My Job as a Wildlife Rescue Intern and Why It's Great
61 replies, posted
Here in England, introduction of the grey squirrel has almost made the red squirrel extinct here. When I was younger I remember seeing them occasionally, but through disease and grey squirrels just being bigger and more aggressive, the red squirrels have almost entirely died out. I haven't seen one in years now, they can't survive here with the greys.
There are a few places in the north which are mostly pine, and the greys can't survive there because they have a more demanding diet which allows the red squirrels to survive, but other than that the red squirrel is a thing of the past :(
Fucking grey squirrels.
[url]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Squirrel[/url]
I suppose it's more the fault of the people who introduced them here though. Still, very sad.
Do you get snakes or anything like that?
[QUOTE=Jallen;31781835]Here in England, introduction of the grey squirrel has almost made the red squirrel extinct here. When I was younger I remember seeing them occasionally, but through disease and grey squirrels just being bigger and more aggressive, the red squirrels have almost entirely died out. I haven't seen one in years now, they can't survive here with the greys.
There are a few places in the north which are mostly pine, and the greys can't survive there because they have a more demanding diet which allows the red squirrels to survive, but other than that the red squirrel is a thing of the past :(
Fucking grey squirrels.
[url]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Squirrel[/url]
I suppose it's more the fault of the people who introduced them here though. Still, very sad.
Do you get snakes or anything like that?[/QUOTE]
We've had people call about snakes, but I'm fairly sure we don't take them simply because snakes are on their own when they hatch and don't have to rely on anything for survival when they're young. They're born with everything they need to survive, so when they die or get hurt, that's just how nature works. The other animals we have aren't capable of being able to survive out there at their age, so we help them get to that age and then we release them.
We don't have many adult wild animals. And if we do, most of them are up at our other facility.
Did you know that the latin name for fox squirrels is Sciurus niger?
Do you ever get any reptiles like snakes or turtles????
If or when you do, could you snap some pics?
[QUOTE=Pascall;31784129]We've had people call about snakes, but I'm fairly sure we don't take them simply because snakes are on their own when they hatch and don't have to rely on anything for survival when they're young. They're born with everything they need to survive, so when they die or get hurt, that's just how nature works. The other animals we have aren't capable of being able to survive out there at their age, so we help them get to that age and then we release them.
We don't have many adult wild animals. And if we do, most of them are up at our other facility.[/QUOTE]
Snakes and reptiles would probably need to be taken to a specialized reptile rescue center. Especially here in Texas where there's a good chance it could be dangerous if handled incorrectly.
Is that a house sparrow?
I used to go to my animal shelter, I cleaned up crap and bathed some animals but its just so sad seeing all the cats and dogs caged like that. They're stuck for most of the lives in small cages if they aren't adopted. There's a outdoor playroom, but only 1 cat or dog is allowed at once, it's pretty huge though so I don't get why they don't allow more animals at a time.
Lately we're really lacking volunteers in my city, it's just the same old people and occasionally some 10 year old girls. Summer is also ending and the Animal Shelter closes about the same time that school ends so I will barely have time to visit my local animal shelter. Feels great helping out anyways.
[QUOTE=NO ONE;31807676]Do you ever get any reptiles like snakes or turtles???? If or when you do, could you snap some pics?[/QUOTE]I haven't seen any yet. But when one gets brought in, I'll definitely take some pictures.I go back next Tuesday since I'm out of town at the moment. Expect more pictures then.
That is a really neat internship, I bet it's a great learning experience as well.
Since you really like squirrels, whats the craziest thing you've done to one?
[QUOTE=Pascall;31776372]working with the animals there at WRR. [/QUOTE]
reminded me of this [img]http://i.imgur.com/8CIpu.jpg[/img]
anyway, this is simply amazing
[QUOTE=Performula;31818472]Since you really like squirrels, whats the craziest thing you've done to one?[/QUOTE]
Barring the obvious creepiness of this question, I do have to actually "stimulate" the baby squirrels to go to the bathroom with a warm cottonball because most of them can't on their own. I prefer feeding the C squirrels because they don't need this. It's just kind of a hassle, especially when they squirm around a lot.
I remember when I was 12, a friend and I were walking home from school and found a young sparrow that couldn't fly, yet. We were hesitant first, but we decided to take him to my place. We named him Chester(we were fans of Linkin Park at the time). We were both also idiots, so we had no idea what to do. The little thing tried to escape several times, but we always managed to get him back in the show box. We fed him some dry rice because my friend said that rice is in the same family as bread, and birds like that stuff(again, we were idiots). I can't remember much, but my mom said the moment we touched the bird, his family completely lost his scent and can no longer find him or help him out. I had to go put him back where I found. To this day, I am not sure whether or not he lived.
[QUOTE=ForTehWolf...2!;31825718]I remember when I was 12, a friend and I were walking home from school and found a young sparrow that couldn't fly, yet. We were hesitant first, but we decided to take him to my place. We named him Chester(we were fans of Linkin Park at the time). We were both also idiots, so we had no idea what to do. The little thing tried to escape several times, but we always managed to get him back in the show box. We fed him some dry rice because my friend said that rice is in the same family as bread, and birds like that stuff(again, we were idiots). I can't remember much, but my mom said the moment we touched the bird, his family completely lost his scent and can no longer find him or help him out. I had to go put him back where I found. To this day, I am not sure whether or not he lived.[/QUOTE]
I don't have good news for you there.
Rice will kill a bird. Never feed a bird rice.
If you ever find a baby bird and want to attempt to care for it, feed it moist cat food kibble and drowned mealworms.
But I highly advise you not to attempt care of an animal by yourself. Call a rescue center who can provide them better nutrition. We get A LOT of sick birds because people try to care for them themselves. It just does way more harm than good.
Have you ever got to "throw" a bird when you're releasing it back to the wild?
have you ever helped a bluejay
did he look like your avatar
That's really cool. I love animals to death
[QUOTE=IQ-Guldfisk;31839432]Have you ever got to "throw" a bird when you're releasing it back to the wild?[/QUOTE]
I haven't been apart of any releases yet. I need to get my driver's license first before I can drive the company jeep to releases. I'm workin' on it.
[editline]20th August 2011[/editline]
[QUOTE=Mon;31840374]have you ever helped a bluejay
did he look like your avatar[/QUOTE]
I have helped two blue jays.
And we're not supposed to name the animals, but in my mind, I did name the bigger one Mordecai.
He was pretty awesome.
What's the largest animal at the facility you work at?
The pitbull, Lola. She's pretty big. She's up for adoption, but she has aggression issues.
i have a friend that does something similar to this but all he does is pick up poop at zoos
[QUOTE=Pascall;31843230]The pitbull, Lola. She's pretty big. She's up for adoption, but she has aggression issues.[/QUOTE]
Does your facility take animals larger than dogs or are those sent to them main facility?
Main facility. Ours doesn't have the room.
What's the largest animal you've had to deal with personally at the Wildlife center?
If you were told one day "alright next week you're heading out to the plains outside Buttfuck, Africa to work with injured animals there - pack your bags" would you do it, assuming expenses were covered?
[QUOTE=Zeke129;31851178]If you were told one day "alright next week you're heading out to the plains outside Buttfuck, Africa to work with injured animals there - pack your bags" would you do it, assuming expenses were covered?[/QUOTE]
Absolutely not. I have a lot of medical problems that would prevent me from doing that and staying in good health. Not to mention, I don't know the people or the culture. I'd rather not go into a new place blind and unknowledgable to everything around me.