Wildwoods, Woodchucks, and More

Friday we got a call from Samantha, Annabelle, and Lorelei. While these girls were out walking, they found a woodchuck who was stuck in a storm drain. They couldn’t turn away from an animal in trouble, so they called Animal Allies. Animal Allies gave them our number.

Farzad and a few others rushed over to help. They found that the woodchuck’s upper body was wedged in the gap of the storm drain, while his lower body and legs dangled helplessly. He was unable to pull himself up and out with his front legs alone. It would be tough to grab his upper body without getting a serious bite. What to do?

Farzad reached down and braced a board under the woodchuck’s back legs. Once the woodchuck had leverage, he was up, out of there, and far away–lickity split! He didn’t even stop to thank his happy rescuers.

We at Wildwoods are so grateful to the to the three kind-hearted girls who did not turn away from an animal in need. The world is so lucky to have people like you in it!

Sunday was a busy animal day. Wildwoods got our first two fawn calls of the season. One fawn, who was found near a car-killed doe, needed help, but was far away in Remer. A closer wildlife rehabber (Dark Star Wildlife Nursery) came to its aid. The second fawn, who was in Duluth, turned out to be just fine, and was left where mom had parked her.

Remember, most fawns you find alone this time of year are not abandoned; just parked while mom goes off to feed. Please keep kids and pets away, and watch from a distance. If you have any questions, check out more information about fawns on our website here, or call us at 218-491-3604. Thanks!

A family had live-trapped a raccoon who was coming to their bird feeder which was stocked with irresistible sunflower seeds (remember, if you feed them, they will come–birds, squirrels, raccoons, and even bears! Feeding the birds isn’t really necessary at this time of year. If you choose to do so and don’t want the attention of raccoons and bears, bring your feeders in at night, and visit this page for more info.) They wanted to know where to let the raccoon go. We advised them to release the raccoon right away where she or she had been trapped, and to take down their feeder if the raccoon visits bothered them. We are grateful that they listened, and that no wild animals were orphaned or displaced.

One person called about a nestling crow on the ground who was otherwise healthy. It turned out that the caller was an adept tree-climber, so he re-nested it, which was perfect. If he hadn’t been able to do that, we would have put up a new, man-made nest as close to the original as we could, and then asked him to observe it to see whether the parents were coming back to feed. If you have questions on baby birds, check out our website here.

We got 5 baby raccoons and 3 baby squirrels yesterday. One little raccoon was DOA. The others are doing well up at Raccoon Riverbend. The squirrels are all doing well.

We got a baby white-footed mouse from Bryan and Jay. The mouse doesn’t like our substitute nipple much, but is doing well. He’s a very squeaky little guy!

A family also brought in a little hatchling turtle that they’d found in their driveway. They were worried about one of his legs. He turned out to be fine, so they took him back to let him go in the nearest body of water.

The fox kit who became a TV star is doing well, and all of the other animals already in our care are doing fine.

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