Yes, yes, I know, this update is WAY late, but since July 15, I’ve had 46 animals come in, quite a few of them squirrels! Because this is gonna be a long update otherwise, I’m going heavy on photos and light on text…which I’m sure no one will complain about, huh?
The barn swallows from the 7-15 update were released near the first of August. They’re such pretty, cheerful, chatty little birds. I miss them, but they immediately joined the colony of barn swallows we have hanging around, which is good.
I also released the brown thrasher and blue jay; only the blue jay is still coming around, but he’s very camera shy now. A couple of the other blue jays released several months ago are still showing up, and they’re both going through a molt—funniest, most pitiful sight you’ve ever seen!
Yeah, it's an odd angle...she wasn't a real cooperative photo subject, though!
We received an adult Eurasian collared dove with a bruised wing, which required just a few days of rest before she could be released. See the band that gives the species its name?
I released the deer, as well, and of course, he’s still hanging around—and will for another couple of months, maybe more. The second deer I took in had to be euthanized shortly after intake. I limited my deer intakes this year, as I was so swamped with everything else.
I also released two possums and had nine more come in. Yeah, nine within 24 hours—thank goodness they were near the age to begin lapping formula from a dish on their own, since I also had squirrels beginning to come in. At the moment, I have 15 squirrels, ranging from app. 3 weeks to app. 8 weeks old. The 8-weekers are beginning to play at lapping formula from a dish, thank goodness!
Seven of nine possums that came in during late July.
First of 15 squirrels to come in.
Yet another brown thrasher, a pre-fledgling, came in; this one had been fed seasoned ham, and the salt was quite literally burning his crop up. Thrashers are normally fairly quiet birds, but this poor baby was screaming and bouncing up and down—can’t say I blame him, either. Imagine someone pouring pureed japalenos down your throat, and that’s about what he had to feel like! Luckily, I was able to flush out his crop with no lasting damage and he has since been released.
Here again, folks, DON’T feed wildlife any sort of processed, seasoned or cooked food. Their digestive systems aren’t designed to handle it. For those who are unsure, processed foods would include deli meats, sandwich slices, and iced tea—yep, I had some people give a mocker iced tea. Within 12 hours of intake, he spat up a huge mass of bloody tissue and died. This is what can happen when wildlife is fed inappropriate foods, okay, people? NO PROCESSED, SEASONED OR COOKED FOODS—got it?? And while we’re at it, NO COW’S MILK for any species, furred or feathered.
I also had two independent juvenile rabbits come in. They had been brought up by the rescuer’s dog, so it seemed safer to keep them for observation and release them on my place, where the only predators they’d face would be wild ones.
LWR also received a juvenile Mississippi kite from near the South Carolina line. I was, believe it or not, the closest federally licensed rehabber to the couple who found him. He’s now with Steve Hicks of Bubba & Friends, who is in a race against time to get this kite and another of about the same age ready to join a flock in time for their species’ fall migration to Central/South America.
An adult Mississippi kite wasn’t so lucky; his wing was broken and it was an open fracture, which is pretty much a death sentence for a bird of any species. Look at the difference in the coloration between the juvies and adults—amazing, huh?
And this gorgeous female great horned owl came in with nearly all the feathers under her right wing missing but no damage to the feathers on the wing itself. Since there were no open wounds and she was eating voraciously on her own, she was released after evaluation by Steve Hicks.
For those of you who like to keep up with these things, I’m at 207 intakes for the year, with four months remaining, and 115 phone calls that didn’t result in the intake of a critter, many of them from the metro Atlanta area and several from out of state.
And yes, for the record, I’m tired. No, I’m beyond tired; I’m just plain exhausted. Luckily, the next four months are usually fairly slow…and I probably just jinxed myself and will now be swamped with everything imaginable, in record numbers…
And yes, for the record, I’m tired. No, I’m beyond tired; I’m just plain exhausted. Luckily, the next four months are usually fairly slow…and I probably just jinxed myself and will now be swamped with everything imaginable, in record numbers…
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