nest box , scared the crap out of me, and lingered on the ceiling long enough for me to get my phone out! Then off to parts unseen once again.....

 

Otherwise, nothing new or exciting with the gang which is fine by me!

A few recent rescues.

This adorable little screech owl was sitting in the driveway all morning, so the resident called animal control. When I responded it was obvious this little guy was not feeling to great. It was very easy to just walk up to him and grab him. He is now up at Tuft's getting a little R & R.  Appears to have some minor head trauma and luckily there is no optical damage. Because he's a little on the thin side, they are keeping him long enough to fatten him up before I take him back to release him. How cute it he!!?

 

The next day a call came in for this poor red tail,  just laying in the snow.  He was easier to catch than the screech! He is suffering from something all to common in our raptors these days....rodenticide poisoning. It is very important that people realize when you put out rat poison, it is not just the rats and mice you are poisoning. You are also poisoning everything that eats those rodents....owls, hawks, fox, raccoons, possums, cats, even some dogs! PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE stop using poison!!!  Right now he is at Tuft's. This hawks blood is like water and he is bleeding internally. Only time will tell if he can recover from this. Lets hope he does not end up being another statistic that suffered for nothing!

A little community teamwork here. My sister in law is the Animal Control Officer in my hometown. As I was heading home from work during this past miserable snow storm, she was in the process of trying to capture a raccoon under a residents porch. It just happened to be down the street from my house! It was a successful capture in some very unpleasant conditions!

 

 

 

 

I wish I had good news to report about him. I got him settled in for the night. He looked good, was eating well and acting pretty normal (as seen in the video) aside from being out during the storm trying to get into the residents enclosed porch. He was vocal, but the vocalizations were normal and appropriate for the situation. The next morning I found him dead. I have no desire to share with you how....suffice it to say, he killed himself in a way that was, quite frankly, very disturbing...even for me. It is a pretty safe bet he had rabies. There was no exposure so it is unlikely he will be tested, but it goes to show you......there is no "classic case" of rabies. A very important reason why we must quarantine every rabies vector species we take in!

A little chage....what do you think!?

So, here we have a new look for the blog! Now that I have a computer up and running again (although all the data from email addresses to pictures is still "trapped" in the old one), I was able to finally get on here and play around with the blog! It was time for a little change I think, a little something to make it warmer and a little more earthy? Any opinions?

In the meantime, Mr. Squeaks is doing awesome! He's a total sweetheart and based on the fact that he absolutely loves attention, it's pretty clear he's a domestic rat. He has graduated to the Ritz Carlton of cages and he loves the new digs! We'll be looking for a great home for him. I love him to death, but he's such a social guy who loves attention! It would not be fair for me to keep him as I really don't have the time to spend with him that he deserves (and wants!)

       

Everyone else outside is hunkered down with the frigid temps and a new foot or more of snow dumped on us. It's miserable weather for trudging out there and caring for the gang. Thanks to Dad though (and his snow blower and the snow shoes he got me!), it's a little less miserable.......Whatever happened to having no overwinters and getting winters off so I could hibernate too!

Wilbur.

Here is Wilbur grunting away! Our new little piggy! :)  A handsome boy and obviously a little to accustomed to humans. He has no problem coming right over to me....he's basically looking for love in all the wrong places! Going to have to wild him up and get him used to raccoons so he can be released and take care of himself. 

Little Henry and Roxy are doing great. Henry decided the cuttle bone I had in my pocket for the squirrels belonged to him. He was enjoying it so much I had to let him keep it, of course!

Roxy.

Not much else going on around here, luckily! The extreme cold temperatures we're having around here seems to be keeping the critters holed up and out of sight. I managed to catch this goose with an injured leg at work the other morning. I brought him up to Tuft's, but unfortunately the damage was too severe to save him. At least he will not linger longer and suffer out there. He had a very comfortable night in the bathtub and probably one of the best meals he's had in ages, poor thing.