Story Book

Believe it or not, we are still taking squirrels into rehab. As I was handing candies to the children on Halloween, I got a call from a gentleman. He had found a frighten squirrel on a bush and was concerned for the squirrel's safety because of his cats. I agreed to take it in and an hour later the door bell rang. When I opened the door I had a bowl of candies in my hands and there was the gentleman with the squirrel in a box. We both laughed as I said,"Trick or treat?" The nice gentleman who rescued the orphaned squirrel told me I could give the little guy some Halloween name and so he was named Boo, because he was very scared. Boo, who is 7 weeks old, now has two girlfriends, Lily and Bertha. He will have company during the winter as they wait to be released in April once trees get their new leaves.

"There is no place like home", is what this Golden Mantle squirrel said when it finally got free.

This little critter got into a family's car as they were packing to come back home from a vacation in New Mexico.

They realized they had some type of critter in their car when they noticed droppings on the car seat and dashboard, as they got back from hiking in Palo Duro Canyon State Park. Once at home, the nice lady figured out that the little critter, who looked like a chipmunk, was not going to make it here in Arlington, TX. She made a few calls and was referred to a local wildlife rehabilitator by a River Legacy employee. When she started telling her story to the rehabber, you will not believe what the rehabber told her: " I happen to be traveling to New Mexico in 5 days". Too funny! After successfully trapping the animal, it was moved to a cage with food and water. On a Friday morning, the squirrel started her trip back to NM. After an overnight stay at a hotel she was set free on Sunday morning in the back woods of another wildlife rehabilitator who had recently relocated to Angel Fire, NM. They feed all kind of wildlife so its new home comes with a meal plan and she also said that it will have plenty of friends.

Sometimes it takes a village to help an animal in need. Thank you for caring about our wildlife.

This little girl was orphaned when her mother was frightened by a large dog and ran; Babycakes was not hanging on tight enough and fell off. She is about 60 days old, weighs 59 grams, and has recently opened her eyes. She is uninjured and healthy, and will be ready for release when she weighs about a pound (450 grams) - two to three months from now.

We thought you might like to see a few more types of rehab babies.

Fox - this is Wolfie....came in as a 5 day old grey fox kit, he is 4 weeks old in this picture.

Fawn - this is a 2 week old fawn.

Bobcat - this is Sassy, a 2 week old bobcat kitten, she is now 5 weeks old.

Sometimes it takes a team effort to save a life. This baby raccoon came from Glen Rose Dinosaur Park. A camper found it by a trail and a nice Park Ranger drove her all the way to a rehabber in Arlington. She was loaded with fleas, very dehydrated, and on top of that she had multiple injuries. In spite of all this, she had a good appetite and took well to the bottle. After a few days on antibiotics, more abscesses appeared on her back, head, and shoulder that required a visit to our great veterinarian. It will be almost 3 weeks now and her wounds are healing plus she has put in some weight. She is younger that the bright-eye buddy to her right but he loves to play with her. They both went to a rehabber who will continue their care until released. Thank you all who helped!

This young juvenile opossum was bitten by a brown recluse. A rehabber got him about four weeks ago and the bite area is getting worse before it will get better. He will heal and be released, but may require surgery due to the necrotized tissue in the jaw.

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Meet Paulie! He came in last Sunday. A gentleman who was hunting found him alone on a trail. He put him in his shirt to keep him warm and contacted one of our members. When he came in, he weighed 77g and his umbilical cord was still attached. He is taking the bottle well and is tipping the scale at 97grams. He had to pay our vet a visit due to labored breathing. We all hope he grows up to be a big Paul!

The babies have grown and explore out of the pouch occasionally. They don't go far from mom. I examined one to make sure she had a full belly but mom did not like that and she showed me all 50 of her teeth to scare me away. I only had the baby for a few seconds then I put it back.

On Wednesday evening, a neighbor called about an orphaned baby possum in her yard. Since it looked healthy, maybe our recovering mama opossum would not mind to foster another baby; so the rehabber placed it in the mama opossum's pouch and walked away.

Next morning, when the rehabber checked on the mother and babies, she found that the baby had attached himself to a nipple and that was happily nursing among the other babies. Happy ending!

This female young adult opossum was found in the road. She was not hit by a car but was attacked by an animal, probably a large dog or a fox. The animal had her head in its mouth and a canine tooth punctured the possums right eye. When the socket dries up it will be sewn shut. She has 6 babies (that can be seen) in her pouch. She was extremely underweight upon intake and has had to have 350ml subQ fluids everyday for a week. As of Thursday she is finally eating.

Remember when Cupid was 20 days old and weighed 70 grams...well, now at 34 days old she is weighing in at 151 grams and is as cute as she can be.

He is one of our first cottontail bunny of the season. He was rescued from a cat by a nice lady.

Cupid is a very healthy and feisty bunny. He is probably over 2 weeks old and will be in rehab for another 3 weeks.

This newborn fox squirrel was found by a dog 3 days ago. It only weighed 13 g.

She eats great and so far is doing well. It will take almost 4 months until release and countless number of feedings but it is well worth it.

These tiny baby opossums were rescued when their mother was hit by a car and killed. As the only native marsupial here in the U.S. opossums spend their first 45 to 60 days of life tucked safely in their mother's pouch while they finish developing. This litter of joeys is approximately two weeks old, and will not open their eyes for another three to four weeks. They are very fragile, and each baby weighs less than one dollar's worth of pocket change.

Meet our first baby of the season! The people who found him were at their place in Palestine cleaning an electric box when they found this little guy's nest.

Sadly, the mom didn't make it, but they were able to save this little guy. He is about 3 weeks old and only weighs 20 grams and eats like a champ. Flying squirrels are nocturnal and are more commonly found in East Texas.

Grinch came to us at the end of spring as a teen after he chewed a hole through the wall; as a result he was missing all the fur around his nose. Since the beginning we knew that he was a different. As he grew up it became more evident that he was not going to be releasable. Grinch’s feet were smaller than normal, his claws grew abnormally long, and his ankles did not rotate like a normal squirrel; He never was able to climb well and always had to go down tail first. He was also missing his two top front teeth, probably the teeth roots got damaged as he worked his way out of the wall. Plans were made to obtain an educational permit, but as in real life not all stories have a happy ending; one day his feet got caught as he broke his ankle. Grinch had a short but happy life, and although he did not get to steal Christmas he will be missed.

Any time we get a squirrel in I am amazed by all the different things that people feed them: kitten formula, “organic” cow’s milk, Similac, breast milk, goat’s milk, and many others. The following recipe is not intended for the squirrels, but for their caretakers when in need of a break. It is called the “Pink Squirrel”. Warning- Do not feed it to any squirrel under 21 years of age.

• 3/4 ounce creme de noyaux

• 3/4 ounce white creme de cacao

• 1 1/2 ounces heavy cream

This poor baby was bullied by a group of squirrels! He was raised alone, so I put him in a cage of 3 other squirrels hoping they would take him in and be friends. They would not let him in to their nesting box and bit him up and down his back and made this huge wound on his leg. I rescued him from the cage and brought him back inside and tended his wounds (and pride). The wound on his leg became infected and had to be opened and cleaned out daily for a week—but he eventually was able to be released into the wild.