It's been fascinating to see the changes at Greenwood this season. On my latest visit, the most obvious change was that the squirrel babies are growing up! Most of the remaining squirrels were in their outdoor "condos" and many had already been released! I spent some time cleaning out the now empty shelters and marveled at their habitat -- warm cozy den boxes, nuts, seeds and tree branches strewn about for food, and lots of branches for playing jungle gym! Not wanting to disturb some of the remaining residents, I hid behind a screen and held the lens against one of the fenced enclosures. I was so happy to see that they were cautious and curious! Raccoon season is still in full swing and on the day I visited Greenwood they were taking care of over 40 of them. While Greenwood is prepared to handle 80 at a time, it was still plenty busy. I finally got to hear them make their cute noises when they ate. What cuties! Songbird season is also in full swing. While I wasn't able to learn all the types of birds currently at Greenwood, they sounded wonderful! The young ones are still quite a handful and there were a couple that were sporting tape "casts" and "foot braces" . They sure didn't seem to mind their rehabilitation and were so happy to get some "home grown" meal worms. The ducklings were also growing up and some had moved out of their nesting boxes and into outdoor swimming areas. They had some fresh lettuce and kale mixtures to eat (stems removed) and they loved to paddle around their swimming pool. Each time I visit Greenwood I'm struck by how many different tasks need to be done in order to care for the animals. The saying, "it takes a village" is so true. People bring in fresh cut branches for the squirrels to eat, make den boxes for the squirrels to live in, chop lettuce for the ducklings, make formula for the raccoons and feed each baby songbird every 40 minutes! There's always laundry to do, meal worms to tend to, feeding bowls and bottles to wash and cages to clean. I'm so glad that I can do my part in showing you all the happy recipients of all that love and attention. Thanks for reading and 'til next time!
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AuthorRachel is a math and science tutor who loves to photograph wildlife in her spare time. In this blog she shares her experiences of her visits to Greenwood Wildlife Rehabilitation Center in Lyons, CO. Archives
April 2016
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