Tales of Seven

Cormorant Finishing School

Out for walk, I came upon a sleek, black, long-necked bird that appeared out of sorts.... one step closer and then another and he made no attempt to get away. Worried he was injured I returned with box in hand, on a mission to get him help.

He quietly focused his eyes on me. “I dare you.”

A pause.

A raising of the towel.

The tackle.

Bird and towel were dumped unceremoniously into the box, in a ball of feathers and terrycloth. A sharp beak punctured the box once, then shot up through the box top at my face. Devil bird.

One hour later I handed my ward over the counter to a wildlife hospital reception clerk. “What was this again?” she asked. “ A seabird?” I suggested. “One moment please.” She reappeared wearing construction goggles and carrying a bright yellow CAUTION sign. “They like to spear bright shiny things like your eyes, “ she explained. (--A pause to consider--)

A few days later, a progress call revealed he was a juvenile cormorant, anemic from a lack of food. His treatment? A full scholarship to the Marin-based Finishing School for Seabirds, where he would learn to hunt in style, sit with excellent posture, and learn which wines paired best with bay fish. Fancy.

That Which Brightens My Day: Part V

I can't help but share this puts-a-smile-on-your-face picture. Click here for more images of "Tiny Animals on Fingers".

Kits Away

Well, my recent fostering duty is now complete. The kit got well enough over this week that she's ready to be paired with other kits her age.

In a single week, the she went from just over 400g to over 1000g and from eating 3/4oz of food at a time to 3oz each time. The growth rate was incredible. Now I hand her off before she becomes the raccoon equivalent of a teenager. Just right.

Little Tiny Overlord

A quick update on the raccoon homecare I'm doing for a wildlife hospital....

The formerly sluggish and ill kit is now feeling better. She's trilling for food, climbing like a champion (despite her plump buddha belly), and all 500 grams of her are growling like a tasmanian devil whenever I approach. The Little Tiny Overlord is now in control.

Raccoo-mergency

It was a tough morning for the raccoon kit in my care. A big nose bleed. Lethargic. Cold. Sniffling. When they first come in, we discover all sorts of issues in the first few days. Thinking something major might be going on, I did a run out to the wildlife hospital this morning to get an assessment. Thankfully, we confirmed nothing major was going on, and simply started antibiotics. Hang in there little one!

Day 2 picture --

First Raccoon

I realize the picture isn't much to look at, but I didn't want to disturb the little one when she was sleeping. Joining me today is a single baby raccoon I'll be fostering briefly on behalf of a wildlife rehabilitation program.

She's 5 weeks old, her eyes have just opened, and she was found alone, hungry and cold in a pile of leaves. She has a bit of a cough so she'll be staying at my place until she's well enough to join other kits of his age. My first order of business is to hit Walgreens to get a proper bottle with a vent.

(As with every post I do on this subject, I'll note that wildlife should never be raised without proper training and supervision. Not only could the Department of Fish and Game toast your *ss (because it's *illegal*), but it's too easy to do it wrong...to the harm of you and the animals.)

Raccoon Season

'tis the season....

     ..... for raccoons that is.

The baby raccoons have started to arrive at the Lindsay Wildlife Museum, their moms victims of cars and dogs, and our team of volunteers is mobilizing for kit-duty. Tonight we kicked it off with a refresher training course on safety, and wildlife handling -- and now it's just a matter of time before we start the work.

One thing is very clear from this work. It's hard to raise wildlife without harming yourself or the animal. Find something wild that needs help? Find a species expert - don't try to raise them yourself!

Pictured below. A kit from my very first batch of raccoons at 4 weeks old. This year I'll be babysitter should any longer term care givers be out of town.

 

Cat Tips and Tricks

I've had cats for over 12 years and with two cats that started their lives in shelters and on the streets, I've had to manage a number of behavior issues. I've gathered many ideas from books, other cat owners and my own experiementation. Here are a few that really worked for me!

• Biting, clawing and scratching you and your friends - Too much energy or pure vengeance, I found the best way to handle this is through a diversion tactic. Never play with the cat with your hands. Get a toy out and wear the creature down.
• Clawing the things you love – Scratching is natural behavior and if cats don’t have another option, your furniture will meet a sad and undignified end. Get a tall scratching post (so they can stretch out) that is sturdy (so they can really dig in). Provide a lot of positive reinforcement when it’s used (verbal, treats, catnip, playtime). When you first get it, you may need to physically move the cat to it from your furniture, then reward, reward, reward. They’ll soon prefer the scratching post as the ‘in place’ to be.
• Knocking things off counters, beating up other animals in the house and other destructive behavior, Part II - It’s possible they’re bored. Make life a little more interesting. I sometimes float toys in water in the sink, leave random treats around the house, or leave newspapers or bags out on the floor for play. I'll also put holes in a Pounce can and leave a few treats inside. The cats love to try to get the treats out.
• Overeating. My cats have to have steady access to food due to medical issues. But they were getting fatter and fatter. So I now make them work for their food. I keep food in a bin that they must open with their paws. They eat less and expend more energy each time they eat. I also give them diet food. They now have nice, trim figures.
• And a note on litter boxes - A couple of things seem to make cats happy here. Get a bigger box. You can use a Home Depot storage bin and cut out a door on one side. And put the box somewhere safe. It should allow a visual on incoming traffic and an escape route.
• And for comfort – a tip on ‘lifts’ - Pick your cat up by sliding one hand between its two front legs to support the front end, and use your second hand to support the back. This is much more comfortable than the typical method of lifting them with hands around their chest.

Cat Happy

This is Feliway...

...And these are your cats on Feliway.

The 'Glade Plug-in' of the cat world, this device puts out 'happy pheromones' that truly make cats feel great about the world. I used this to help my cats adapt to a smaller apartment and it was (as you can see) quite effective.

 

The Value of One?

We were wandering around the Yves Saint Laurent Gardens in Morocco when we came upon a tiny kitten that was skin and bones, cold, dehydrated, and unmoving. Leaving this tiny creature, when we had the opportunity to do something for it, would have been unconscionable. I tucked the creature into a large purse, and then took him back to our hotel. After just a few days of care, he was energetic and had a full, round  tummy. He was well enough to take to a comfortable, local animal shelter.

In looking at how we might ‘give back’, I see three levels of opportunity.

• We may influence change through laws, regulation, and policy. The impacts can be large and widespread.
• We may give contributions of money and time to groups dedicated to improving some piece of the world. The effect is often more 'regional'.
• Lastly, we may do something at an individual level, working to fix those things that are 'wrong' right in front of our eyes.

With such a huge population of us out there, I have to think that the third category could be as impactful and important as the first two -- that it's worth having each of us reach out and try to make some small impact as individuals, knowing that the collective impact of all our efforts would affect real change.

A picture of the kitten as we first found him is below.