Baby Mourning Doves

Two baby mourning doves (nestlings) have arrived at the Refuge.....and they did not have to be here. A homeowner cut down a tree, and down came the nest. Mourning doves do not build the most stable nests to begin with. Please PLEASE delay cutting down trees, ANY TREE, until late in the Fall.
We do think they are so darn cute, though! Don't you agree?

Orphaned Baby Raccoons

We have a group of orphaned baby raccoons keeping us busy here at the Refuge. Virginia Beach Animal Control had answered a call at a local residence. It seems there was a "nuisance" raccoon hanging around their property, that the folks trapped and probably destroyed. A few days later, they found the babies, and called Animal Control for a pickup.
It is not unusual for Mamma Raccoon to forage for food during the day. She is very, very hungry and will go to great lengths for her nursing babies. In this case, she looked for food on the property of some ignorant people and she paid with her life. But, these babies got lucky and ended up with a compassionate Animal Control Officer who delivered them to us. They now have a good chance of survival.

Night Visitors

The animals come out to share food.

Things that go bump in the night

We put up a wildlife camera on the back of the property at the Refuge to see what was going on after dark. Here are a few pics that the infrared, motion activated camera caught.

the Crow aka Mikey

The crow was brought into the refuge by Mike, a good, or rather great Samaritan. It was around the holidays, so things were quiet. The crow had a badly damaged wing, which was set. Unfortunately, when the splint was removed not much improvement was noted. But, young crows are fairly resilient, so we are still hopeful. Even though he cannot seem to fly, he has the run of the wildlife room, and seems pretty happy. His savior, Mike, still calls to check on him. We have named him "Mikey," to honor the man who was compassionate enough to take the time and make the effort to find a wildlife rehibilitator, in order to give Mikey a chance of survival. We are trying to find Mikey a permanent home, but in the meantime, he rules the roost.

Hope

This is Hope, our little Christmas visitor. She arrived a bit before Christmas with a seriously injured back leg which prevented her from getting food. Her dining preferences here at the Refuge are Gerber's Chicken Dinner baby food and Trix yogurt. At first we had to force feed her but now, I am happy to report that she is eating on her own. She is on antibiotics and her leg is still sore, but improving. She just loves her warm, cozy denning box and doesn't want you to bother her, unless it's feeding time!
Hope will definitely let us know when it is time to be set free!

Raccoon babies

Things are finally slowing down here at the Refuge. We have two little raccoon babies in the nursery.......Little Rock (everyone names coons "Rocky") and Scout (after a Boy Scout working on his Eagle Scout Project here). Both babies had bite injuries, probably from adult raccoons in the colony. They were brought here to the refuge by a couple of caring humans who found them suffering. I love people who will take the time out of a busy day and try to save a wild life!
Evelyn and Jim have been nursing them and giving them the very best of care. I am happy to report they are doing quite well. They are very, very shy and won't let anyone take a picture, so here is a recent pic of me, Pink Floyd, when I came by to check on the new arrivals.