Not everyone is a happy patient at Wild Things. Despite being rescued as a starving and very small (probably born late in the season) Virginia Opossum and being given a second chance to survive and make it in the world, this little guy is definitely NOT a happy patient!

He will bite and thrash every time I have to pick him up, and his favourite defence mechanism is explosive very stinky diarrhea. He also sticks out his "bifurcated," or forked, penis at me. This is a special anatomical trait of opossums. It is interesting to see, but I'd be just as happy if he kept it to himself! ;)

Opossums also have their scrotum located in FRONT of their "forks," so it really is a unique set-up!

WTS has also seen lots of "snowbirds" or Dark Eyed Juncos visiting. I love these little birds as they are always the first out in the harshest of winter snows (see the one on the feeder below?!). There is one that has a strange marking- it looks like he has a white collar around his neck. This is the 3rd year I have seen him- he has been here ever since I moved in! The juncos stay around WTS in the summer as well, though many of their brethren have different winter and summer areas.

WTS also has quite a few White Tailed Deer visiting. The group below comes almost everyday and appears to be made up of one baby, two young does and an older doe- perhaps a mother and her 3 daughters. No sign of Andre Button this year so far.

And who have we here?? A little Eastern cottontail. It may actually be Silver Blaze, who if you remember was released here last year and stayed around for months enjoying the WTS woods. It is incredible to see this little bunny outside on the coldest nights of the year. How it manages to survive and find food I have no idea. I feel a mixture of pride for its success and fear for its vulnerability...but by all accounts it appears to be doing great!

The babies are getting bigger! They are about 6 weeks old now and are just starting on solid foods: grapes, squirrel chow soaked in formula, cheerios...but they still love their formula best of all! I m hoping to get them all grown up and released by Thanksgiving. It is late in the year to plan a release, but I will provide a shelter for them and food so they can always come and go if they like. You can see that their tails are getting fluffy and they are becoming more active and playful. They've come a long way!

And what else has been going on at WTS???


The opossum teenagers have been visiting on some nights....

I sold my hair for $800!!!!

(see www.hairlesscrusader.com)


That's going to save a lot of animals!!

Including the little chipmunk who came in today after being caught by a cat- Wild Things' 90th patient!!

I attended the New York State Wildlife Rehabilitation Council 2008 conference up at Niagara, NY. It was great! I always learn so much- from the talks and from talking with all the other rehabilitators. There are lots of inspiring stories and lots of people willing to help. A BIG thanks to all the wonderful members of the Squirrel Board who helped me look after the baby squirrels while I went to talks. I also received a scholarship from to attend the Rabies Vector Species course, which is a requirement for those wishing to work with raccoons, skunks & bats.

I also received a very special invitation at the conference. Does everyone remember Radar the blind fawn that came to WTS a few months ago?? He has found a wonderful home at an amazing deer sanctuary run by a deer rehabilitating guru! He is doing absolutely GREAT!!! See picture below. He runs and leaps around and has a girlfriend named Cookie Doe. Cookie was blind due to a vitamin deficiency, but her sight was restored with a proper diet. However, a car accident left her with a badly broken jaw. She arrived at the sanctuary a day before Radar, so they are the same age. Radar was neutered so they can be buddies and stay together always! You would never know that he was blind he runs around so well!

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!