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At one time, I acquired the necessary
documentation to submit for approval for Wildlife Rehabilitation
work in our area. Without the licenses, any animal I might choose
to raise would be illegal.
Since our primary farm animal focus
is on the exotic birds and dairy goats, I had to think about the
possibility of someone bringing a diseased, injured wolf or coyote,
deadly predators to small stock. That, plus the veterinarian fees,
housing, and time requirements convinced me I would do best if
I just stayed 'outside the law' on this issue.
Most of the 'rehab' work on a farm
is usually done with stray or dumped pets. Sad but true, for whatever
reasons, a pet becomes a nuisance so the answer is to turn it
loose where 'there is plenty for it to eat'. Most likely the 'nuisance'
becomes roadkill, or a danger to the nearest poultry farm or small
stockholder.
Farmers often have a mob of mongrel
dogs around because they, too, have soft hearts when it comes
to an animal in dire straits. We take them in, we mend them up
and get them neutered, and hope we can find homes for them. Sometimes
we have to shoot them. I've
had some dismal failures as well as success stories.
Possums:
Sheba brought me a possum that had
been struck by a car. I was moving the body off to a pasture when
I realized her stomach pouch was full of squirming babies! They
were extremely young, too young to successfully have reared them,
but we gave it a valiant effort. I managed to unattach them from
their mother's interior teat structures w/out damanging the young.
I pulled 6 live babies out and there were quite a few more that
were either too young, or had already died.
I put them in the warmest spot I had,
which was in a little closed wicker basket on top of my computer
monitor. John came in and said, "I don't want to know what's
in there." Adorable isn't a word I'd use for a naked possum
baby, but they'd wrap their tails around my finger and be quite
content to be tube fed. I couldn't get the right nutrition into
them, and they weakened and died, but I learned a lot about different
diet requirements during this time period.
I found out a lot of great information
about raising opossums during that episode.
* I found out that due to the high
fat diet of the adult possum, babies also require about 90% fat
in their milk. Straight goat milk wouldn't cut it. I added Hi-Pro
baby cereal and butter, but it wasn't enough to sustain them for
long.
* I learned that they rarely harbor
rabies because of their unusually low body temperatures.
* I found out that the babies are
cannibalistic, which would explain the high birth rate and the
few actual births per litter.
Now, (much to John's dismay), whenever
I drive past a possum that's only 'slightly dead', I have to stop
and inspect it to see if there are any moving parts.
Cat Salvation
Roadkill (Roadie) the cat was a different
story. Driving home one evening, John and I had passed the conversive
stage and were just lulled by our own thoughts and the sounds
of the road passing. All of a sudden I glimpsed a wiggle in the
oncoming side of the road. "KITTENS! THOSE ARE KITTENS IN THE
ROAD." Startling John into driving completely off the road.
We slowed and turned around but an
oncoming truck claimed the 'pretty' one. We were left with Roadie,
doubtful that the little hairless critter would even make it to
the house. She had 3 hairs on the tip of her tail and that was
about it.
Our other half-grown kitten bullied
her unmercifully, dragging her around, slapping her when she went
for food. But Roadie flourished under all the abuse. She is now
about 7 yrs old and easily the largest cat in our menagerie yet
she still thinks she's that tiny defenseless kitten.
MissFITT (Shown
here at about 4 months old, already ruling her kingdom!)
The newest addition to our 'roadkill'
collection is Miss FITT, another kitten that was doomed to death
on the median of a fast road.
Blessed, (or cursed) with a quick
eye and instant judgement, I made a U turn and scooped up the
cutest little black kitten I've seen in a long time. I was on
my way to work, and the office had to submit to a bedraggled kitten
all day. She had deep abrasions on her face and lots of 'road
rash' on her paws and body. A little cleanup and some decent goat
milk along with other treats, and MissFITT has settled in to rule
the roost around here.
Poe the Crow was also a rehab success
story who still bullies me into giving her treats in the early
evening. She'll dodge the dogs and cats to come and bang on the
screen door, knowing I won't let her down.
It's just in my nature to help animals
struggling to make it. Usually, their problems are man-related
and those we can help, I feel like a slight battle has been won
somehow. Between the fire ants decimating the wildlife population,
hunters, and the road casualties, if there are those among us
who are willing to help the injured or abandoned as we find them,
the more our wildlife population will keep on existing.
Text
and images copyright 1998 Martha
Wells
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