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Wildlife Wednesday – Autumn

Hello, Friends!  It’s been a couple of weeks since I last blogged.  It’s time for an update on the goings-on at Wild Angels.  Autumn is when things begin to slow down a little.  There’s still plenty to do, but baby season is finally behind us!

Let’s start with squirrels.  Some time ago, Older Daughter took in a single baby squirrel, eyes still closed.  Then another baby squirrel (from a different situation) came in, eyes still closed.  Then two baby squirrels came in together, eyes just opened.  Well the second group of two (the older group) moved to an outdoor enclosure a while ago.  It’s been so long since I wrote that I haven’t yet posted the pictures of these two learning to eat on their own (before moving to their outdoor enclosure).  I think baby squirrels first learning to balance on their haunches and holding food is SO cute! 

 

 

 

These two moved to an outdoor enclosure quite a while back.  You might remember this squirrel enclosure.  It is very tall with large pieces of driftwood so that the squirrels can do alot of learning to climb.  These pictures don't show the layout of the enclosure - close-ups for the sake of cuteness!

 

 

 

 

This pair has JUST been released.  They will make their home in the wooded area here.  And Older will be leaving food out for them.

 

 

 

The younger two are coming right along.  They recently started eating on their own.   They will soon move to the outdoor enclosure.

 

 

 

Now I’m guessing you remember the mom opossum with her nine babies in the pouch.  She was found in the middle of a road in a pool of blood.  She is doing quite well.  She has her own outdoor enclosure.   This is how she normally sleeps (smile).

 

 

Opossums do not live in family groups.  So once the babies are big enough to survive on their own, they do not want to be in a large group (like mom and nine babies).  Luckily, Older was able to move four of the babies to another rehabber.  The remaining five are living two together, and three singly.  Look at those beautiful ears!

 

 

 

At the end of August I told you about a raccoon that came to Wild Angels who had been hit by a car.  She made a complete recovery and has been successfully released.  Here she is when she was living in her outdoor enclosure (before release).

 

 

 

I’ll end with a story about an opossum that I unfortunately do not have a picture of.   Last week Younger Daughter and her husband were driving home from dinner out.  They’d met in town so they had two vehicles.  The drive to where we all live is via a curvy, country road.  Younger’s husband was ahead of her.  She watched as an opossum ran directly in front of his truck.  She saw the opossum get thrown off the road.  She immediately pulled to the side of the road and threw her vehicle into park.  She kicked off her heels and bailed off into the tall grass beside the road.  She found the opossum and put it in her car.  There was some blood around its mouth.  She called and then headed to her sister’s house.   Miraculously, this opossum was uninjured.  The blood on the mouth was from this gal biting her tongue during the accident.  Evidently she barely made contact with the side of the tire when she started into the road.  Older kept her for a few days to observe her, but all was well.  She has been released.

See you next week.  Happy Autumn!

 

Wildlife Wednesday - Walk A Mile

Today I’m going to complain.  So if you’re not interested in that, I’m giving fair warning right from the beginning of this post.  I titled this post “Walk A Mile” but I toyed with using “Mind Your Own Business” and “What is Your Problem.”  Here’s what happened.

I maintain Older Daughter’s Wild Angels FB page.  She has far too much to do with the actual care of the animals.  If you’re reading here, you know how much time, money, effort, and heart Older Daughter  puts into rescuing injured wild animals and orphaned babies.  The other day I saw a notification that the Wild Angels page had a message that had not been answered.  Older’s page is set up with an automatic message that goes to anyone who messages the page.   It explains that the FB page is maintained by a volunteer (me) and it gives Older’s phone number and says that the quickest way to reach the rehabber (Older Daughter) is to text her.  People with orphaned baby animals or injured ones need to get a response as soon as possible.  That's why Older's cell number is listed in the auto message (and on her page).   Recently, the auto message is not working correctly.  Sometimes it sends and sometimes it doesn’t.  I’ve tried multiple times to figure out how it can only be working part of the time, but the seeming corrections I’ve made have not completely cleared up the problem.

I read the series of messages from this person and the gist of them is that this person was trying to find out where Wild Angels is located.  There was no indication that there was an animal in need.  The auto message actually DID work, so this person received the notification that the quickest way to reach the rehabber was to text her.  She did not call or text Older Daughter.  She left a couple more messages asking EXACTLY where we were located.  And then she proceeded to suggest that Wild Angels was not legitimate.  She even went so far as to ask if Wild Angels was even licensed??  AND she said that Wild Angels was being “cryptic” by not giving their exact location.  (Thus the consideration of the title “Mind Your Own Business.”)

I messaged back and said that I noticed she’d received the auto message and that she was welcome to contact the rehabber if her questions weren’t being adequately answered.  And she messaged back that for some reason we STILL weren’t telling her the exact location of Wild Angels and she demanded to know WHY.  (Thus the consideration of the title “What is Your Problem.”)

I politely told her that of course we didn’t give the exact location because we could not have people dumping animals on the property.  Anyone with wildlife that needs help must contact the rehabber because there is a procedure that must be followed when Older receives any wildlife – certain forms must be filled out, etc.  I also assured her that Wild Angels IS, in fact, licensed by the State of Illinois.    Even though I responded politely, I didn't really want to.  I wanted to ask this person if that’s how she spent her days – on social media, looking for something/ anything to  complain about, to harass about, to be a pain in the butt.  I also wanted to tell her that maybe her time would be better spent if she got up off her butt and went through all of the education and steps required to BE a rehabber.  Then she could spend her time doing something worthwhile.  At this moment I still do not know what her problem was or why she wrote what she wrote.  She never did contact Older Daughter about an animal in need.  So what was the point?

I’m amazed by people in this world who are NOT helping in some particular field or organization but who somehow believe it’s OK to have an issue with that organization.  I have rescued and homed 80+ cats during my adult life.  Almost everybody has been extremely supportive and so kind.  But there were a couple of times over the years when someone wanted to say something ugly – something based in no truth whatsoever, but which they had latched onto and decided it was their duty to say the ugly thing.  Amazing.   Jeanne K and I once (years ago) had a conversation about this very thing.  (Jeanne has spent her adult life helping in the animal world.)  And my daughters, who are the co-managers of a humane society, have been exposed to some ugly things from people who wish to run their mouths but who aren’t helping the situation one iota.    Amazing. 

So there’s my complaint, my Friends.  I’m annoyed, but mostly I’m amazed by anyone out there who is NOT doing the good work but who feels they can criticize/judge/be ugly in general.  Walk a Mile in the shoes of the person doing the good work before you open your mouth (or your keyboard) to be ugly.

Shutting up now   :)

 

I won’t be writing next week.  Going to be out of town.  My wonderful daughters will be caring for all of the animals here.