Autumn winding down
Several weeks in wildlife
It’s been several weeks in wildlife I need to catch up on! I am still learning the blog format and it’s a steep learning curve for me.
Releases
I capped October off with a successful release at Phinizy Swamp in Augusta, and on November 8th went an entire 24 hours without “visitors”!
On November 7th I gave the chipmunk back to his finder for release, after he healed from his run-in with a cat.
That little break didn’t last long but I made the most of it.
New intakes and transfers
There’s been a small influx of little Autumnal visitors since then: a flying squirrel, a baby gray squirrel, some baby rats, an opossum and a Barred owl.
All my November intakes have been the result of unnatural circumstances. They ended up here after either being caught by a cat or hit by a car.
The squirrel was transferred to my rehab colleague, Nikki Hughes of Camp Critter, so he can be raised with others of his kind.
She also was kind enough to take on the baby rats. They were so cute and wiggly but I do not excel at raising them.
The flying squirrel is healed and will go back to his family as soon as we have 3 nice days in a row.
The Barred Owl sustained head and eye trauma and will be going to the University of Georgia’s Wildlife Clinic as soon as Thanksgiving is over.
Helping in other ways
I am not getting as many phone calls now that baby season is over and critters are hunkering down. On one day, though, I received 3 calls about injured Black vultures. All 3 had been shot and grounded, and although I wasn’t close enough to help, I did my best to give them advice.
Adorable opossums!
I’ve been busy crocheting opossums and selling them to raise funds for Primarily ‘Possums. I had a fantastic time at the Athens Montessori School’s Fall Festival and sold out of opossums! I started back crocheting as soon as that was over and now have a good many. They are available in 4 styles, all based on real opossums I’ve known. Pictured on the right is “The Betsy” with her little fringe. I also have a “Blackjack” inspired by an opossum named Jimmy, an all-white leucistic one named Elmer, and a pudgy happy guy called “The Bojangles”.
These are all available, along with other opossum-themed items, in my store on Facebook
One little overwintering friend
I do have one opossum in my care, what would the Holiday season be without one overwintering animal? She is an older juvenile female who was hit by a car. She managed to make it out of the road to a yard where she was overlooked by many passersby until a kind woman got in touch with me.
The opossum sustained head trauma and may have vision problems as well as a level of brain damage, but time is a wonderful healer. I’ll keep you updated on her progress.
