 On my latest visit to Greenwood I wanted to learn about the volunteers. I've commented before that it takes a village to rehabilitate the animals at Greenwood, so who are those villagers? On my first visit to Greenwood I was introduced to Page van der Linden and there is a big reason why she is my first volunteer to spotlight ! Page is a tireless volunteer who spends two full days each week at Greenwood. For the past year, in addition to caring for the raccoons, she has become the resident "Worm Warrior" and volunteer extraordinaire.
It all started about 3 years ago when a life-changing medical issue forced Page to change paths. She and her husband moved to Colorado, she re-dedicated herself to playing classical piano and a quest to keep her sanity led her to Greenwood. She learned to care for squirrels, raccoons and song birds and has a passion for doing what is necessary to make Greenwood thrive. I'm not quite sure how the events unfolded but it was recognized that meal worms were a huge expense for Greenwood. Surely someone could "grow" them? Well, there were anecdotes on the internet but no one seemed to have a system. So, along with Amanda, a wildlife rehabilitator at Greenwood, Page set out to learn about growing worms. Her chemistry background helped as she experimented with different growing conditions and they tweaked the process until they now have a reproducible system. Meal worms are actually the larva of the Darkling Beetles (related to stink bugs). They are a staple diet of song birds and lizards at Greenwood and you can see a picture of them in my second blog post. The beetles lay hundreds of eggs into a bran mixture and eventually the eggs turn into lavae. But left unattended, the beetles will eat the larvae, so that's where Page comes in. Page, and other volunteers, spend hours sorting through bins filled with bran and removing tiny larva from harm's way. The larvae are then transferred to a "nursery bin" where they grow from nearly undetectable "hair-like" larvae to larger larvae. These larvae are a bit like snakes -- shedding their exoskeleton at each growth stage . Page and the volunteers sort through the bins to keep things clean since one bad worm can spoil the nursery. After the larvae have finished growing they can be fed to the animals or they become pupae which in turn become beetles. These must also be sorted since newly hatched beetles like to eat pupae! Storing larvae turns out to be a tricky endeavor and a goof by a well-meaning volunteer whiped out close to two-thirds of their meal worm stock earlier this spring! It was a huge blow for the volunteers and staff at Greenwood but the upside is that they were able to grow some more! Since the system is now well in place, Greenwood has raised over 45,000 more meal worms and the staff is confident that the system is sustainable (except that they now how bins full of beetles -- beetle stew anyone?) It's hard to believe that the over 1300 song birds that go through Greenwood every year can eat hundreds of thousands of worms but Greenwood's purchase of commercially available worms to augment their homegrown stock serves as proof. In future years this may not be necessary thanks to the tireless efforts of Page and the other volunteers. So, if you are ever in Greenwood, say thanks to Page. You'll often find her sitting in the worm room just behind the front desk. She might be in a meditative trance as she sorts through the worm bins but she'll be eager to take a break. Thank you Page, you ARE Greenwood!  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!
 On my last visit to Greenwood I got to meet more squirrels, song birds, geese and racoons! As of early May, Greenwood had about 30 squirrels. While some were still being hand fed, many were beginning to eat leaves and sticks. I never realized that in addition to all the birdseed that squirrels eat from our feeders, squirrels eat leaves! They seemed to love the tender shoots from an elm tree and now I know why they love our front yard. A few of the squirrels had transitioned to the outdoor enclosures, but I visited on a cool day so they were hiding in their nests. Below is a picture one of the indoor enclosures for the squirrels -- it isn't only human teenagers that make a mess of their rooms! (Click on pictures to enlarge).    Next I got to visit the song birds. On this day Greenwood was caring for at least 25 birds -- most of them babies. Caring for young birds is intense since they require feeding every 40 minutes! Luckily they don't eat during the night, but during the day they give new meaning to the phrase "eat like a bird". Young birds make sure that they are both seen and heard and that their pleas for food are clear. These pictures show 4 baby finches and 2 baby starlings letting their wishes be known.   Next up were the ducklings. Ducks (and geese) are tricky to rehabilitate since the young can imprint on anyone or anything. For this reason, ducklings are kept fairly isolated and feed themselves. Can you see the specks of food all over them? Caretakers keep very quiet in the nursery and blankets cover their "nests". I just took a quick peak for a photo and hoped that they would not follow a photographer around when they get older!  Mallard Ducklings Then the racoons. I kept my distance since I am not pre-vaccinated for rabies. On this day Greenwood was caring for about 15 baby racoons and I learned that they make irresistible cooing/purring sounds when they are hungry and are eating. Next time I hope to watch a feeding session.  I hope you enjoyed my latest blog and thank you for all of your support to Greenwood Wildlife Rehabilitation Center. Just before my visit, Greenwood had received bunnies, raccoons and more squirrels so the spring season is in full swing. Volunteers were also working tirelessly to arrange transport for songbird who had recently spent some time in a cat's mouth. Just another example of how the volunteers at Greenwood go to great lengths to make sure that every animal gets a another chance. 'Til next time!
 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! For the past two and half years now I've taken a "picture a day" and since I mostly like to take wildlife pictures, and I'm an accidental wildlife photographer, my encounters with new animals is sometimes limited. So, one of my friends suggested that I take pictures for the Greenwood Wildlife Rehabilitation Center (http://greenwoodwildlife.org). What a treat! I get to take pictures of awesome animals who need a little help getting back on their feet and the center gets some (hopefully) good pictures to use in their marketing materials.  The first day I toured the facility I was blown away by how prepared they were for the over 2,000 animals (over 130 different species) they expect to receive during the year. Everything in it's place and a resident bunny outside waiting for the party... (click on any image to see larger versions of all images in this section)      On my second visit I got to see baby squirrels being fed by volunteers. They were so small their eyes hadn't opened yet! I also photographed a Grosbeak who had a broken wing... (click on any image to see larger versions of all images in this section) Note that all of the scratches on the volunteer were not from the squirrels... or at least not from these ones!       On my third visit I photographed (and attended) a training session about squirrels. The baby squirrels had opened their eyes and were becoming feisty. Here Greenwood staff members show how to feed and handle the baby squirrels. (click on any image to see larger versions of all images in this section)   |
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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