Tag Archives: wild animals

Dog vs. Yard

My dear Algernon beneath his rhubarb My dog loves her big new yard. One of the main reasons why is how many more encounters with the local wildlife she’s been able to obtain. Some of them aren’t so great. Others prove amusing. She’s had run-ins with a yellow box turtle wherein she’s been so perplexed by this strange new creature that even the slow reptile was able to escape during her investigations. That’s right: Chihiro spent the whole time of her turtle examination doing what I like to call her investigative dance: legs and shoulders hunched, head darting in and … Continue reading →

What to Do If You Find an Injured Wild Animal

When I was about 10 years old, my best friend and I loved to roam the woods around her house. One day we found an abandoned nest of baby flying squirrels. My friend loved animals and nature even more than I did, so she immediately brought the animals back to her house. She kept these squirrels for about a month, feeding them out of an eyedropper. She lost one or two of the babies, but most of them grew larger and healthy. Then one day the mother of one of our mutual friends called a local wild animal rescue concerning … Continue reading →

Poacher Turned Park Ranger

A former poacher now turned conservationist for the World Wildlife Fund. It seems an impossible irony, but it’s true. Lean Kha used to shoot dozens of endangered species, including bears, tigers, and elephants, in his native Cambodia but now it’s his mission to protect them. What happened? Yahoo News has the full details. To understand the transformation we need to examine Kha’s background. He started hunting at 13 years old, recruited by soldiers for Khmer Rouge. Kha hunted not for sport, not to collect hides with which to decorate his walls, but to support himself and his family. He’d sell … Continue reading →

An Unusual Mother for Bobcats

You’d think with all the stories that periodically break, we wouldn’t be so surprised and fascinated when we hear about animals caring for the young of a different species. Yet it seems we can never get enough of such stories (at least I know I can’t), and it always comes as a bit of a shock to see a gorilla, for instance, cradling a kitten. This time around, the odd couple’s at least sort of from the same species. In South Carolina, a domesticated house cat is nursing a litter of baby bobcats. MSNBC reports that the baby bobcats were … Continue reading →

Duma (2006)

One night while driving through a semi-colonized part of Africa, a boy named Xan and his father happen upon an orphaned cheetah kitten. Knowing he’ll never survive on his own, they take the kitten back home and raise it, along with other animals they’ve collected along the way. Soon Xan and the cheetah, Duma, are closer than brothers and the thought of returning Duma to the wild is too much to consider. However, if left tame much longer, Duma will lose all his instincts and will never be able to defend himself. Xan reluctantly agrees to help his father return … Continue reading →

The Fox in the Woods: A Lesson in Rabies

The other night when I took Murphy for a walk, we ran into Sophie (a husky/Shepard mix) and her mom Nila. Sophie is one of Murph’s dog pals (actually, I tease him she’s his girlfriend) who’s always happy to see her boyfriend. (Nila’s usually happy to see us too, but she doesn’t jump around and carry on with glee like Sophie does.) Since we were both just starting our walks, we decided to walk together. That’s when Nila told me that Ms. Tina, who’s Lady’s mom (Lady, a beagle, is Sophie’s best friend and Murph’s other good buddy) knocked on … Continue reading →

Wild Baby Animals

So… you’ve found a wild animal that you think needs rescuing. Maybe there are no parents to be seen, and the baby is orphaned. Maybe it is injured, and needs help from a wildlife rehabilitator. But what if it isn’t a baby? Here are some tips to help you identify baby birds, mammals, and reptiles that you may encounter. Baby birds are not completely feathered. Baby birds are also wobbly when on the ground. If you find a bird on the ground who is completely feathered, it is probably a fledgling. Check the tail — no tail is probably a … Continue reading →

Finding a Wild Animal

If you’re a softie like I am, you want to rescue just about every animal you see. There used to be a three-legged fox that ran around the radio station I used to work at. I named him “Gimpy” and was determined to save him. He managed to elude me. Really the best thing to do if you find an injured wild animal is to call your nearest shelter or wildlife rehabilitation center. Even a baby animal can be dangerous sometimes. So is the animal really injured or sick? Some young animals, especially birds, can appear to be injured when … Continue reading →