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

Blind as a...Woodchuck?

Barry and Pam came across a woodchuck running around aimlessly on a local road yesterday. Although they are knowledgeable of local wildlife, it wouldn't have taken much insight to realize this wasn't normal woodchuck behavior. Upon closer examination, they discovered it was completely blind.

So they took the little guy in. One must be careful handling woodchucks: although they are cute and small, their incisor teeth and sharp claws used for burrowing can cause serious damage. We will probably be taking this unlucky rodent to the vet soon.

Elementary Students Visit

Although the Atlantic Wildlife Institute is not open to the general public like a zoo or nature park, it would be a waste not to utilize our unique position to benefit the community. Special appointments are made with local schools to allow for educational tours of our facilities. Yesterday, about sixty five grade six students visited.

Barry conveys some of our core messages.

The birds of prey rehabilitation building.

Baloo, our resident black bear. Read his story here.

the raccoons are always favorites

After some coaxing from the children Barry takes out Zoe, a domesticated white rabbit, for them to pet.

When showing off the baby animals, one can predict choruses of "aaaawwwwww"s and "ooooooohhhhh"s.

Lunch time!

After lunch we did some indoor and outdoor activities. We would have more photos of that, but at the time our cameraman was busy playing the role of an eagle, hunting down sixth grade rodents attempting to gather food.

Barry explains the education center.

Pam shows how the animals here are fed.