Today I would like to share with you a special Christmas Memory that I think many of you will enjoy. It’s about Stubby, our first educational groundhog and one that I think about every Christmas season. Earlier in the spring of this particular year, a farmer was working with a backhoe when he accidentally dug…
I’ve said it many times before and I’ll say it again: 85% of the baby animals picked up ARE NOT ORPHANED and should have been LEFT ALONE. Mom usually is not far away. Below are some of the most common things that people DO WRONG when they find an animal and what’s THE RIGHT thing…
I have made so many memories in all of my years of wildlife work. Some of those memories are good and some are not, but they are all a big part of my life and my biggest motivators. For today’s Throwback Thursday I thought I would ramble a bit on some of those memories. My…
That’s what it is like here at Operation Orphan these days. Add some opossum and 25 baby squirrels that just came in this week. Did I mention that they all need to be handfed? Yes, folks, baby season is NOT over yet! With no time to write a TBT this week, I want to repost…
When it comes to parks, there are some important rules to follow. Many people don’t like to follow these rules; many times it’s because it is unclear to them why these rules exist. Or maybe they don’t even know these rules exist! Here are a couple of important rules that parks have in place to…
Every day, I am reminded of the harshness of nature and what our wildlife has to endure to survive. Today’s story will give you a glimpse into their world. It was around 10:00 pm last summer when the phone rang and on the other end of the phone was a very distraught woman. In the…
Here at Operation Orphan Wildlife Rehabilitation Inc, we have to carry a large variety of foods to care for the animals, since every species has their own diet. Today’s story illustrates the challenge of keeping these different kinds of foods around for the animals. One unusually hot summer, several years ago, we had several Green…
Back in the early 70’s, I received a call from my sister-in-law, Sandy who was at work in a factory located in Barberton. They found a baby bird and was afraid it wouldn’t make it until the workday ended without any help. I was on the case! I immediately drove to the factory thinking that…
Without thinking about it, each of us do little things each day that impact our environment and wildlife in a negative way. For example, who would ever think that something as simple as throwing away the ring that is attached to a bottle cap could cost an animal its life? One year when I was…
He may be little, but he is mighty! Earlier this year we received a Screech Owl that had been hit by a car, suffering head trauma and severe damage to his left eye. He spent several days at Dr. Riggs’ Vet Clinic and once he was stable, came back with me for continued care and…
Back in the early 90’s, Ron and I traveled to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan to release a rehabilitated baby porcupine. On our journey to the UP, we camped at a state park near Mackinaw. The park ranger saw the Operation Orphan sign on the camper and was curious, so he came over to talk…
Many summers ago, I had baby hummingbirds brought to me for the very first time. We had just had a storm that was so bad that it shut down the power at the Akron/Canton Airport, and it also caused two baby hummingbirds to be orphaned. Shortly after the storm was over, I got the call…