Tuesday, March 27, 2012

Orphan season

So now is the time that start receiving lots of orphaned baby animals.  And yes feel free to call us if you find something in Ohio.  We will let you know if we can take it and how to arrange for us to take it from you. 

Some words of advice about finding baby animals in the wild, or your backyard, garage, etc. 

Rabbits:
Rabbit mothers will often leave the nest for much of the day to eat.  They return to the nest at night to keep the babies warm and feed them.  This also distracts predators from following her to the nest where the helpless babies are.  If you find a nest of rabbits, likely under a bush in your yard, just leave them alone.  Most likely Mom will come back to take care of them.  She most certainly will not come back while you are there watching, as you are a dangerous animal that could attack her or her babies.  If you suspect that she isn't coming back there are some things to look for. 

First of all, are all the babies in the nest, tightly wrapped up together sleeping?  If so, they have been fed recently and she is caring for them.  If the babies are starting to crawl out of the nest and disperse, this could be a sign that the mother has been killed.  Mothers do not abandon their young.  Even if you touch them or handle them, just put them back and she will just clean them off and keep caring for them.  Would you abandon your child because he came home smelling like a dog, or another person? 

Second, if you do think the mother is not coming back you can check.  Sprinkle a small amount of flour around the nest.  Leave it alone for 24 hours (overnight).  If the flour is disturbed then she is coming back and caring for them.  Again, just leave them there.  If there is no disturbance, then they are likely orphans and need help.  You can also arrange a set of sticks in a tic-tac-toe pattern around the nest.  Don't use string because this can get caught on an animals leg, or a bird might pick it up to use for nest. 

Squirrels:
Squirrels nest in trees.  So if you are doing some pruning of dead branches, double check them to make sure there are no nests in them.  Squirrel nests look like big stacks of leaves bundled up in the tree.  If you find baby squirrels on the ground, they have fallen out of a tree.  If you can find a nest nearby, you could help Mom by placing the babies back inside.  She will try to carry them back, if she can.  Again let them sit for 24 hours before calling a rehabilitator. 

Raccoons:
Raccoon mothers move their babies every 4-6 weeks.  If you have a mother raccoon in your garage, or shed, or a tree in your yard, let her take care of her babies for a while.  She will move them along in a few weeks and you can inspect the damage and if needed make any repairs to the building so she can't get in again.  If you find a nest of babies in your barn or garage or shed, the best thing you can do is leave them alone.  Mom may be close and she can be very dangerous if you try to take her babies.  Again use the flour trick if you think she isn't coming back. 

And finally rehabilitating wild animals is best left to trained professionals.  There is a lot to know and classes are required to become licensed.  It is illegal in Ohio and many other states for just anyone to rehab animals.  This is for the protection of the people and the animals.  Please feel free to contact us if you have any questions, or find an animal in your area. 

Wednesday, March 14, 2012

501(c)3 Status Update

So after several months of waiting, we finally received a reply from the IRS.  They need more information to complete our tax-exempt application.  It's a painfully slow process but we are getting there.