Early Spring at Greenwood Wildlife Rehabilitation Center

Deer Mouse

Last Thursday I had the opportunity to visit Greenwood for some more picture-taking.  While it's not as busy as I hear it will be, you can definitely tell things are picking up!  There were 25 squirrels at the center (including a black squirrel, which is a melanistic variety of the Eastern Grey Squirrel).  There was a baby raccoon, a golden mantled chipmunk, a couple of birds and lots of mice!  First stop was seeing the squirrels at feeding time.  It was neat to see the once helpless babies I photographed a few weeks ago turn into rambunctious adolescents.  Right now they are so active that it is safest to leave them in their houses during feeding.  Soon they will be old enough to go outside in large enclosures, but for now they seem quite content to explore around their smaller surroundings.  The handheld grey squirrel below  had just arrived to the center so she was in quarantine for the day to make sure she was healthy enough to integrate with the others.  I'm sure she will be excited to have new friends! The black squirrel had already made a couple of new friends and the chipmunk was fast asleep, so I didn't bother him.

Next came the worms and birds!  Greenwood Wildlife has worked hard over the past year to harvest mealworms for the birds.  Here is a healthy batch waiting for the next meal.  There was a problem with some of the other batches so I spent some time sorting out worms.  It felt good to feel useful.  I also got to visit some pigeons and a rock dove in the large enclosure.  I was glad that they tolerated me while I stood still by the door photographing them. 

Next up were the mice!  Greenwood only rehabs wild mice and in-residence were 25 Plains Pocket Mice babies that had been brought in recently!  They were so tiny that it was impossible to take their pictures well, but you get the idea here.  Later, someone brought in a couple of Deer Mice babies.  Here they are getting weighed and checked out.  They seemed quite healthy, so their prognosis is excellent.

Later, some people brought in a hawk and a porcupine.  The hawk was transferred to a raptor rehabilitation center and the porcupine was evaluated.  Many of the animals brought into the center at this time of year are tree dwellers that either fall out of their tree or have their trees cut out from underneath them.  Just a reminder that even though we don't live in trees, they could be home to someone else!

Thanks, Greenwood, for taking care of these animals for us and thanks for reading.  'Til next time and happy earth day!