Animal Updates for November

by Jennifer Howard

Procyon fawns

On November 29th we released several fawns and we have a few more almost ready to go free in a few weeks. Raised from tiny wee babes.

They are being fed in their travel crates now to get them used to going in and out.  It’s a very important part of a successful release as it gets them accustomed to the travel crates, so it will be easy to secure them for transporting to their release location.

And they are all doing very well at it.

Hope

Hope is a porcupine that came in after being hit by a car. She is doing so well she is almost ready to go home. She had a broken tooth from her accident. And luckily her broken tooth is growing and almost caught up to the other one. Porcupine’s teeth never stop growing. That why it is vital to their health to do lots of chewing.

Elvis

Our red fox Elvis who came in with mange has been doing really great as well. His healing is almost complete. He will be going home in a couple weeks or so.

He is a real character with lots of attitude, loves to talk and has a good healthy appetite.

New tiny admission

On a road in the middle of the day, a lady saw this little bundle of fur balled up in the middle of the road. Drenched from the weather. She went to see what it was and if it needed help. It was a flying squirrel. Because flying squirrels are very tiny, she thought it was a young one.  They contacted us and we took it in.

It has head trauma and likely was hit or clipped by a car. It is eating well and if all goes well will fully recover soon. Flying squirrels are nocturnal and have big beautiful eyes to allow the night darkness in. So, seeing one out during the daylight hours would mean they are in trouble. Always check animals on the side of the road to see if they are alive. You could save a life.

All in all, we have a few animals overwintering with us. To date, 7 raccoons, 1 opossum, and 2 porcupines. All others will be leaving us soon to go home.

Of course, every day something new could come in and may need to overwinter as well. So those stats could change. Our upcoming releases are always very exciting for us. Job well done for all.

Jen Howard

Please enjoy the gallery of images taken by Jennifer Howard, wildlife photographer and Procyon volunteer

Animal Updates for November