It has been an exciting spring for all of us with Nebraska Wildlife Rehab, Inc. (NWRI)! We have received several charges that are unusual in rehab, including a baby beaver, a baby muskrat, 3 baby minks, and a beautiful Franklin’s gull. All of these aquatic creatures have really tested the limits of our caging resources (we don’t have that many pools!) but we are really enjoying their time with us, and are thrilled at how well they are growing and learning the skills they need for their release.
The big story for us right now is the extreme number of baby raccoons we have received and are trying to manage right now. After a very slow start to raccoons this spring, they have been flooding in! We have about 80 babies now with another month or so for juveniles to continue to be admitted for care, and we need your help! Please consider the following:
VOLUNTEER – Whether you are a seasoned veteran or a brand-new volunteer, we need help now! We have 14 babies in need of immediate placement, including the following:
- A litter of four that are nursing well off a bottle. They are working on weaning now, and will need about two to three weeks in care before moving outside.
- A single baby, far younger than our other babies, that needs to be fed four times a day. She needs about five weeks with a rehabilitator before she can be weaned.
- Three single babies, all eating formula out of a dish. They need to be weaned, and will require another two to three weeks in care before moving outside.
- Another litter of three babies, all eating formula out of a dish. They need to be weaned, and will require another two weeks in care before moving outside. These babies are not friendly and will need an experienced hand.
**Please note that to be a raccoon volunteer, you must be in a house (no apartments please!) and there cannot be any children under the age of 12 in your home.
If you’d like to help, please call Laura at 960-4366 or e-mail her at lastastny@yahoo.com. If you have never completed a volunteer application, you can find it online at:
http://www.nebraskawildliferehab.org/pdf/get_involved/volunteering/application.pdf
DONATE – Raccoons are the most expensive animal we rehabilitate on a regular basis. Each baby costs NWRI about $50 to raise, including formula, food and caging. Please consider donating today to sponsor one or more babies!
http://www.nebraskawildliferehab.org/how_you_can_help.html#donations
BUILD A CAGE – With all of the extra babies, we need more caging! Raccoons spend about eight weeks in an outdoor wilding cage once they are weaned. We need additional cages and release sites for them to accommodate all of our raccoons! A new cage costs about $200 to build, so you can help by donating to build a new cage, or by putting a cage on your property if you live in a rural area with good raccoon habitat!
If you have any questions about how you can help us with our raccoon explosion, please call or e-mail Laura at 960-4366 or lastastny@yahoo.com.
There are tons of other exciting developments happening at NWRI this spring, including a project with the Underwood Hills Focus School to build an Outdoor Science Classroom and wildlife habitat on school grounds, and a new home of our own! Watch your mail for our newsletter with more details in the coming weeks. If you’re not on our mailing list, you can make a donation to receive the newsletter or watch our Web site for the new newsletter, which will be posted there once it is sent!
That's the update. Thanks for all you do!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment