Paws 'N Claws
News from All Things Wild Rehabilitation, Inc.
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What's in this issue:
We Need You
A Badly Broken Leg
Baby Bumblebees
A Room for Wrecking
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As the day begins and we hear Abbott caw,
The tiny songbirds stretch their necks with expectant maws.
The cottontails spring about awaiting fresh food,
While the squirrels chitter about their voracious mood.
40 raccoons are begrimed in the previous night’s play,
And they all scream and scrabble for their first lap bowl today.
Everyone is hungry!! Yet there’s no time to spare.
It’s a secret, you see! Allow me to share:
When we’re running out of time, what do we do?
We rely on our dedicated volunteers; WE DEPEND ON YOU!
Why We Need YOU
by Kaela Jones
Kaela prepares fresh, nutritious food for the animals.
As wildlife rehabbers, we dedicate an immense amount of time to our work. All Things Wild (ATW) is one of the very few wildlife rehabilitation centers which is open 12 hours/day, 7days/week, with no holidays, and our staff often stay beyond those hours. Even then, once we leave the vicinity of the center, we frequently take work home with us. Literally! In order to ensure survival of the more infantile/critical care animals, they must be taken home to be cared for through the night. Nonetheless, we do what we do because we LOVE it; but we can’t keep going strong without YOU!
Our Volunteers mean everything to us; without them, we would surely be a sinking ship. The average day at ATW begins promptly at 8am. All birds, inside and out, must be fed immediately, as they require food every 30 minutes throughout the day; any tiny babies left in incubators must be fed immediately, as they’ve waited at least 12 hours; water bowls outside must be cleaned to provide cool water before the heat of the day; food for crepuscular animals (those who eat at dusk/dawn) must be prepared early; heavily injured animals in ICU may need immediate attention… Beyond this, we must keep the center clean in order to provide for an efficient and healthy working environment (for the people and animals!). Alone, we simply don’t have enough time to provide the level of care and maintenance we wish. Volunteers mean everything! Yes, YOU! You allow for equal care to all animals at the center, the intake of more animals, and the overall smooth operation of our organization. You even provide care for the staff as you urge us to pause for hydration and food ourselves! So I would like to personally thank all of our volunteers! Especially YOU long-running volunteers who dedicate time every week to help keep us afloat. Even if you’re not one of our volunteers, though, we still need you!
The annual cost purely for fresh food exceeds $15,000. Additionally, we must always have a supply of specialized formulas, proteins, different feeding apparatuses, bedding, vaccines, medical supplies, cleaning supplies, personal protective equipment, etc. Of course, this does not include the price for general utility bills, enclosure/building maintenance, or human needs. The average cost to fully rehabilitate a songbird is approximately $35, small mammals are $50, fawns/raccoons/foxes/skunks are $75-$100, and raptors are an average of $100-$200. These are baseline numbers for animals who come in as relatively healthy orphaned animals.
Unfortunately, we don’t usually have animals brought to us because they’re healthy. Most often, additional care is needed for intense rehydration, medical procedures, and physical therapy. These animals cannot pay for themselves, but they need help. They need YOUR help. We want to keep our wildlife happy and healthy! So please bring any injured/orphaned wildlife to us and donate to better ensure their happy future! The animals brought in likely feel as though their lives have been reduced to nothing, so ANYTHING helps! You can donate any time on our website. You can also donate supplies directly to the animals by checking out our Amazon wishlist. Additionally, there is Amazon Smile that allows you to choose a charity to which 0.5% of your purchases will be donated. If you are an avid Amazon user, please think about choosing All Things Wild Rehabilitation as your charity! Beyond all this, we are aiming to add an education center!
Education remains ATW’s primary mission. In this, YOU are also our most important tool. We believe educating the public about their native wildlife would greatly improve the little nature we have left. Did you know the Virginia Opossums (known to most of us as ‘possums’) are heavily resistant to most snake venom? Due to this, they are great for keeping rattlesnakes out of the yard! They also keep mice and insects at bay as they hunt. Additionally, they eat hundreds of thousands of ticks, removing them (and Lyme disease) from our environment. Many people see an opossum and only see a scary, hissing, wiry-haired giant rat; but most people are ignorant to the many pleasures allowed to us only because we have opossums. Every phone call we get at the center is a touch of knowledge outreach. We want to spread this knowledge as far and wide as possible, and –of course- we need your help!
So, thank you for helping every animal –a large fawn to a tiny dove-
And for helping us continue to do what we love.
You keep us afloat in our ever-moving ship,
And I’m sure your names’ brush every saved animal’s lips.
As long as we can help it, we will do what we do,
So, again and again, THANKS SO MUCH TO YOU!
About the Author: Kaela is a full-time Animal Care Technician at All Things Wild. She is a graduate of Texas A&M University with a major in Wildlife Sciences. You can watch a video of Kaela here teaching us about opossums.
PLEASE NOTE: The volunteer application at our website remains closed. We are in the middle of Baby Season ’21, and the staff doesn’t currently have the time to train new volunteers on how to care for the animals. However, we do need volunteers to help us keep the center CLEAN, e.g., washing dishes, sweeping, mopping, and laundry. If you are willing to commit one or more 3-hour shifts a week to cleaning and organizing so that the expert staff can care for the animals, please email us here. Your help will make a huge difference. Thank you!
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A Badly Broken Leg
The 12-week old grey fox was found by the home owner caught in the fence. Somehow, during his attempt to get through the fence, probably with his mom and siblings, the fox’s leg got trapped, and in his efforts to free himself, the leg was badly broken. As mom and siblings moved on, this little guy stayed behind caught in the fence.
Animal Control freed the fox from the fence and brought him to All Things Wild. With a badly broken leg, the first order of business was anesthesia followed by x-rays of the broken leg.
An x-ray revealed a badly broken leg.
While the fox was under anesthesia, the leg was splinted and bandaged. He was given pain medication, and because he was badly dehydrated, electrolyte fluids.
The fox was anesthetized so his leg could be treated.
The badly broken leg was splinted and bandaged.
Finally, the fox was treated to his first meal of critical care food, a delicious mixture that is tasty, easy to digest, and nutritious. This was the first of many critical care meals until the little fox began eating on his own.
The fox enjoys his first meal following treatment.
After a week had passed, the bandaging was removed and the leg x-rayed again. Although some healing had occurred, the break wasn’t totally healed.
Some healing had occurred, but the fracture needed more time to heal.
By this time, the little fox was eating regular food as well as the bandage on his leg. Because his chewing was about to cause considerable damage to the leg and the fracture, our wildlife vet tech decided to remove the splint and bandage and keep the fox closely confined to limit movement. Hopefully, this way, the leg would heal without splinting and bandaging.
The fox wasn’t happy being so closely confined.
The fox was not happy being so closely confined, but the leg continued to heal. We were overjoyed one day to notice that he was beginning to put weight on it. Eventually, he was roaming about his small cage and growling at anyone who got near. This was a good sign because it meant that he didn’t want anything to do with people, a trait needed for a successful wild release.
One day recently, the fox was taken to a large private release site where the property owner agreed to put out food until the fox could figure out how to forage in the wild.
Healthy, wild and free . . . at last!
This was a truly successful rehabilitation and release for All Things Wild and for the little fox with the badly broken leg!
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Baby Bumblebees
Last Saturday, two separate mom black-bellied whistling ducks in two separate locations decided to walk their huge broods of babies across a highway and were killed by cars. In one day, All Things Wild took in 36 orphaned black-bellied ducks. With their black and yellow stripes, they remind us of bumblebees.
The young ducks have heat, food (right), and water (left).
The ATW staff got them settled in a bird cage under a heat lamp for warmth in one big bunch because they prefer big crowds. To eat, they had mashed peas, meal worms, waterfowl feed, and uncooked oats. The water dish was filled with rocks to prevent the babies from standing in the water and become chilled.
It’s always a challenge to get wild baby ducks to begin eating. With only one or two babies, a young chicken purchased at the feed store can help lead the way. However, with three dozen babies, starting to eat was not a problem, and it wasn’t long before they were happily munching away.
Black-bellied whistling ducks have huge broods, numbering around 18. They prefer dense vegetation and nest in tree cavities incubating the eggs for almost 4 weeks before hatching. The young jump to the ground where mom and dad will teach them how to forage on vegetation and lead them to water, which is why they were crossing the highway.
An adult black-bellied whistling duck.
Black-bellied whistling ducks will use manmade nest boxes. For instructions on building a nest box, click here. For more information on black-bellied whistling ducks, click here.
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A Room for Wrecking
Our two ambassador raccoons, Cricket and Mojang, have a new residence. The enclosure was built especially for them to make room for the rehab babies in the big raccoon enclosure.
Wildlife vet tech Amber was primarily responsible for the design of the enclosure and came up with the raccoon-specific play on words, ”wreck room.”
The girls, Cricket and Mojang, are exceptionally happy in their new two-room suite that includes an enclosed area for sleeping and an open play area.
The girls nestle together on top of a child's bunk bed without the mattress.
The outside play area includes a tire swing.
The outside area is still a work in progress, but Amber plans to make it a fun play area for the two ambassadors.
Amber holds Cricket with Mojang in the background.
A Word of Caution: Don’t try this at home. Raccoons do not make good pets. Adult raccoons can be destructive, dangerous and unpredictable. Babies kept as pets are destined to spend their lives in a cage because they are not afraid of people. It is illegal in Texas to keep any wild animal in captivity without a permit from the State. Just don’t do it!
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