Squirrel season is in full swing at Greenwood Wildlife Rehabilitation Center.  On my last visit, there were 60 squirrels in residence!  Imagine trying to monitor, feed and keep the rooms of 60 youngsters clean!  Some were almost ready to move outdoors and they were quite rambunctious.  It was quite a production to see groups of volunteers perform the mid-day feeding and cleaning.  For the older squirrels, the routine went like this:  one volunteer would catch a squirrel, identify it and put it in the temporary holding tub to be weighed while another volunteer recorded its weight. This process was repeated until the squirrel cage was empty.  Then, working quickly, a pair of volunteers cleaned the squirrel enclosure by exchanging the fleece bedding material from the nesting boxes, replacing the newspaper flooring, sweeping under the cage,  arranging  branches and pine cones, adding a tray full of goodies for the squirrels to eat and putting out fresh water.   Within a few minutes, the squirrels were returned to their enclosures and they eagerly ate up the goodies (and made a mess of their house again).   I  was impressed by the variety of cuisine offered at Greenwood.  The youngest ones were fed formula, the dehydrated ones received some subcutaneous fluids and the older ones were offered a choice of pine cones, fresh tree branches, sweet potatoes, nuts (still in the shell), apples and even a few Cheerios.  Yum!
    The bird area is still quiet at Greenwood.  On my last visit, there was an American Robin and a Say's Phoebe.  I didn't take a picture of the robin but the Say's Phoebe was so cooperative!  They are a beautiful type of flycatcher and fairly rare at Greenwood, so I was glad to be able to take its picture.
    Next month will be the beginning of raccoon season and yesterday 14 baby ducks arrived at the Center so stayed tuned for an exciting summer ahead!

The baby season has begun at Greenwood!  There are about 28 squirrel babies at the Center, and luckily, there were plenty of volunteers to help with the seemingly endless task of feeding all the hungry babies. 

There were also two baby rabbits that had recently been brought into the Center.  While Greenwood accepts them, baby rabbits are very difficult to rehabilitate and young ones are transferred to a home-based wildlife rehabilitator who specializes exclusively in rabbits.  The one pictured below is about the size of a fingerling potato and so cute!         

Soon the raccoon babies will start filtering into Greenwood and then things will really pick up.  What does Greenwood need in order to care for all these animals?  Money, of course, and volunteers who have had their rabies pre-exposure vaccinations!  There are plenty of other volunteer positions available, too, so if you're interested in helping out, just give them a call (303-828-8455) or send an email ([email protected]).  Thanks for reading and thanks, Greenwood, for all you do to give  wild animals a second chance!