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

5/16/12 - Four Barn Swallows

Students at Rains ISD found these displaced Barn Swallows near the school. We typically deal with mammals, and are not set up to handle birds for an extended period. We made sure the little Barn Swallows were well-fed and hydrated and then transported them to Rogers Wildlife Rehabilitation Center in Hutchins, Texas on 5/17/12

www.rogerswildlife.org/

 

5/16/12 - Deer fawn - 1st of the season

May and June are typically fawn season. Normally the peak is around the end of May. We close out April knowing we'll soon start getting injured/orphaned/abandoned fawn calls.

A word on deer: The doe will typically place the fawn in a secluded area, leave to graze and then come back to pick up the fawn. We get calls every year from well-meaning folks who find a fawn lying down in some brush or in deep leaves. The folks assume the fawn is abandoned or something happened to the doe. If you run across this scenario, leave the fawn alone (unless it is in obvious, immediate danger or if it appears extremely gaunt from malnutrition or dehydrated). Several hours may pass, but the doe will return to collect the fawn. If the fawn is still alone by dark, it may be time to step in

Here's a case where a person did everything right. Obviously mom wasn't going to return and the deer was in danger from dogs in the immediate area.

Texas Parks and Wildlife Game Warden Noble, who works Rains County called us today. A local man reported that a very young fawn had showed up in his yard. The man left the fawn alone for several hours, hoping its mother would show up and find it. When it became obvious that mom wasn't coming, and that dogs in the area were taking a keen interest in the fawn, the man stepped in and captured the fawn and called GW Noble. GW Noble asked if we had room for a fawn. Of course we did.

Meet Lilly.

5/16/12 Baby male raccoon - "Bandet"

People who take the time to get involved and do the right thing are our kind of folks. None of these animals would be here if someone hadn't taken the time to give a darn and take their valuable time to get these critters to us. This story involves an entire family.

Monica C called the DFW Wildlife Coalition and reported that she had found a baby male raccoon in Rowlett. All the numbers DFW gave Monica were dead ends - the rehabilitators Monica called were full, didn't work with raccoons, were out of town or were busy with their jobs. Very understandable. The last number Monica had was ours. We're busy, but we don't turn away animals.

Monica reported that she had found a baby male raccoon near a creek. The raccoon was wet and cold, very hungry and pretty badly dehydrated - talk about your perfect storm of bad things for a baby. Monica and her daughters Audrey and Lindsey did everything they could do until they could get this baby to us. Audrey and Lindsey named him Bandet with an "e". Bandet it is! Monica fed Bandet and got as much hydration into him as she could - I don't think he would've survived otherwise.

Our daughter Katie and I went to meet Monica at a church off of I-30 near Rockwall. Monica ended up using way more than her allotted lunch break from work, but wanted to see that Bandet got the care he needed. I hydrated Bandet with an injection of lactated ringers, gave him some Fox Valley formula (expensive and worth every penny) then it was load and go time.

After a few days on a very intense feeding schedule, constant sub-cutaneous hydration and a warm place to stay, it was clear that Bandet was beginning to turn the corner.

During all this, Monica's husband Jeff was out of town. Jeff got to hear about Bandet every day by phone and email, but by the time Jeff got back in town, Bandet had already come to Circle P. A couple of weekends after Bandet came to us, Jeff, Monica, Lindsey and Audrey came out for an afternoon. Jeff got to meet Bandet for the first time and the rest of the family got to see our little operation. Katie even demonstrated her technique for riding a wild hog - (Phoebe the wild hog from a previous post is quite large now and thinks Katie was put on this earth to be her best friend). 

Bandet is a little Alpha Male. He knows what he wants and he makes it happen. Bandet is all over the cage, climbing this and testing that. Annoy him and he'll crouch down, open his mouth and let out a growl that will make you think twice about putting your hand near him. Let our dogs get too close for his comfort and he will spit and hiss until he runs them off - including the Rhodesian Ridgeback. Get Bandet started playing and he will wear you out and still want more long after you're tired and ready to go to bed. Look in the dictionary under "thrive" and you'll see Bandet's photo - he had so far to come and he's done more than we ever thought possible. Once he passed the quarantine stage, we put Bandet's cage next to the two females. They made friends. One day Teresa had the idea that Bandet might stimulate the two little females who are slightly behind in their physical coordination and development - sure enough, within a few hours, he had both girls playing and fighting with him. Before the day was out, Bandet had them climbing the sides of the cage and then had them hanging upside down from the ceiling. Good job Bandet.

 Bandet practices getting his creep on in my camo chair.

 Eat and grow, eat and grow

The little stuffed bear was a donation from Audrey and Lindsey. It has been Bandet's constant companion. When Bandet first came, he was smaller than the bear!

4/24/12 Two baby raccoons

A veterinary office in Forney, Texas had two baby raccoons turned in. We were contacted and took the babies home. Both are healthy and growing like little weeds. Both of these little girls have a bright outlook. These girls are slightly behind on their motor skills and physical development, so we have added some physical therapy to help them get up to speed getting around and climbing - so far, their progress is good. We hope to move these little ladies to the pre-release pen by the end of June.

4/24/12 - Four baby raccoons

Val at Cross Timbers alerted us to four baby raccoons that had come in. A homeowner in the metroplex had an adult raccoon in his attic. Local animal control removed the adult and relocated her. The next day, the homeowner heard screaming coming from his attic and went to investigate. Turns out the adult was a mother and had a litter of four babies she was nursing.

We took the babies back to the Circle P and they have become a huge part of the family. All are well into adolescent stage now and are doing great. They have moved from quarantine through three larger indoor cages and finally into the outdoor pre-release cage (We moved Mama Coon to another cage to facilitate these coons).  The four play and fight non-stop.

They are named Willie, Si, Becky and Todd. Willie and Si are named after two of our favorite characters on Duck Dynasty. Becky was named because Teresa liked the name and Todd was our twelve year-old daughter's idea.

Evil never sleeps! 

3/26/12 - Baby raccoons.

We took possession of two baby raccoons from The Mother Ship (Cross Timbers Wildlife Ranch in Terrell, TX - the permit holder under who's authority we operate). These two were very young and their survival was very much in doubt from the get-go.

If coons are less than a week old or weigh less than about 125-130 grams, they normally don't have good outcomes.

Regardless, we're fighters and as my dad used to say 'don't know what quit looks like'. We fed and cared for these two babies literally around the clock - every two hours. Both seemed to be thriving. Both gained weight. We even went against our unwritten rule about giving names until we're sure the animal has a good chance of survival. Then one Tuesday, Teresa was feeding the little male (Tommy)- he seemed to aspirate formula, then coughed hard and died. The next day the little female (Amy) did the exact same thing.

This really took the wind out of our sails. Then Teresa and I talked it over; in the end we reminded ourselves of what we knew all along - we always fight the best fight we can, but some are beyond our control and sometimes we're going to lose the fight.

Lord, give us the strength to change the things we can and the wisdom to accept the things we cannot change. We're still working on that part about accepting things we
 can't change. But Lord, we're trying.