They Just Keep Growing...and GROWING...

Yes, the babies that we have gotten in this year are growing leaps and bounds. Because I only go in on the weekends, I think it's possibly more apparent than those folks who see them every day. Let's start with our Barn owlets. They came in looking like this:

And then by the next week or so, they were looking like this:

I so LOVE the "Mohawk" part of the feather developmental process!!

And then we got in another Barn owlet. It was found on the ground with no nest in sight, so in it came to us!

It's a big 'un! And it's a good eater! We kept it separate for about a week and then moved it in with the other two.

They are all getting along swimmingly! It won't be long before we move the oldest into an aviary/mew to get in some muscle building-flying exercises!

Onto the otter kits! They came in all teeny tiny....

...and they have been growing steadily.....

...ever since! Their eyes have opened and they now are in that "Hey...you really are an otter!" stage. They are developing personalities and they now, when getting fed, tend....

...to get sleepy.....

...and eventually end up....

..passing out. So much so that you can get pics that, when awake, would be nay on impossible. Like teensy-tiny feet pics.

We also have a new baby in residence....our first FAWN!!! Eee!

This black-tailed fawn was found on Orcas Island by someone who attempted to care for it themselves for a few days by feeding it baby formula! People...really?! Here is my second baby season rant. Repeat after me. If you find a baby animal, do NOT try and take care of it yourself!! It is illegal and more often than not you will do more harm than good! Fawns, especially, should be left where they are initially, as mom can go off and leave them for up to 10 hours in a "Sit! Stay!" position.

Turns out this little girl actually did have some issues. She couldn't stand!

Notice how her legs are kinda bowed and she is pointing her toes? It's because the tendons were too tight and therefore they wouldn't bend at the "ankles."

We had one of our local vets come in to look at her and she decided that some splint/wraps would help with this.

Yes, it looks a bit awkward, but hey, at least she can stand by herself!

This makes feeding her a heck of a lot easier as well, as Penny is demonstrating here, since they should be standing when eating and it's a lot to have to try and hold her up and feed her at the same time. Penny told me they took off the wraps today and her legs are GREAT! WOOHOO!!!

Last, but certainly not least, is this beauty.

It's a Violet-green swallow! We rarely....and I mean RARELY...get these precious beings in at Wolf Hollow. This one was found on the ground, thin and weak. There were no apparent injuries, so, after letting it rest overnight, I got to help take it out to an aviary to see what it's flight capabilities actually were. And it was only then that we got to see just how beautiful it was.

As you can see, unfortunately, it's on the ground, meaning that it had zilch for flight capabilities. We assumed, therefore, that it must have had some soft tissue damage. We brought it back inside and after 2 weeks it was flying well enough to be released!

I am going to end this post with two non-Wolf Hollow residents (they actually hang out in the woods behind my workplace). Why am I doing this?

Because they are extremely cute and because I can! Til next time...