Checking Up On Old Friends

Upon returning to the AWI, my first comment was reflexively "where did all the geese come from?"

The answer is that they were always here, but as goslings. In the three weeks I was away, they went from this:


To this:

Remarkable. Now Bob, Fred and Flip have some company.

Meanwhile our blind woodchuck was sent to the vet.


Upon closer analysis, it appears that he was not involved with any sort of human accident or run in with a predator, but was simply born without eyes. He was moved in with Softscrub, our resident woodchuck (with eyes), and they seem to get along well enough. According to Pam, who knows Softscrub better than anyone else, he sometimes gets annoyed at the blind woodchuck for tagging at his heels all the time.

Softscrub

their shared enclosure

Three of our bear cubs were moved into a larger enclosure.

Lucky is always braver than the other two.

Lucky took a seizure recently, but a checkup from the vet showed there was no harm done. All three bears seem to be growing and healthy.

In a little while, we will move all three at once into Baloo's enclosure, so the cubs can have experience with an older, wiser bear.

a group of raccoons curiously watch Barry cut some wood

Goslings to Geese

We now have five goslings, and two of them have grown quite large. If you look closely, you can actually see their feathers coming in.


An especially beneficial aspect of having five goslings is that they socialize with one another, which is a useful skill to learn for when we release them back into the wild.


Now that they are larger (except for the young one), we take them out often for exercise and play. They like to follow Joel around.


Remarkably, only a couple of months from now, the goslings will look like Fred and Bob here.

Starling Release

Remember this little fella?


Just a week after that photo was taken he was ready to be released.


So earlier today...


A happy ending.

We also received a larger gosling over the weekend, as well as a couple of smaller animals that didn't make it.

Arrivals

a small weasel!

curious little fellow

another gosling, now we have four!

a baby raccoon, of which we already have plenty

Joel Takes the Goslings Out for a Swim

Today is their lucky day.

Joel feeds them some grass

Bob and Fred crash the party

beautiful creatures