Release of rehabilitated groundhog.
Groundhog in her new home.
Generally, we prefer to release adult animals back to their original location. Wildlife have an established territory, know where to find food and water, and may have a mate in the area. Unfortunately because of her extended stay, most groundhogs had already gone underground to hibernate for the winter. Releasing her back to her original location did not seem to be in her best interest.
We were very lucky to have a staff member who had a hole under their shed that a groundhog had previously used. After a bit of a wrestling match, she placed herself headfirst into the hole. After sniffing, snuffling, and snorting, she decided it was an acceptable place to live. She went deeper into the hole, just in time for our first snowfall. She hasn’t been seen but some large pieces of food (too big for a squirrel to move) have disappeared. We won’t really know if she intends to continue calling 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 we made a serious effort to try and rebond the newly hatched chick with its family, the attempt was unsuccessful. The only option was to bring the chick into the Lakeside’s rehabilitation hospital.
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. Joining our chick with others would have been its best chance for long term care.
We do everything we can to avoid imprinting on young animals so they will not form relationships with humans. We want young animals to form healthy and natural relationships with their own species so they are successful when 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. This was our only vulture chick and we were already rehabilitating an adult turkey vulture, so we made preparations to have our current patient act as a surrogate role model for our newest patient. This process would be a very long couple of months requiring extreme measures to ensure the most limited contact with this incredibly young and imprintable bird. The situation wasn’t 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. An audience member mentioned they had a friend with a turkey vulture nest on their property. Lizette reached out to the family to find out if this could be a possible placement for our little chick.
They had two baby vultures that were less than a week older than ours and were more than delighted to add a third. A volunteer drove the baby down the next day and Lizette placed him in the nest. 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, as it was for us. As we all waited with bated breath and crossed fingers, we received a photo a few 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 the Raptor Rehabilitation Project and World Bird Sanctuary, who graciously offer their vast experience and resources. As wildlife rehabilitators, our ethics bind us 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 grow up with a vulture family, take his first flight, enjoy the 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.