STORIES | ARCHIVE 1 | ARCHIVE 2

Hope and Wendy

Hope came to us with two siblings that had ostensibly fallen from a tree as a result of ongoing tree work. All three had apparently gone several days without food or water, and were severely dehydrated and cold. Her two siblings died within hours of arrival, but Hope continued to fight. After re-hydration and heating, she began to show signs of recovery, and shortly thereafter began eating. She very quickly began to gain weight and become active. The next concern was companionship, since she was too small to be put in with the other squirrels being rehabbed.

Luckily within a week another lone squirrel, named Wendy, came to us. She was even smaller than Hope, but would soon catch up. Today, more than six months after release, Hope and her good friend Wendy continue to flourish and return frequently for handouts.

 

Hope and Wendy getting their first look at the big outside world

 

“Hey Wendy, look what I found!”

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Phil’s five

These five raccoons came to us from good Samaritan Phil.

Phil’s five start to feed on their own

He had found them huddled in a cardboard box that was snagged in a tree laying in the Catskill creek. It is presumed that they had been orphaned because a raccoon that had been hit by a car was found on the road in close proximity to the creek and the box. Although all seemed to be in good health, they had probably not been totally weaned. Being faced with the prospect of bottle feeding these five and then beginning the weaning process, it was decided that we would try to go directly to soft foods. After initially not being too receptive to our food presentations, hunger eventually prevailed and they decided to give this new cuisine a try. However there are obviously many ways of getting the food from the bowl to the stomach. Some paths are a little longer than others, requiring that the food be worn first! But eventually most of the food got to where it would do some good.

Raccoons, as people have very individual personalities. Some are reserved, some are shy, some are demonstrative and they are all very curious.

 

 

Within Phil’s five, there was one who was the most in need of attention, and would demand it constantly.

 

 

Phil’s five in boot camp

As a result he was named Klinger, not so much for the MASH character, but rather for the fact that he would always want to cling to his people. It turned out that he was also the one with a real sense of humor. All five were successfully released and some come back periodically to visit.

 

 

Klinger giving Mommy a kiss

 

 

 

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Bandita and Eminemma

These two started life in a box, left on the doorstep of a police department. Someone thought they were real cute and took them home for Mom and the kids. Unfortunately, in their new home, they were not being properly fed or cared for (they are not pets!), but of course everyone there fell in love with the little ones. After it became apparent to the would-be rescuers that things were not going well, they began to look for help, which brought them to us. The rescurer arrived one evening with the two little ones in tow.

Bandita drinking milk

 

It was explained to us that the children had named them Bandit and Em-in-em since they were two little boys. Well, after a casual inspection it was determined that they were in fact two little girls. So, they were re-named Bandita and Eminemma! They were both undernourished from not being provided the right diet and both were almost furless due to the fact that they had been treated with flea power. It took several months to get them to start growing properly and to re-grow their fur. Luckily, even though they were still somewhat small for their age, they were releasable in the late Fall.

 

 

They both survived the first winter, and Eminemma has returned with her off-springs. We are really not sure what has happened to Bandita, but we fear that she may have succumbed to a porcupine encounter.

 

 

 

Bandita and Eminemma poolside

 

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Prince the French speaking deer

Prince was our first real introduction to rehabbing.

Not that he was our first animal, but rather that he brought us to the realization that to be a rehabber means you have to be resourceful! Receiving a frantic phone call one weekend evening, we were pushed into quickly building a facility to house a fawn that was just a few months old.

 

A very sedated Prince

It seems that a couple from Hunter were driving along the Schoharie when they observed a deer in distress in the middle of the creek. The police and other bystanders were already on the scene, but no one apparently knew what to do, or were unwilling to do what was needed. Luckily, this couple had an inflatable raft in the back of their station wagon. They walked the raft into the middle of the creek and loaded the injured fawn onto the raft. They immediately procured veterinary care for the fawn, and were told to find someone to rehab him. When they brought him to us he was heavily sedated and not feeling much like moving around. We let him recoup in a big dog carrier overnight, safely tucked into our garage. By the morning there didn’t seem to be much change, but it was apparent that he would need a larger pen area. A quick pen was improvised in the garage, straw and wood chips were spread. He had suffered some head trauma, and his left eye was completely swollen shut. We kept him there for a few days, treating his head wounds and applying ointment to his eye, but he was not eating. We calculated that he should be eating on his own, but surmised that his accident may have caused some regression. Attempting to bottle feed him proved unsuccessful. Becoming concerned that he would begin to dehydrate we decided that the only way to get food and fluids in was to gavage (from the French to gorge; term used for tube feeding) him. Unfortunately we didn’t have all of the proper equipment on hand, so we improvised with a funnel and a customized plastic tubing. As we walked back into the garage, talking about gavaging, Prince hearing us took one look at the equipment we were carrying and began eating on his own! So we assume that he probably understood French!

 

Prince’s banged up head and eye - getting better

Once he started eating his recovery was dramatic and was able to be released in about ten days. One day we just left his pen door open in he just nonchalantly walked off, grazing as he went. He is doing well and comes back regularly for “supplemental” feedings!

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Ravensbeard’s five

One of the necessities of rehabbing is to help

 

 

 

The Ravenbeard’s bunch

 

 

 

 

other rehabbers especially when time and facility limitations become overextended. Unfortunately animals all tend to be born at about the same time period and the surges that the rehabber experiences can be overwhelming!

 

The Ravensbeard’s group came to us due to these circumstances. They were all very healthy and were all eating well.

All they needed was to be fed and housed. Being in a group of five meant that they would interact socially and generally amuse themselves without much help from us. Upon being released they pretty much left as a unit. They spent a day or two in the nesting boxes provided, but in a weeks time they had all disappeared into the woods. This was great because they now were all back to where they belonged.

 

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Thank-you to Anna & Walt Grote for sharing
their wonderful stories!

Ravensbeard Wildlife Center
75 Turkey Point
Saugerties, NY 12477
845.901.0633

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