Wildlife Assistance > Rehabilitations and Releases
At the end of July, a groundhog was brought in by our partners at Kansas City Pet Project after being found in a driveway with severe head trauma. She had a small hole in her forehead, and we weren’t sure if she was hit by a car or if some other traumatic event happened. Radiographs were taken but weren’t conclusive, other than showing the injury we had already determined. After weeks of care and no real improvement, it was decided that exploratory surgery was needed to find out why she wasn’t fully healing. During the surgery it was discovered that she had a large, 1-inch piece of dead, broken bone that was in her forehead that needed to come out. Once removed, there was some continued infection at the wound site, but after about a week we started to see the area gradually improve. During this time, she was eating very well and was putting on weight in preparation for winter hibernation. She also slept quite a lot. Even though her healing progress was slow, we were eventually able to get her back out into the wild.
Release of rehabilitated groundhog. Photo ©
Groundhog in her new home. Photo ©
Generally, we like to release adult animals back to where they were found, and for many reasons: they have an established territory, they know where to find food and water, they may have a mate in the area, and so on. Unfortunately, because she had been in our care for so long, and most groundhogs had already gone underground to hibernate for the winter, we didn’t feel it was in her best interest to go back where she was found. We were very lucky to have a staff member who had had a groundhog living underneath their shed a few years ago that was currently vacant. After a bit of a wrestling match, (she was definitely ready to be wild again) she was placed headfirst into the hole. After some sniffing, snuffling, and snorting, she decided it was an ok place to live. She went deeper into the hole, just in the nick of time for our first snowfall. She hasn’t been seen, but some large pieces of food (too big for a squirrel to run away with) have disappeared. We won’t really know if she intends to continue to call the new area home until spring arrives. Our fingers are crossed to see groundhog babies in the near future.
We received a call a couple weeks ago that a one day old turkey vulture chick was coming in. YIKES! While a serious effort was made to try and rebond the newly hatched chick with its family, the attempt was unsuccessful leaving the only option, to bring the chick into us. Even before it arrived we were on the phone to our local raptor experts, World Bird Sanctuary (St. Louis) and Raptor Rehabilitation Project (Columbia). Neither of them were actively caring for any vulture chicks which would have been its best chance for long term care. As rehabbers, we do everything we can to avoid imprinting young animals on humans so they can form healthy and natural relationships with their own species once released back into the wild. If we can’t provide that proper care, we try to track down a more appropriate situation with our partnership facilities. Since this was the only vulture chick anyone had and we were already rehabbing an adult turkey vulture ourselves, preparations were made to use our current patient to be a surrogate role model for our newest patient. It was going to be a very long couple months of extreme measures taken to ensure the most limited contact of this incredibly young and imprintable bird. Not ideal, but we were prepared to give it our best shot.
Two older babies in their nest. Photo © Lizette Somer
Baby and its new siblings.
Then, nothing short of magic happened. Lizette, from the Raptor Rehabilitation Project, was giving a presentation with their vulture ambassador and an audience member mentioned they had a friend with a turkey vulture nest on their property. She got all the information and reached out to the family to find out if this could be a possible placement for our little chick. They had 2 babies that were less than a week older than ours and were more than delighted to add a third. We found a volunteer to drive him down the next day and Lizette placed him in the nest where he immediately cuddled up under his new siblings. This was the first time he had ever touched another vulture during his five days on the planet. That must have felt so comforting to him, I know it was for us! As we all waited with bated breath and crossed fingers, a picture was taken a couple days later showing three very well fed chicks. SUCCESS!! He’s obviously smaller but will catch up in no time.
These are the times when we feel the most gratitude for our professional partnerships with facilities, such as Raptor Rehabilitation Project and World Bird Sanctuary, who graciously offer their vast experience and resources. As wildlife rehabilitators, we are bound by our ethics to do what is best for each animal that comes through our doors. And for our little chick, this was the best possible outcome. For now he will be able to grow up with a vulture family, take his first flight, enjoy Fall migration south and return one day to hopefully raise a family of his very own.
The Nature Center works with several permitted rehabilitators throughout the state. These facilities and individuals are critical to the success of raising babies for release back to the wild. We couldn’t manage the record intakes that we have without their support and they are greatly appreciated.