Baby season is here.

Saturday 2/16/2013
Well, we've been waiting for baby season to hit, and today it did.

Our game warden came over and brought us three baby squirrels that had been in a hidden nest in a tree some people cut down.  One was hurt too badly to survive and it died within an hour. The other two are females that weigh between 55 and 65 grams each. We estimate their age at about five weeks. The remaining two (named Lisa and Annie by Teresa and Katie) seem to be doing well. Both have a good appetite and both have urine output and both have had bowel movements.

Sunday 2/18/2013
Both little girls have put on a little over 10 grams already.

Saturday June 30th, 2012

We met with another rehabilitator in Commerce, Texas and picked up a Whitetail doeling. A hunter was checking over his Fannin County deer lease during the off-season and found this little critter standing/stuck in the mud in a pond. Its anyone's guess how she got there - we can assume it was being chased by dogs or coyotes and ran into the water for safety, as we've seen this happen before with adult deer. Mother was nowhere to be found, so the hunter wisely intervened.

We were initially concerned that the baby might have gotten water in its lungs, but there was no evidence of this happening. The baby's lungs seem fine. The fawn was dehydrated and gaunt from lack of food. To say the fawn was stressed would be an understatement.

We hydrated the fawn overnight with sub-cutaneous injections. Although hungry, this little one would only eat about 3 oz at a feeding. We kept her inside the house and provided her with a dark environment with plenty of places to hide. By Sunday morning, she acted like a different fawn. By Sunday evening, the gaunt sides had begun to fill out and hydration was much better. The fawn has normal urine output and bowel movements.

Teresa named her Lacey (apparently we're going with an alliteration theme this summer for fawn names: Lilly, Layla and Lacey... and Flag - named by his rescuer and is the coolest name so far).

Lacey has the blackest nose/muzzle we've seen. Lacey has clearly bonded with Teresa and follows her around like a puppy and always gives Teresa multiple face-kisses after every feeding.

Friday June 29, 2012

Richard M and his family brought a Whitetail buckling fawn to us. Richard's brother found the fawn near the Texas/Oklahoma border, and it had apparently gotten caught in a rockslide. When the fawn was found, only its head was visible; the rest of its body was covered by rock.

Richard and his family took excellent care of the fawn; when it arrived here it was well-fed, well-hydrated and in excellent overall health. There are numerous contusions on the fawn's torso, but they are healing well and don't show any sign of infection.

Richard's family named the fawn "Flag" after the deer in Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings novel (and later, movie of the same name), The Yearling.

Since Richard and his family have had Flag under observation for three weeks and no illness has presented itself, there's no need for the standard quarantine period.   

Flag was a little uneasy and showed some signs of being a little stressed when Richard and family left, so we brought him inside and let him stay in a darkened room for a few hours to relax. By mid-afternoon Flag was in the pen with Lillie and Layla. By evening, Flag's lying down with the two doelings and they seem to get along very well. Flag has eaten well, he's drinking, had got urinary and bowel output; Flag will be just fine.

Its nice to meet folks like Richard and his family. It reminds me there are still a lot of really good people in the world who do the right thing just because its the right thing to do. I think we all need reminding of that from time to time.

Sunday June 17th, 2012

The Mother Ship (Cross-Timbers Wildlife Ranch in Terrell, Texas) forwarded four baby raccoons to us. We don't know any background other than they came from the metroplex. They are wild with a capital W. Reach for them, they growl, snarl, hiss and snap. Once they have a few days to calm down, we expect that will change.

All need nutrition and hydration. 

One has an injured leg and has vomited several times. This could be as serious as parvo or distemper or as simple as an upset belly from the stress. She will be quarantined by herself until we can determine what's going on with her.

The other three seem free of illness/injury but need lots of chow and hydration.

 

6/9/12 Baby raccoon with problems - Beatrice

An couple from the metroplex reported that they had a baby raccoon that had fallen from a tree and couldn't stand up. We made room and told the folks to bring her to us.

On initial examination, the baby could not maintain an upright position. It is capable of standing for a second, and then falls on its side. Same thing while trying to walk. Same thing while trying to sit upright. The couple had taken the baby to a Dallas area veterinarian, who examined the baby, found no trauma or broken bones, no obvious reasons for the physical symptoms the raccoon displayed. The vet administered an anti-inflammatory drug in hopes that it would reduce any swelling from fall-related trauma.

Once we had the baby, we examined it closely.
The baby's claws have been filed down. They will grow back, but this is not something we normally see with an animal that is kept for a day or two then turned over to us.
The lady who had the baby coon said she'd been feeding it KMR - Kitten Milk Replacer, which is ok for immediate survival, but not a good choice for long-term care. KMR doesn't have the nutrients and fat that a baby raccoon needs to develop properly. A long-term diet of KMR will cause Metabolic Bone Disease. Our initial belief is that this baby was kept inside for much longer than a day or two. We think it had a long-term diet of KMR, which resulted in a critical lack of calcium and fat. If the baby was kept inside a house for a long period of time (when I say long period of time, two weeks in a four week old baby is a long time) it would've missed direct sunlight - also crucial for infant raccoons. We believe this baby is suffering from Metabolic Bone Disease - which would cause the symptoms we're seeing.

Our initial plan is as follows:
1 - 20 minutes of direct sunlight 2x daily
2 - Calcium supplement with every feeding
3 - Ensure - (yep, the people stuff) with every feeding
4 - Physical therapy, both passive and active several times daily. By passive I mean things in the cage that give the raccoon an opportunity to work itself. In this case, a ring mounted on the side of the cage that allows the baby to get a grip and pull herself into an upright position, and a sling (coons LOVE to sleep in a hammock-like sling) that she can pull herself up into. Beatrice uses the ring and the sling frequently. Active physical therapy includes holding her in a standing position while she eats and frequent supported walking exercise.

We're not pointing fingers at anyone. But we can say there is no evidence of a traumatic fall. On the contrary, all the signs of an animal kidnapped from its mother and accidentally denied proper nutrition are there in abundance. Our suspicion is that someone took this baby from its mother, and when it developed life-threatening medical issues, they realized they were in way over their head and got rid of it. Taking a baby away from its mother and denying it the nutrition it needs, regardless of intentions, is a slow, painful death sentence.

We don't know what lies ahead for Beatrice. Baby raccoons can recover from Metabolic Bone Disease, but there are no guarantees. We're working with Beatrice as hard as we can and will continue to do so. We're going into this knowing that we may not able to reverse the damage and that euthanasia may be the only choice. So far, we have seen some improvement. Beatrice has a good appetite and is cantankerous - both good signs.

Please pray for Beatrice.

Meet Beatrice:

 A long nap after a big meal.

6/2/12 - Deer fawn

The Kaufman County Game Warden (we don't know his name) forwarded a very young fawn to us through another rehab facility. The mother was struck by a car and was killed. The next day, a couple driving by saw the fawn standing beside its dead mother. The baby was gaunt and badly dehydrated. These problems were soon solved and the fawn is thriving now. Meet Layla.

5/16 - WHAT A DAY!!! ...and an abandoned mini donkey on 5/17/12

In one day, Katie and I made a dashing trip to pick up Bandet in Dallas. Meanwhile, at school, Teresa had four Barn Swallows turned in. While this was going on, one of our miniature donkeys (Alice) had her baby. So we had five wild animals to triage and one new donkey to keep a watchful eye on. Turns out Alice is a great mother and Wendy has no worries at all.

Alice and Wendy.

5/17/12

Domesticated animal story:

The thing that makes Alice stand out is that she's a great mother. The next one stands out because she's NOT a great mother.

After a busy day on 5/16, and with plenty of work to do with new arrivals, Teresa took the day off. When I got home from my morning bus route, we sat out by the stock tank to enjoy a cup of coffee. As we sat there, something on the far bank caught our attention. Is that another baby donkey? Yes it is. Why is it alone? Don't know, but we better get to checking. We found that Daisy, another of our donkeys who had been pregnant yesterday, was not pregnant now. Clearly Daisy had dropped her baby then promptly abandoned it. We put Daisy in a pen by herself then put the baby in with her. The baby tried to nurse, and Daisy promptly kicked it, knocking it down. Then for the coupe d'grasse Daisy tried to stomp the baby while it was down. I shoved Daisy sideways away from the baby while Teresa scooped the baby up and got it out of the pen. Now on top of the new arrivals, we had a baby donkey to bottle feed. 

We milked as much as we could from Daisy - the initial milk from mama provides colostrum, which is essential for survival. We got some, but not enough. We put the baby on a colostrum supplement, but that didn't work either. We had to something fast or this baby would die. Our vet was able to do a transfusion and give the baby the colostrum it needed to survive. Now the baby (named Marvin by our daughter) is doing great. Marvin stays in a pen outside during the day and comes in at night. As he gets older, he'll be able to stay outside in his private pen overnight. We feed Marvin by bottle. Marvin's psycho mother is still here, but will be sold at auction soon. Marvin is thriving.

The circular shaved area on Marvin's neck is the transfusion site.

Marvelous Marvin
aka Starvin' Marvin
aka Dinkey Donkey