Wildlife: First Fawn of the rehab season, continues, 1 by jylgaskin

jylgaskin wrote:
The old thread was getting pretty long so I thought I’d start it over. I'd put a link in here for the old one, but have no clue how to do it.

These are photos of Buckwheat chilling in the back yard. You'll notice the full tummy that’s two quarts of formula, an apple and a couple ears of fresh corn on the cob. (The corn was supposed to be MY dinner, but I turned my back for a moment...) I had to get him out of the chicken pen today and discovered that he is about 60 pounds. He has tiny little bumps on his head where his antlers are starting. He's a pretty happy boy these days. He is here in the morning waiting for his bottle (he would be fully weaned in the wild) and then he pesters me while I do my morning chores. Then he disappears for several hours and comes back in early evening for his dinner bottle. (Another 2 quarts) He hangs out for awhile and then leaves again for the night. Sometimes he comes home all muddy so I know he has been in the swamp. Frequently in the morning, he is full of tiny little burs and as he eats his bottle, the Narragansett turkeys pick them off. (It's like he's a rinoceros and has his own ox peckers)

He loves green beans, corn on the cob, Swiss chard and formula. He likes nothing better than to go in the garden with me and raid it. I dread the day he discovers where the carrots are and there will be no keeping him out after that. I always leave kale, chard, carrots and Brussels sprouts in the garden after the last frosts. The garden gate stays open all winter and it gives the deer extra food.

We've been having a bit of a problem with Buckwheat the last two weeks. He is nearing puberty and I am the obvious target of his affections. Normally, I have more than one fawn and they experience with each other. I guess he figures all he has is the dog or me and the dog gets pretty crabby. This too shall pass. I'll just be real careful where and when I bend over in the yard!

It's been a busy couple of days at Ranch Rehab. Two days ago, I got in two mourning dove babies, yesterday, a sharp tailed grouse, and today yet another baby possum and 4 squirrels. (Right in the middle of canning peaches!) One of the mourning doves is missing its foot and much smaller than its sibling, but with some extra food, he's coming along pretty well. I think it will be able to function with only one foot since it lost it when it was only a day or so old. The sharp tail has a concussion and will be able to be released in a few days. The possum was still in its dead mother's pouch on the highway and the squirrels, well who knows what happened to their mother. The walked up to some people at a barb-b-q. They had been on their own for three or four days and are underweight, but not dehydrated

It's funny how squirrels will walk right up to humans when they are orphaned and hungry. I once got one from the local college. He crawled in through an open window and climbed up in the student’s laps. Luckily the professor knew about me. He fed him some peanut butter crackers and zipped him in a backpack. He was still sleeping in the bottom when they brought him to me.

Well, it's late and I have babies to feed and butts to wash. Night.