Critter updates:

The young grey foxes, though scared and sad without mom, take comfort from each other’s presence, and ate well last night. We cleaned out their kennel this morning (lots of poop–yay!), and moved them to a new kennel. Two are very docile, but one is a real spitfire. He thinks we’re planning to kill him, and he will not “go gentle into that good night.” More power to ya, buddy; way to go!

It turns out the homeowner, who said he thought there were 6 kits, isn’t really sure how many. We have 3, and livetraps are set for more, just in case. However, the den looks pretty empty and the homeowner hasn’t heard any sounds coming from underneath the deck. Fingers crossed that we have all the kits.

We are getting 3 more baby raccoons and a bald eagle from Hibbing. We got 11 admits yesterday (4 ducklings, 1 injured ring-billed gull, 1 Baltimore oriole, 1 unidentified seed-eating bird, 1 pigeon, and the 3 fox kits). That brings us up around 45 animals we are currently tending. Whew! We are frenetically busy from morning to night, and would collapse in confusion and exhaustion if it were not for the help of our volunteers. Thank you!!

The young bunnies were released last night, and seemed glad to hop away into the tall grass. Have wonderful lives, little ones! The various songbirds are healing and doing well. The spine-injured gull is walking with more and more confidence, but still has a way to go. The other gull follows him everywhere!

The grouse is very shy, and still very banged up and bruised from being retrieved by a dog. She has build up of air beneath her skin from a ruptured air sac, so we drain that off every day or so. She is eating well, but has a lot of skin and feathers to re-grow before she’s ready for release.

The tiny little ducklings that Dave brought in yesterday are doing super–dabbling in their shallow dish of water and duckweed, and munching on duck chow and bits of mealworm. And when they all get tired, they cuddle up under their pseudo-mom–a featherduster hung low over a heating pad. It is fun to watch them waddle around and peck at food. We’re looking for a duck family with ducklings the same age to foster them out to, but so far, no luck. If no luck still by tomorrow am, they’re off to WRC.

The squirrels and the woodchuck are doing well. We’re still looking for a buddy for the woodchuck but still no luck.

The raccoons are rowdy, rambunctious, usually hungry, always playful, and doing well.

The two injured young pigeons are doing well on tube-feeds and regaining more balance each day. The latest juvenile is off soft-releasing at our pigeon-friendly secret site (thanks R).

And I think that’s everyone!

(Like our work at Wildwoods? Help us continue to be there for orphaned and injured wildlife and the folks who find them; make a tax-deductible donation today!) http://on.fb.me/18kVUci  New intern and volunteer orientation this Saturday, June 22 — see PDD calendar.