If you refer back to the post on May 12th, 2010, entitled “Mystery in the Waterfowl Nursery,” you will find a picture of one of our three blond ducklings.  Now, almost 2 months later, they are ready to be released!

As mentioned in the May 12th post, they are not albino because their eyes are pigmented normally (although the red eye reduction feature on the camera apparently was not effective in this shot!).  A more plausible explanation is a condition called Leukism.  Leukism is an abnormal plumage condition caused by a genetic mutation that prevents melanin, a pigment, from being properly depositted on a bird’s feathers.  The appearance of a leukistic bird can range from white spots (also called pied or piebald) to pale plumage or even pure white.  Our birds’ overall plumage looks pale or diluted, but normal mallard marking patterns are still faintly visible.

Our blondies were taken to Carpenter Nature Center on June 28th to get accustomed to being in a more natural setting.  They will be released into the wild in the next week or two.

A mother Hoary Bat was found on the ground with 2 (large!) babies clinging to her.  In the picture above, I’m holding up her wing so you can see one of the babies clinging to her underside.

The client brought them to us because after monitoring them for a day,  they hadn’t left the site on the ground where the person found them.  I examined the bats and found the mother slightly dehydrated, but otherwise physical examination was normal.

Likely the mother had become grounded and b/c her babies are so large, was not able to take off/find a nearby tree to climb.  We gave her some fluids under her skin then put her on a tree on the preserve, so she could climb back up to safety.

Today we admitted not 1, but 2 Hoary Bats, a species we don’t see that often at WRC. The first admit (top photo) was an adult male, who was found in someone’s garden. He was weak and dehydrated upon admit. The 2nd was actually an orphaned baby, who was also a bit dehydrated. It was really neat to see a full grown adult and then a new baby, all in the same day!

Hoary Bats are the largest bat species in Minnesota, averaging 5 to 5.7 inches long with a 15.7 inch wingspan and a weight of 26 g. The bat normally roosts alone on trees hidden among foilage, but on occasion has been seen in caves with other bats.  It prefers woodlands,  mainly coniferous forests, but hunts over open areas or lakes. It hunts alone and its main food source is moths, it will also eat dragonflies.

We were honored that Sen. Amy Klobuchar contacted us earlier in the week and asked WRC to host a panel discussion regarding potential impacts of the Gulf oil spill on Minnesota’s migratory bird population.

Yesterday at WRC, Sen. Klobuchar met with a group of wildlife officials including me and John Christian, Assistant Regional Director for Migratory Birds, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service Region 3; Carrol Henderson, Director, Non-Game Wildlife Program, Minnesota DNR; Ryan Heiniger, Director of Conservation Programs in MN and IA, Ducks Unlimited; Dr. Julia Ponder, Executive Director, The Raptor Center; and Mark Martell, Director of Bird Conservation, Audubon Minnesota.

The meeting was well-covered by the media.  Sen. Klobuchar made it very clear that the fate of these migratory birds is one of her highest priorities and she stressed that officials needed to create a plan to respond if necessary.  Of course at WRC we are very concerned about the conditions in the Gulf.  We currently have admitted more than 2,000 waterfowl, shorebirds and songbird species that will migrate to or through the Gulf this fall.

We’re grateful Sen. Klobuchar is focusing on the upcoming migrations amidst all the other issues surrounding the spill.

It’s my hope that we act on this opportunity to channel public outrage about the spill into a long-range commitment to wildlife and wildlife habitats here in Minnesota and the Upper Midwest.

The media glare will soon fade and eventually the spill damages will be repaired.  But we can’t let that diminish our ongoing focus of healthy habitats here and in the Gulf Region.  Even before this spill, there was a dead zone the size of New Jersey in the Gulf where the Mississippi flows into it. The recent StarTribune series on the health of Minnesota lakes should be a wake-up call to conditions in our own backyard.

As Jay Holcombe, executive Director of the International Bird Rescue and Research Center, which is working with Tri-State to clean oiled birds, says, “A pelican is a pelican whether is it tangled in fishing tackle or oiled.”  As we know only too well, a Trumpeter Swan with lead poisoning is still an injured bird.  A loon too ill to migrate and trapped in the ice on Lake Bemidji is as threatened as the loons in the Gulf.

Yes we worry, as we should, by what happens when “our” loons and other birds return to the Gulf.  But we should be equally worried about what happens when they RETURN HERE.  We shouldn’t wait for the next disaster but do all we can to protect our birds and their habitats now and in the future.

We currently have 3 baby Green Herons in our Avian Nursery. They are all doing very well and love to eat their fish! The photo above is of the one that was admitted today!

You can watch part of its admit exam on YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=niNou4msY7g

This x-ray is of an American Toad that was admitted in a very sick state.  She was lethargic and her whole body was swollen.  

When amphibians (frogs and toads in particular) get a swollen body, it’s termed “edema disease” which can be caused by a long list of diseases–kidney disease, liver disease, electrolyte imbalances.  Pretty much anything that can make an amphibian sick can cause edema disease.  The radiograph shows a large amount of a mineral substance (likely sand/grit/stones) in her stomach (the white blob in the middle of the x-ray).  This grit was obstructing her stomach, not allowing anything to pass.  

The only way to get it out is surgery.  This toad was so sick that she would likely die during surgery, but she would definitely die if we didn’t get the obstruction out of her stomach soon. So she went to surgery.  By cutting through her skin and muscle layers, I was able to see the stomach, cut it open, pull the grit out and sew her back up.   (you can see the stitches if you look closely in this photo of her under anesthesia)

She survived surgery but is still very sick and may die despite our best efforts.  We aren’t sure why she got the obstruction.  

Toads live in an environment where sand and grit are abundant–why did she eat so much to get obstructed?  She was kept as a pet (wild animals never make good pets) so there is the possibility that having a limited environment and diet, she accidentally ate sand looking for food, or her insects were covered in a large amount of dirt–or perhaps she has some gastrointestinal disease that caused her stomach motility to slow, allowing small amounts of sand to accumulate over time–we’ll never know what exactly caused it.  We’re just hoping we got it out in time and she’ll pull through.

On June 15th, the waterfowl nursery admitted its first (and most likely only) cygnet of the year!  Cygnet is the proper term for the young of Trumpeter Swans.  Our cygnet weighed .218 kilograms when it first arrived, but will grow to be approximately 28 pounds as an adult, making the Trumpeter Swan the largest waterfowl in North America.  We prefer to house birds together in the nursery, so we have introduced the cygnet to a small Canada gosling.  They are getting along very well so far.

The return of the Trumpeter Swan to Minnesota is a wildlife conservation success story.   According to the Minnesota DNR, Trumpeter Swans were once nearly extinct due to the popularity of their feathers for ladies’ hats, among other reasons, but they have been slowly building up their numbers.  To aid their population growth, wildlife managers collected the eggs of Trumpeter Swans in Alaska (the only state with a stable population in the 1900s) and hatched them in Minnesota.  Currently, there are approximately 900 Trumpeter Swans, including more than 75 nesting pairs.  The DNR, along with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, perform yearly swan counts in Minnesota to keep track of the population.

We are amidst of the busiest time of year and the veterinary clinic is no exception.   As one of the veterinarians, I thought it would be neat to fill you in on a typical day–however that would take hours!

So here are some quick numbers I jotted down after a long 13 hour day. Yesterday I examined, admitted and determined treatments for 73 new patients, performed recheck exams on 40 of my 54  existing patients and treated various nursery patients who became ill throughout the day.  Along with answering the phone and speaking with the public intermittently, the day flew by and I went home with a smile on my face knowing I helped a lot of animals that day.

We have two orphaned River Otters in our Mammal Nursery!  They were admitted a week apart but have already bonded, curling up with each other while sleeping.

We’re introducing them gradually to adult food by offering a mix of a fish slurry and dead fish in their pool.  We’ll add live fish, crawfish and other delectables as they mature.

As with any wild animal, their instinct is to hide from humans so filming them is challenging, but we did manage to get a few short video clips.

Check out our new YouTube channel:  http://www.youtube.com/user/WRCMN.  Subscribe to it and you’ll be automatically notified anytime we upload new video.  The 2 new videos of the River Otters in their room and pool are uploaded.

One of the neatest things about working at the WRC is the opportunity to see such a wide variety of species.  (more than 165 every year!)  Here are a couple of the new admits to our bustling Mammal Nursery:

13-lined Ground Squirrel

You may have seen them alongside roads or even in your backyard, but these little squirrels have beautiful markings when viewed up close.  They’re quite common: found throughout most of North America.  They live in burrows and do a true hibernation, sealing the openings of their burrows before heavy snowfall.  And they’re fast!  They can run up to 8mph.  Unfortunately, in the wild nearly 90% of the season’s young do not make it through their first fall due to predation.

Short-tailed Weasel

This cute little creature will turn into an impressive hunter before it’s released.  Short-tailed Weasels are widely distributed throughout America, including Alaska and are oftentimes referred to as “ermine.”  During the winter their soft brown coats turn a brilliant white, helping them remain unseen by both prey and predators.

The Short-tailed Weasel grows up to 15″ long and have a very high metabolism, requiring them to eat 40% of their body weight every day.  Their preferred diet is mice, but they’ll consume anything they can catch, even young snowshoe hares.

They have a large territory (nearly 40 acres) and have been known to travel 3 miles in search of food.  They’re a member of the Mustelidae family which includes skunks, otters, marten mink and the wolverine.  When frightened they emit a pungent musky odor similar to a skunk.