I'm Still Here! I'm Still Here! Part 1

Hello one and all! I can't believe it's been over a month since my last posting. Sorry about that! I've just been in a very anti-social, deeply introspective place and there hasn't been much room for anything else. But now that things are leveling out, I am back in the blogging saddle, so to speak. WOOHOO! Please, be forewarned that I have been having MAJOR camera issues, meaning lens/focus issues, so if more than the normal number seen slightly out of focus, you now know why. My new camera arrives tomorrow!! Okay...enough with the disclaimers. Let's get this show started, as a LOT has happened since my last posting!!!

Let's start with the fox kit. When we last left her, she had just finished having surgery on her broken, deer-tromped leg. A month later, she was well enough to be placed out in the mammal cage for more exercise! After gathering her up in a pillow case for one last weigh-in, we carefully carried her down to the cage and let her out.

All animals have this initial fear when entering new areas, especially when going from inside, where it's fairly quiet, to the outdoors, where they seem almost assaulted by all the new noises. They get over it quickly enough though and then start exploring their new digs.

In the time I was gone, we got in another red fox kit. It's a bit bigger, and therefore I assume older, than the little girl and it is very pretty.

This fox was moved to another cage in order for us to let the little girl have a place to move around and finish recouping on her own. They eventually were placed together in the same cage and while the one is very skittish.....

...our little girl will stand her ground when you peek in on her.

As for the otter kits, we lost the little girl while I was gone to some NASTY intestinal bug. Then we got sent not one but two others, so our total stands at 4. The first time I went in to feed them after I got back, the remaining two of the litter were in the Indoor Mew and I was practically molested when I walked in.

It's so not good that they are this acclimated to people, but it couldn't be helped. A few weeks later, when all 4 were living peacefully together, I got to take them out for their daily swim in the pink tub.

They always know what's coming when they get crammed into the kennel and carried outside, but the tub fills pretty slowly, so sometimes it's a bit of a wait. And then, when you finally get them into the tub and open the kennel door...well....

...you always get "THE LOOK" from at least one of them. The look that screams "Sheesh! Took you long enough!!" Then the frolicking commences! And even though the kennel is loved and at the same time despised, especially when one is trying to get them back out of the tub, it always seems to be the center of pool time, with playing happening on top of it....

...and inside of it.

After all is said and done, it's back inside for a good drying off session on some towels and, if one so chooses, in the dirt box.

The otters have finally been moved to the Wet Pen, where there are a lot of activities to keep themselves busy with.....

...along with the removal, except for at feeding times, of human interaction.

We have had a few groups of water fowl pass through our doors this baby season. We got in a group of Wood ducklings that were comprised of a few duckling from various places.

I just love the black stripes extending back from their eyes. They have grown big enough now that they are outside with a pool of their own to swim in and are doing just great!

We also got in some Hooded Mergansers from two different locations. There is something about mergansers that I just love!

Unfortunately, the last group of photos I tried to take of these guys all came out beyond blurry....stoopid camera....and they have since been released.

The one thing that really stood out when I got back was how many young raptors, and their adult counterparts, we had in. We had in an adult Great-horned owl and...

...this youngster. These guys, and these guys alone, especially when they are younger with the extra large looking eyes, always seem to remind me of Muppets. Not sure why.

We also got something in that, upon its initial examination, people just labeled as "Hawklet." They knew it was gonna be one of the smaller raptors but the question was, which one?! By the time I saw it, it looked like this:

My first impression? I thought it was a Cooper's hawk, based on what its legs and feet looked like. I was gone for two weeks and upon my return this past Saturday, this is what I came back to:

I SO nailed this! It's ready to go and will hopefully be released soon!

Okay, that's gonna be it for Part 1 of my update. There is still so much to talk about that I am dividing it up into two separate postings. Next time, we will talk about some "firsts" for Wolf Hollow, along with the seals. Oh....the seals.....

What would "baby season" be without the seals?!

Til next time...