A Word About Baby Mammals

Lately, it seems as if the mammals have replaced birds as the number one patient at the Miami Science Museum's Rehabilitation Center. At about 8 weeks old this grey squirrel is severely underweight and suffering from a broken front leg. Every year, well meaning individuals cost squirrels such as this one their lives from improper feeding and lack of medical attention.

Did you know that it can take days of fluid therapy before a young mammal is ready to be fed a commercial or home made formula. Likewise they must be fed sometimes every 2 hours when very young in order to develop normally. And they must be stimulated to urinate/defecate every time you feed them. Still have time to take care of that baby squirrel you found in the yard? Consider this. If you are lucky enough to feed it the proper diet, AND manage to avoid allowing the youngster to aspirate or inhale formula into its lungs and develop pneumonia, you may want to consider what will happen to this animal later. Without the proper socialization with other squirrels, it will be socially and mentally lost when you try to release it later. It will no doubt not want to leave the safety of your care and be "imprinted" on humans. As a rehabber I can tell you it is disheartening and sometimes infuriating to see these animals end up like this, robbed of a life in the wild because of some human's well meaning yet poorly handled attempts to rehabilitate them. If you want to raise squirrels, why not volunteer at a rehabilitation center? We always need help!
It is interesting however, to note people's responses to opossums. I was recently amazed to hear all the pro opossum discussion amongst my neighbors. People were actually excited about having them in their backyards and felt that they were beneficial to keeping the rats away (they are). It would seem that slowly but surely, the old stereotypes of the vicious opossum is giving way to the actual facts about how amazing they are. As the only North American marsupial, the female gives birth to underdeveloped young that once born, crawl into the pouch and attach to the nipple for several weeks until fully developed. Once they crawl out, they continue to cling onto the mother for a few more weeks until ready to survive on their own. We occasionally receive them after they have accidentally fallen off and are about ready to survive on their own. Unfortunately however, the majority of babies this time of year come from the pouches of dead mothers struggling to cross the road with their heavy load. You can help them by watching out for them out on the road late at night and giving them more time. Also, please make sure to turn on lights for a couple of minutes before letting your dog outside, it may give that mother opossum a little more time to get going before falling victim to a large dog.

This is a sad picture I know, but a necessary image to convey the seriousness of the situation. This mother opossum actually survived for several days with a fractured skull and jaw. She was able to survive and give her babies a little more of her milk and a better fighting chance before she passed. Rest in peace mother opossum.

Saying Goodbyes Yet Again

It was bittersweet as we said goodbye to one of our long term cases, a juvenile cooper's hawk that had come into our center as an orphan last season. It had been a mystery as to where her parents were and nest were. She had been found by a concerned citizen on the side of the road. One of our volunteers, also a falconer searched for her nest and siblings in the area but was unsuccessful. She fared very well in captivity and our plans were to release her as soon as she had some flight time and experience hunting. She did however contract a very devastating infection in her mouth which resulted in a deformity on the opposite side of her face that is pictured here. While this deformity never impeded her ability to eat, it was feared that it was greatly weakened by this deformity and would be a heightened risk of breakage in the wild. Kept in captivity, she could be monitored closely and receive medical attention should injury occur.
















Because she was admitted at such an early age and constantly handled for medical treatments, this bird became very acclimated to humans and thus a star candidate for wildlife education. It was very tempting to keep this non releasable bird at our center for our education program. She would have surely proved to be an excellent advocate for the cooper's hawk in the wild, especially considering the constant persecution we see of them by domestic bird breeders and keepers. We opted however for her to be placed into an educational program in which she could be free flown by experienced master falconer Ray Pena http://www.flightoftheraptor.com/ for literally thousands of people who attend Renaissance Festivals all around the country including Florida. Although I would greatly miss her, I was thrilled that she would be able to fly free among the admiration of the adoring fans she would surely gain visiting the various Renaissance Festivals. You bet I will be there to visit her next year!


Another happy moment to report as a red tailed hawk was returned back to the neighborhood in which it was found. Museum wildlife staff member Meranda assisted an excited young man in releasing this hawk, which had suffered from an unknown illness, perhaps a mild toxicity. After an initial period of stabilization, this bird recovered very quickly. The entire neighborhood anxiously awaited the news that their frequently seen hawk was ready to return home. As you can see, it was quite the celebration and everyone turned out for this happy moment. We are always proud to see such enthusiasm and to share these miracles. It is the everyday citizen who is the critical link in saving these birds. Without them, we wouldn't be able to share these successes.

Another Spectacular Release

Here's a nice shot of another member of the Miami Dade County Firefighter's Venom Response Unit. Lisa Wood, a former wildlife rehabilitator was excited as we prepared to release a sharp shinned hawk that fully recovered from a particularly nasty fracture to her wing into a beautiful park in rural Davie Florida. Sharp shinned hawks, like cooper's hawks are accipiters and primarily prey upon other birds in an ambush style of hunting. We only see these little guys during the migration season which is slowly winding down. It seems as if we saw many more of these adorable, but amazing little hawks this year than in previous years. One can only hope that this is a good sign that they are either becoming more numerous or adapting to an urban lifestyle. In either case, it may mean that we will continue to see more and more of them every year. The cooper's hawk has made quite a living hunting abundantly in urban areas as pigeons, doves, and starlings abound. It does however make them an unfortunate target of those who would shoot them out of hatred for their adaptability and unfortunate habit of hanging around domestic pigeon breeders. Lets hope that the sharp-shinned hawk, because of its diminutive size, can slip under the radar.