The anxious waiting is over! I just received a call to pick my first babies of the season, a litter of newborn raccoons. I will take some pictures as soon as I have stabilized them so you can see them. So much for sleeping at night until July.
The two opossums that I wintered over are now on their own. It took about a week for them to leave after I released them. They do love their food and they hated to leave those good meals. I am sure I will see them around the area from time to time.
I am sure all of you have heard about the virus that is killing bats. The DEP estimates that 80-90% of the states bats have died over the winter. That is very disturbing when you consider that they eat more than their weight of mosquitos in a night. What is just surfacing now is another problem. Migrating birds are just stopping in the state on their migration north. They stop to rest and eat, and they drop dead. The Pine Siskins are most suseptible so far. They picked up Salmonella down South. By the time they get here, they are so ill and exhausted, they simply drop dead. If you find dead birds at your feeders, contact Tufts or Audubon for instructions. Your feeders should be cleaned and disinfected to prevent the Salmonella from spreading.
A final note for the day, Mr. Pidge went outside to his new home yesterday. He now has 8 pigeon buddies and he looks very happy. He is able to fly, so he will be released in a week or two.
