Wild Things Sanctuary
  • Home
  • What to do if you find an injured animal
    • Baby Animals
    • Reuniting Baby Animals
    • Cat Attacks
    • Window Collisions
    • Raccoons, Skunks, Bats
    • Marine Mammals
  • Ways to Help Wild Things
    • Donate
    • Wish List
    • Store: Give a Wild Things Gift!
    • Learn About WIldlife
    • Raise Funds Online
  • Living with Wildlife
    • Who's on Whose Turf?
    • Prevent Wildlife Conflicts
    • Keep Wildlife Safe
    • Trapping & Relocating Wildlife
    • Wildlife Proofing Plan
    • Resources: Living with Wildlife
  • Cats & Wildlife
  • All About Bats
    • White-nose Syndrome
    • Bat Houses
    • Bat Resources
  • More About WTS
    • About us
    • What is Wildlife Rehabilitation?
    • Wild Things newsletters, Articles & Press Releases
    • Become a friend of Wild Things!
    • Volunteering at Wild Things
    • Squirrel Pox
    • 10 Year Celebration >
      • 10 Years of Patients
      • What Does Wild Things Sanctuary Mean to You?
      • Wild Things Takes Shape

Superstar Ringo

11/18/2010

0 Comments

 
Picture
Ringo at 3 months in her hammock
Ringo the Raccoon was brought to Wild Things at about 4 weeks old. She was found all alone and joined a group of 4 other "singleton" orphans. She and her adopted brothers (including Zeppelin- see below) did really well and were released at about 4 months old. Ringo was such a funny little girl. She has really forward facing, slightly bent forward ears and LOVED playing with toys and with her brothers. he especially loved chasing balls around her enclosure. Oh, and she loved her hammock!



Picture
Ringo playing with a toy ball
Flash forward 3 months...

...at sundown I was out int he woods putting out food for the various young animals who have been released, and sitting right next to a food bowl was Ringo. I hadn't seen her for months. I was clear that something was wrong. She didn't seem to be using her rear legs that well.

I took off my coat and gathered her up, to many growls and snarls of protest, and carried her back to the exam room. Ringo had a rabies vaccination before I let her go, so although it is always important to be careful handling an animal from the wild, it was good to know that she was protected from rabies and that I was not at risk from any possible exposure. She was in such great raccoon winter shape, i.e., very chubby, that it was hard to palpate the bony details, but in an initial exam it was clear that she had several fractures to the rear legs and the joints were swollen. She also had some evidence of open wounds that had healed. I started her on pain killers and anti-inflammatory NSAID medication.

I also spent some time giving her grapes and toys and before long she was back to being her super sweet little self. No growling any more.

Within a few days swelling had started to go down and she started kind of using her right rear leg. Wild Things' AWESOME Rabies Vector Species vet, Brian Collins, was able to get Ringo in for Xrays a few days later, and this is what we found (I put together about 5 different Xrays to show the whole area, hope it isn't too confusing!): 



 
Picture
Big time ouch


Picture
Dog Xray of almost perfect rear legs
Wow! Poor little Ringo!

To the right I've included a picture of a near perfect dog rear legs (though there is a displaced kneecap on the dog's left leg) for comparison.

One of the most amazing things is that the bones had been healing for what appears to be 4-6 weeks. So this little amazing girl was getting along in the woods for weeks with multiple rear leg fractures. What a superstar! I feel like such a wimp in comparison! Below is a close up of the distal part of the legs.

Her prognosis? Hard to tell. She is getting along better everyday. I will keep her on anti-inflammatories while the bone callouses continue to heal. I am also doing gentle physical therapy with her to keep whatever range of motion we can salvage in her damaged joints. Her busted knee is already unwilling to straighten, but we'll see what happens! She also has some broken teeth.

These kinds of injuries are consistent with being hit by a car.



Picture
Close up of distal legs


Picture
Ringo! 8-10 weeks


Let's all send Ringo great healing vibes!! Also, while we're on the subject of raccoons, I wanted to offer a little food for thought...


...When people hear "raccoon" they immediately thing RABIES!!! However, it is estimated that 4% or less actually have rabies in the wild. Thousands of non-rabid raccoons are put down every year because people run so scared of rabies. Well, I just got a message today from a colleague who has been rehabilitating wildlife for about 30 years, many of those with as many as 40 raccoons a year, and this week was the first time she was exposed to rabies.... from one of her COWS!! She is getting all of her shots tomorrow.

0 Comments

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    Follow WildThingsNY on Twitter

    Categories

    All
    American Crow
    American Goldfinch
    American Robin
    Andre
    Andre Bouton
    Andre Button
    Babies
    Bandit
    Barred Owl
    Become A Friend Of Wild Things!
    Bifurcated Penis
    Bigman
    Bluebird
    Brighteyes
    Broken Legs
    Brown Creeper
    Brush Piles
    Bunnies
    Bunnys
    Canada Goose
    Cayuga Heights
    Chaffinch
    Chipmunk
    Chipping Sparrow
    Common Buzzard
    Construction
    Construcution
    Coopers Hawk
    Coot
    Cottontail Rabbit
    Cottontails
    Cowbirds
    Darkeyed Junco
    Dark Eyed Juncos
    Deer
    Eastern Chipmunk
    Eastern Cottontail
    Eastern Cottontails
    Efts
    European Sparrow
    European Starlings
    Fawn
    Fling Squirrel
    Flying Squirrel
    Footprints
    Forest Chicken
    Frog
    Frogs
    Geese
    Greaet Horned Owl
    Great Horned Owl
    Greenraising
    Grey Squirrel
    Grey Squirrels
    Groundhog
    Groundhogs
    Gunshot Injury
    Habakkuk
    Hairless Crusader
    Hard Release
    Herodotus
    Herotodus
    Herring Gull
    House Wren
    Hunters
    Ice Storm
    Indigo Bunting
    Insects
    Ithaca Alternative Gift Fair
    Ivy
    Jose
    Joshua
    Kestrel
    Kite
    Ladybird
    Ladybug
    Lecter
    Lilmo
    Little Brown Bat
    Little Girl
    Little Sister
    Lucy Gooset
    Lucy Goosey
    Magpie
    Malacclusion
    Mallard Duck
    Malocclusion
    Max
    Maxie
    Metabolic Bone Disease
    Mice
    Migration
    Milou
    Moths
    Mourning Dove
    Mourning Doves
    Northern Cardinal
    Nyc
    Nyswrc
    Ophelia
    Opossum
    Opossums
    Opposum
    Pale Pink
    Peter
    Peter The Opossum
    Pigeon
    Pigeons
    Pileated Woodpecker
    Rabbit
    Rabies
    Raccoon
    Raccoons
    Radar
    Raindrop
    Raptor
    Redbreasted Grosbeak
    Red Squirrel
    Red Squirrels
    Red Tailed Hawk
    Redwing Blackbird
    Redwinged Blackbird
    Ring Bill Gull
    Ring Necked Dove
    Ringo
    Rock Dove
    Rock Doves
    Rook
    Ruffed Grouse
    Runt
    Runty
    Salamander
    Sapsucker
    Screech Owl
    Shrews
    Sign
    Silver Blaze
    Skunks
    Snaing Turtle
    Snapping Turtle
    Snowy Owl
    Soft Release
    Southern Flying Squirrel
    Southern Flying Squirrels
    Squirrel
    Squirrels
    Starling
    Stella Bella
    Stork
    Taloned
    Theodore
    Thomas
    Tintin
    Tiny Guy
    Tit
    Toad
    Toads
    Tom Theo
    Toughstuff
    Turkey
    Turkeys
    Victor
    Virginia Opossum
    Virginia Opossums
    Vole
    Whistle Ig
    Whistle Pig
    Whistle Pigs
    White Footed Mice
    White Tailed Deer
    White Throated Sparrow
    Wild Animals Are Not Pets
    Wild Turkeys
    Woodchuck
    Woodchucks
    Woodland Jumping Mouse
    Woodpeckers
    Wood Thrush
    Wren
    Xray
    Xrays
    Yellow Bellied Sapsucker
    Yellow Spotted Salamander

Proudly powered by Weebly
  • Home
  • What to do if you find an injured animal
    • Baby Animals
    • Reuniting Baby Animals
    • Cat Attacks
    • Window Collisions
    • Raccoons, Skunks, Bats
    • Marine Mammals
  • Ways to Help Wild Things
    • Donate
    • Wish List
    • Store: Give a Wild Things Gift!
    • Learn About WIldlife
    • Raise Funds Online
  • Living with Wildlife
    • Who's on Whose Turf?
    • Prevent Wildlife Conflicts
    • Keep Wildlife Safe
    • Trapping & Relocating Wildlife
    • Wildlife Proofing Plan
    • Resources: Living with Wildlife
  • Cats & Wildlife
  • All About Bats
    • White-nose Syndrome
    • Bat Houses
    • Bat Resources
  • More About WTS
    • About us
    • What is Wildlife Rehabilitation?
    • Wild Things newsletters, Articles & Press Releases
    • Become a friend of Wild Things!
    • Volunteering at Wild Things
    • Squirrel Pox
    • 10 Year Celebration >
      • 10 Years of Patients
      • What Does Wild Things Sanctuary Mean to You?
      • Wild Things Takes Shape