Lil'Mo has grown up into quite a lovely & smart little squirrel. She is lovely with a bushy tail and a very unique red coloring, so she is very easy to spot. A few weeks ago I started the release process and now she lives in the WTS woods, and stops by for breakfast & from time-to-time just to play. As a singleton and  being born so late in the early season (squirrels will usually have more babies in August), I'm happy to play with her a bit and know that this will not affect her success in the wild. It's important for her emotional well being and for learning motor skills.

I am also happy to provide her with breakfast as at this time of year young squirrels depend on their mother for her cached nuts (the spring buds have passed and the nuts are not out yet). She gets a breakfast platter of a bowl of formula (she doesn't need to nurse anymore as she can lap it up relatively well), and a selection of nutes & grapes. But NO PEANUTS & SUNFLOWER seeds. These rob the body of calcium and in young squirrels can lead to metabolic bone disease. Sadly, as people see wild squirrels eat these foods at birdfeeders, they will feed young squirrels the same. Wild adult squirrels will naturally balance their diet with wild foods, but the young won't especially if they are in captivity and can only eat what they are offered. Last week a rehab friend got a young squirrel whose legs were literally curving as the bones bent under the body's weight. Hoepfully afer a few weeks on a calcium rich diet and in the proper cage set-up, this squirrel will heal, but only time will tell.

In this picture Lil'Mo is eating a walnut.

But she also quite likes to hunt the moths on my window screens! I have never seen any other squirrels doing this, but I assume it is a great source of nutrients. She has also started to bury her own nuts and I am so proud of her! I wonder if this is instinct, or if she learned it  from the wild squirrels. The first time I gave her a brazil nut, she took it, hopped away, buried it, and placed a leaf on top, patting it down so that the nut was nice and safe. Adorable!

Speaking of moths, look at this beauty who appeared in my house the other morning. Anyone know what type it is??

Busy times at Wild Things! This is a picture of a beautiful little White Tailed deer fawn that arrived a couple of days ago. A big thank you to Tammy & Katie who drive her about an hour and a half to WTS. In most cases fawns should be left where they are found- their mother may leave them in the same place for up to 24 hours while she is off feeding, or trying to lead a predator away. It is often hard to convince the public of this when they find one of these lovely creatures! However, Tammy & Katie knew that there was something wrong with this little gal. She was found in the middle of a road and looking disorientated. On arrival it was clear that she had some kind of head trauma, as her eyes were rolling around and she had continuous head rotations. Her eyes also looked cloudy. I brought her up to the vet clinic (seen here in the car), and they too are perplexed. Her symptoms indicate head trauma, but there are no bodily signs that she was hit by anything or suffered injury. She also appears to have bilateral cataracts- very strange to be seen in one so young. If these were birth defects it is unlikely that she would have lived for her whole 3 weeks (that's about how old she is), so what is it? Toxin ingestion? Illness?? Stay tuned!

WTS also welcomed a litter of Shrews. These little ones are TINY- about 10g each, and need to be fed every 2-3 hours...inlcuding during the night! They still have their eyes closed, and I'd say they are about a week old. A local gradaute student, Steven, rescued them, and did a great job! Their mother had nested in a compost heap, and it was disturbed by a gardener needing some compost. Steven did a really great job looking after them overnight until he found WTS. He also cleaned a wound that one of them had suffered.

I have to say, these little guys may be the toughest creatures I have ever had to feed! Below is a picture of the litter- see how small they are in comparison to the cereal next to them!

What else is going on at WTS? Well, LilMo's teeth are coming in (See picture taken while asleep), and 5 of the bunnies from the bunny colony are now in a big outdoor release cage, hopefully ready to go in a few days. Chippy the chipmunk is also doing great after being caught by a cat...twice...and may be ready to release soon too. I just got a call from the clinic with more patients, so stay tuned for more news! In the meantime, here are a few pictures of some local colour!