Topic: Animal Stories

[KTG17]

Oh man I came really, really close to buying a Ground Hog as a pet. I heard they are great.

But seriously with all I have now just adding a single rescue can be overwhelming. Everyone instantly starts getting needy.

[Baron Isebrand]

I'm seriously considering adopting this dwarf rabbit I found at the humane society. He is just so cute, and I already have the perfect enclosure for him.

[KTG17]

So this month's rescue is a real challenge. Yesterday I got a notification on NextDoor about young possum that was shaking and walking in circles with no fear of humans on a guys lawn, and was asking what he should do. I offered to come get him and he sent me over his address. When I go there, he had him in a bucket with a towel over him, and when I pulled the blanket back, there lied a wet, half dead juvenile possum. So I thanked the guy and headed home and warmed him up, fed water through a syringe, and gave him a little mix of veggies and fruit blended up in a shake, and fed that via syringe.

He had some bite marks on his forehead, and it appears he was bit by something, and this was causing some neurological issues from the swelling of his brain. He was very affectionate and more than happy to cuddle up on my chest and sleep, which rest is what this guy really needs. However, whenever he woke it was always tight circles to the left.

This morning we went out to my patio where I laid on a patio couch and he had more strength and wanted to explore, despite being very clumsy, but within 30 min or so he was back to walking in circles. I had to leave the house for a bit and he was sleeping when I left, but when I came back he was doing circles in his cage. Heartbreaking to watch as that activity was really the last thing he needed to be doing.

Tried a variety of food from eggs to fruit but wouldn't take any of it, which is no real surprise as I rarely see an animal go for food on its own until day 3 most of the time, so everything has to be in a mushy-liquid form via syringe. Had to leave the house again, expected to see him doing circles when I got back but instead he was sleeping. So this evening fed him via syringe again and he actually engaged it, and didn't walk in circles, then went to sleep on me again. So nice improvement.

So this little guy obviously went through a lot and had the guy not posted on NextDoor about him, and just moved him to a bush or something, he would be dead. I am told it can take some weeks for the animal to become normal again after a head injury (if they are able to come back at all). But since he wasn't doing circles just now I am hoping its a lot sooner. Really hoping tomorrow he goes for some food on his own.   

Plan was to fatten him up and do a soft release in my backyard in a few days, but this is going to be more complicated. We were worried he was blind too, as head injuries can often cause blindness in possums who already have crappy eyesight, but it just might be brain swelling. So lots of rest, water, healthy foods, and patience.

He is really a sweet guy. Really irritates me how people write off 'wild' animals as 'wild', or disgusting. A few of my posts just in my thread should disprove many of the conclusions people have about them.

[KTG17]

It just dawned on my that I don’t see any posts here about the baby roof rat my dog caught who I rehabbed and let go. Did I mention that before? I thought I posted pics. Oh well.

Yeah so to recap I rescued a wild baby rat and re-released it. In my backyard.

[GamesPoet]

Very good of you.

[GamesPoet]

Lots of backyard bird drama here this morning.

A flock of sparrows roosting in the evergreens behind my place weren't happy with an invading squirrel.  Neither were Mr. & Mrs. Cardinal.

Then along comes a big, big back alley cat, stalking for a catch.  Nabs a bird or a mouse, was too far away to see for sure.  The birds weren't happy with him at all.

Makes the Back Table look pale compared to all this life and death stuff.

[GamesPoet]

Saved a small box turtle the other day.  He was sunning himself smack in the middle of the road where cars were hurrying past.  He could have easily been hit, and so I stopped, picked him up off the road and put him close to a near by swampy are near the side of the road.

By the way ... this video popped up this morning ... a close up of a falcon ...

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h19eieKefBo

[KTG17]

Excellent work GP.

The possum died btw. 4 days after I got him.

So one of the patterns I see when rescuing animals that the earliest signs that I see that tells me they are going to make the initial critical few days is this: after a day of adjusting to their new environment (typically not eating), on day two they start grooming themselves. If it happens before that then great, they are in good shape. But its pretty important to see them groom themselves and it doesnt matter what species it is. By day three they should be eating. If the first three days have gone like this, it usually leads to a success story and quick release.

I never saw this possum groom himself, and he never ate on his own. Everything was done via syringe. The last night I had him, he was pretty active in his cage, which is just a large bird cage, so I decided to put him in my old snakes large enclosure in the garage overnight. By adding a lot of things to climb over, I hoped he might get some of his motor skills back and maybe snap out of walking in left-hand circles. I set up a camera so I could watch him on my phone and was surprised how much he moved around, but it wasn't the kind of moving around I am used to seeing in animals. Its really hard to explain. Its like he was walking for the sake of walking but not exploring the environment if that makes sense. But he would at times break from the circling to the left behavior but eventually fell back into it.

The next day was a struggle to get him to eat. At this point I was hoping he would be further along so made the decision to take him to a pet emergency center after work, and a little before we left I saw him come out of his bed so I decided to try and feed him again, which involves him on my chest while I try to get the syringe in his mouth. He wouldn't take it and just wanted to lay down so I let him and pet him until soon after he  passed away.

His downward spiral was incredibly quick, and I say this because the first two days I had him he crapped, which means he was eating recently before I got him, then lost interest in it. He was obviously dealing with some neurological issues. I have read now that roundworm could have been the culprit (I was even worried about rabies for a bit too) or some parasite.

I have this thing where I tend to bury pets with some of their possessions, like a toy or blanket they liked. I had this guy for such a short time all I really had to give him was the box he slept in, so I buried him with that.

I hope him going out being comfortable on my chest being pet beats sitting lonely in the back of a cage or getting eaten by another animal, but it still blows. I hate it when anything young doesnt make it to adulthood.

[GamesPoet]

Ya did a good job, full of altruism, congrats and condolences.

[KTG17]

Okay this months rescue involves a pair of Cottontail bunnies. At least I think they are Cottontail. We have Marsh rabbits down here too and they look a lot like Cottontails. I assume they are Cottontails as there isn't a lake, pond, or river near where these were found, but you never know.

For a size reference, these guys would fit if you cupped your hand.

Unlike most animals that I get, these aren't sick or hurt thankfully. Their den was destroyed by a work crew working in a yard. Typically you are supposed to leave baby rabbits in their den as the parents tend not to stay with them but come back to feed them, but since the den was destroyed, and it so hot out (95 here today), and we do get heavy rains at some point almost every day, on top of that predators if they were left where they were, I just thought it would be best to take them home and raise them until they are bigger. They are at the age that they might be able to handle themselves, but they are also pretty clueless at this age too. Where I plan on releasing them has alligators, raccoons, snakes, coyotes, and hawks, so would just prefer to release them when they are bigger.

And so far so good. I have seen some of the greens I have thrown into the tank have been eaten. These guys typically only eat at dawn and dusk, and since they get their water from the grasses and so forth that they eat in the wild, I'll a little worried the greens are dried out by the time they get to them, so I am supplementing their diet with goats milk, which I feed via syringe.

[KTG17]

I had nothing for rabbits btw, except a tank to keep them in. So had to go out and by bedding and various foods. About $60 so far.

[GamesPoet]

Awesome!

Found a baby robin sitting under a neighbors car.  Evidently smart enough to stay out of the heat, but who wouldn't be.  Alerted the neighbor so it wouldn't be accidentally run over, so far so good.

[KTG17]

The rabbits are doing great. Off milk now and chowing down on kale, green peppers, parsley, cilantro, and hay. Their personalities are starting to show too.

So I was just preparing dinner for everyone and I thought I would post this. I have two dogs, a hound and yellow lab mix, and I am watching my sister's dogs, two pit mixes. Dinner tonight is rotisserie chicken with mixed veggies. And this isn't a treat but an example of how I feed my dogs.

Before anyone says, "what an elitest feeding his dogs human food" - I've done the math. This isn't anywhere near expensive as you think when you compare it to 'high quality' dog food. Most if which isn't fit for human consumption.

I went down the rabbit hole looking into high end dog food, whether it was dry, canned, or even organic, and I found that when you got something like Merrick, which might run $4-5 a can, you might as well give them the real thing. When you think about it, dog food in general is so processed its like eating a steady diet of spam. There certainly are advantages to having actual dog food, be it a good quality dog food, since its easy to store and convenient, but the over-processed part has always bothered me. I was raised that the dogs we had were part of the family and I just want to give them the healthiest food I can.

So in this case a rotisserie chicken runs about $8 from the grocery store. I can get two meals for two dogs from one just pulling the easy meat off the bones. The rest I will boil and make a broth, strip off the remaining meat, and put that over dry food. I typically add frozen mixed veggies which is easy to store. So adding the veggies, some dry dog food on the third meal, the whole 3 meals for two dogs is prob around $10. So about $1.60 a meal. That is still cheaper than a crappy can of dog food and far more healthier.

Also, the better the quality the less they need in portions. And these guys get treats during the day too.

So I guess the lesson here is give some thought on what you are actually giving your pets. I have a friend who's brother works in come plant that extracts protein from animal parts specifically for dog food, which is terrible. I will also buy beef stew bits in bulk, divide them up, and freeze them and just thaw out the individual portions to either make a stew with or throw on the grill. The one thing they do go crazy over is elk, which isn't something I give them often due to the cost and the fact I kind of love the stuff. But their reaction to me is one that says their instincts know that is what the wolf in them ate, and they go crazy over it.