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Our Wildlife: |
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These
baby bunnies were found in someone's backyard. There was a
litter of three and the people first noticed them on Saturday
when the husband was weed whacking some overgrown grass in their
backyard. Once they discovered the nest, they kept checking to
see if the mother rabbit was ever returning to feed the babies.
By Sunday night, they still had not seen any evidence of the
mother returning to feed the babies, so they called Friends of
Texas Wildlife. When the babies came in, they were cold and
dehydrated. Once the babies were warmed up, they were fed some
Pedialyte to rehydrate them. Unfortunately, the smallest of the
group was very critical, and she died within hours of coming
in. The other two babies did well and started taking a diluted
formula, gradually working them up to a full strength formula
over the first day. Their eyes opened when they were about one
week old, at which point they were able to begin nibbling on
some hay. They continued to be fed formula twice a day and
their solid food was increased slowly to include fresh grass and
dandelion greens. Rabbits are extremely difficult to rehab when
they come so young as they have not been exposed to enough
beneficial bacterial for their stomach enzymes, and often they
die within days of beginning to eat solid foods. To help with
this, both rabbits were also fed some acidophilus in their
formula every day to help develop their own digestive enzymes
and then started very gradually on solid food. Fortunately,
these girls did very well and continued to gain weight. Their
formula was cut down to once a day and they were eating hay,
grass, clover, and dandelion greens. Finally they were weaned
and released when they were about four weeks old.
A
vet technician saw a barred owl hit by a car and took the bird
to her office. The veterinarian did not know enough about
wildlife to determine its health. So, we were contacted, did a
full exam, cleaned the beak wound and started antibiotics. It
had some head trauma and its mouth was sore, so it had to be
force fed. It is currently convalescing in one of our
rehabilitator’s rapture enclosures. It is doing great, eating
well and flying. A vet will have to shape its beak as it
re-grows. When the owl is releasable, we will take it back to
where it came from, since owls mate for life. 
Someone
heard a raccoon in their attic and set a trap to catch her. She
was caught and relocated. Unfortunately, three days later they
found her 5 kits starved and near death. After much TLC, they
are adjusting without their mother. They will remain with us
for the next 8 months. 
A
fawn only a few days old was discovered in The Woodlands near an
office park. A curious employee around all day prevented the
mother from returning to her baby. The baby ended up with
severe dehydration and starvation. After 4 days in a rehabbers
care, we are hopeful that she will survive. This fawn will be
with us until the end of the year. 
A
mature doe was pursued by dogs roaming a neighborhood. In her
escape, she ran into a wire fence. The result was a severe
laceration on her mandible. The cut was infected and getting in
the way when she was eating. One of our rehabbers surgically
removed this flap of skin and tissue and treated her for the
infection. She is doing great, eating and feeling much better.
This should be a reminder to everyone that domestic animals and
wildlife do not co-exist. Copyright 2009, Friends
of Texas Wildlife, LLC. All rights reserved.
Designed by FDI Creative Services, Inc.
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Our Wildlife: |
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Copyright 2009, Friends
of Texas Wildlife, LLC. All rights reserved.
Designed by FDI Creative Services, Inc.
Houston web design