 Say's Phoebe 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! Comments are closed.
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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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