A lot of updates!

Here is the new kid on the block. His tree was cut down and the gentleman that did it didn't realize there was a problem until he heard this little guy screaming and clinging to a branch. Unfortunately the rest of the family did not make it, but the man was kind enough to scoop this guy up and get him to me. He's a monster squirrel...huge for his age. He basically weighs what Peewee weighed when he came in, and Peewee was 4 weeks older!

Chunky was in perfect condition when I got him, having only lost his mother 3 hours prior, and amazingly not a single injury from the fall. He's doing great and eating like a pig. Speaking of Peewee.....he is doing great as well! Although still smaller than his sisters, he's growing like a weed and gaining ground fast...especially since he's not competing for mom's milk anymore. He's going to be just fine.
Sweetie, Luci, Wombat and his sister have already moved from this cage into the larger pre-release cage. They have graduated to bowls of formula and are eating solid foods well.

2 squirrels that came in from McGrath Animal Hospital where I used to work and 3 squirrels that arrived just before heading out to Laurie's birthday party have all be relocated with another rehabber who amazingly had none yet! She said she would take 10, so we took a look at the hoard we all had and mixed and matched and got a group together for her, including a couple of Lisa's and some that came in while we celebrated Laurie turning 29 (again...LOL).

Now for the raccoons.

Lucky & Ducky are doing great. Not having had mom at all, they are a little behind the 8 ball...smaller and slower to develop, but they are thriving. Stony's 2, Pebbles and Porcelain, are doing great as well. They had mom's milk for a whole day and what a difference it makes. They are larger and although a week younger, their eyes opened much sooner.
Here we have Lucky and Ducky on the left (Ducky being the smallest little guy in the middle) and Pebbles on the right.

Porcelain so named because she is almost white...not even a light blond tint like the light ones usually are, but white. She's beautiful and the biggest and fluffiest of the group.

Actually they are all a little fluffier now after getting baths. Someone decided to poop in there and of course they ALL had to roll in it! Lucky was less than thrilled I think! LOL

On to Trooper the monster coon! A perfect example of how much better mom's milk really is! He had mom for over 2 weeks and it shows! Weighing in at over a pound now(560 grams).....he's not fat, he's just big boned!

He's at the puppy dog stage...where his ears look more like a puppy's.

He is now in with the 2 sisters rescued from the evil homeowner, Doc and a yet to be named sister. Doc is missing part of an ear so it will always be easy to identify her! Both girls are about the same age as Trooper, but about 200 grams smaller. Like I said...he's a monster coon!

They love to snuggle with their fur from coats for cubs....thanks to Pat cutting some of the coats up into usable sized pieces for them!

I have wonderful news about River and her babies! I finally got a peek at all 4, very adorable and playful kits with River. Since putting her in the enclosed section of the pen, I have not been able to check the babies due to her murderous attempts to kill me anytime I tried to open the door! I could only hope for the best and quickly toss food and water in there and slam the door shut just before she could reach me and maul me...hehe. Now that the main part of the pen is vacant and cleaned.....she's had some more breathing room and has been out exploring.....

She is also much less murderous towards me when I approach the pen on this side....she has even calmly sat there on the other side of the door while I toss some food in to her.

Well, a couple nights ago all 4 were out with mom hanging out on that top shelf and in that den box! I had the very extreme pleasure of watching her gently play with the very mobile and curious kits. I'm happy to report that Tigris, Amazon, Nile and Howell are perfect and adorable as ever. As soon as I see them out when there is enough light for pictures, you'll see for yourselves!

Dad is making great progress on the isolation room. What used to be an empty corner that collected junk is quickly becoming a very useful area.

Frame, fluorescent light and door is up, some electrical outlets are going in as we speak and it won't be long before it's in use I'm sure!

I think that pretty much brings us up to speed...gotta go help dad bring up the new microwave....mine of course s#!t the bed the other morning...just as I was rushing around trying to get everyone fed before leaving for work of course! Grrrrrr

Crazy weekend.....great visits!

What a crazy weekend it has been! Started off the end of the week with a double delight on Thursday.....Ringer and her sister Belle came in for a visit! At least I had my cell phone with me this time for pictures. Ringer greeted me on the path and followed me to the feeding platform and minutes later her sister came crashing through the bushes. That's Ringer in the top picture and Belle in the second....

Of course just because they came in at the same time does not mean they were exactly getting along! They were not on the best of terms and did not want to see each other, but at the same time they both wanted to say Hi to mom and of course get the little handful of chow I brought in case of just such an occasion.

So they came up with a compromise both could live with! LOL
Friday was full of cleaning and torching the main pen, now that the girls were moved out of it. What a project that was.....all day...ugghhh. But it looks great and River now has access to much more room to move about and have the babies explore once they start coming out of the den box.....if she ever lets them! Talk about your overprotective mom!
Saturday was even longer as Laurie and I took a trapping course that is required to become PAC (problem animal control) agents. All day long in a course about trapping and killing wildlife. It was difficult but necessary....now we can become licensed to legally trap animals in other peoples houses and get them outside be released humanely or reunited with the babies left in attics to help prevent so many mom's from being killed and babies ending up in rehab.
Thanks Lisa for taking all our babies to feed for the very long day while we were gone!!!
Sunday was full of feeding babies and heading to JoAnn's house to celebrate Laurie's birthday! It looked like a zoo with carriers full of babies that we all brought that would need feedings throughout the afternoon. We spent more time feeding all the babies than we did feeding ourselves! LOL ....and we were constantly getting new ones delivered while we were there!
Par for the course this time of year. That's why we always get together at one of our houses...so we can bring the babies that need to be fed and still hang out together at the same time!
Whew....I need a day off from my days off!

Mother's Day for me this year.

Once again the invitation goes out to you all.......a second day of help at my place has been organized for Sunday May 8th. I know, it's Mother's Day, but it was actually a good day for a few brave souls to tackle the task of organizing and building things around here. This year the mother of all that is fanged & furry gets a little Mother's Day treat!

So if you happen to have part of the day free, you are welcome to come by and check things out!

Friends, foes & moving day for the girls.

Still no visit from Vin yet, but Scrappy here is still making regular visits. He especially likes to show up when I'm out feeding everyone else. Hmmmmmm, wonder why that is??? LOL

After running into Scrappy I had the extreme pleasure of running into my Ringer girl! I had just thrown a little treat to Hissy out back and as I went to walk by the main feeding platform she came running down to see me. So I gave her some dinner and we hung out while she ate. She looks great and, as usual, despite not seeing each other for months, she was quite happy to see me and was more than accepting of a few scratches under the chin and behind the ears! How wonderful it is to see how well she has done since her release in 2006!!

Yesterday Laurie and I got the girls moved to the release site! After a frustrating, sometimes humorous (not all coonies turn around to bite you when you grab their tails to prevent them from getting up a tree after escaping!), sometimes painful (unfortunately for Laurie....some do when you're not the mamma and you're trying to grab them!) we FINALLY got them all packed in crates and shipped to the release site.

So in a couple weeks, Pip, Merry, Dolci, Stony, May, Amy, Moose and Kinky will be free at last! Maybe they can say Hi to Baloo, Cinn, Peanut and the gang if they run into them since it's the same release site.

My little red friends don't seem to be stalking the squirrel feeder as much....but I do occasionally have to chase one or the other off. I came downstairs the other day to find this one laying on the ground right in front of the deck. On top of the railing was a big fat (obviously very smart) squirrel....just sitting up watching it! OK....maybe it was actually taunting it! That squirrel knew to stay calm and sit tight....the fox wasn't getting it up there. LOL

I opened the kitchen window to "suggest" to the fox it might want to move along. As it took off across the yard, foiled once again, it turned and I got one last dirty look before it ran into the woods.

Instead of sauntering off into the woods as usual, I think it decided to test our intelligence a little. A grateful squirrel was not fooled in the least and opted to trot right past me into the woods while I stood guard.
Sorry little fella....I love you guys, but this is not the fox feeding station! (But it sure is nice to get such a close up look at such a beauty!)