Watch the Critter Cam Livestream. Now Livestreaming: Ducklings. The University of Illinois Wildlife Medical Clinic—a non- profit organization that provides care and treatment to sick, injured, and orphaned wild animals—will feature a different patient each week on the Critter Cam. Caption and video don’t match? Well, situations can change pretty fast in the Wildlife Medical Clinic, so we can’t always keep our Critter Cam page information accurate up to the minute. If we say the camera is on something furry, and you see feathers, give us a day to catch up! Want to help provide food, medicine, and equipment for nearly 2,0. You can make a gift online. Caught on the camera this week is a group of Mallard ducklings! These little guys were brought in after being found in a restaurant’s parking lot, alone without their mom. Ducks are precocial animals, meaning that as soon as they are hatched, their eyes are open and they are able to walk around and feed for themselves. Even though they are able to find food themselves, they are still too little and young at this age to be out in the wild by themselves. Fortunately, these ducklings seem healthy and will hopefully be transferred to a licensed wildlife rehabilitator soon! You may notice that there is a larger patient in the same tub as the ducklings—this is a gosling (young Canada goose). He was brought in with a sibling, who unfortunately did not make it. Instead of keeping the gosling alone, we placed him in the same tub as the ducklings so he could have some company before being released back into the wild with his family!—Ainsley Boyle, second- year veterinary student. Previously Featured. Raccoons. Update: We had to move the camera off the raccoon kits because they kept knocking it down! Now featured on the Critter Cam are six orphaned raccoon kits. They are estimated to be three to four weeks of age. They were all found in a home and the mother had not been spotted for a couple days. With some species, babies that are four weeks old are able to be out on their own and able to find food, but in this case, it was the right thing to bring them in for help. Fortunately, these raccoons are healthy and thriving in our care! A PLANT ECOLOGICAL STUDY OF THE RIETVLEI NATURE RESERVE GAUTENG PROVINCE By RIAAN MARAIS: To download the report - a 3.4 MB pdf file - CLICK HERE. You may notice that each raccoon has a color on the top of its head. We use different colors of nail polish in order to tell the difference between animals in a litter! Wild baby animals ALWAYS do better with their mom than in the care of humans. Unless the animal is clearly injured or you know that the mother is dead, please call your local wildlife rehabilitator for advice before “rescuing” them, because in most cases, babies are not actually orphaned.—Ainsley Boyle, second- year veterinary student. Gray Squirrels. Update: Less than 2. This week on the Wildlife Medical Clinic’s Critter Cam are two juvenile Eastern gray squirrels. We are estimating that they are about 6 to 7 weeks old. These patients were brought to the clinic after falling from their nest on a roof. Global partnership of conservation organisations that aims to conserve birds, their habitats and global biodiversity. Biodiversity Patterns and Conservation in the Hackensack Meadowlands, New Jersey. In the Matter of Amendment of the) DECISION 1631 City of Los Angeles' Water Right) Licenses for Diversion of Water) SOURCE: Lee Vining Creek From Streams Tributary. Sightings and News as it happens! We are now publishing nearly all of our latest news stories on our Facebook and Twitter pages. As well as updating the page from the. Avon Diary 2017 Fishing the tail. The finders thought that the squirrels were injured from the long fall, which is why they were brought in. Fortunately, these two little critters seem to be totally healthy and do not seem to have been affected by the fall! We have placed branches in order to allow the young squirrels some enrichment while in our care. They are syringe fed formula twice a day, but you can catch them nibbling on some softened foods throughout the day! Keep on eye to watch them snuggled up with one another or acting squirrely while climbing around their cage!—Ainsley Boyle, second- year veterinary student. Pied- Billed Grebe. Bird capture, emergency and longer term care and rehabilitation, common conditions, and veterinary treatment. Update: Sadly, the grebe died unexpectedly. This juvenile pied-billed grebe was found with an injured wing and was promptly brought to the clinic. Update: Sadly, the grebe died unexpectedly. This juvenile pied- billed grebe was found with an injured wing and was promptly brought to the clinic by a good Samaritan. During the initial physical exam, our volunteers found a fairly large soft tissue wound over this patient’s right radius and ulna. Luckily, all of the bones and ligaments of that wing felt intact and no other major problems were found. We are managing this little guy’s wound by keeping it bandaged and applying topical ointment to promote healing. We’re also giving him a round of antibiotics to ensure that he does not develop an infection from the wound. Since pied billed grebes are waterfowl, we needed to use waterproof bandaging material and provide a swimming area so this patient can maintain his feather quality. We also soon figured out that this grebe is a picky little guy, since he turned up his bill to the frozen fish we initially offered. Turns out, he is only willing to eat live fish, so if you tune in during the morning or evening you may catch a glimpse of him chasing after them.—Kara Hiebert, first- year veterinary student. Juvenile Red Fox. Update: : The fox kit’s tail surgery site was healing well and she continued to use her front leg correctly, so she was sent to a local rehabilitator to prepare for release back into the wild. Featured on the Wildlife Medical Clinic’s Critter Cam this week is a female juvenile red fox. This girl was transferred to the clinic from a local licensed wildlife rehabilitator. During her initial physical examination, volunteers noticed that her front right paw was not in the proper position when she walked and stood in the cage. Radiographs (x- rays) showed a fractured radius (bone of the forearm). Thankfully, the bone was well aligned and the ulna was intact to act as a splint, so she did not need surgery. We placed a metal splint and kept the leg bandaged for five days, while providing pain management and cage rest. Since she is otherwise a young, healthy fox kit, her fracture became stable enough and after five days, she was able to ambulate appropriately without the splint on! Additionally, this little fox came in with a partially amputated tail that developed an abscess. Therefore, we surgically amputated the most distal (farthest from the body) aspect of her tail. To keep her from chewing on the bandage, you can see her wearing a soft cone. Since foxes are nocturnal animals, don’t be surprised to see her the most active at night!—Ainsley Boyle, second- year veterinary student. Raccoon Kits. It’s baby season! On camera this week is a litter of four orphaned raccoon kits. These little guys were brought in to the Wildlife Medical Clinic after they were found alone with no mom in sight. Raccoon kits are too young to be without mom at this age—their eyes and ears are both still closed. They are helpless on their own, so rescuing them was the right thing to do in this case. Sometimes though, baby animals can be found alone and be completely fine. Young rabbits and deer are great examples of animals who naturally spend many hours a day alone. Mom leaves the babies hidden to try to keep predators away and only returns to them a few times a day to feed them. Wild babies ALWAYS do better with mom to raise them, so unless the animal is obviously injured or sick or you see a dead mother or siblings nearby, call a wildlife professional for help before “rescuing” them, and help us give these animals their best chance at a wild life!—Dr. Nicki Rosenhagen. Bald Eagle. Update: The bald eagle continues to do well. He will have repeat x- rays this week to monitor the healing of his humerus and should be ready to start using the wing in another couple of weeks. The Wildlife Medical Clinic’s Critter Cam is keeping an eye on an adult male bald eagle this week. This patient arrived with a broken humerus (the bone between the shoulder and elbow). Often, wild birds with broken bones are too small to handle the relatively heavy implants used in domestic animal medicine. However, eagles are large enough that those implants may afford the best chance of recovery. So, with the help of the orthopedic surgeons, the doctors repaired the fractured bone using a metal plate and 1. The benefit to this type of repair is that the hardware used to repair the bone is completely covered by the skin, meaning there are no pins sticking out of the bone as is often the case with fracture repairs in smaller species. This decreases the chance of infection and additional injury to the wing. So far, the eagle seems to be doing well. He has a great appetite and attitude and, while he’s still quite bruised and sore from surgery, the x- rays look very promising for a full recovery!—Dr. Nicki Rosenhagen. Cooper’s Hawk. Update: The Cooper’s hawk is still recovering. The broken bone fragments did extensive damage to the surrounding skin and muscle, so we’re managing those wounds to the best of our ability. Fortunately, the bone itself is healing nicely! This male Cooper’s hawk was brought to the Wildlife Medical Clinic unable to fly. A physical exam and x- rays revealed not only a broken wing but also evidence of metal in his gastrointestinal tract. The presence of metal in the GI tract of an animal is problematic because some metals, like lead and zinc, can be toxic to animals if they are in an acidic environment (like the stomach). Unfortunately, a blood lead test confirmed toxic levels, so this bird is fighting the effects of a broken bone AND a toxicity. The good news is that despite the high levels of lead in his blood, he’s not displaying any of the classic neurologic signs we associate with lead toxicity. On Monday, we took this bird to surgery and repaired the broken wing, and he’ll receive treatment to rid his body of the toxic metal. With any luck, this bird is on the road to recovery and may just get a second chance at a wild life this summer.—Dr. Nicki Rosenhagen. Eastern Box Turtle. Update: The turtle is doing well. Turtles move at their own (very slow) pace, so when she lets us know she’s ready, we’ll start incorporating her into our education program. Sadly, this little lady was taken from her wild home several years ago and kept as a pet. During her time in captivity, she subsisted on a poor diet of exclusively mealworms and canned mandarin oranges and was deprived of the correct lighting for normal bone development.
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May 2017
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