An update.

The hard drive in my computer was just replaced so I hope to be up and running soon...woohoo! In the meantime, a brief little update!

A couple happy endings thanks to Maureen! An adult bunny had been pretty much knocked out by a group of guys playing horseshoes. Poor thing had head trauma and I'm sure a pretty good headache! A few days in a nice quiet hutch and he was eating like a pig and no more head tilt. When I brought him back to his home he bolted out of the carrier....straight as an arrow across the field and into the bushes. Then she rescued a  young skunk about a week ago. Some lady found it floating in her pool one morning, scooped it out with a net, and left it there in her yard. It wasn't until later that afternoon that she decides to call animal control because it's still breathing! Ugghhh! I'm happy to report the little bugger made a full recovery though and is roaming happily in my woods now!

On to the raccoons.....

In the main pen. Trooper, Doc, Sis, Bama, Springer, Chester, Rizzoli, Isles, Tumbler, Legend, Sammy, Soldier, Rocco, Brim and Spit...all doing great. 5 of them are getting doxycycline for some skin lesions that developed on their foreheads just in case it's part of the whole mycoplasma problem that started with Pebbles and Porcelain earlier this spring.

In the small pen attached to the main pen we have Porcelain, Pebbles, Lucky and Ducky. They were separated out from the main pen after Pebbles developed a swollen foot and Ducky was limping, just in case it was a recurrence of the mycoplasma. They are also on doxy  and may stay for the winter, as fellow rehabbers across the state have begun a study on the disease as it seems to have reared it's ugly head all over the place! They are doing fine though so don't worry! Pebbles foot is pretty much healed and Ducky is no longer limping. Her issue was most likely just a minor injury.

In the larger baby pen we have Houdini, Pinner, Spencer, Petey and 5 of Laurie's little ones. Cooper and Mayhem arrived first then the younger 3 that for the life of me I can never remember their names and all 3 look alike! I'll get it eventually, especially if they stay the winter which is most likely since they are very small.

And finally we have the 4 boat babies in the release pen we had to throw up to handle the overflow!

It's a full house around here right now.

Peace in my animal kingdom.

I am always amazed by my furry friends! We already know from past posts that the coyote are not about to screw with the little stinkers.....and that they can, in fact, eat peacefully together out there under a mutual (albeit tenuous at times probably!) truce.
Though I am pretty sure a conflict between coyote and coonie would not ensue except under special circumstances, the coonies are smart enough not to push their luck it. (Any battle between the 2 would risk injury to winner & looser that could affect long term survival and they are both smart enough to know it! Why push your luck?!) The raccoons know when the coyotes are around and they make themselves scarce until they are gone.

Not so much respect for the red fox! At first, as all little ring-tailed piggies will do, they hog the food and chase them off! LOL

As time goes by though, even they can agree to co-exist under a mutual truce! And amazingly, we see the fruits of that understanding.....and I for one, am awed.

The little stinkers on the other hand are only sharing with the coonies because they have no choice! The skunks antics to attempt to scare off the coons are pretty much laughed at.....hysterically I might add, by the coons. There was one clip where a raccoon came in to eat and the skunk wanted none of it! He charged full tilt, tail held high, at the coonie. Mr. Coon proceeded to sit his fat butt down and actually looked toward the skunk like he was bored as stinky raced toward him. Just as the clip ended, so did the threat.....Mr. Coon obviously wasn't impressed and stinky had to slam on the breaks, his ass end flying into the air before coming back down to earth, as he managed to come to a halt within inches of the raccoon.

So eat together they do....because the raccoons love their food more than they fear the stink bomb!

My foxy friend.

Ever have one of those moments where there is a delay in your brain processing what your seeing?

The other afternoon I let the dogs out and when I peeked out to see what what they were up to (because it's usually no good!) I FREAKED OUT seeing this streak of orange walking towards the yard. My brain registered it as Rookie....my orange tiger cat! (the cats of which are not allowed outside to become coyote food!) Luckily the synapses connected properly before I went dashing outside to grab him and the fact that it was one of my resident foxes registered. Whew...heart attack over!

He or she (not sure which of my pair it was) was just inside the wood line heading toward the back yard. Then it noticed my 3 goofballs running around out there. Surprisingly it didn't react to them like it does when it sees me, by darting off into the woods! He stopped and watched, contemplated the threat level, then changed course slightly to maneuver around them. Quite relaxed, he trotted along maybe 30 feet away from them, occasionally stopping to confirm there was still no threat. Marly and Bernard either never saw him or just didn't care. Boo boo saw him and was interested enough to trot over towards the woods and watch, but that was the extent of it. (There is a path back in there where people walk their dogs so they are pretty used to watching other animals go by, and very good about watching with interest but staying put where they belong!)

The fox was so relaxed, in fact, that I had time to go grab my camera and watch as he came up along the driveway.... ....and rustled up some grub. Don't know what he got, but he sure enjoyed it!

He continued to investigate the area (one he's very familiar with, I see their prints all over my driveway and yard all the time!) and I watched until he finally wandered out of sight.

I ran into one of the little stinkers the other night too. Worked a late shift and driving down the driveway around 2:30 am I encounter a little moving pile of snow! Then the pile turned to face me and I realized it wasn't snow after all. The little fella turned and slowly walked away from me, right down the driveway where I needed to go. So I'm rolling along behind him, EVER SO SLOWLY, thinking it's gonna be a while before I get to the end at this pace! (I have a very long driveway!) One more glance back by stinky gets me an annoyed look, as if to say "Why are you still following me!?" He decides screw this! and climbs the snowbank along the side of the driveway and slowly waddles into the woods.

Temperatures switching back and forth between warm and cold have melted a lot of snow and made the remainder a lot easier to walk on top of now...at least for most of the animals out there. Many, like the skunks and coonies, are taking advantage of it while they can to forage.

The fox and coyote I can say where not dissuaded by this winter's weather at all out here! I have regularly seen the fox pair out there and almost as regularly heard the coyote yipping away....usually right outside my window and usually at some ungodly hour like 3am!

An update on my extended family!

My coyote pair has grown! Near the end of the summer looks like mom and dad brought the kids out to show them the best places to visit.Looks like the kids learn fast! This little guy decided to beat the crowd and came back on his own early the very next night. Isn't he the cutest, most handsome thing! Absolutely gorgeous!
I'm happy to report everyone is behaving and getting along well....at least while visiting mom's house! LOL
Here we have one of the little stinkers, a coonie and one of the red fox's. How do I know there's a fox there you wonder??

Surprise! LOL

The coonies and the stinkers pretty much have no problem with each other and often visit together. Here is Quinny politely enjoying a meal with a stinky guest!

Even more incredible........

Yup....no one screws with the skunks....at least not at mom's house! LOL How amazing is that? We could learn a LOT from our wild friends!!

And a special thanks to Kristen and all the wonderful people who send over goodies for the gang. As you can see the occasional sweet treat is greatly appreciated by the coonies who are not about to share it with anyone!

I'm outta here and I'm takin' the pie with me! Ha ha...what piggies!

I'm still here!

I apologize for my absence.....without getting into to much of the gross details, I ended up getting a fungus on my thumb that caused both my hands to become very itchy and irritated to say the least! It was difficult using my hands for much and I pretty much avoided the computer throughout it all. By the time I finished dealing with the animals my hands were too irritated to do much else with them anyway, despite the use of gloves! They are FINALLY getting better....the new meds are working and my hands are looking normal again for a change.

A lot has happened since! Qbert, Snarf and Snuffles have grown! They're in the big indoor cage and loving it. Snuffles is somewhat of an escape artist and occasionally I find her waiting for me on top of the cage while the boys try to figure out how to join her!

There has been a large influx of baby squirrels these past few days. One injured adult and 10 new babies have joined the crew! Good thing my hands are getting better....even with some nice padded gloves these guys are a handful.

Roo here has been a guest for a little while. He's a very sweet adult that came in injured....possibly hit by a car? He's dragging his back end, however he can move his feet and tail and feels pain when pinched. He's pretty quick when he wants to be. He is eating great and the wounds and scrapes on his back feet are healing well so for the time being, he has a place to rest and is being given some time to see if his back end is just bruised and will heal with rest.

We did end up releasing the gang this past Wednesday. The hurricane was a non-factor weather wise in this area. I took some video of the release and I'll be damned if I can figure out how to get it onto my computer to post it! Ugghhhh....very frustrating!!! I've been back a couple of times and no sign of the gang. Laurie and I are going to try to head out there tomorrow night and see if anyone is around. In the meantime I'll keep trying to get that darn video to do what I want it to!!!

Short but sweet...an update!

Holy cow! It's been CRAZY these past couple of weeks....I have not had a moment to post much of anything, I'm sorry! I took a chemical capture course at the Franklin Park Zoo to learn how to tranquilize and dart wildlife, I'm up to 6 baby squirrels, got in an adult injured skunk, and release day is pending for the gang out at the release site right now. It will be 2 weeks this coming Sunday....so anytime after that with a few days of good weather in the forecast, it's off they go. Maybe I'll actually get the pics of the release site up before they actually get released! LOL

My car is going into the shop on Thursday, so since I can't go anywhere anyway, maybe I can sit my ass on the computer and catch you all up...I promise to try!

Moving day, new babies & a visit with old babies.

Laurie and I spent the better part of today moving 16 of the babies to the release site in Littleton. We have spent the past week getting it ready. The boys with attitude and the NCIS kids with 6 of Laurie's gang are on their way to freedom soon. As soon as I find where I left the camera I'll get the pics posted! The move and mixing the 2 groups went REALLY well! Whew.

The second round of squirrel babies is in full swing. These 2 cuties are with me now. Both came in with upper respiratory problems but after a round of antibiotics they are doing great! Snarf is the boy and Snuffles is the girl....names are the result of their previous respiratory conditions...it just couldn't be helped! LOL

Got an early evening visit the other day too. I guess he didn't want to wait for dark and the rest of the crew! Early bird gets the worm.
Got anything good mom?

Oooooooo sardines!! How yummy!

Thanks mom! These are great!

The latest video I have been looking over from out there is crazy! Lots of activity with a couple of coyote and a fox.....all hanging out peacefully (and pretty cautiously I might add!) with the skunks out there! It's amazing....no one wants to mess with these guys! Can't say I blame them either.

How relaxed is that! You know, animals could teach us humans a lot I think!

Some of the neighbors.

All my woodland neighbors have been coming by for a visit lately! There are 2 pair of geese that are regular visitors and hang out together with their babies...this pair with their 3 kids and often another pair with a single kid. Looks like some of my little stinkers are still hanging around....I was happy to see this one passing through.


I'm really hoping to see pups following these guys one of these days! That would be awesome!

A lot of the coonie kids are out and about now with their moms....showing up everywhere pretty much!

And another pleasant surprise....perhaps one of my girls released in the spring?? There was quite a bit of possie activity here the last couple nights.


I thought this was Popeye at first.....the face is unmistakable...but upon further review of the accompanying video to this picture, it isn't. There is one other however, with the same face as Popeye.....his sister Foxy! Sure enough this is definitely a mom and with that face I am very confident it's our elusive Foxy girl! A very pleasant surprise indeed!

I've got another baby coming next week that a fellow rehabber has been caring for until it was weaned and out of quarantine. Hopefully I'll have Phil's necropsy results back by then so I can hopefully put it in with his gang if all is clear as far as contagious diseases go! At least if I don't have it back, I have the pens in the shed it can go into....only the babies that are cleared and out of quarantine graduate to the shed....I can't risk loosing that hazmat-free zone by putting anything out there unless it's been cleared!

I have 2 new kits that I couldn't say no to either, despite not having a quarantine free zone really. So I just put them in the guest bedroom for now! They were found at Dracut Quarry. The guys were working in the morning scooping from a pile of ground asphalt with a loader. When they dumped a load into another container, these 2 kits tumbled out. Alive and uninjured by some miracle, they were placed into a box and put aside for mom to find. A while later another bucket dumped into the container revealed the body of the mother. They had apparently been around the pile when part of it had collapsed onto them and buried them.....smothering the mom. The guys said the pile holds the heat and when they take bucket loads out of it small pockets are formed. Mom must have decided to rest with the babies in there and for one reason or another, the pile slid, burying them.

How could I say no to those poor babies! Luckily they are a little bit older....6-8weeks....and eagerly eat out of a bowl, making it much easier for me. Not all too friendly at first, but we had a breakthrough yesterday morning when the little girl decided to come over to me and start climbing onto my arm. Next thing you know she's jumping around playing with me! Little brother followed suit soon after and I have officially been accepted as the new mom now! I'll be holding my breath until their quarantine is over now! I can't handle another tragedy like Bramble and her siblings!

5 baby skunks heading this way Sunday also....looks like I'm back to a full house!

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!

River's group.

A little fun for River's group on their last day in the small cage. I spent one very long, HOT day moving around 27 raccoons to give the babies more space to run, play and climb. River's group are in the 10ft high cage now and loving it immensely!!! Diesel's group were moved into the big release pen out back and the little kids Peanut, Cinnamon, Phoenix and Raquel are in the pen vacated by Diesel's group. A lot of juggling!!!

RJ

RJ and Willie

My sweetheart River and Baloo behind her.

They also discovered the joy of eggs!

Baloo the monster coon. She's still the biggest baby....over 10lbs now!

Einstein enjoying a new toy....he and his siblings Flipper and Willie are the smallest of the group at a little over 6lbs. Look at the difference between him and River in the same toy below him! She's huge too!

River enjoys some tummy tickles from mom.

Had a little visit from one of the skunks last night. He was roaming around near the big pen checking out the area and I'm VERY happy to say that when we startled each other, he was kind enough to hold off on the secret weapon and upon hearing me talk to him, lowered his tail and ambled off.

3 Skunks & 1 rat go free!

Well it didn't take long for the skunks to realize the bottom of their cage was gone and they could dig their way to China if they wanted!

After some stomping around and checking things out around the edges....

....one starts digging away and boom.....within 10 minutes is out like a flash!!

While he did some exploring in the area, number 2 followed right behind out the hole...

Meanwhile number one is thoroughly enjoying himself playing hide and seek in the ground cover!

No one will ever find me under here! LOL

The first 2 sort of rambled off in one direction. I felt bad for number 3 a little. Didn't come out for a while and ended up going in a different direction....I would have felt better seeing them all head out in the same direction-together.

So my stinky little friends are on their own now...good luck little fellas!

Spunky the rat was released the day before these guys. I took his little nest box and tucked it in a nice woodpile down by the pond where I found him. No cute goodbyes there....never even saw him leave because he wasn't going to come out of there while I was around!

4 down, 23 raccoons to go!

Patience & Wisdom.

Love it! That's one smart dog!