Update, May 25. Although visibly suffering from the trauma of losing her mother and siblings, among other issues, we are happy to report that “Cher” is finally vocalizing and socializing with the other fox kits in rehab, and we predict a successful rehab, raising, and release!
After chasing off this fox kit’s mother, and cowardly and cruelly poisoning the babies with a poison bomb thrown into the den because the mother fox may have been causing a problem for a neighbor’s chicken coop, the homeowner managed to live trap this kit and left her out in the trap unattended over the weekend. The kit arrived to rehab in absolutely terrible shape. We can’t be sure how much poison this kit ingested and if she will survive. Cleaning up ugly messes for homeowners like this one are an unfortunate and depressing but all too real aspect of the work rehabbers do. These aren’t animals that come to rehab because they’ve suffered an accident-they come to rehab because of ignorance and disregard for their well-being. In situations similar to this one we recommend waiting for the mother to move her babies and then sealing up the den rather than inhumane methods of removal.
At 20 pounds and a size difficult to miss as he might have been trying to cross the road, my guess would be that this snapping turtle was deliberately rolled by a car in Denver, hence suffering significant injuries. Thank you Dr. Lena Roeder and Dublin Animal Clinic for the exam and treatment for lacs and road rash.
The reason we at EWRC make it our priority and place a very strong emphasis on educational programs, and provide outreach programs and services, is to promote (all) animal appreciation and to try to encourage the human/animal bond, and respect for all living creatures. Animals arrive here after being shot, poisoned, burnt, paint-balled, deliberately run over by cars, and any appalling variety of intentional and unintentional abuse. There are days we feel people are just never going to get it…… We hope that by reaching young people at an earlier age we can foster some compassion and respect for animals. I sure hope the message is getting across.