More Animal Tales from Wild Baby Rescue Center

More Animal Tales

by Wild Baby Rescue
our November COTM

nominated by Rebecca of MsBekkahsCorner

Text & Photos courtesy of WBRC

Little Hawk the Squirrel

So You Think You Had A Bad Day?

One day in March a little squirrel fell from a tree. A woman saw him fall and left him for a while hoping that his mom would return and carry him back up to his nest in the tree. She sat at the window to make sure he was alright.

Suddenly a hawk swooped down and picked up the little squirrel. The woman screamed scaring the hawk and the baby squirrel once again plummeted towards the earth. The woman decided to rescue the baby squirrel and bring him inside. As she left her house the neighborhood feral cat grabbed the squirrel and started off with him. The woman was able to get the cat to come to her and drop the baby squirrel. He sustained several injuries including punctures from the cat's teeth, a wound from the hawk's talons and a broken shoulder from one of the falls.

He was given antibiotics and put on small cage rest. The little squirrel had to rest with minimal activity until his shoulder healed but he was very lonely.

Squirrels are very social animals and need the warmth and companionship of other squirrels. A little female was admitted the days later. She was a little younger, very sweet, and made the perfect little sister for Little Hawk. It was love at first sight. We named her Buttercup.

Little Hawk made a complete recovery and the two squirrels were released together.

Fox, Fox, and More Fox,

    

In late April, our first little female fox arrived. She was caught in a window well under a porch. Associated Humane Society in Newark went out on the rescue and brought the tiny kit to Wild Baby Rescue Center. She was about 7 weeks old, scared and dehydrated. She was put in a warm crate, and given food and formula. We named her Aurora.

Next to be admitted was a 6 week old kit we named Mia. She was found on the side of the road and it is suspected that she had been hit or bumped by a car. Although the x-rays were negative, for the first week she refused to walk. We held her and hand fed her to ensure she was getting enough nourishment to help her heal. She would just sit beside us when we cleaned her cage. We were not sure she would ever walk. One day she was placed on the floor for cage cleaning and she got up and followed us all around the room. Sometimes all an animal needs is a little time and supportive care.

    

The third little female we named Cinderella. She was admitted with only two little tuffs of fur left on her body, so sick with mange. Four weeks into her care we found she had broken her leg and required several more weeks of small cage rest. Finally 9 weeks later healthy and ready for "the Ball" she was re-released back to her mother and siblings.

The forth female admitted, also with mange, was little Noel. She was released back to her family and den on New Year's Eve. Little Noel spent extra time at Wild Baby Rescue putting on enough weight for the cold winter months ahead.

    

The last fox is an older male named Bob. He was probably about 24 hours away from death. Luckily his rescuer cared enough to go to great lengths to trap him and get him here for help. He was emaciated and dehydrated, with little fur and many open wounds. Three treatments later, he started gaining weight, his wounds were healing and new fur began to grow. Bob was released 11 weeks after his admission and is now wild and free.

A Word About Mange… Mange is a very treatable condition caused by a tiny mite that infects the animal under its skin. The animal develops sores from scratching, hair loss and becomes dehydrated and emaciated. The animal itches so much, he doesn't hunt. The cycle goes around and becomes sicker and eventually succumbs to a horrible, slow death. Wild Baby Rescue Center treats mange (especially in Fox) very successfully. If you see an animal with mange please call you local Wildlife Rehabilitator.

Last Year's Fawn Shows Her Appreciation

One of our capital improvement is a newly fenced-in field for fawns. The area has electric fencing surrounding it as well. Our first test day went well with the fawns enjoying the extra room to run around. They sunned themselves, played tag and munched on the green grass. All was well, or so we thought.

On the third day one of our little girls, Moonshine, snuck under a low spot in the fencing. We tried everything to get her back into the corral. I even tried to grab her through the fence. Big mistake, she spun out and kicked hard. None of our coaxing worked. We were all very worried about a young fawn on her own. Night fell and there was nothing we could do until morning.

Early the next day here comes Moonshine with an adult doe leading the way. Clover, one of our deer from the prior year had adopted the little fawn. From then on Little Moonshine followed Clover where ever she went. A month later the rest of the Fawns were released. Moonshine and Clover come twice a day now for corn feed as do the other five fawns, Lightning, Rainbow, Shamrock, Sunshine and Twister. They have become one little herd led by the Motherly Clover.

Each of WBRC's wildlife patients requires a specialized diet. Injured wildlife often need veterinary care and medication. Food and medical care account for our biggest expenses by far. A donation to Wild Baby Rescue will help cover these important costs. 100% of every donation goes towards animal care. Relying on the kindness of volunteers, we do not employ a staff.

WILD BABY RESCUE

READ EFA's Intro Article
ViSiT their WEBSiTE
LiKE their Facebook

MAKE a DONATiON

SHOP TEAM EFA COTM

- click HERE -

for products that benefit

Charity of the Month

THANK YOU 

for supporting

our COTM Program !