Runty (L) & Maxie (R)
OK, I know I've been the worst blogger ever. I have a bunch of pictures from last year that i never got around to posting, so I'll try to put those up soon! But for now....
Meet Runty & Maxie!
They are about a week apart and came to Wild Things separately. Max kept crashing some people's party after the repeatedly put him back in the woods and it was determined that his mother was no where in sight and he was hungry and lonely at about 7 weeks old.
Runt came to me via another rehabilitator. I don't have all the details on him, but he suffered from something called "Kitten Fur Syndrome," which is a symptom of a lack of calcium and may indicate the dreaded metabolic bone disease. Runt also appeared allergic to formula. When he got to WTS at about 12 weeks old he started putting on good weight and all his bald spots disappeared. The only thing that couldn't be repaired were his misaligned teeth, which can happen when baby squirrels don't get enough good nutrients at a young age. Sadly this makes him unreleasable as the teeth will have to be trimmed throughout his life so he will be able to eat.
Meet Runty & Maxie!
They are about a week apart and came to Wild Things separately. Max kept crashing some people's party after the repeatedly put him back in the woods and it was determined that his mother was no where in sight and he was hungry and lonely at about 7 weeks old.
Runt came to me via another rehabilitator. I don't have all the details on him, but he suffered from something called "Kitten Fur Syndrome," which is a symptom of a lack of calcium and may indicate the dreaded metabolic bone disease. Runt also appeared allergic to formula. When he got to WTS at about 12 weeks old he started putting on good weight and all his bald spots disappeared. The only thing that couldn't be repaired were his misaligned teeth, which can happen when baby squirrels don't get enough good nutrients at a young age. Sadly this makes him unreleasable as the teeth will have to be trimmed throughout his life so he will be able to eat.
Max (L) at about 2 months old. Max always looks like he is smiling, he is such a cheerful little fellow! And Runt is to the right at about 4 months old. You can see how is upper and lower jaws are slightly misaligned.
Runt & Max love to play!
Max on the wheelbarrow in the snow
I released Max before Christmas. The weather was quite nice, but before long we got lots of snow. It might seem a bit mean to release a little one in the cold, but he was ready- tearing up WTS and so excited to get outside. And he is doing quite well out the wild. Below he collect toilet paper for a nest he built in my drainpipe (!) and to the right he is burying a nut in a pile of hay.
Max still comes back inside sometimes to play with Runt. They have so much fun and make a total mess of the sanctuary! It is really bittersweet and sad for me that Runt will never be able to join him. Runty is superb at building nests; he has an enormous nest in my office that he built out of any piece of paper he can lay his paws onto! He is also a good nut bury-ier. (I let him run around my office a lot as he doesn't like being in his cage all the time- you can see where he wore away some fur on his nose from trying nibbling on the bars and wanting to get out!)
I think that I have found Runt a permanent sanctuary to go to live out his life. It is sad that these two will have to be separated, but I hope that they both live happy, healthy lives.
Max comes back for a visit!
And while we're on the subject of squirrels...guess who else is back after several months out int he woods??? LilMo!
LIlMo, January 2010
