Raccoons!

I want to make a post dedicated entirely to raccoons. These impish little punks are so endearing, you can't help but love them. They are inquisitive and each have unique personalities. They will use their little hands to pull anything sitting next to their cage inside to play with. They wash their food before they eat it.

They always sleep in piles, and when they don't have another raccoon to cuddle, will resort to this:

I love you, water bowl.

When first born, they are no larger than the size of a hamster. But they still have the adorable striped tail and mask. Just look at his little paws.

Try and resist the cute, I dare you.

They would make terrible pets, but I really enjoy raising them at work. They are little trouble makers, feisty and far too curious. Absolutely marvelous animals.

The most livid I have ever been in my life

See this, kids? This is why you don't raise wildlife without a license. Or a brain. I don't recall feeling this absolutely infuriated in my life. This person's "caring" probably gave this baby raccoon metabolic bone disease.

I don't care how cute they are. I don't care how much you want it for a pet. I don't care how hard it would be on your kids to give whatever fluffy creature you found to a rehabber. Not only is it dangerous, illegal, and expensive for you and your family, you will likely harm the animal in the process. If it is a rabies vector species and the health department finds out you have handled it without gloves, guess who gets beheaded and tested for rabies? By some unjust law of man, not the idiot who picked up the skunk/raccoon/bat with their bare hands.

TL;DR: Abuse wildlife and I will find you and punch you in the face.

Babies!

Well, folks, I have a new camera. And you all know what that means: tons of new pictures!

We have a few new creatures I would like to highlight. First of all, this newly hatched bobwhite quail. I have never even seen an adult, but this little guy got separated from his family and now lives in our bird room.

He makes this tiny peeping sound whenever you open his incubator. He is what you call precocial, where he is born ready to run and forage for himself.

Remember the famous lyrics from Pocahontas? "Have you ever heard the wolf cry to the blue corn moon, or asked a grinning bobcat why he grins?"

I always was skeptical of that line, because I had never seen a bobcat, much less one that smiled. Well, bobcats actually grin.

Bobette is my favorite animal on the property, I'll be honest. How could she not be, with that face?


You know what doesn't get enough love? Opossums. Everyone thinks they are a pest, or dirty. But clearly, not everyone has encountered baby possums.

They are my favorite when they are about hamster sized. Still small enough to not care if you need to hold them to feed them or clean their cages, but old enough to have personalities.

They have prehensile tails, and stick to everything like velcro. Seriously, how can you resist that face?

Bird Mom

Barred Owl

Well, I have been officially designated bird mom during the bird specialist's days off. They need to be fed every half an hour, and starlings really make an impressive sound.

But they really do have fascinating personalities. We have a blue jay that has been at the center for over a year. He can mimic all kinds of sounds, from crows to red shouldered hawks. Today, he made puppy whimper noises along with sounds like the doors opening.

The raptors are still one of my favorite animals to work with. I mean really, who can resist this face?

Bobette, who is precious.

And then there is one of my favorite personalities on the property: Bobette. A little bobcat that came in with her brother, she is adorable. She is exactly like a house kitten, but with talons and sharper teeth. But she has the same curiosity and daring as a normal kitten. It can be hard to take pictures of her or feed her because she really is too fond of shoelaces.

I know we aren't supposed to, but I find myself getting a little attached to some of the animals. They are adorable and inquisitive, often too much for their own good. This really is a fantastically rewarding field, I am definitely enjoying it, even during the harder parts.

Loss

Today was 104 degrees.

I was in charge of the bird area. One of the volunteers came up to me and said, "One of the birds is lying on its back!" so I ran to the cage and there was a robin I was certain was dead. He just came in and wasn't eating well.

So I picked him up and he blinked and lifted his head a little. I got a little bit of fluids into him, but he passed away while I was holding him.

I'm not even going to try to counter that with a cute story or witty comment.

Goaty

There is a character of the Rehab crew that I have not yet introduced. For the sake of anonymity, I can't introduce people, but this lady deserves a note.

Meet Goaty! She's actually secretly evil, and tries to challenge everyone to a head-butting contest. But will occasionally tolerate petting.

She has a rather peculiar fear of water, as well. Today I came outside and found her in the golf cart and couldn't resist taking a picture.

It was a really easy day at work today, we finished all of our tasks early. However, while we were checking in animals that had been dropped off at the shelter, there was a dove with a severely broken humorous. Between the nearly 100 degree heat, being dehydrated, probably locking my knees, and seeing the inside of a bird's wing, I started getting tunnel vision and had to pass the dove to my boss and go sit down for a while.

I have no idea why that specific sight got to me, considering the other nasty cases that come in to wildlife rehab centers. I'm told girls have actually passed out before, so at least that didn't fully happen.

Overall, though, not a bad day. I'm starting to get the hang of things.

Opposites

This is the second fawn in a week with ticks covering the eyes

I was off work today, but dropped in because my boss and I were supposed to do a kayak release of some opossums tonight. However, when I got there, they were pulling ticks off of this little guy's eyes.

So, I didn't get to kayak today. This is the second deer in a week with this problem. Luckily, their eyes should retain sight, once the vet sees them. The problem is, fawns just sit in grass, and they don't have any way to keep ticks off of themselves.

This, or other injuries, are the only reasons to move a fawn! Otherwise it is likely kidnapping and you just don't see mom.

So that is one of the sad sides to work. For some brain-bleach, here's a little duckling I had to hold while its cage was cleaned out.