Baby Box Turtle

The nature center often receives baby turtles and tortoises. This is a baby box turtle that came to us after it was found in someone's kitchen! The homeowner thought maybe her dog brought it in, and was surprised to see the cute little guy! As we do with almost all of the baby turtles we get, we returned this little one to the wild. He was very happy to be on his way and free! Baby turtles are not cared for by their parents so it's ok if you see one all alone. It's best to leave it right where it is. If it's on its back, gently turn it over. If it's in danger of getting hit by a car, guide it to the other side of the road (where it was heading). If you think it might be out of place or injured, call a local wildlife center and describe the situation before taking it out of its habitat and stressing it out. And NEVER toss it into the water, because if it's a tortoise it cannot swim!

Osprey visitor

Lately, we've had an osprey hanging around the pond behind the nature center. Today he was right out back, snacking on a fish!

Foster Squirrels update

This past week there's been a feeling that something's missing at the nature center. Unfortunately, Duey, one of our foster squirrels (see post from November 18) has passed away. We learned how to trim his bottom teeth, but saw no sign of the top teeth. Then he began to sound a little congested so we took him into the vet. The vet x-rayed his mouth and found that the top teeth were not aligned properly and decided surgery was best to correct the problem. As you can imagine, anesthesia and bleeding are not easy on a squirrel, and Duey died during the operation. Although we miss our tough little guy terribly, at least we know he will not suffer and we did everything we could for him.

On a happier note, we still have Cocoa - who we call Coconut because he is really nutty, even for a squirrel! He enjoys wrestling with the sticks in his cage. He recently moved to a larger transition cage so he can be outdoors and get accustomed to his new surroundings before we release him, which will be in a couple more weeks.

Adventures of a new intern

Meet Catie, our spring intern at the nature center! She's a student at The College at Brockport - State University of New York. After being a little unsure about handling a snake, she's now a big fan of Harley, our eastern kingsnake. He is a lovable guy!

On her first full day at the nature center, Catie was already assisting with an animal rescue. This loon was found on the beach. I showed her how to carefully scoop him up - which means stay well away from the bill! I could feel it's bite even through the thick Kevlar gloves. We're not completely sure what happened to this poor bird...possibly a shark bite? It's doing well at BEAKS, though, and we expect a full recovery and release!

"Sea" otter?

Yesterday beachgoers at Amelia Island Plantation saw this ball of fur on the beach. Someone's fur coat??

Nope, this river otter! We'd gotten a report of him, but just had to check it out ourselves, as otters are not usually found on the beach. Sure enough, as soon as I approached the furball...up pops his head...and his teeth for that matter. Taking the hint, I backed away, but then he just curled back up to sleep! It had no injury, so the best we can imagine he'd gotten a little sidetracked while looking for food and ventured a little too far away from his normal stomping grounds, which is ponds, rivers, or the marsh. After getting worn out trying to swim in the surf, who wouldn't stop to take a nap?

A few hours later we checked on him again and he was gone, hopefully on his way back home!