Special Critters in My Life  − 29 January, 2008

I have been blessed with some special critters in my life. Thinking about them and remembering funny quirks brings a smile to my face every time.
Because I was an apprentice Wildlife Rehabilitator, I had some really amazing animal experiences – some of them once-in-a-lifetime relationships.
My first Rehab experience was a Song Sparrow I named Rufus. He spent the day perched on my bedroom lampshade, and when I would come home he would fly directly at my face, scolding me for being away so long, and veer off at the last second to land on my shoulder and stroke his head along my cheek. Too cute.
Then there was Jeremy – a Fish Crow who bonded to me instantly. He was my protector, threatening anyone who was aggressive toward me. He was quite social with people, and a cheerful bird. He would eat his fish and then try to offer me some, stuffing it in my ear if I turned my head away. Yick. But I guess it’s the thought that counts.
We had a beautiful Mallard female named Madison who was convinced she was part of the family, always walking with us and adored sitting in our laps to get stroked. She was successfully released at adulthood.
For a while we had a one-eyed Canada Goose that came to us as a fuzzy adolescent gosling. As he matured, we laughed at his “voice” cracking – he would start out with a chick “peep” and end it off with an adult honk. Or vice versa. It was a hoot to listen to his voice changing with maturity. He also was released back to the wild successfully.
We also had a parade of squirrels – my dad was sort of the squirrel man of Monmouth County, New Jersey – who we got as infants, with their ears and eyes still closed. They are the cutest babies – they actually hold the bottle with their hands. They mature quickly and soon are “wild” enough to be released. We always released them in our own backyard – my overprotective father could at least “keep an eye on them” and feed them. He actually taught a couple of them to knock on the back door for treats! And they were SO spoiled, if you offered them a crappy treat (like a rice cake – NO ONE likes those) they would scratch your hand in frustration.
We raised a couple of wild rabbits, too – they are a very difficult baby to raise – they have special needs, and a high percentage die. Very heartbreaking. It made the few we were able to raise to adulthood that much more special though.
One summer, I had the dubious honor of raising a litter of baby skunks. Though babies don’t spray, they still reek. They are adorable, though – they seem to be all head and silky black and white fur. They are very calm critters - until you feed them. Then they sound like the Tasmanian Devil.
We also had some pet chickens and guinea fowl. We had a tiny Bantam rooster, Rusty, who was just darling. He was beautiful – sparkly jewel-toned feathers which he grooming assiduously every day. As he aged, each year his “cock-a-doodle-do” crow go one note shorter, so the last year of his life he crowed with a pathetic “Roooo”…
Our Guinea fowl were cool, too – fresh eggs spring, summer and fall (if you could find their communal nest). Once the chicks (called keets) were hatched, I was amazed to see the mother call her keets, and one at a time, a keet would hop onto her back and she would fly up to a branch in the tree where the keet would hop off to settle itself for the night. She would transport them all up to the roosting branch that way and then spread her wings to shelter them through the night. Very cool.
Having pets is such an amazing way to stay connected to nature. I feel so blessed to have so many special animals come in to my life, and I look forward to many more.