When I arrived last monday I started by helping feed the 30 or so squirrels in the nursery with another volunteer, Marie. They are "burrito wrapped" in a small towel and syringe fed warm squirrel formula. The nice thing about feeding the squirrels is they will let you know when they are full by stopping, unlike the raccoons, which would probably eat themselves to death. The fed squirrels in each carrier/tank are then put into a small holding tank so that their carrier/tank can be cleaned out. They are then put back in and placed back on their shelf on a heating pad. After the squirrels were done, Marie and I prepared the rabies and distemper vaccines for the racoons. Each dose of the rabies vaccine was in its own vial, while the distemper was separated into a liquid and powder. The syringe was first filled with the liquid, then it was squirt into the powder vial, mixed, and put back into the syringe. Each was 1cc worth of vaccine, the same size syringe used for feeding the squirrels. Since I don't have rabies shots, I cannot do much with the raccons, fox, or groundhog, but once the vaccines were given it was time for cleaning out dishes from the squirrels and doing squirrel laundry. Once that was done, the crates of vegetables and lettuce that were donated were sorted and unwanted items were put into the compost outside. Old squirrel tanks were scrubbed and washed and that was the end to my first day. By this time there was only one fawn, which we named Bambi.
Tuesday was similar, Marie and I fed and cleaned up after the squirrels, Kelly was in charge of the several fawns, outside squirrel dishes were made up, and the chickens were fed (eggs are used for the foxes).
Thursday was the next day I went. Since I was the only one there that day, I fed all the squirrels inside, cleaned their cages, prepared food for all the squirrels, and bottle fed fawns (by this time there were 8).
Today the new intern, Nick, arrived at the center and it was my job to teach him how to do everything. All of the squirrels are weaned except for two cages so Nick and I fed and cleaned those. We prepared all the squirrel dishes for the indoor and outdoor cages, then moved some of the older squirrels to the barn to make room in the house. The outdoor double squirrel cage has about 30 in it, and another cage has Forest Gump (obese squirrel that's on a diet! and also has teeth problems.). The double sided cage outside was not cleaned out since last year, so Jess (the "raccoon lady") and I did that, and re-set up the cage for one of the fox kits, Yoda. The other fox cage outside had holes in the ground from last year's foxes. Sand from Tractor Supply right down the road was used to even out the cage and fill in the holes. The logs were rearranged and the pond was taken out so it could be washed out. Two female foxes were put in this cage after it was finished. All but the two intensive care fawns were moved from inside the house in a play pen to in the barn.
I will be bringing my camera this week but here are a few pictures of the patients.
Poppy, Thumper, and Flower (from back to front)
Rafiki, baby groundhog
Baby Yoda
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