Wednesday, March 26, 2008

Wildlife Updates

Archie (5-6 week-old squirrel): Today I transferred her to a big cage and began deleting her noontime serving (in a dish) of formula. She only gets it for breakfast and supper now. The rest of the time, she has solid foods to choose from, and I'm hoping she will very soon discover her water bottle. Release date will probably be mid-April, before my trip to North Carolina.

Mozart and Beethoven (4-5 week-old squirrels): I put them in Archie's old cage this morning. Now they, too, have a water bottle. They both eat solid foods. Mozart slurps formula from a bowl; I just have to wash his chin and paws afterward. Beethoven just can't seem to figure out the bowl. I have had to wash him all over when he tries. After he's clean, I feed him from the bottle as usual. They will go outside as soon as the weather stays consistently warm.

Puer and Puella (2.5-week-old squirrels): They now take 6 ccs of formula each, 4 times a day. Their eyes are still closed, but not for long. They probably won't be ready to live outside by time I go to North Carolina in mid-April; someone else from ARK will babysit them for me.

Opossums: didn't make it. Tough to keep 'em alive when they're really fetuses who should still be in mama's pocket.

Cedar Waxwings: 27 have survived and appear to be doing very well. Just waiting now for them to molt, so they will have enough feathers. It would be nice if they could be released before their upcoming breeding season. If not, then we're in uncharted territory.

A man called our wildlife hotline to say he had found and rescued four little, furry somethings. He didn't know what. He felt fairly sure they were canine, though. Yup. Tiny Red Fox kits, they are. Susan has them. Anastasia is jealous. She's not alone, either.

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2 comments:

Elizabeth @ The Garden Window said...

Thanks for the updates - you're doing a grand job with these little ones.
How is Demetrios's foot ?

Anastasia Theodoridis said...

Hi, Elizabeth, and thanks for inquiring after Demetrios. His main problem is boredom. My main problem is keeping him entertained, because it takes time, a lot of time, and so much else doesn't get done. We still take drives out into the countryside every day, for an average of 2+ hours per trip...

He doesn't want company, because of his current "lifestyle," in which his clothing and towels and such are all laid out in little folded stacks on the piano bench, and his bed is temporarily in the family room. He feels company would be an invasion of his privacy just now.

He also isn't keen on going to visit others, for similar reasons. (And of course, we are both TIRED of traveling!)

We read P.G. Wodehouse stories and drive and watch TV and drive and talk and drive.

Otherwise, he's doing well. One blessing is that his injury doesn't hurt, and never has, much. We hope to get the cast off on 10 April.