06/14/2026
Thistle the porcupine enjoying a sweet potato treat. I hope you find her munching sounds as soothing as I do.
It's been a loooong week here.
Many patients coming through the doors, but only a few that we've been able to save.
On the list of animals that we've been able to stabilize who are on the road to recovery: 9 baby wood ducklings, 2 more mergansers, 3 baby killdeer, an adult Porcupine, 2 young cottontails, a turkey vulture, a young woodchuck (who is not out of the woods yet), and several young goslings and a few payients who I am not allowed to share about yet.
Sadly we also took in over 2 dozen animals who were beyond saving, and had to turn away some others when all of our room and hands were full. which is the sad reality of this work.
So many of the animals we try to help and never make it to the social media page. I'm only going to share one of those sad stories, because it stood out to me and there's a lesson to be learned from it.
Today we received a juvenile kestrel who had been in possession of the finders for over three weeks. This young growing bird had been fed almost exclusively ground beef and a couple other raw meats, and as a result without enough calcium and nutrition, her bones had basically turned to rubber. The Finders did not reach out for help until the tiny kestrel could no longer stand, and when we examined her she had fractures, multiple, in every limb. Metabolic bone disease was killing her painfully and slowly. Her body was eating itself from improper nutrition and all we could do was euthanize her to end her suffering.
Maybe if she's been brought to us three weeks ago we would've been able to help, but now all we could do is give her peace.
I don't share these stories often because we have so many more happy stories and so many more wonderful moments that I prefer to share, but this one really highlights the importance of contacting licensed wildlife rehabilitators right away.
We cant dwell on the sad, we have to focus on the successes, like this beautiful thriving baby porcupine who is growing stronger and more independent every day.
