Sorry for taking to long to post! The off-season (late fall/winter) gets REALLY slow. Instead of admitting 100 animals per day, we get 1-6--which makes the days drag! However, it's a great time to be able to really work-up cases and do thorough research. I have a few difficult cases that are frustrating, but at the same time I'm glad to have enough time to give them adequate attention.
The pic above is of a BEAVER we got in today--how cool!! we don't often get them in. This guy had a chunk of his tail gone--likely got attacked by an animal or caught in a trap. He's very lethargic-not sure if he was sick and that's why he got caught by an animal or if the trauma caused him to be lethargic. We'll see how he does!
One thing I hate about this time of year is the hunting. I'm necessarily for or against hunting in general, but I loathe getting in suffering animals who didn't die by the bullet. Just today we got in this crow with a bullet which shattered his wing. This poor guy was in so much pain--and the injury was too extensive for me to save, so he had to be humanely euthanized. We also received a opossum with 6 lead bullets in him! 6!!!!!!!! No broken bones and he's stable so I hope he'll pull through. Yesterday I got in a canada goose with a bullet that shattered his leg--he too needed to be euthanized. I realize many of these animals are in hunting season, but seriously--if you can't make a shot where you know the animal will die--DON'T SHOOT!!
Isn't this the cutest tiny painted turtle ever?!?! People "rescued" it after it hatched (remember--turtles are never orphans--they fully function right after they hatch and never spend any time with mom). Anyway, they are sick now since the finders kept them in sub-par conditions for 2 months. Hopefully they'll pull through as well!
This guy is so cool! He's only ~150 grams--a long tailed weasel! He somehow got caught in a live trap for mice (which is ironic b/c he eats them!) the finders were happy to take him back so he could naturally hunt the mice they didn't want. he looks grubby b/c he's been stuck in a tiny trap for a day.Hope everyone is doing well!
