Good news and not so good news – let’s do the second one first.
Older Daughter received a call from the veterinarian (Dr. B) who works with the animals at the humane society where my girls work. Dr. B received a call from a man who works on air conditioners. He was working on a unit and he says – “A raccoon was killed in a terribly awful way.” (I told Older Daughter that even if she ended up getting that whole story that I don’t need to hear it.) He did not, of course, think about the possibility of babies. He came back several days later to check on something and there were three baby raccoons, very cold and weak. Because this man was working in the same town as the humane society, Older was able to get the raccoons right then. Younger Daughter was at the shelter when they came in and she got them onto a heating pad. When Older Daughter arrived at work, she did all of the things you must do initially. The babies were in fact cold, weak, and very thin. They had been slowly starving to death ever since the mom had been killed a few days before. It’s not great news that these babies had been without mom for several days. Older said the only thing that was slightly hopeful was that they didn’t seem to be in the active dying stage yet. Their fur was good and they were probably nice fat healthy babies until mom was killed. Older is cautiously hopeful that maybe these babies did not get to her too late.
Of course, she will do everything possible. I sure wish these sweet little babies could survive and eventually thrive.
The really good news to report today is that Older Daughter is a miracle worker! You remember the three little baby starlings that she took in. Two of the three had broken legs. Older splinted those breaks and hoped for the best. Baby birds grow super fast and so if the legs could be splinted correctly, it wouldn’t be long before they would be usable again (IF the splinting worked). Older was very nervous watching these babies grow. The one that did not have a broken leg was starting to perch on the edge of the basket they stayed in. The other two, or course, could not.
Then . . .
Yep! All three can perch now. This was crucial for their successful release. You might remember the buzzard that Older Daughter saved from a steel jaw leghold trap. That bird lost the leg in the trap because it was completely broken off. But buzzards can do well with only one leg. Starlings depend on perching so they really need both feet to hang on.
Now all three of these darling starlings can be released back into the wild as soon as they are old enough.