Laurens Wildlife Rescue
  • Home
  • I found a wild baby - what do I do?
  • How can I help?
  • Contact us
  • FAQ
  • This week in wildlife

Fall slowdown, NOT standstill!

11/1/2010

0 Comments

 
Oh joy!  The last of the gray squirrels have left, and after a heavier-than-usual second breeding season (gray squirrels generally have two breeding seasons, late winter and late summer), I’m delighted to see the last little bushy-tail depart. After hearing from several other rehabbers around the state, it would appear that we all had bumper crops of gray squirrels this year.

Picture
Picture
And someone forgot to tell the cottontails that their peak breeding season was done, as this youngster would indicate. I rarely name  cottontails, as they either don’t survive or are released so quickly, but Miss Delilah came in just after her eyes had opened, having been fed a diet of milk and eggs for two days before I got her—for the record, this is NOT appropriate food for a rabbit, wild or domestic—and she was such a little sweetheart that we fell in love with her even though we knew she was going to be a heartbreaker. I knew that, given rabbits’ delicate digestive systems, the improper food was probably going to be fatal, but I had high hopes when she seemed to be thriving after three days. Unfortunately, she developed massive diarrhea overnight.  If caught quickly enough, diarrhea doesn’t always have to be fatal for cottontails, but Delilah’s hit during the night and by the next morning, it was touch and go. I thought we were out of danger by the end of the day, but the stress was too much for this little love and she died during the night.


Picture
October was also a bumper month for red tails. This adult male came in so weak and emaciated he couldn’t even stand up. He had a broken wing that had healed in the wild. I honestly didn’t expect him to make it through the night, but I started fluids and small but frequent feedings—feeding a starving animal too much too quickly will kill it—and by the next morning he was standing.  Given his apparently miraculous recovery, I started calling him Lazarus; unfortunately, he quickly began throwing up his food and died shortly afterward. Makes you wonder how the human Lazarus fared after his return from death…


Picture
This first year female red tail was luckier; she was found by hunters before she became debilitated. Her wing was also broken and had begun healing in the wild, and Steve Hicks of Bubba & Friends raptor rehab is optimistic that she’ll make a full recovery.  She’s already capable of short flights.


Picture
 During the few days I had her, I enjoyed watching her lightning-fast reflexes when I offered her mice. This very large, very aggressive lady would leap up, snag a mouse in one foot, and be eating it by the time she hit the bottom of her box.  Look at that face—it just screams huntress extraordinaire!


Picture
This poor barred owl was alert and ate well, but his leg had sustained multiple fractures when he was hit by a car, necessitating euthanasia.  Barred owls aren’t as flashy as great horned owls nor as cute as screech owls, but despite their sweet faces, they’re aggressive hunters who will even prey on their own species.


Picture
And finally, just this past weekend,  I had an uncommon visitor: an American coot. Coots are small waterfowl who overwinter in Georgia. This adult male had the misfortune to be hit by a car, probably shortly after he arrived here for the winter, judging by his abundant fat reserves.  Coots are year-round residents out West and summer residents up North, but we only see them in the late fall and winter. 

Picture
They look like small ducks with chicken beaks, really. Coots have the neatest, largest feet—instead of webbed feet, they have scalloped lobes on each toe.  Our poor winter guest had multiple pelvic and hip fractures; his x-ray looked like a jigsaw puzzle, so obviously, he was euthanized.


Picture
And for those of you who haven’t heard this too-funny tale, I offer one of my most recent “I can’t make this stuff up” experiences:

Late one afternoon a couple of weeks ago, the local 911 called—a lady in the county seat had reported an injured turkey. I asked for the lady's name and number and immediately called her, thinking the whole time, A turkey? In town? The lady answers and I identify myself and ask her to tell me what she's got...

 "Well, it's a wild turkey, and there's a dead animal in the road and he just keeps going back and eating on it, and when a car comes by he flies or runs off and then comes back, and I don't know what's wrong with him."

I already know what she's got, and it ain't a turkey...exactly. "Are you sure it's a turkey?"

"Well, yeah, it's got a red head--ain't that a turkey?"

"Ma'am, turkeys don't eat roadkill; what you have is a turkey vulture, and there's nothing wrong with him if he can fly away and return to his meal between cars." I'm stifling laughter at this point.

"Get outta here! I'm so excited! It's a what?"

"A turkey vulture. They have red heads, like a turkey. That's where the name comes from." My voice HAS to be trembling by this point; I'm biting my lips so I don't laugh in her ear.

"Damn!  Who knew? What's it called again?"

I speak veerrry slowly and enunciate veerrry clearly. "A. tur.key. vul.ture."

"Well, I had no idea! Are they common around here?"

"Yes ma'am, they're pretty common. You might want to go drag the carcass out of the road between cars, so he doesn't end up roadkill while eating roadkill. Vultures are pretty good at avoiding cars, but every now and then some do get hit."

"Oh, I can't do that; I can't handle that kind of thing! There's not a lot of traffic on this street, anyway."

I'm ready to end this conversation now. "Well, just keep any eye out and let's hope he doesn't get hit while he's eating."


Sooo…in light of this glaring case of mistaken identity, please be sure the turkey you serve for Thanksgiving is indeed a turkey and not a vulture! 

0 Comments

    Archives

    April 2025
    March 2025
    February 2025
    January 2025
    December 2024
    November 2024
    October 2024
    September 2024
    August 2024
    July 2024
    June 2024
    May 2024
    April 2024
    March 2024
    February 2024
    January 2024
    December 2023
    November 2023
    October 2023
    September 2023
    August 2023
    July 2023
    June 2023
    May 2023
    April 2023
    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    August 2011
    July 2011
    June 2011
    May 2011
    April 2011
    March 2011
    February 2011
    January 2011
    December 2010
    November 2010
    October 2010
    September 2010
    August 2010
    July 2010
    June 2010
    May 2010
    April 2010
    March 2010
    February 2010
    January 2010
    December 2009
    November 2009
    October 2009
    September 2009
    August 2009
    July 2009
    June 2009
    May 2009
    April 2009
    March 2009
    February 2009
    January 2009
    December 2008
    November 2008
    October 2008
    September 2008
    August 2008
    July 2008
    June 2008
    May 2008
    April 2008

    Categories

    All
    Baby Birds
    Baby Deer
    Baby Opossums
    Baby Possums
    Baby Rabbits
    Bluegray Gnatcatchers
    Carolina Wren
    Common Loons
    Epd
    Fawns
    House Finch
    Mbta
    Migratory Bird Treaty Act
    Mockers
    Mockingbirds
    Orphaned Birds
    Orphaned Deer
    Orphaned Fawns
    Orphaned Opossums
    Orphaned Possums
    Orphaned Rabbits
    Orphaned Wildlife
    Squirrels
    Wildlife
    Wood Ducks

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.