Way Back/One Year Ago Today…

…I was working at the Wildlife Center when we got the call that changed our lives here on The Hill.
One year ago today I came home with this pitiful little bundle of skin and bones…

The vet told me later on that she didn’t think our little Paddy would make it through the night. But she did.
She did, and we battled through a number of health issues with her for quite awhile. She had fungal infections of the skin…

But antibiotics and some good clean water in the tub eventually cleared that up.

She also suffered with infections in the joints of her legs which caused them to swell so she could barely walk. And digestive problems…. oh let me tell you that a beaver with chronic diarrhea isn’t a pleasant thing!

But, sleeping snuggled up with her dad always made her feel better though…

She has truly been like a child to me for this past year. I’ve watched her grow from an adorable little furball

into a beautiful young adult

And soon, much toooooo soon, Paddy will be headed to her new home in Michigan. It is a HUGE blessing and a total GOD-THING that she has a wonderful place to go where she will be safe from hunters and trappers and predators for the rest of her life and I will get to visit her anytime I want to! AND she’ll have a boyfriend!
I will post more about that later on.
My heart, while joyful, is also very heavy with the thought of bidding her good-bye.

Dog-Duck-Deux

Well, the 2nd Dog-Duck arrived yesterday after a mix-up on the Friday arrival time.
This guy is a bit older and was rescued from even more deplorable conditions than Dog-Duck-1.
He was also housed in an outdoor kennel with dogs but the difference is that all of them were starving. It’s amazing that the dogs didn’t kill and eat the duck… just amazing!
It was clear how malnourished he was when I put him in with D.D.-1
D.D.D.’s bill and feet were extremely pale compared to the bright orange of D.D.-1’s and his neck is sooooo skinny. I can feel the bones beneath his feathers.

When first introduced, the ducks did not know what to make of each other. Neither has ever seen another duck since they were tiny babies!
D.D.-1 showed a bit of territorial behaviour at first but after only one night together they are happy little buddies that just MAY be starting to understand that they really aren’t dogs after all!

I can really see a big difference in D.D.-1’s personality already! He/she seemed depressed before but now he/she is so happy to have a buddy to swim with!

(By the way, I’m convinced it’s a SHE)

We had quite an adventure this morning when I put both of them in Paddy’s pond together for the first time I’ll have to write about that later though. Suffice it to say, Paddy was NOT happy and I think the ducks will have to stay in their own enclosure under the deck until the Crazy Dog Couple have their new home all ready for them!

We Got a DOG

Well…. not really, we got a DUCK that THINKS it’s a dog!
Here’s the story…
I got an e-mail from a friend telling me about this girl in town that had rescued one baby duck out of the road after it’s entire family had been hit by a car and killed.
Bless her for doing that, BUT for some reason she thought it was ok to keep the duck in a 10×10 chain link kennel with a Blue-tick Hound and a Beagle! Apparently, the dogs must not be aware that they are hunting dogs because they accepted the duck and slept curled up together in the less-than clean kennel. He/she grew into a big dirty white duck-dog.
At some point the girl finally came to the conclusion that it probably wasn’t the best environment for a duck… gee, ya think?
When I picked it up it smelled like a very dirty wet dog that had never had a bath in it’s life! I put her/him into Paddy’s pond and the poor thing had no idea what to do in deep water! So, I filled a shallow container and set him/her up in the holding pen under the back deck. It took quite awhile for the duck-hound to get into that water but I’m finally seeing some duck-like behaviour coming out.

Yesterday I put him/her back into Paddy’s pond and he/she swam and and actually had fun!


That is ,until Paddy came out to see what was going on…
Paddy slowly swam back and forth, eyeing the intruder, sizing him/her up.
Then suddenly she literally torpedoed herself towards that duck and scared the bejeebers out of the poor thing.
Apparently, Miss Paddy-Cake isn’t very good about sharing!

I will put him/her back in Paddy’s pond today while Paddy is sleeping. She doesn’t like to rise and shine until mid-afternoon at the earliest!

My plan was to release this duck at Chesley but I’m afraid it would think some coyote or fox was his friend and end up being a meal! I’m currently looking for a new home for him/her.

Puffy Tails

I realized that seeing the ‘Stalker’ would probably creep people out if they checked the blob so I thought I’d put up some warm, fuzzy pics to look at.
Feeding time…

Look at how fluffy those tails are getting!

How sweet is this face…

And Then There Were Five

I’m still feeling terribly guilty and sad that Little -Bit died on my watch.
I can’t think of anything I did wrong, but then again why did he die after coming so far under the care of others? *SIGH*
But there are still these little monkeys to take care of so I can’t dwell on my failure too much.

They grow so fast and are starting to sample acorns and nuts and stuff.
Mr. C. is an excellent assistant…

I’ll have them until next Tuesday. By then they should be off formula and will start being prepared for release. I will not be releasing them here on The Hill after the big dove incident. That makes me sad as I would love to have them stay.

Labor Day morning I worked and Mr.C. took Paddy up to the big pond for her second field trip. I never did get those pics posted from the first one did I???
Anyway, Paddy helped Mr C haul in a fish …

(not really, she mostly just got in the way)
She really does have a good time out there but she always makes sure she knows where her ‘family’ is and doesn’t let us too far out of sight.

When we have to leave she throws a little fit like a little kid being told they have to leave the pool or playground. She’s such a sweetie though!

Not a Happy Day :-(

We’re sad here on The Hill today. Little Bit, our teeny tiny squirrel died this morning. Not really sure what happened, just a failure to thrive. He ate, he pooped, but he just kind of lost his energy as all of the others are growing like weeds and getting livelier by the minute.
This is the hard part about rehabbing… I always question if I’m cut out for it… this part just makes my heart hurt too much.
Here’s hoping the weekend improves.