Have had my share of wildlife spend the night in my bathtub in a nice warm box or cage or whatever for the species. Always after talking to a wildlife rehabilitation facility going over many things regarding the job at hand. And only if they were stable enough for me to care for them for one night. I have learned a lot and cared for many. Never feeding until I talk to the pros and get my instructions going over them a few times until they were straight in my head. You never feed a baby animal on your own. Feeding them the wrong formula is deadly.
I am not the one with food in hand here. But I took these little guys in. This was a very small operation but boy she had a lot to care for. And she was a natural.
So tiny and hungry. In loving gentile hands.
I got to watch ( very quietly ) this little chipmunk being fed.
These don't do well I was told in captivity. Like so many babies. They need their mother.
Then we have squirrels who seem to do very well.But mother is always the best thing for any wildlife baby.
My little bundles did very well.
Then I had a couple raccoon orphans. This being one of them. She showed up in my backyard. We tried to get it. But as tiny as it was. It beat my husband over the fence and up the tree out of reach. But on a hot summers night with our windows open. Around 10pm. A piercing scream got our quick attention. A big male raccoon had forced this little one into our pond and it was hanging on for dear life. Literally. Crying,shaking. We had a blanket and cage ready from earlier on. My husband sprang into action and got it out so fast it never knew what happened and into a warm dry blanket into my arms. I called my rehabber friend again as I had spoken to her earlier already, and we were told what to do for this little one til morning. Then we got it to her asap. No worse for wear thanks to our quick response. This little girl was called Jenny. She grew strong and big and went back to the wild. One lucky little girl. Along with her a couple days later,were 2 others a bit smaller that we found up the street from us. Curled up together in the middle of the road on a very hot day. On an extremely hot road. Dehydrated,hungry and scared. They to got the help they needed to survive and eventually go free again. Absolutely amazing little beings. But very sad so many loose their mom's because humans hate them around. You live in their turf. They were there first and they are only trying to survive on what little habitat they have left.Keep your yard clean of garbage. Dont put garbage out til the morning of and don't feed them. Recycle properly. And wash all your cans and jars. A raccoon,skunk or other animals can get stuck in these items. They don't know they can be a trap and harmful. We can live together.
And yet another little bundle of joy found me.
Another night without the tub. So tiny and alone after loosing its mom.
Keeping each other snugly warm.
Look how they wrap their little tail around their handlers wrist. Precious. Hang on little dude!
Chipmunks as I said earlier are very finicky to rehab. After long hours of care and feeding and loving this little one passed away. Keeping it fed and warm were priorities that this lady dedicated her all to. It is heart breaking when they loose a life.
Just to show how tiny that little one was. Weighed in at 7 cents worth. Shown below. Sometimes no matter what you do. They are just to tiny and cant survive without mom.
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