Pocket gopher had a rude awakening from hibernation!
Barn owl from Ellicott was cut out of barbed wire fence.
Ross goose came from the Humane Society!
Critters are still arriving to rehab! An excavator from Fort Carson called, concerned over inadvertantly digging up what he thought might be a baby beaver. Tom O’Toole went from Peterson to pick up the critter and drove her to rehabber Kris. Turns out the busy little critter isn’t a beaver at all but a sleepy pocket gopher with a significant flea load. Darlice was on her way to work the other morning when she saw something hanging in barbed wire on Ellicott Road. She was shocked to find a barn owl dangling there. She didn’t have tools with her but quickly and gently untwisted the bird and brought first here, and then to the vet for care. “Barney” is currently stable and we’ll see how that wing heals. The Pikes Peak Humane Society called with a goose they recognized as wild, brought there with a wing injury. Turns out the goose, strikingly similar in appearance to a snow goose, is a Ross goose. Volunteer John Cavallo picked up the wild and winged critter, and brought here for rehab. Squirrel with abscesses is looking much improved, thanks to Dr. Coufal, and is recovering in an outdoor enclosure. Rehabber Kris managed to live trap a citizen’s injured fox, and the fox is scheduled for major hip surgery. Kris is still trying to live trap an injured coyote so it can be assessed and cared for. So much for “quiet season!”