Cornell University

Oscar the Bobcat has made it to Cornell, it is 100 pm and I still have bottles to do so I am going to try to make this a quick blog (yeah right). Susie and Kristy came back to the Cornell Wildlife health Center to open the place up for the bobcat delievery after hours. I wish that I could be everywhere at once but I cant. Since I last blogged I have been unbelievably busy. Lots of new orphans have come in this week. From baby bats the size of my thumb nail, cottontails, baby birds and a kestral....lots of happy and sad endings, Ill catch all of my readers up to speed tomorrow night. Tonight is Oscar the bobcats lucky night. My readers all know that I am against naming wildlife but this bobcat needs one and it fits. The vet that originally was planning on doing his surgery couldn't. I was really left without many options besides euthanizing this young bobcat. Euthanizing him may still be an option but I wont consider that option unless it is the last choice.
This cat has used 8 of its 9 lives. Our association with Kim Punchar and all of our wildlife rehabber friends downstate are to get my first thanks. They got the cat off of the road, in a crate, got him to their vet and then transported him to New York Wildlife Rescue Center. The bobcat would already be dead if they hadnt gotten him off of the side of the road. I want to thank Trish from Northcountry Wildlife Rescue for meeting my wife halfway between us when I was too busy to get off the mountain to get the xrays to their vet. When that didnt work out, she got the xrays photographed and sent to Cornell. Kelly Martin, President of NY Wildlife Rehab Council and a BOD founder of NY Wildlife Rescue Center has been instrumental in helping me after the bobcat came to our facilty. She is a great friend and shows up daily, usually when I am on Raccoon overload and about ready to lose my mind. She props me up, puts the bottles back in my hands and gets me going forward again. My wife Darcy, besides for being a wildlife rehabber is a saint for picking up the slack for me with the kids, household chores and for putting up with being broke all the time because the animals always come first...... I never thank the people that are part of daily life at New York Wildlife Rescue Center enough, I couldnt keep this place going without them.
It is regents week at school, I miss being in the classroom but am looking forward to summer vacation. I hate the fact that my students have to pass one 3 hour exam on the entire history of the world in order to graduate HS. In between proctoring exams, grading exams, etc....I try to check the computer. I was out yesterday to teach the MCS Elem. school kids from Mrs. Scotts Pre-K classes and Ms. London's 2nd grade students all about wildlife all day....I got the email from Susie that Cornell would take the bobcat (after hours) for surgery tomorrow am. I got out of school (I love the 6 history teachers at MCS) and ran home to meet the USDA vet for our inspection for one of our licenses with them. Oscar was loaded in the truck and waiting for the roadtrip. It is a 6-8 hour round trip to Cornell from where we are, I was falling to sleep driving so I called a friend that owns Unadilla Game Farm (that rescues a lot of exotic animals) and he met me off the exit to ride with me so I didnt fall to sleep. I dont have time to visit with friends, it was nice talking to someone that doesnt want a bottle or that poops on me.
We got to the Cornell Wildlife Health Center. I know Cornell University well. I was going to Cornell's pre-vet program after I studied in South America as an exchange student upon graduation from HS. I decided to go into teaching instead but Cornell has always been a University that I cant say enough good things about. I wouldnt have time to be a vet being Director of New York Wildlife Rescue Center.......:) The bobcat is where he needs to be, he is in the best hands in the USA. After surgery tomorrow, he isnt out in the woods yet. It will be a long healing process with a lot of roadtrips back and forth to Cornell for follow up visits. None of this is going to be easy or cheap. Surgery estimates could be as high as $5000 which I am hoping that we can get some help with through Cornell s networks, our loyal donors and through publicity/press releases that I will start putting together for Northcountry's newsletter, The Release/NY Wildlife Rehab Council's newsletter and newspapers. I do not have the resources to keep paying for construction on the Raptor Center and these additional expenses. WE ARE REALLY SPREAD FINANCIALY THIN. The bobcat is getting the care it needs, we will figure out all of the bills as we go along. I want to keep this positive and I dont want to waste amy of the 3-4 hours I sleep a night thinking about it tonight.
I will blog tomorrow afternoon as soon as I get word how the surgery went. On the way home I stopped quick at Johns Zoo to get a large mammal container made out of aluminum that goes on the back of my truck that he didnt need. He also has a 3 unit steel cage that would be ideal for rehabbing all of these coons that I would really like to get to our facility if anyone out there knows of anyone with a flatbed trailer that wants to help us out. It is about 20 foot long, I will get the exact dimensions. I REALLY NEED SOME HELP in a variety of ways.....email me privately if you think that you can help us. Wes

Busy Weekend

Sorry I haven't blogged all weekend, been really busy. Let me catch you up to speed. Friday I had a baby raccoon crash, got him jump started and still alive. RVS is tough, if it dies you really have to look at the intake forms carefully. If there is "exposure" it needs to be tested for Rabies. People lie, they touch the animals and it is foolish to lie about it. People need to be honest with how long they have had their "wild" pets illegally. I just picked it up yesterday is often actually a week and that is vital information when trying to save them after a week of care that often is very detrimental. Two RAPTORs moved in to the first two aviaries of the raptor center on Friday night. The first is a Red Tailed Hawk, which is hopefully releasable with some flight time. The other is a Great Horned Owl that will most likely be unreleasable.

Saturday was a busy day trying to get caught up with the "Must Do" list and I tried to get some of the "Need To Do" list done as well. Had a fawn come in that was in really bad shape, worked on her for a long time but she died. Then I got a call on a Bobcat that had been hit by a car downstate. A good friend that is a Licensed Wildlife Rehabber picked up the cat, got it to the vet for xxrays. The young male cat has a broken upper femur, in the ball that goes into the Pelvic bone. Not a good prognosis but can be repaired by a good vet with surgery. I would love to see this cat go back into the wild but that may not be a possibility either but we need to focus on today, getting it fixed and healed....Then we can cross the other bridges when we get to them.

I have a great set up for him to heal. Our friends at NorthCountry are helping us get into the same vet that put the plate in the fawn. The bobcat will hopefully be going up today for an exam and getting surgery today or tomorrow. Check out the photos, pretty angry at the world right now but we will hopefully be able to get him patched up. I love challenging cases like this one, I love tackling the tough critters that a lot of other rehabbers won't, can't or are not licensed to take. I love to do it "First Class--not half-#@^*" and can't wait to see Raptors getting flight time for release in our new facility. Check out the photos of the Bobcat, he is worth saving and I will do what needs to be done to do so.

It was a relatively slow weekend with wildlife intakes. I had calls on a bunch of critters, most of which were dealt with over the phone. I had a Robin that came in Sunday that died almost before the guy left the driveway. Sunday I was on the road, Helped our BOD Linda and her husband on an Alpaca Rescue. These alpacas will be available for adoption to perfect homes once gelded. Their owner was very nice, she lost her husband was taking care of them and knew that it was time for them to go. She did the responsible thing by having Northeast Llama Rescue come in to pick up the animals. Most will be staying permanently with Linda and her Husband Dan. Some of the males will be up for adoption, I will probably keep the gelding that has no ears due to a dog attack to use as a PR animal at our llama events. I will try to blog tonight on anything new that happens.

Till then,
Wes

Spring is in the air

Spring is in the air, along with the smells and noises of little animals demanding my attention. Busy night, last night. Had a Cedar Wax Wing come in with a wing injury. Had a Downy Woodpecker fledgling come in that was being attacked by squirrels on the ground under a big tree. Had 8 raccoons come in from two different people.....I have 20 now, I am really hoping that the Raccoon surge slows down now.... Black Eye Susie tore out her eye stitches last night, now I can wrestle around with her to keep the socket lubed with antibotic ointment. Sometimes I just wish that they could cooperate just a little bit. No rest for the wicked, while I take my nap every night they are plotting their destruction of our facility...I love coons but I do hope that no more come in. I had a call on 3 other coons last night also but they went to another RVS facility.
I also dealt with a lot of calls yesterday. Got a chipmunk away from a cat and back into the wild. Got a call about a 3 foot wide snapping turtle at Warners Lake on shore dragging fishing lure behind it with hook through the mouth. Got all of the fishing gear off and got her back in the lake. Turtles are on the move, watch for them in the road. I got another snapper picked up out of the road yesterday by a person that didnt want it to get hit. That snapper got released into Looking Glass Pond. A friend of mine sent a photo he took yesterday of a snapper laying eggs in his yard. I will put the photos on the blog, do not touch these turtles if you are trying to help them. They will bite your fingers right off and usually dont let go easily once they get ahold of you. I carry a rubbermaid bin with 2-3 inches of water in it this time of year on the back of my truck. I pick up turtles and relocate them near water without roads, if you toss a turtle out of the road this time of year, it will usually crawl right back onto the road to get where it was going after you leave. I dont like to relocate them but I do so they dont get hit. I try to keep them where they are, just on the other side of the water that they leaving to lay eggs, where there are no roads.

Photos by Paul Taylor Imaging. Thank you, Paul!

Things are busy. Hope to finish the first half of the Raptor Center this weekend. Have to rescue some alpacas on sunday....... I will try to blog about the rest of my day later. It is "Classday" at school and I need to get ready to beat my students in the hotdog eating contest. I plan on winning at the expensive of my gastro intestinal system. Wes

Got Sheep?

One of our adoptable Jacobs Sheep.  We still have quite a few sheep and llamas for adoption ... do you have the room and love to care for one of these lovely animals?  Email us through the email link at the bottom of our main website, http://www.redmaplefarm.net , if you are interested.

Original photo by our good friend, Paul Taylor,
of Paul Taylor Imaging (thank you, Paul!)

Would you like to help, but don't have the room to adopt?  You can still send a donation through the same website!  Our finances are dwindling and there is still so very much to do.  The rescues, both wild and domestic, continue to come in, taking up our time, our money, and our love.  The love we have in infinite supply, the time is stressful but doable, but we could sure use your financial support.  Visit our Sponsorship Levels Page on the website for more information about our various levels of support. 

SPECIAL DONATION OPPORTUNITY:  we just had a little raccoon baby come in who needed emergency eye surgery.  Would you like to help Pay Her Vet Bill?  Visit RedMapleFarm.net and send a donation now!

Northeast Llama Rescue and Barnyard Sanctuary, Inc / New York Wildlife Rescue Center is an IRS 501(c)(3) organization and all donations are tax deductable to the extent allowed by law.

Grand Central

Another busy weekend. Already blogged about Friday, Saturday was
busy with visitors. Had lots of folks stopping to check in on animals
they had previously brought to NY Wildlife Rescue Center got a couple
of donations to keep us in formula. Had 3 Great Students from
Cobleskill HS come over to help volunteer, many hands make light work.
I got 11 of the sheep adopted out into their new home, a great one I
might add. Still have a few really nice Jacobs and Shetland sheep
looking for homes. Sheep numbers are a lot more manageable now. Found
homes (that look long term) for both Great Pyrenees that were returned.
That was the highlight of my weekend, I so want those dogs to get the
good life on a farm that they deserve. I made it clear that a chain on
the side of the barn was not what I had in mind. I had 2 coons come in
on Saturday, 1 fell two stories out of a roof. The other was in the
road, both are younger coons than the ones that came in last weekend.

This morning I was exhausted, I planned on sleeping in until
8 am. Day started at 7am with a phone call from a concerned woman about
English Sparrows messing with the Tree Swallows in her Bluebird Box. We
decided that it was best to let them sort it out for themselves or put
up more nesting boxes. Had another very tiny finch found by a shrub. We
decided that that little guy would be better off back in his shrub and
sent him back home. Another fledgling Morning Dove came in, that one is
getting fixed up to go back out in the wild soon. Had some great folks
stop by that want to adopt 2 llamas. I am loving seeing these llamas
get matched up with perfect homes slowly. I am going to deliever some
of the llamas next weekend to their new homes, I also have to pick up
the 8 alpaca males next weekend. Speaking of domestic animals, I had a
guinea hen and a pair of great turkeys come in today also.

... Falling asleep at the wheel.

Also had a cottontail baby, a baby
woodchuck that was dodging cars but will be alright. Also had a very
old Opossum come in. Took a class on Possums, 3 yrs old for an Opossum
is ancient. This one is pushing it, poor old gal has lost most of her
sight, is skin and bones and will get some TLC. If her injuries from
being hit by a car don't do her in, she will get lots of TLC.... I'm
tired, it is my usual one am, Thanks to everyone that visited this
weekend, I enjoy it when you visit the animals you have brought, your
donations and the kind words.....everyone seems to be amazed at what I
am doing here....sometimes the kind words are all that keeps me going
to the next day.:) My only regret for this weekend is that one board didn't get put on the Raptor Center,

--Wes

Link: article on animal hoarding

This is a link to Gayle's recent article on animal hoarding, a disease that seems to be on the increase today:

http://www.gazehound.com/animal-hoarding/

Birds Everywhere

Mother nature has set her clock. Right now it is saying half past get out of your shell or you will never survive winter. We have been getting lots of fledgling birds in. Last night after school I had to run to the vets office to pick up a starling that was a toy for someones cat. Got the poor bird settled in, hydrated, stabilized, started feeding (ever 20 min's) ... didn't look good, went to bed warm, content and full of food ... died in the night.

I try not to focus too much on the animals that die. Learn from your mistakes, realize that you can not save everything and be humble. I learned this the hard way with a bunch of merganser ducklings last spring. I thought I could save any animal brought to me ... they are really tough ducks to keep alive. All Wildlife Rehabbers that have ever had a box of the adorable little time bombs brought to them knows exactly what I am writing about.

I have 2 robins coming in tonight after school. I found (caught would be a better description since the bird was probably completely fine on the ground, being fed by parents after flying out of the nest) a baby robin when I was around 8 yrs old. I kept it alive (illegally, I didn't know any NYS/Federal laws) ... and then my cat ate it upon release.

I like our cats, you probably like yours. Do you know that they are the biggest predator to wildlife there is? Feral cats kill more songbirds every year than anything else. Please supervise your cats time outdoors or keep them indoors. This time of year is when the baby birds are fledgling, leaving the nest and are very vulnerable on the ground. If your cat brings one home or is playing with one in the yard. Take the cat indoors, check over the bird for serious injuries, leave alone in a safe spot out of the sun and observe to see (once things calm down) if the parents continue feeding it.

I didn't have much time to help Chris on the Raptor Center last night. I received a phone call on a Turkey Vulture near Delhi, NY that was found in a hedge row in bad shape. Its wings do not appear broken but it looks like both legs are: possibly shot. Lots of maggots. By the time we got him transported, splinted and stabilized it was pushing midnight.

The vet will determine the fate of this bird. It is often more humane to put a raptor (hawk, owl falcon) to sleep than it is to keep it alive with a very serious disability. A lot of people target vultures because they are "ugly". I was watching 27 vultures the other evening soar around the Schoharie Valley. They were not even flapping their wings, they were just riding the wind thermals for hours ... very cool and FEDERALLY protected by law I might add.

I am sure that something else besides the robins will come in tonight, I will let you know tomorrow.

The little coon is doing better. She doesn't nurse like the other kits I have had for weeks. She rolls around, plays with my hand with her back feet and often nurses on her back. She is a noisy little character which still amazes me that she survived. She isn't out of the woods yet; if she survives she will find herself back in there one day.

I also want to remind everyone that feeds the Hummingbirds that they need to change their feed often. Every 3 days at the most on hot days the nectar solution needs to be changed. Old solution will make them sick. If you are lucky like us and get so many Hummingbirds that they empty your feeders every 1-2 days, it makes keeping it fresh easy.

If you wish to make your own hummingbird food, follow the instructions of the National Audubon Society and be sure to boil well to destroy bacteria, then cool the solution before feeding:

http://www.audubon.org/bird/at_home/bird_feeding/hum_feeders.html

Fill the feeders with sugar water, made by combining four parts hot water to one part white sugar, boiled for one to two minutes. NEVER use honey, which promotes the growth of harmful bacteria, or artificial sweeteners. Also avoid red food coloring.

Till tomorrow,
Wes