The first fawn has arived and joined 9 squirrels, two orphan kittens ans a mixed bowl of baby birds. He is a little buck and very curious. He has been here since Saturday and today I let him out to explore the inner yard for the first time. Once he realised that I wasn't going anywhere and left the security of my pant leg, he had a wonderful time. His favorite pastime is chasing the poor silkie hen and her chickes. She jumps and pecks at him, but he goes right back after her.
Pete the peacock checks him out. SOme of the squirrels are in the cage behind him.
He gets to know Moose the Guardian Lab.
Oh, how he wanted to check out the fountain
parting shot, before I put him back in his pen.
he is so cute, glad to see there are people still helping the wildlife to many people want to kill them.
He is just adorable! You certainly got some cute pictures- I especially like the one where hes looking at the fountain. Sure is tiny - any idea how old?
It will be so fun to see a new one grow up. I still think about BuckWheat.
what a precious cutie.
Great pictures. Are you sure he wasnt checking out the hosta instead of the fountain LOL he may be saying "Someday that will be my snack" God Bless you for all you do :>)
Christine
He is about 8 days old.
Aww what a sweet little thing. That would have been a dream of mine, to look after animals like that. Wonderful pics.
Wowwwwwww. Eight days old. So precious, just like something out of a Disney movie.
Will you return him to the wild?
He will be allowed to return to the wild at his own pace. Right now he is restricted to a small yard right outside the back door. When he can jump the 32 inch fence that seperates the rest of the back yard, he will have an area of about 3/4s of an acre. When he can jump the four foot fence, then he is free to come and go as he pleases. They return on a daily basis till about November, then join the others in the local wild herds (a lot of whom I have raised in the past).
It was a busy day here today. 4 cottontails, and three baby birds joined the ranch.
Wow - what a neat thing to do. I like that he can dictate when he's ready to go by jumping the fence. That makes sense.
Years ago I rescued an opossum that had gotten hit by a car. I called Animal Control and since they were closed I was instructed to call 911. 911 sent a volunteer from the local Sarvey Wildlife Reserve who came and picked him up. It turned out that he was not in as bad shape as I had feared and they were able to release him after awhile.
My family still give me a hard time about calling 911 for an opossum. I smile, but still believe that there is no difference between humans and animals in terms of the importance of a life. I'm not a big Bible quoter, but I love the sentiment of, "Whatsoever you do to the least of these you do to me . . . "
Kathy
Great images jy!! He is such a sweetie!!
You really have a job ahead of you again this year.
This guy is a real cutie. Every time I see a fawn in the woods the urge to touch them is great, but of course I know to keep away from them. I would love to be able to pet this little guy.
So, no name yet????
I'm thinking Rhubarb, that way any more that come in can follow the garden theme. We usually plan the names with a theme. One year it was flowers, last year it was local bars. We used to name by the alphabet, with each year based on the next letter of the alphabet. A through T weren't too bad, but coming up with several names with U, V, ect was tough. This way we can pretty much figure out what year an animal came from.
Right now, the squirrels are devided into two groups. The Albanian Butt Monkeys are in the outdoor cage and the Crusty Mcnuggets and inside learning to eat from a dish.
I won't even go to where I call that bowl of noisy, obnoxious starlings!
Too funny. Except for the starlings. Those make the worst annoying racket ever. We have some babies outside of work and we want to strangle them.
I think Rhubarb is a great name. It seems to fit.
I have Starlings w/ their fledges all over my yard. Some have 4 kids!! They do make a terrible racket! Can't wait till they leave.
Awww...got a little one already! SO precious....
That is such an adorable little fella. I want to come and live at your place. I'm sure it's a ton of work, but it always looks so rewarding.
LOL Cheryl --- pack up the coon crew and head north....
Terse, I haven't gotten myself invited yet, so it might be a bit early to bring the kids.
jyl, can I bring the coon crowd? They won't bother anything, promise. I bet they would enjoy climbing on that structure I see in the pictures though.
They don't scream like you said the baby raccoons used to do, but they do argue and fight with each other constantly, like a bunch of little children. You know, the whole "don't touch me. Stop that. Stop touching me. He's touching me..." and on and on and on...
I can just see you in and old pale blue van ... you know the ones, with the 3 rows of bench seats... and all the kids bouncing up and down on the seats. Heidi is in the front passenger seat .... she's the 'back seat driver' and trying to keep all those kids in line.
......... are we there yet ??
what a hoot.
I'd love to send the coon I have south! It is a single and when they are alone, they never shut up. I have to sneak into my studio while it is asleep to work. God help anybody who comes in and talks out loud. She has reminded me of every reason that I don't take coons and every reason I did. It's thoes soft little hands that tug your heart and the little "Wooot" they make when they are calling you.
've been off line for a while. I just got my pacemaker/defibrillator replaced. It was absolutely worn out. It feels pretty good to outlast my pacemaker though. How many people get to do that?
We now have three fawns and if it ever stops raining, I will get more photos. We also have the coon, the robin, 4 cowbirds (they weren't starlings after all),and a Canada goose. The squirrels are all outside with their pen door open so they can come and go as they please and the bunnies have been released. Hopefully, the birds will start feeding themselves and then they are gone too.
Have to go, someone is at the door with a box.
My gosh...take care there!
It's incredible that you are able to take care of so many animals so soon after your surgery. I had no idea that you even needed a pacemaker. I'm very glad to hear that you are doing well after the replacement.
You have no idea how excited I was to hear you make reference to the "whoot" sound. I'm always trying to describe that sound to the folks on my threads. I usually say "whoop", but I think I like "whoot" better. It's just so good to talk to someone who knows what I'm talking about, someone who speaks the language. I hear the "whoot" sound from the mom's mostly because in my yard it's usually the mom who runs from danger and tries to call the kits to follow or who is just trying to round the gang up when she is ready to go. Oh, and I totally know what you mean about those adorable little hands with the velvety soft touch.
Take care of yourself.
When it rains, it pours! This week has bee amazingly busy at the ranch. We have added two turtles with broken shells, a baby duck with a concussion, a lost baby goose, a nestfull of robins and a hamster that someone found roaming the streets. (How a hamster runs away from home beats me, but I'm glad someone found him before he was recruited for a hamster gang). On top of that my chicken order finialy came and I have 56 turkeys, chicks and gineas in the play pens. Then my peacock hatched out 5 babies, the duck hatched one and a silkie hatched 9. You can't move without trying not to step on a baby of some sort!
Wow - sounds like you're going to be busy! I've never seen a baby peacock....if you ever get a spare minute could you post a picture of them?
O my gosh...Wish I was there!!!!
Ohhhh I would love to see a baby peacock picture! Awesome!
You sure have your "nest" full....and your hands also.
So, just in case..as we have them all over the place here....what do you do for a turtle with a cracked shell?
Debbie
I'll try to get photos of the peacocks. We are going to have to round them up in the next few weeks or we will never catch them. They fly very early!
If the turtle is not internally injured, I dose them with antibiotic powder or even honey where the shell is broken and the skin is torn and then repair the shell with superglue and coffee filters or tea bags, then cover with acrylic nail stuff. For really large turtles, I use bondo. You have to put them in the fridge before and after to put them in a state of torpor so you can work on them and give the shell time to set. Box turtles and tortoises can be repaired with coffee filters and gelatin.
You can also use this method on cracked beaks and bills for birds and ducks.
For once I am speechless. I just can't think of anything to say except, "Wow!" Wow because you somehow find the way to take care of so many creatures, and Wow because of your impressive knowledge and expertise for putting 'broken' animals back together again.
What wonderful work you do!
She certainly is an Angel isn't she!
I had no idea about the gelitan in the turtle shell...do you need to put them in the fridge to set it? It does't melt afterwards? My mental image is kind of shot right now. LOL
How is the little deer doing?
Debbie
you use the knox stuff and make a thick paste, it will hold as long as they don't get real wet. Turtle shells are the same as finger nails, made of keratin.
The deer are all doing great. I need to get more photos.
This is the latest photo of Rhubarb. He weighs about 17 pounds now and is all boy. He gets into everything and demands attention NOW!
He is so cute! Do you still bottle feed him...if I remember correctly they do for about 3 or 4 months?
Here is Radish and Turnip. Radish is actually older than Turnip, but much smaller as she was a twin. Notice how her ears are still crumples at two weeks. She weighs about 7 pounds and Turnip is about 8 1/2. They are both does.
In the wild a fawn only nurses for about 6 to 8 weeks. With me, they get a bottle as long as they want it. It is extra calcium and fat that they wouldn't get otherwise. They are fed about every 5 to 8 hours now and most give up the bottle by late August or September, but I have had some that still want it in November!
Here is a closer shot of Radish
