Ranch Rehab: Who says possums can’t be cute?

Somebody said that over 500 people have checked in on my rehab threads. Wow. I have been so busy with the gardens and the animals that I haven’t had a chance to update till tonight.

Socks the squirrel is doing great. He is outside in the big pen now and drinking his milk out of a dish. We had a bit of a crisis tonight though, when one of the previous tenants of the cage stopped in for a snack. I’m not too sure how he got in (maybe from the bottom somewhere), but little Socks got hysterical and I could hear the screeching from the house. SO I went out and removed the offending trespasser (who is only a few weeks older than socks) and gave him a little bottle to calm him down.

Buckwheat the fawn is doing excellent, though he would be happier with another fawn. He plays with me, he plays with the dog, he even chases the baby turkeys, but nothing can take the place of a good game of tag with another fawn. Normally, at this time of year, I am turning away fawns because I’ve hit me limit. This year though there has been only this one and a call about a blind fawn. When I could not guarantee that the blind fawn would not be put down, the caller got very angry and hung up. We tried to save a lame fawn once and after a year of her living with us; coyotes killed her right in the front yard. A blind deer would live in misery and terror unless penned for it’s entire life. I tried to explain to the caller that a deer is a prey animal and every sound, shadow or smell is perceived as a potential threat. It’s not like a dog, which can cope with blindness; it is and always will be a wild animal.

The fox is nearly ready to be released. She has been banished from the house after an argument in front of the fridge last month. It involved a roast, growling, barking, snapping and a lot of peeing on the floor. I won’t tell you who was doing what, but I got the roast back.

Tonight, I heard honking in the back yard. I went out and a Canada goose that I raised last year has come home. I opened the gate and he walked right in and back to the ducks he was raised with. It’s odd, I raised and released the goose and a mallard last year and they were gone the entire winter, but in the last week they have both come home. The duck didn’t stay long; I don’t know how long the goose will. Funny, but my farm ducks let him right back into the group.

Now, about the possums. I told someone in Dave’s Garden that they actually have a “cute” stage. It doesn’t last long and granted, is a bit subjective, but they can be cute. I got 5 of them in today. Thank goodness they are in that brief “cute” stage. Their mother was killed two days ago and I knew they must be half starved, but I couldn’t get them to eat. As I tried to feed each one, I would put it in the pocket of my bib overalls so I wouldn’t feed the same one twice. Finally they were all in my pocket and I offered the r syringe to them there. Very quickly, there were 5 full bellies. I let them sleep there for a few hours while I listed my ebays. Now one of them is watching me from their box in the cage. I gave them scrambled eggs and cat food a little while ago and they all wallowed in it making that funny “chuffing” noise that they make when they are small.

I just love their little white heart shape faces and the tiny “opera gloves”. They are very soft at this age and they curl their tails around your fingers to hold on. You can even see the tiny pouches on the females already. If you move too quickly, they open their mouths in what we call the “silent scream” posture.

Well, I need to go, the Labrador is on a diet and I have to lock up the kitchen trash. This morning is was all over the house. He ate the corncobs and a bowl of radishes that were on the counter. I hope he looses weight fast….

A photo of the whole gang

Watching me work.

SOOOO Cute - I love 'possums......even when they get big! Use to have one I'd feed at night - but they've built up so much around us we don't have the wildlife we did anymore.

Really enjoy you're updates!

marcia

Ok, the first picture is sorta cute, but the family....ick. They are little soft uglies. Thanks for the posting it is a great story. I have enough problems with my dog (and the porky he got into last night) then to deal with a fox and a roast. (sounds like a children's book)
You have quite the "funny farm" there. It must be fun to see some of the kids visit.
I agree about the fawn. Some people don't get it. That little one would never be able to be released into the wild and last very long. I thought maybe we didn't have very many fawns this year. But Sunday I saw a mom with triplets along the river, then yesterday saw 2 different moms with babes, and also many, many tiny tracks way back in the woods. (where the porkies also live I guess) Thank goodness the dog got at the mother and not the baby. Baby quills are by far the worst.

Yay! jyl, I'm so glad I stumbled upon your new animal thread. I can't tell you how much I enjoyed chuckling over the cute parts. I love your possums. What adorable photos. The family photo looks like they all went to Olan Mills and got the family package lol! And just like in a human family photo... every family has its little ham that loves to hog the spotlight. :-) We normally get a few possums who visit our deck in late winter and early spring. But this year we didn't see any and I miss them. We did get (and are still getting) some adorable young racoons though.

Oh goody! Another one of your threads to watch! Thanks for taking the time to post.

Those little babies are so adorable. They make you want to hug them and squeeze them and give them kisses. :)

Ohhh! They are darling! But then I think even the adults have a pretty high cute factor!

Your rehab threads are just wonderful!

Some of them fall under the catagory of "a face only their mother could love" but overall they have a cute factor of 8 when young.

Your doing awesome work, and I love the story!

My mother works at a nursing home, last year a mother mallard layed eggs and hatched a brewed in the center courtyard. They put a pool in their for them to swim and fed them....and then when they were full grown, someone from DEC came out and helped catch and release them.

Well, guess who came back to the center courtyard again this year to raise another family? This year she has 13 babies. The residents love it...but the mess is something else. Almost time for their release again.

Debbie

As long as she is able to successfully raise a brood in that spot, she will return year after year. I had a duck doing this in the yard for several years, then one summer a skunk got the eggs just as they were hatching. She stops in occasionally, but nests elsewhere now. It's a real riot around here in the spring when everyone stops in to say hello. SOme stay an hour, some, several days.One mallard stopped just long enough to breed with my domestic duck. He has one duckling that looks just like a mallard.

I'm still trying to convince that silly Canada goose that he doesn't live here any more. We may have to go for annother long ride. This time it will involve a blindfold and a lot of circles.

I have had good luck relocating ducks just after hatching. As long as you move them all together, she will usually stay with the babies and considder the new location her nesting grounds.

They have a goose round-up here and relocate geese, but I heard as soon as they can fly again, they come back. I don't know why they do it. We really don't have that many geese, only during migrating in spring and fall.

I wonder if it would be possible to hold goose homing competitions, or use geese to send messages. It works with homing pigeons...

Awesome! We have a pet possum. Her name is Jolie' Pas. We have had her for 2 years now. I will try to get some new pics of her. Thanks for your rehab work. I know it's not easy but it has lots of rewards.

The possums are all doing fine, but alas, the cute stage is over. Especially yesterday when I was crawling under the worktable in my studio looking for one who escaped. (Moose the lab finally found him for me).

Unfortunately, we discovered that the goose had come home to die. I thought it odd when he came home that he walked into the yard instead of flying. I am not sure what happened, but he started going downhill on Sunday. I suspect it could have been lead poisoning as the only time I have seen similar symptoms was due to birds eating lead shot. However, there shouldn't be lead shot used near the ponds any more. His illness seemed mostly neurological, almost like Parkinson’s. The first sign that something was wrong was that he was having trouble holding his head steady and moved it in a circular motion and clacking his bill. By Monday morning, he could no longer walk, but continued to eat and drink. I thought that he seemed a bit better this morning when I let him sit in the pool for awhile and gave him some feed, but when I checked on him later, he was having seizures and died shortly.

I find it so amazing that he returned home to die. The pond where he was living for the past months is about a half mile away and he walked all that way and waited at the gate to be let in. At least I was able to make it as comfortable as possible. I do wish I knew what killed him. I am trying now to get a necropsy done to see if we can find the cause of death and to rule out west Nile.

On the positive side, the fawn is thriving and at the present time running like mad around the back yard. This morning, he got into the garden and I no longer have any sweet peas. The raspberries are getting ripe, so I suppose they are next. I just hope he leaves me enough for my cheerios.

Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh I am in tears over your goose. I can only imagine the heartache you must feel. He KNEW you and wanted you to help him to the next stage of his life, so he returned to you. He must have thought of you as his mother.

Many hugs for the wonderful work you to for the otherwise unfortunate critters.

Janet

Thanks for the hug. I frequently tell people that sometimes all you can do for an animal is give it a quiet place to die peacefully. I did that. He had clean water, good food and the ducks he grew up with.

I have always felt that there is a collective spirit for all the kinds of animals. They come from that spirit and they return to it to start the cycle again. I know he took good things about humans with him. Not only did he know me, but there was a gentleman who fed him at his back door all winter. He flies home tonight with a bright moon and a gentle wind. Can't beat that.

Oh, I'm so glad I found this thread! I enjoyed your stories and the cute pics. Thanks for sharing them! Question--once a grown possum finds cat food left for him, how long will he keep coming to that spot to look for it? I only left some once, but the holes dug in the mulch in the area tell me he's been coming back often.

He's not looking for the cat food, he's looking for grubs. If the holes are small and round, it may also be a skunk. They dig holes all over the yard looking for grubs. Possoms also raid bird feeders, but I've found they prefer cookies to bird seed.

Right now, the babies are eating some really rank smelling cat food. The worse it smells the more they seem to like it.

I told you they were past the cute stage. Now they just look at you with the "silent scream" posture or growl. They sound lite tiny electric trains.

Wow they grow fast. I think they are still somewhat in the cute stage....its the ears! THeir little snouts seem to be in "smile" form. LOL

Debbie

They sure do grow fast. Those ears remind me of the exotic elephant ears.

Excellent photos J. And I'm with Debbie. They do still look cute.

How long will you keep them before you release them?

Have you ever had to rehab baby skunks? How do you handle that situation if you have done it?

And I was also so sorry to hear about the goose. He did have it in his heart to come home before going Home.

Debbie

They will move to an outside pen in a few weeks, then I'll try to keep them for annother few weeks after that. You almost never have to release a possom. When they are ready to go they usually escape. They are truly the Houdinis of the animal world. We have a doggy door and it's not unusual to see a possom with their nose in the dog dish. Thankfully, they never seem to come further into the house beyond the mud room. Not at all like coons. They invite themselves in, make themselves at home and invite friends in to raid the fridge and watch TV. Not to mention climb into your bed in the middle of winter. We found out you have to release them FIVE miles or more away the hard way. My husband is a paitent man, but a full grown wild coon in his bed sorely tested the limits.

Debbie.
I can't help it. I have to say it.... Very carefully.
It is illegal to do skunks, but have done it in the past. When they are little they don't have a lot of spray and it takes a lot to get a skunk to actually spray. They are actually great little animals, really cute, a lot like cats and funny, funny little guys. We had a rescued "exotic" skunk for several years. He was from Florida and "mostly" descented. Bit of a temper though. We learned to guard our ankles.

I do have a great skunk story though.

A woman called me because she had a skunk in her yard with a pickle jar stuck on his head. It had already sprayed her dog heavily and she needed the recipe for "skunk wash" and someone to get the jar off the skunk.

I couldn't get to her right away, so I told her to toss a blanket or rug over the skunk. This usually calms them down and if the tail is down, it is really difficult to spray. Once she had him covered, I told her to hold on to the jar and the skunk would back out. If that didn't work, take a hammer or something and tap the jar through the blanket to break it. Then leave the blanket over the skunk and back away. He'll come out on his own. I've done it a dozen times with great success.

She was full of confidence and hung up. About a half-hour later she called back and wanted that "skunk wash" recipe again and wanted to know if she could use it on human skin. I asked what happened. I still laugh when I think of it.

It seems that it was all going well with the blanket over the skunk until she tapped the jar with the hammer. She hit it a little hard and the skunk didn't move. She thought she had knocked him out and lifted the blanket. He still wasn't moving so she nudged him with her foot. He wasn't knocked out.

In this business, you get a LOT of great skunk stories, but now, I'm going to bed.

OK, I'll say it: What a li'l stinker!

What a great thread! I just love those possums' faces! I'm sorry about your goose too. A sad but very inspiring story. My neighbor across the street told me that she has been seeing an all white skunk (except for a black patch on each side of her face) in her yard every evening with two babies. I haven't seen them but will keep my eyes peeled. I had a racoon with her two babies come to the dining room window sill last night and they were adorable! They were about 8 inches long and liked being cuddled by her tail while they snuffled around for bird seed.

Awwww, lucky you, getting to see them so close up! Great picture! I think all baby critters are cute.

We have a little more insight on why the goose died. I went to the pond where it was living and discovered that it is nearly dry. The small dam that held the water has eroded and there is mostly mud, rotting vegetation and stagnant puddles. Years of junk, gunk and toxins are exposed and I am assuming that the goose was eating this. Now I know why we have seen so many turtles on the move crossing the road and why I have a sudden influx of frogs in my little fishpond.

We released the fox tonight and it was one happy animal. She ran in ever widening circles around us until we could no longer see or hear her. I called a few times, but she never came in. We left her with 5 pounds of cat food (the resident coons will have a ball), her favorite stuffed toy (in case she looks for us later and an extra rabbit. That should get us going. It's good to think of her running in the full moon tonight. I miss her already.

Socks the squirrel has his cage door open and only returns to sleep and get his bowl of milk. He joined the rest of the rabble in the yard and I watched a great game of tag going on.

Tomorrow, I hope to get some good photos of the fawn to show everyone how he has grown. Every time I go out with the camera, he is either running to fast to shoot or he walks toward the camera and sticks his nose on the lens. He weighs about 38 pounds now and drinks two to three quarts of formula a day.

I love the photo of the coon in the window. I found tiny handprints on my back door this week. I wonder if it was someone I knew checking in....

Oh I love hearing all your critter news. I can picture it all in my head as you are describing everything. :-)

Here is another picture of one of the babies wrapped in Mommy's tail.

and here is one of the babies after the long noisy climb up the bricks to the window sill.

Too bad about the goose. It is sad what we have done to our world.

Think of all the new things the fox is experiencing tonight! Just as it was meant to be. And you helped to get her there. Thanks.

My cousins had a coon for a pet. Thay can get mean after they reach sexual maturity but theirs never got mean. It stayed outside like a dog in the yard. They had to sneak off to keep it from following them.

My first "dog" was a coon when I was a child too. She got HUGE! After three years she went off to have babies and then brought them home to see us. Dad finially got me a dog, before I found annother coon.

That photo of the baby in mom's tail is SO cute! Somehow they are much cuter when you don't have to feed, wash and clean up after them!