 After meeting Page and learning about meal worms I was told that there were a couple of merganser ducklings at Greenwood. Adult mergansers are striking ducks with razor bills designed to catch slippery fish. They generally nest in trees (and sometimes in nesting boxes) and within a day or so of hatching, the mother encourages her ducklings to "leap" (fall) out of the tree to spend the rest of their childhood fending for themselves in lakes and rivers. They are not common at Greenwood and the staff was excited to be able to raise them. I took only a couple of pictures because I didn't want to bother (or imprint) them!    I then watched a gosling at physical therapy. This gosling had been brought in with a fish hook in its web. As a response to the injury, its foot had curled up and was not functional. The staff at Greenwood attached a foam "cast" and a once a day the gosling would be let out of it's nesting box and allowed to experiment with it's newly functional foot. It was a reluctant walker on the day I saw it but the previous day had done laps around the room discovering it's new found freedom.  Last but not least were the raccoons. I was told there were 72 raccoons at Greenwood that day, but where were they? A little investigating yielded the answer. Napping! Raccoons are nocturnal animals and on this afternoon these "teenage" raccoons were getting some much needed R and R. Here is one that I spied on through the enclosure. That's all for today. Thanks for reading and thanks for all of your support of Greenwood! 'Til next time!
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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