Saturday, January 7, 2012

Recovering Patients

The two patients recovering this winter with us are a male Raccoon and a Mourning Dove.
The dove had a broken wing that healed incorrectly but we were hopeful that it could adapt to re-learn how to fly. Progress has been made with lift, distance and landings. The wing is still not able to extend fully so we are looking for areas where other Doves that do not migrate. We plan a release in the spring. Currently the bird is being kept in our heated room animal infirmary and therapy is done daily.
The Raccoon is quite a character. Daily he is provided a variety of enrichment opportunities such as scents inside boxes suspended, or eggs inside tire swings, etc. He is kept in an very large enclosure that has limited exposure to humans. We want to keep him as wild as possible and make sure he does not get acclimated to humans. We are planning to release this spring near a fishing hole with lots of crawdads!

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