Goodbye.....and HELLO!!!!!

Wow! What a WILD day at Wolf Hollow! First off, for the sad news. We lost a couple of animals. We had gotten a hummingbird in that looked like it had an injury to it's mouth. I guess it was flying around and eating Friday, but sat there all Saturday morning. I finally told someone I was a bit concerned that it hadn't eaten and then a half hour later it died. Also, we lost the last otter out of that group of 3. It seemed to have a viral infection, at least that is what they determined after doing the necropsy. So our remaining otter, who they have officially named Scallop, is by herself again. I did get to feed her and she is NOTICEABLY bigger this week. Except for some constipation issues, which they are hoping a formula change will help with, she is doing great!


They gave her mineral oil to help with the constipation, so after feeding her, she went to the bathroom. And every time I tried to clean her off, she would go again, screaming, kicking her legs and as a result, spreading everything EVERYWHERE! She did this 4 times in a row and I can tell you she was one unhappy little Scallop before we got done with her final cleaning. I say "we" because one of the seasonal rehabbers had to come over and hold her while I tried to immobilize her legs and clean her at the same time. My babysitting skills never served me better than they did yesterday!


As for the 22 baby bunnies, they are divided into five groups and it took three of us a little over an hour to feed them all. Certainly it was quicker than I thought it would be. But once you get back into the swing of feeding them again, it's not all that bad. But I didn't get any new pictures. It was down to the business of getting them all fed the second I walked in the door.

We also got in a Barred Owl. I guess he got hit by someone's side-view mirror on their car. He showed no signs of any injuries but he did seem a bit stunned. He was well enough to be outside in one of the flight cages and my guess is his stay will be a short one.


We obviously have more mundane tasks to do at Wolf Hollow when we aren't taking care of the animals and one of them is sweeping and mopping. I went to hang the front doormat over the sign by the side of the building when I saw this beautiful thing!


I am sure some people thought I was crazy, as I ran back in telling people not to go outside and scrambling to find my camera, but I had never seen a moth like that before! I am not sure what it was doing outside during the day and I hope it found someplace safe to hide, away from the nasty weather and predators.

And now, for the piece de resistance! Meet our newest Wolf Hollow patient!!!


Here is his story. I guess his mother initially gave birth to two partially formed/dead fawns. She them gave birth to this little guy and promptly left. All of this was observed by a family, whom I can only assume owned the property this all happened on. The family waited 15 hours for the mother to come back and she never did. So they took him to an animal hospital, whom then sent him to our wonderful volunteer in Anacortes, whom then sent him to us. So he wasn't even 2 days old when we got him in, all wobbly-legged and cute as hell! The fact that his ears are still a bit folded/twisty is another indication of just how young he is, as they straighten out after awhile. Just how teeny tiny is he? Here is a pic of him being fed.


His spot pattern is so amazing. It's fascinating to me how they run in such a straight line down his back and stand out so much right now. Isn't mother nature's camouflage amazing?