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Summer 2009 Record setting hot days and babies galore
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We Are One Tammy Yuth President/Rehabilitator
Carol Ekker Vice President/Rehabilitator 360-264-4283
Patty Kaija –Treasurer Linda Anthony—Secretary Marlene Wenger—Board Member
Dr. Gregg Bennett Dr. Lina Wachsmuth Tumwater Veterinary Hospital 360-754-6008
Tess Starr—Web Page
Get the facts:
Animal-borne diseases in the news:
Licensing: |
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We hope everyone has survived the record heat this year and is enjoying their summer.
This summer has brought the usual flood of baby birds, raccoons, squirrels and deer to us. We want to share some of these babies and their stories with you.
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We hope you have enjoyed our baby pictures, and would like to leave you with the final thought:
Every year, people bring in baby animals from a variety of circumstances, some are injured, some are found brought home by pets, and some are found apparently abandoned. It can be very difficult for people to determine if a baby animal actually needs help.
As a general rule, if the baby is either injured, brought in by a pet, near a dead adult or has been alone for at least two days, bring it to a licensed rehabilitator. A baby that is unharmed but alone for less then a day is waiting for his parents to return and does not need help. If you have questions contact a licensed wildlife rehabilitator before moving the baby.
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The first is a set of baby bats, that were removed from a home by A All Animal Control. A All Animal Control specializes in human wildlife removal and all animals that can be legally relocated are taken to appropriate sites. In this case both adult and baby bats were found in a building. The adults were removed, and the babies taken to a bat biologist who contacted us to raise these cute babies.
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We always prefer that baby animals be left with their parents, but in some situations that isn’t possible. This was one of them, having bats on your property can be very beneficial, one bat can eat up to 1,200 mosquitoes in one hour. However, having bats in your home is not, among other issues, bats urinate and defecate where they roost. |
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Next is the story of this adorable pair of Bobcat kittens. These two babies were from a litter of three kittens in the Kamas area. The woman who brought them to us had watched for over a week and had not seen their mother during that time. When one of the kittens died she stepped in, and it’s a good thing she did, the kittens were emaciated.
While it may seem heartless to allow babies to be alone that long, she did the right thing. Bobcats are very shy animals and can easily be a few feet away from a person and not be seen, it takes days of observation to determine if the babies are truly orphaned.
Bobcats are also difficult to rehabilitate. In the wild bobcats begin hunting with their mother at about three months old, and remain with her until they are between seven months to a year old. Bobcats raised in captivity do not have the advantage of learning to hunt from their mothers.
Rehabilitating these babies requires space for them to practice their hunting skills. They also need space to avoid human contact to retain their natural shy behaviors.
We do not have the facility to provide the isolated space they need, so once they were eating well and healthy, we transferred them to Sarvey, which has larger cages to raise them in.
We hope these babies will retain their wild nature and be able to be released next spring. |
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This baby porcupine (above) was brought in with a respiratory infection, with a lot of love and care, he’s recovering nicely.
This baby wild rabbit (below) is fluffier then most and may be a domestic/wild hybrid. |
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This baby grey squirrel only a couple of days old. It’s hard to believe this little guy is going to grow up to be a bushy tailed eastern grey squirrel. |
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This flying squirrel baby was found in the middle of a walking trail by a hiker who rescued him and brought him to us. |
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Here are a few more of our late season babies we have in at the moment: |