Meet Amelia! This 20g handful of adorableness is a Southern Flying Squirrel baby. She was found lying on her back on a trail by a jogger one morning. She appeared to be OK, but kept lying on her back, perhaps some indication of neural upset. She came to WTS a week ago, has been kept cozy and warm and has already gained 14g- I'm so proud of her! She's even moved on to eating solids. She was very happy with the discovery of a pinenut this evening...and it was almost as big as her head! I'm very glad she is eating a little on her own now; with such a tiny tummy I had to feed her every few hours because her stomach can't hold much at one time, so self-feeding frees me up a bit to help all the other WTS'ers.
She has started learning to jump, but is still rather wobbly! And hasn't really learned how to climb yet.
I was hoping I might be able t return her to the woods asap as mothers will claim their babies up until the babies are about 6 weeks old (she is about 4weeks), but it was too much of a risk, especially with her slightly disorientated condition.
On the left is a picture of her after a meal with milk all over her face! And on the right she is resting after eating- you can see her patagium, the extra skin on her sides which stretches out and allows her to glide...but not quite yet, in another month or so! I love how her head is so big in comparison to the rest of her body! You can also see that her tail is completely flat- perfect to use as a rudder when flying! Take a look at my earliest blog posts to see more on flying squirrels!
Btw, speaking of squirrels, Little Brother & Little Sister are doing great in the WTS woods. They have started coming around a lot in the last few days as this time of year, in between seasons (spring buds are gone, no nuts yet, not always wild fruit around), young rely on their mothers for food help- as mothers were busy storing nuts before they were born. Little Sister has become quite aggressive if there is food around. She is sporting a scratch on her nose, which I'm sure is from fighting! I always see her trying to fight with Little Brother! Can you find her in the picture below???
And talking about past WTS residents, sadly the little shrews didn't make it. They were so tiny! And after consults with both neural and opthalmology veterinary experts, it is still uncertain what is wrong with the fawn, though we do know that he is blind. The great news is that he is going to live in luxury with a top white tailed deer rehabilitator who will use him as an educational animal. She also just adopted a little blind girl fawn this season, so he will have a friend at his new home!
I'll try to be better at blogging- it has just been super busy with sometimes up to 20 patients, many of them not eating on their own, my days usually start at 6am and doesn't end until midnight or later. My hands are chapped from washing up food dishes and bottles all day, I haven't managed to have lunch before about 5pm all week, my back aches from building bunny hutches and nest boxes, and I fell asleep on the kitchen floor the other day...but I love it! :) Major bunny dramas that I have to report, so stay tuned....
