Wildlife Stories

With spring around the corner, we begin to prepare for the wildlife that needs our care every year. A recent car commercial, extolling the silence of its interior, had a mother badger, her sleeping babies and a person locked in the car. The point was that the car was so quiet that the babies and mom remained comfortable and sleeping rather than attacking the unfortunate human test subject. It reminded me of some young wild animals that were presented to our hosptal a few years back. Mother nature runs a limitless account with us and we try to do what ever we can for sick and injured wildlife and then get the animals to a rehabilitator.

One spring we had wind storms, whole nests of squirrels were being blown from the trees and ending up at our office. Around that time we got a call from a very excited young woman who explained that she had found a nest of squirrels in her back yad , they were crying and in great distress. We encouraged her to bring them to the hospital, since the nest had been destroyed they would have to be hand raised. A short time later, three women arrived with a swaddle of blankets and within the nest of linens was a jumble of small , brown, rodent-like creatures. The technician accepted the squirrels, took the requiset information and placed the babies in an incubator.

One of the technicians bottle fed the youngsters and shortly after feeding they were crying, actually screaming - a blood curdling cry. There was something primeval about the sound, distinctly un-squirrel like. I peered into the incubator to find 5 dark brown whirling dervishes. They were in constant motion, their long bodies moving like eels on stimulants. These were not squirrels, if they were there was something terribly wrong with their neighborhoods’ genetic pool.

After a quick consult with the wildlife expert we discovered we had baby mink! About 30 years ago, a mink farm in the area closed and all the mink were released. This resulted in a large, wild (and really, what mink are tame?)mink population. the hyperactive crew was quickly turned over to the rhabilitator. I would not want to be trapped in a car with them!

The responsibility of having a pet or caring for animals should never be taken lightly. Animals are ours to care for. They are solely dependent on us like the mink. Shirking our responsibilty can have far reaching consequences, not just for you and the animal, but for the ecosystem and the communities within. Mink are extreemly agressive and can push out or destroy other species that inhabit an area. The rehabilitator had to work hard to find an appropriate area for the little devils!