Several days after receiving one juvenile fox suffering from mange, we recieved a second juvenile fox with the same problem. On top of the mange, he was weak, dehydrated, and had diarrhea. Since arriving at WRC, he has gained some strength and his diarrhea has resolved. Hopefully he is on the road to recovery along with the other fox! Mange can take several weeks to months to completely clear, so these two will be with us for awhile.

The last thing to do before releasing these birds was to show them how to ’stand their ground’ at the hummingbird feeder. Normally I made sure that they had a variety of food sources (such as classic hummingbird feeders, live flowers, and small syringes filled with nectar and fake flower tips on the ends) but a few days before release, I removed all but one feeder. The purpose of this was to let the birds practice ‘fighting’ over the feeder so that they would not become intimidated if another hummingbird were to come along. Being competitive and solitary birds who like to defend their territories, this is very important!

The release went beautifully, you can watch it here on our YouTube Channel. We watched both birds leave their cage and begin to explore their new surroundings. They drank from some flowers before darting off into the sky, and eventually…to Central America!

Every year we get in several foxes with mange.

Mange is caused by a mite (Sarcoptes scabiei–see picture below ) that burrows in the skin causing sores, thickening of the skin (crusts), itching, hair loss and can cause secondary bacterial/yeast infections.

This red fox  (picture above) came in last week with severe mange.  Luckily, she is responding to medication, although it can be very difficult to treat sometimes.  Mange is also zoonotic (meaning humans can contract the mite and develop rashes) so we are adhering to strict sanitation and biosecurity measures.  Hopefully this fox will continue to recover and we’ll be able to release her!

We fairly commonly see songbirds stuck to these traps (like the sparrow shown above).  If they are alive when they arrive at the Center, they require several alternating baths in vegetable oil (to release them from the glue and break the glue down that is stuck to their feathers) and Dawn dishsoap (to then wash the oil off).  As you can imagine, this process is very stressful for the bird.

The other day, three bats (a big brown and two nothern (Keen’s) myotis) were brought in stuck to a glue trap.  As we examined the bats, we were very saddened to see the destruction that the trap had done to these animals.  All three bats had fractured bones and their wing-webbing was ripped off (an injury that does not heal).  The bones were even broken off in places.  We had to humanely euthanasia all three bats due to the severity of their injuries.

We can only hope that those of you who read this post will pass on information re. the dangers of using glue traps.  Maybe together we can educate people so they’ll stop using them.

Two juvenile river otters, which we’ve raised for the past eight weeks, were released at the Rapids Lake area of the Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refugee near Carver.  Releases are usually intriguing, often unpredictable and sometimes exciting; yesterday’s release was that and more.  The otters were certainly ready to be free.  They were snarly and aggressive when we captured them for the trip to freedom.

In addition to US Fish and Wildlife officials, our staff and some of our summer interns, KARE11 joined us to film the release and aired it on last night’s news.  Here’s a full-page display of the news video.

River Otters are a difficult species to raise.  They get very stressed during handling, their diet is challenging and requires introducing a variety of foods, including live prey (such as the crayfish you’ve seen in an earlier post).  As they grow older they require significant space and high water quality.  Their aggressive nature makes it difficult to monitor their progress. They are also social and seldom do well alone.

We (and the otters) were fortunate in this case.  We rarely see otters, yet these two came to us just five days apart – on June 10 and June 15.  And the later arrival came from Belle Plain, near the release site. 

We’re very grateful to the US Fish and Wildlife staff for finding an appropriate site at the National Wildlife Refugee and for giving us permission to do the release.  USFW staff have seen otters all along the Minnesota River Valley.  This release is a celebration of our success in raising these otters and is also symbolically important since the presence of otters is an indicator of improving river habitat on the Minnesota River. 

Here’s more information on River Otters.

If cuteness factor went to 11, our young River Otters would easily achieve that rating.  Today, Nurseries Director Lynnette Scott, invited me to film the otters’ first experience with live crayfish.  It didn’t take them long to figure out these were tasty little morsels (even though one otter carried around a tenacious crayfish that latched onto its belly before the other otter discovered and promptly devoured it).

The wooden platform that you see in the photo and video is actually the otters’ favorite place to hang out.  They also have plenty of tree limbs and branches and a large pool in their room.  We’re planning on moving them to outdoor caging in the next couple days, then releasing them in approximately 2 weeks.

You’ll have to check out the video of them playing with, and finally eating, the crayfish.

What a perfect day for a duck release.  Today several volunteers and staff rounded up more than 40 ducks from our outdoor caging at Carpenter Nature Center for release.

Before transporting the ducks to their new home they were each checked for body and feather condition and fitted with federal ID bands.  Thanks to Jim Fitzpatrick, licensed bird bander, and his banding crew, all the mallards released today were banded.

Having birds banded before release is important because band reports provide vital information about wild populations.  We once had a band report on a Canada Goose that was raised in our nursery seven years after its release.

The mallards were released in Cottage Grove Ravine Regional Park.  It was apparent by the flapping, diving, and preening that these ducks approved of their new home.

Yesterday was an exciting day for the Waterfowl Nursery: Ashley and I released the first wood ducks of the season!

Historically, Wood Ducks have been a difficult species to raise in captivity (because they’re so high stress), but this year things look great. We moved 30 more Wood Ducks to the outdoor caging facility we have where the little ducks will get acclimated to being outside, have access to larger pools, learn how to hide in the plants, as well as learn how to fly.

In approximately 2 weeks this new bunch will be ready to go as well! The Wood Ducks that we released yesterday put on quite a show for us. They immediately took to the water and started bathing, eating, and trying out their wings!

Yesterday one of the hummingbirds ventured out of the nest! The other will soon follow.  Hummingbirds only lay two eggs and begin incubating right away, so one chick hatches first and is always a day ahead of the other. Today we will introduce miniature hummingbird feeders to the pair, however we will still hand feed them for a while as they get used to the idea of eating on their own. It is hard to believe that these little birds will make the long journey to Central America, non-stop over the Gulf of Mexico, when summer comes to a close!

The lump you can see on the neck in the top picture is the bird’s “crop” (a place in their esophagus where they store their food after they eat it and before they digest it.)

The hummingbirds at 16 days old…starting to get feathers!  Watch them feeding on our YouTube Channel.