Raccoon Journal 1: Feathered Tales

Here we are, now, with my first raccoon journal of 2015.  I've moved my volunteer days to Saturdays due to having a job now during the week, so journal represents my first day back on Saturday the 23rd.  It proved to be a quite eventful day, and I always marvel at everything that's changed when I get to go back again.  This journal especially features a lot of birds, hence the title.  Not to worry, though, there are still raccoons.  Before we get to the pictures, some updates from last year.  The three young vultures did quite well; all three were released, but the youngest sadly had imprinted already and returned, so has been given over to another group that does outreach with birds, to be trained to work with people.  Also, Stinky the screech owl passed away over the winter; it's generally believed he was pretty old when he came in, so at least he was found and given a good extra few years in comfort where he helped a number of young screech owls to maturity.  Also Momma Possum has her own enclosure now, and a few enclosures have been torn down while others are being erected.  As well, there's a plan to install bee gardens and a bee hive on the property.

Now to the pictures.  First up we have a baby Red-Tailed Hawk.  Note the arrow pattern on the back of his head, marking a soft spot similar to that found on human infants.  This little one will be raised and hopefully released eventually, so care is taken not to have him imprint on people.







 



The gosling population is off to a slow start, but I am certain that will change.



We do have a young crow with an injured wing, though.  He makes the most interesting sounds when eating, as you can see in the videos below.

Video: Hungry Young Crow 1
Video: Hungry Young Crow 2




There are some grackles and sparrows as well, and one sparrow that was in with the grackles being watched because they weren't certain if he was eating well proved quite a handful when he got out and got behind the refrigerator!  Early attempt to get it with poles and a net failed, and we lost sight of it, worried it had gone under or into the fridge somehow.  We had to pry away some door frame, get a dolly out and lift the fridge away, and then discovered that it had wedged itself in behind the cabinets.  Waiting for it to come out again, the first attempt to capture it once it did failed, as it went back in; I waited for it to come out again and then placed a block of styrofoam over its escape route  before getting it up onto a net and lifted away.  It flew once it was high enough, and lead us on quite a chase before it was captured and put in with the other three sparrows.   Then I had to put the fridge back; in the future we're covering the back of the fridge area with chicken wire to prevent further escapees in that direction.





We also have quite a few robins, as always.  I had to hold onto one for a time, while their enclosure was cleaned out; it was the only one prone to making a break for it, and after we caught it I kept it company while my colleague cleaned up.












We also have some young wood ducks, as well as one mallard in with them for the time being.  They must be looked after very carefully, kept entirely in the dark; in the wild they leap twenty to forty feet to escape their nests, built into tree hollows, and if they see any light they'll exhaust themselves trying to leap out.





We also have three young great horned owls.  One is still very young and being kept inside; it has a bad eye, which we hopefully can treat so it can be released. The other two are out in an enclosure.







I also always love visiting with Vinnie the Turkey Vulture.  A permanent resident, Vinnie is a great bird, but a cautionary tale about doing everything possible to avoid having rescued animals get too close to people; birds especially are inclined to imprint and believe themselves to be 'human.'  Vinnie was raised at another center, and several times release attempts were made, but he always found his way back to people, often following them about and nibbling at their shoelaces.  Last year he got to be a role model to three young vultures raised at the center.

Video:  A Visit With Vinnie















As I said before, no raccoon journal is complete without the raccoons.






 










We also always have our fair share of squirrels.


 



There are usually a good number of rabbits also, but I don't see them as often, as they tend to be kept tucked away much of the day, and released when they're old enough, often into the meadows out back.




Lastly, here are some pictures from around the property.









Here are links to the final journals for the last two years; each of them has links to all of the journals for that year.

Raccoon Journal 11 - A New Beginning - 2013
Raccoon Journal 12 - A Late Farewell - 2014