Sad end to cat rescue...

[moss]

Squirrel rescue.

You win this thread.

Ha. My best and most tragic was a Great Horned Owl, rescued in the Arnold Arboretum, Boston day after Christmas a few years back. I turned it over to a wildlife veterinary clinic alive but they reported it was dead when they examined it. Autopsy showed it had likely been hit by a car hunting along a road. It managed to perch in the top of a big black oak but with internal injuries was bleeding out when I got to it. Most urban/suburban raptors have some percentage of rat poison in their blood which is essentially a blood thinner, it is common for them to die from injuries they normally would survive. It turned out this was a male owl that was associated with three different females on nests, after his death there were no owlets produced for at least two years in that area of Boston. Ironic that the head of a family of owls that is the best controller of rats and mice was taken out by human attempts to kill rodents. Ok that's it for rescue memory lane ;-)

-AJ

 

[SomethingWitty]

Ha. My best and most tragic was a Great Horned Owl, rescued in the Arnold Arboretum, Boston day after Christmas a few years back. I turned it over to a wildlife veterinary clinic alive but they reported it was dead when they examined it. Autopsy showed it had likely been hit by a car hunting along a road. It managed to perch in the top of a big black oak but with internal injuries was bleeding out when I got to it. Most urban/suburban raptors have some percentage of rat poison in their blood which is essentially a blood thinner, it is common for them to die from injuries they normally would survive. It turned out this was a male owl that was associated with three different females on nests, after his death there were no owlets produced for at least two years in that area of Boston. Ironic that the head of a family of owls that is the best controller of rats and mice was taken out by human attempts to kill rodents. Ok that's it for rescue memory lane ;-)

-AJ

Just wow.
Those things are way stronger than cats. And just as sharp. That's scary.

And a squirrel rescue? Dude.

 

[JeffGu]

There's going to have to be a badger rescue, in order to top those.

I once killed a deadly, poisonous snake with a stick.




(Next time, I'm going to use an automatic, so I don't have to grind the gears so much, backing over it five times.)

 

[shreddy]

I sawed right through a mummified cat in a cavity in a maple once. I couldn't figure out how it even got in there, and apparently he couldn't figure out how to get out!

 

[misfit]

I sawed right through a mummified cat in a cavity in a maple once. I couldn't figure out how it even got in there, and apparently he couldn't figure out how to get out!

Proof that there is such a thing as a cat skeleton in a tree.

 

[Dragonslayer]

Thanks for the story AJ! I've had pet squirrels for years so I can relate to that one. The males as a whole like women and vice versa. The males we've had loved my wife and wouldn't think about biting her but I always had to hold them when she trimmed their claws and I usually ended up with a leaky finger.

 

[TCtreeswinger]

You never worried about rabies? Also how would you feed the young? We rescued squirrels from my first job ever but they only survived six months because they wouldnt feed. Not under my care...

 

[JeffGu]

If they're pets, I assume they're kept in the house and not allowed to hang around the trash cans, outside, with the wild 'coons and predators. Why would you worry about rabies?

 

[Dragonslayer]

Most were hairless, pink grub worm sized from nests in trees we removed and we nursed them with a syringe and canned puppy formula. Jeff is right, they don't go outside unless it's sitting on my shoulder for a walk around town. They will gobble that puppy formula but it must be kept refrigerated until feeding time, then slightly warmed. After they get teeth, nuts, acorns, vegetables, bananas, crackers and innumerable other stuff suits them fine. You also have to make sure to give them unshelled nuts and hard stuff like deer antler to chew on or their teeth will overgrow their mouths.

 

[oceans]

Ha. My best and most tragic was a Great Horned Owl, rescued in the Arnold Arboretum, Boston day after Christmas a few years back. I turned it over to a wildlife veterinary clinic alive but they reported it was dead when they examined it. Autopsy showed it had likely been hit by a car hunting along a road. It managed to perch in the top of a big black oak but with internal injuries was bleeding out when I got to it. Most urban/suburban raptors have some percentage of rat poison in their blood which is essentially a blood thinner, it is common for them to die from injuries they normally would survive. It turned out this was a male owl that was associated with three different females on nests, after his death there were no owlets produced for at least two years in that area of Boston. Ironic that the head of a family of owls that is the best controller of rats and mice was taken out by human attempts to kill rodents. Ok that's it for rescue memory lane ;-)

-AJ

Where's the "love" button?

 

[moss]

You never worried about rabies? Also how would you feed the young? We rescued squirrels from my first job ever but they only survived six months because they wouldnt feed. Not under my care...

Squirrels have an extremely low probability of acquiring rabies: fox, raccoons, skunks, coyote are the typical wild carriers.

Edit: The comment above was based on my own experience/observations, I just looked it up, it turns out there has never been a transmission of rabies to a human in the United States by any rodent species for as long as records have been kept.

The other small animal often encountered in tree hollows or nestled in bark are bats, they can carry rabies without symptoms. I had a cat who frequently caught bats, and ate them. The first time he ate just the head, the second one just the body, left the head. I talked to my vet after the first snack who said, "The only way we can test the bat for rabies is if we have the head". After that each time the cat ate a bat I'd watch for symptoms over the next few weeks. He never got rabies over his long life. By that small experiment I'd say it's very low probability to encounter a rabid bat. However if you are bitten by a bat while working in a tree, have it checked out ;-)
-AJ

 

[moss]

Just wow.
Those things are way stronger than cats. And just as sharp. That's scary.

And a squirrel rescue? Dude.

The owl was in bad shape, didn't fight me much, but yes their talons are huge, sharp and can compress with tremendous force.
-AJ

 

[JeffGu]

@moss is correct... although it is possible for any warm blooded animal to contract rabies, the nature of how it is spread pretty much narrows it down to predators/carnivores and omnivores (raccoons, skunks) that put themselves in a position for getting into fights with the rabid animals. The prey of these animals can get the disease, but they would have to survive the attack, and usually aren't aggressive enough to further spread the disease. Hence, rodents aren't very often carriers of the disease.. you'd just about have to try to capture an injured, rabid rodent with your bare hands within a few days of being bitten.

The only warm blooded animal that has evolved with the disease to the extent that it shows some immunity, is... of course... the vampire bat. About half of the animals infected with rabies survive it and live to nearly normal lifespans. It does, for reasons unknown, shorten the lifespan of the infected ones by almost half, but they apparently can live with the disease for several years. They are indigenous to Central America, and parts of Mexico and South America. Not Europe, in spite of the vampire novels. They can't handle the colder climates. Because of this, people often think that all bats are immune to the disease, but this isn't the case.

That's about all I can remember about it, at the moment. Years ago, I worked in a lab for awhile that developed killed virus (inactive) and live virus (active) vaccines for the pet and ag industries. Those of us who worked in the inner labs had to have the rabies series, because of the potential of being exposed to the live virus during production. The modern vaccines aren't too awful, but there was still a very small chance that we could contract the disease from the vaccine, so they took an insurance policy out on you for a period of 15 days when you had the shots. A real confidence inspiring policy, that was. Oh, yeah, you'll be fine... here, sign these papers.

 

[treehumper]

From Last night's successful cat rescue… My ascent into the void….

 

[JeffGu]

Ha! That's just where it looks like you're heading...

 

[JD3000]

@moss is correct... although it is possible for any warm blooded animal to contract rabies, the nature of how it is spread pretty much narrows it down to predators/carnivores and omnivores (raccoons, skunks) that put themselves in a position for getting into fights with the rabid animals. The prey of these animals can get the disease, but they would have to survive the attack, and usually aren't aggressive enough to further spread the disease. Hence, rodents aren't very often carriers of the disease.. you'd just about have to try to capture an injured, rabid rodent with your bare hands within a few days of being bitten.

The only warm blooded animal that has evolved with the disease to the extent that it shows some immunity, is... of course... the vampire bat. About half of the animals infected with rabies survive it and live to nearly normal lifespans. It does, for reasons unknown, shorten the lifespan of the infected ones by almost half, but they apparently can live with the disease for several years. They are indigenous to Central America, and parts of Mexico and South America. Not Europe, in spite of the vampire novels. They can't handle the colder climates. Because of this, people often think that all bats are immune to the disease, but this isn't the case.

That's about all I can remember about it, at the moment. Years ago, I worked in a lab for awhile that developed killed virus (inactive) and live virus (active) vaccines for the pet and ag industries. Those of us who worked in the inner labs had to have the rabies series, because of the potential of being exposed to the live virus during production. The modern vaccines aren't too awful, but there was still a very small chance that we could contract the disease from the vaccine, so they took an insurance policy out on you for a period of 15 days when you had the shots. A real confidence inspiring policy, that was. Oh, yeah, you'll be fine... here, sign these papers.

And what else were you injected with? Experimental bovine love serum? It could explain so much.

 

[JeffGu]

Daisy the Dairy Cow still stalks me after that failed experiment.

Interestingly, if you're a cow, we developed the serums in bovine kidney cell cultures. Nothing quite as lovely as the smell of liquid cow kidney, just before lunch. Nasty. The tubes of sloppy stuff was incubated, kept at a nice and toasty cow body temperature to add to the ambience.

 

[D x D]

Gosh it would be a hard to vote for "the most interesting man on the buzz"... @JeffGu or @moss ?

 

[Dragonslayer]

@moss is correct... although it is possible for any warm blooded animal to contract rabies, the nature of how it is spread pretty much narrows it down to predators/carnivores and omnivores (raccoons, skunks) that put themselves in a position for getting into fights with the rabid animals. The prey of these animals can get the disease, but they would have to survive the attack, and usually aren't aggressive enough to further spread the disease. Hence, rodents aren't very often carriers of the disease.. you'd just about have to try to capture an injured, rabid rodent with your bare hands within a few days of being bitten.

The only warm blooded animal that has evolved with the disease to the extent that it shows some immunity, is... of course... the vampire bat. About half of the animals infected with rabies survive it and live to nearly normal lifespans. It does, for reasons unknown, shorten the lifespan of the infected ones by almost half, but they apparently can live with the disease for several years. They are indigenous to Central America, and parts of Mexico and South America. Not Europe, in spite of the vampire novels. They can't handle the colder climates. Because of this, people often think that all bats are immune to the disease, but this isn't the case.

That's about all I can remember about it, at the moment. Years ago, I worked in a lab for awhile that developed killed virus (inactive) and live virus (active) vaccines for the pet and ag industries. Those of us who worked in the inner labs had to have the rabies series, because of the potential of being exposed to the live virus during production. The modern vaccines aren't too awful, but there was still a very small chance that we could contract the disease from the vaccine, so they took an insurance policy out on you for a period of 15 days when you had the shots. A real confidence inspiring policy, that was. Oh, yeah, you'll be fine... here, sign these papers.

Some great info Jeff, thanks!