Deer Diary...

"Dear Diary, today I found a great spot to rest and relax and eat some yummy apples.....what a find. I will keep it to myself. I try really hard to come out when no one is looking but today it did not work. Some person came strolling by with two of those other funny looking four legged things and they stopped and stared. Don't they know how rude that is and how that hurts my feelings".

Yes, here is a deer that took a break one hot July afternoon to eat some apples from a neighbors tree right here in Berkeley Lake. She proceeded to go across the street and lay down in an abandoned house's green lot to take her afternoon nap. It's not unusual to see wildlife out during the day when the weather is hot. They are doing what they need to do to survive (get some form of food, hydration). Unfortunately she's also not so street smart and that is the demise for quite a few deer that dwell among us in suburbia. This one took of as soon as she had her fill. Funny thing was I walked by her with Dudley (my Great Pyr) and she did not even move...so she still knows how to "strike the pose"

Good citizen to the rescue

I got a cooter in my car. WHAT I say to the caller? She says again, a giant cooter that was hit, I picked her up, she's in my car, are you the turtle vet? Hold on I say....you have a injured turtle? Yes...someone told me to bring it to you. Can I come now? Yes I say. Not knowing what the hell I was getting, this is what showed up....a slider! Look at this magnificant baby (well this is most likely a mid to elder, based on his size). He had a few scuff on the bottom, and was way ready to be released back to the wild. Since he was picked up on a very busy highway, I released him back to the creek which adjoins the lake near where I live. Happy again to be away from the concrete jungle

Ester Williams hangs on

This is little Ester. Found in a swimming pool filter having held on for most of the night, she was found just in time and brought to me. SHe's recovering but not without some strange issues. Her biggest issue is related to the mysterous patches she's got on her tail, as well as the fact that she's not gaining weight. It's possible that she's got Metabolic Bone Disease as well...as she looks slightly deformed, but us able to walk and respond like a normal little Possie. I will give her a few more weeks of good food, rest and relaxation and then evaluate her for her ability to sustain herself in the wild. Cute little thing wet or dry (she prefers the dry side).

Did you know that opossums are excellent swimmers? They use those amazing tails like rudders too and those back legs are like little motors. Do they prefer to swim...hard to say. Rarely do any of us see them do it. I had an instance where my neighbor released one of my rehabbed possies on her aunts acres of land with a pond. That possum headed right to the water and swam across the pond and came out on a branch/downed tree. They said they all stood there without breating until she reached the other side only to sun herself on the log. So...we all know now, like to or not, in the event of an escape route, they will certainly take to the water if they have to.

Lucky 13

Did you know......that baby opossums are called joey's?
And did you know that a mother can have up to 25 or more babies but only 13 will survive since she's only got 13 little facets at the watering hole? That's right. I guess that's natures way of keeping things in balance. Here is a pouch of exactly 13 babies that came in with their dead mother (car incident) a few nights ago. These are not extremely young babies (about 5 weeks), but they are still VERY small and need to be fed via a tube. Baby opossums don't suckle like other animals, the swallow the nipple and the mother decides when and how much milk to pump into their little bellies. Rehabbing very small possums can be VERY challenging. Simulating this feeding is one thing, but so is simulating the pouch and the balance of Oxygen and Carbon Minoxide and moisture. You see their environment is so damp and specialized, as is their breathing requirements, there is a point in time when babies which are too small don't have a good likelyhood to rehab without suffering at the hand of a well meaning rehabber. Meaning, the chance of aspiration and pneumonia with constant 2 hour feeding intervals is probable. When someone that does not know what they are doing tries, the outcome is ususally not good. This is why in most all cases I URGE the public to contact a licenced and skilled rehabber to handle these little Jack's and Jills.

These guys are going to the wildlife center....as I am traveling and have to find a baby sitter. We will see how they do the first few days...and if they are taking well to tube feeding without getting pneumonia...then we will keep things moving forward.

I love "possums"!!!!!!!!!!!

Looking for My Soul Mate...he's has feathers and goes beep beep....

OK...look at this picture. Cute as can be...and so afraid (THANK GOD). Baby coyotes can be crazy wild, but this little one is so shell shocked, he's stayed still long enough for his picture to be taken. About 3-4 weeks old, we are not sure what really happened to his mother. The caller told me she called so many places, no one would take him. He's safe and sound and being rehabilitated. He will do fine...releasing him is another story. Frequently, like foxes, coyotes find themselves on the other side of most urban dwellers who come upon them visiting the trash cans or backyard gardens. Too often when the housecat goes missing, the coyote get's blamed. I tell people...if you are afraid that the cat will get eaten...keep it in! Wildlife was here first....they are only doing what they were born to do, survive. If you choose to set up a buffet for them and part of the main course includes your cat, it's your fault if it goes missing. OK...off my soap box. They are SOOOOOOO misunderstood and sadly trapped and killed because of fear. When you see a story on the news about a trapped coyote or fox RARELY does that animal live. It's not legal to re-release them (because of them being considered a nuance species and the fact that they are considered a RVS). Oh BTW, relocating ANY animal to another habitat is not doing the animal any favor. Nature has something called a carrying capacity. The last statistics I read said that any relocated animal has less than a 20% chance of survival in another habitat. Trapping does not solve anything..it just gives the present animals space to fill in the void with a larger amont of pups next year. That's how nature works. Any trapper that tells you he's going to trap and release a coyote, fox, or any other RVS is lying to you. It's illegal for them to do that. By laws of most states, they have to euthanize them. I don't mean they are going to get humanely put to sleep with sedation and then a lethal injection either. NO...if you really want to know how they do it, contact me. I will spare the rest of you. This is the harsh reality to trapping and the challenges our poor wild animals face every day as their habitat quickly disappears and they have no choice but to move into more people filled areas. The other day one of my neighbors asked me "what are we going to do about the deer problem in the neighborhood". I asked here...what problem. She replied...well they are eating the neighbors roses. I almost blew a fuse!!!!!

Anyway...I can only hope this little fellow grows and finds a way to stay clear of the city. Although country living is no better because people in the woods shoot whatever they want and rarely get caught. It's a sad world we live in some times.

This is why they call them.....wild

Here is Balou...the centers Bobcat. She was kept by some good meaning public. Now she has to live her life in a cage (sad really). Here we are hamming it up for the visitors.....nothing like a 20lb cat on your head chuffing and purring and then doing the stinky face (formally called Flehmen). The flehmen response (from German flehmen, meaning to curl the upper lip), is a particular type of curling of the upper lip which in essence facilitates the transfer of pheromones and other scents into the vomeronasal organ, also called the Jacobson's Organ.In the flehmen response, animals draw back their lips in a manner that makes them appear to be "grimacing". The action, which is adopted when examining scents left by other animals either of the same species or of prey, helps expose the vomeronasal organ and draws scent molecules back toward it. This behavior allows animals to detect scents, for example from urine, of other members of their species or clues to the presence of prey. I wonder if I smell good or bad to her?

How cute is this?

Baby fox, in a drain for days. Rescued mothers day.....what a gift