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We Get the Most Interesting Mix of Critters at Lakeside Nature Center, Even During the Winter When Everything Is Supposedly Quiet

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We Get the Most Interesting Mix of Critters at Lakeside Nature Center, Even During the Winter When Everything Is Supposedly Quiet A Little Bit of Everything… by Cindy Williams Photos by Cindy Williams We get the most interesting mix of critters at Lakeside Nature Center, even during the winter when everything is supposedly quiet. I spend a lot of time with the raptors and waterfowl, but some of our longer-term winter guests don’t fly through the air, they crawl along the ground. And they shouldn’t even be active right now, which is why they have to spend all winter with us. Reptiles who come to us late in the fall or during the winter are compromised in more ways than one. Not only are they injured, but they have missed their chance to find a good spot to hole up for the cold weather and wouldn’t be able to survive outdoors even if they are healed. Texas Rat Snake (aka Black Rat Snake) Adult Sometimes they just find themselves in the wrong place at the wrong time. Recently we received three Black Rat Snakes from the basement of a kind person who did the right thing and, rather than just killing them or tossing them out into the elements to freeze, brought them to us. Now bringing uninjured wildlife to the Center just because you can catch them is very often not the right thing to do, but in this case the person knew enough to realize they wouldn’t be able to survive this weather without some help. Interestingly the snakes were in different stages of development – from juvenile to adult. And even though Black Rat Snakes are very common in this area and throughout the eastern half of the country (I’ve run across many of them in my own yards and been happy to have them), I never realized before how different the juveniles look from the adults. I wouldn’t have guessed that the two snakes in these pictures are the same type of snake. Here’s the Juvenile! I’m pretty sure I’ve seen the juvenile and guessed that it was, say, a small Rattlesnake or Copperhead (I’m pretty ignorant about such things, so please don’t laugh). I like Black Rat Snakes in my yard for the obvious reason – natural pest control. Add to that the fact that they are shy, non-poisonous, and big enough to see coming (they can grow up to 7 feet long) and you can see why I welcome them. I do wish they’d leave the bird eggs and babies alone, but nature is not always kind. Along with the Black Rat Snakes, we also have 4 Central Lined Snakes and a Bullsnake. Central Lined Snakes are small and thin and indigenous to the Central Plains of the US, while the Bullsnake is one of Missouri’s largest (similar in size to the Black Rat Snake). We also have five of the ubiquitous Box Turtles (both Ornate and Three-Toed), 3 Red Eared Sliders (my personal favorite turtles) and one Painted Turtle. The Box Turtles require access to water daily (as do all animals), and they are also “soaked” several times/week. Red Eared Sliders and Painted Turtles are aquatic animals and spend most of their time in the water, so a setup with Volunteer Update – March 2015 Page ~ 1 ~ mostly swimming area and a “beach” or a turnout area are required – someplace they can get dry and sun themselves. All the turtles are heated using special bulbs and all the reptiles require the appropriate substrate and a moist environment, therefore they are misted frequently. Once the weather turns and we can count on no more freezes, they will all be released to go on their merry way. We currently have one each of several of our native mammals who came to us in need of some help. A Fox Squirrel and an Eastern Cottontail Rabbit came in with mystery injuries – perhaps hit by a car? The squirrel was clearly injured somehow, but it wasn’t until an x-ray revealed a broken scapula that the nature of the injury was fully understood. There’s only one treatment for that type of injury and that is cage rest – but try telling that to the squirrel! So far she’s been relatively quiet and eating, but as soon as she feels better something tells me she’s not going to cooperate with the program. The rabbit has similar circumstances, but his problem seems more related to the back legs and spine. He’s not paralyzed, but his back legs are weak (but with good muscle tone) and he’s not eliminating as easily as he Fox Squirrel should which could be due to a spinal injury. He also has some chipped and missing teeth and doesn’t seem to be eating well. Rabbits don’t do well in captivity, but hopefully he can rally with steroids and pain medication and lots of quiet. The Virginia Opossum currently in residence came in with a terrible injury to his right front leg and right side, but the cause is no mystery. He’d been caught by a dog who had torn all the skin off his leg (known as a de-gloving injury) and given him a puncture wound. He’s responding well to his treatment which includes bandage changes every other day and antibiotics to stave off infection. He’s eating well (typical opossum behavior) and is causing lots of fuss during bandage changes which is a good sign. Even though opossums have more teeth than any other North American mammal, they don’t normally use them as an offensive weapon but this guy has made an exception. Love to see a feisty wild animal! Speaking of feisty, we are currently caring for a He’s definitely a fighter! beautiful female Coyote who most likely came up against one of the cruelest man-made inventions – the leg trap. This is a trap that snaps onto the leg of an unsuspecting wild animal (or domestic animal, or even human who happens to come across it) causing both crushing and laceration injuries. The animal that is unlucky enough to be caught in this type of trap will often cause itself more injury trying to escape, and is usually either killed by the trapper (or a predator) or dies a slow, painful death. This poor girl has to endure daily bandage changes which require Volunteer Update – March 2015 Resting peacefully after a bandage change Page ~ 2 ~ a sedative just to relax her enough to allow three people to work on her every day (two of them are required just to hold her down, even with the sedative). The good news is that she is otherwise very healthy and so hopefully can be released once her injuries have healed. Lest you think things have changed drastically, we still have plenty of winter raptors and are having some pretty good success with them. We recently released one of our Red Tailed Hawks, the beautiful little Sharp Shinned Hawk who spent time with us due to an injured wing, and a Canada Goose found by one of our volunteers along the Missouri River during a float trip. That Canada Goose has been replaced by another with a foot injury. The nice person who brought her in definitely went above and beyond the call of duty – the goose’s mate was so bonded to her that he wouldn’t leave her and rode in the car alongside his honey. Her foot injury is minor so she should be able to be released soon and return to the loving devotion of her Canadian boyfriend. In case you’re keeping track, we still have two Red Tailed Hawks, two Great Horned Owls and one Barred Owl in the flight pens awaiting their turn to go back into the wild. We also have a sweet little Screech Owl still in the infirmary along with another Red Tailed Hawk. One of our Red Tailed Hawks has become a minor celebrity – perhaps you’ve seen her on TV. She crashed right through someone’s window and decided to make herself at home in their house. Animal Control responded, expertly caught her up and brought her to us. Luckily her injuries were minor – she must have led with her feet, because she has an injury to one of them and she lost some pretty important feathers. Since her injury will be healed long before her feathers grow back, she is a candidate for imping – a process where feathers are glued onto her existing feathers to temporarily replace the ones she lost. These feathers will eventually fall out when her new ones grow back, but in the meantime she can survive in the wild and not have to stay with us longer than necessary and risk additional injuries due to captivity. So as you can see, our “quiet” time at Lakeside still holds plenty of fascinating and wonderful examples of Missouri’s native wildlife. Spring is just around the corner and the emphasis will be on babies, babies, babies, but for now we can concentrate on helping a few of our friends through a tough winter. Volunteer Update – March 2015 Page ~ 3 ~ .
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