Back to Work

Hey guys! Another week, another dollar. Or no dollar, rather. It's volunteer work. More like another week, another blog post. I hope this Saturday finds everyone well!

I started slow: Baby squirrel feeding. Oh joy of joys! There were 4 brownies (infants who got their fur), one of which didn't want to eat. The poor baby seemed so weak. I had to force-feed him some pedialyte, which is what we do to hydrate our sick animals; the electrolytes help. I hope he gets better, the poor little thing. But he and the others were so adorable while they snuggled on my shirt. They're so cute! And the others were good eaters, which helps a lot in the feeding.

Snuggling with a baby grey squirrel

Michy helped me feed the pinkies (infants without fur), which was great! Since there were 4 of them and 2 brownies. The pinkies are SO TINY! It's insane how small and adorable they are, these pink naked things. They stick their tongues out when they latch onto the ninny (syringe with nipple attached) and my heart melted. Absolutely adorable!

Itty bitty pinky!

After this, 2 women dropped off a brownie they named "Larry". They had fed him almond milk, goat's milk, puppy milk and then finally pedialyte after they had called BTN. Please everyone, do not listen to what you read on the internet. Do NOT feed baby wildlife any food. Give them unflavored pedialyte  and keep them warm with a rice sock (rice in a sock and heated in the microwave) until you can get them to a wildlife refuge, and do so ASAP. Any other kind of milk, even puppy/kitten milk can make the infant bloated and dehydrated.

I caught Cookie (Turkey Vulture) drying himself off. Leslie must have accidentally sprayed him while she was cleaning his cage. He doesn't like being wet at all.

Cookie the Turkey Vulture

And while I was passing Kenny and Mogua's (Barred Owls) cage I spotted Kenny with his feathers all fluffed up. In addition, he was hunched over and looked very much a grouchy old man. What a beautiful couple, the poised old woman and her grumpy old husband. HAHAHAHA!!!!!

Kenny the Barred Owl

My assignments today were Koko, Lemurs and produce side-work. There was supposed to be a new volunteer today doing barn yards (Jennifer the goat, Mocha the deer and Koko the emu) but she didn't show up. Still, then the assignments were given out we didn't know that, so I got Koko because she's been very stand-offish lately and we didn't want some inexperienced to go in with her. No problemo. Koko's poops are easy to spot and clean up. But by the time I got around to her, poor girl was so hungry. She's used to being fed first thing in the morning. I got to her around 11:30am. She was starving. But she still had the nerve to be picky! I had prepared a beautiful bowl of cracked corn, spinach, pineapple, celery, boiled corn kernels, blueberries, strawberries and figs. She only ate half and still went begging at the fence next to the kitchen. I'm insulted.

Kokomu the Emu

Afterward I did produce, which involves sorting through donated food from the Publix and putting them into their appropriate designated refrigerator: Vegetables, Meat and Fruit. Then I had to clean the fridges with a scrub bucket (bleach, soap and water) and a rag. That's not fun. No pictures for you.

Lemur time! I took my phone in with me, so today you get pictures. I made a beautiful plate of monkey biscuits, rodent block (both pellets for rodents/good teeth), pineapple, green pepper stuffed with peanut butter, blueberries, boiled corn on the cob and whole figs. They're picky eaters, so it's a toss-up whether or not they'll enjoy their daily meal. Big babies. When I got in, it seemed they liked the corn and the monkey biscuits. But I was surprised that they didn't rejoice at the figs. I guess it wasn't the right kind. Plus, they don't like having to open their food. Spoiled kids prefer their nibbles already sliced for them. No, children! You need the intellectual stimulation of whole foods! Lemurs are smart, so they need that kind of thing which is why when I prepared the green pepper I cut a hole in it, stuffed it with peanut butter and then plugged the hole with the pepper piece I had cut. Figure it out, lemurs.

Thumbelina turning her nose up at my fig

Honeybear digs in

Then it was time to go home. I cleaned by buckets/tools and did a few dishes and called it a day. This girl has a lot of studying and work to do! Next weekend is the Poker Run, so I'll have to be at work early (7/8am) to help out with the animal care. Joy of joys. I hope there is leftover food!

See you next week.

The Wild Dimes has fainted!

P.S. Look at wild momma squirrel carrying off a corn cob!