AVWS - Week Five.

My fifth week starts at Wednesday and without Hannah...It's different and strange to be back but I still have a lot to accomplish so the days will pass by very fast. While I was gone, four new baby squirrels came in and we have two coyote puppies now...GREAT! Less people and...more feedings. I have the chance to use one of Janelene's lenses on my camera so it's time to do some Macro Fotography...hum hum, I'm learning! Marta, an other volunteer, is responsible for the baby rabbits and she's doing a great job! Do you guys remember Carlos? This baby raccoon came in as first in april, he was cold and barely breathing. Janalene, Hannah and Brenda did a great job taking care of this 'coon', his eyes are open now and his aspiration problem seems to be gone. Babies, babies and babies : )!

We finally removed Billy Bear. It was a real struggle catching this bear cub. We had to grab her with a catchpole and I can tell you, this tiny bear is wild and viscious. I was amazed how much power she had. When we finally grabbed Billy, Janalene managed to tranquilize her. When she was down we could check her weight and her sex. It's a female and she gained about 18kg since she came in on February 26th. Janalene let me do the eartags, nothing new for me because I did a few dozen of sheep in the past, it's the same system accept it's a wild bearcub now. This was a great experience for me...Billy Bear is still adapting to her life between the other young bears. One step closer to freedom!

The eight cubs were as afraid of Billy as Billy was afraid of them, they all climbed up in the trees because thats what young bears do when they are scared.

There was a big fuss going on about a mother raccoon and her three babies ending up in Labrador in a crate sended up there by a construction company. The company made everything possible for the mother to return to Toronto and after a long journey, the family ended up safe and well at Aspen Valley (; |) ! Ofcourse this story had to go in the newspaper and Julia asked me to take some good raccoon shots of the rehab animals down in Raccoon City so I did...

I have a favourite squirrel these days. He's big, he's black and his enormous tail is red. He's in charge of this place and he's really everywhere. He's fast as hell and the King of all trees...: ). And we had another visitor this week, a Rose-breasted Grosbeak (Pheucticus ludovicianus) came to steal some sunflowerseeds. Beautiful...Thanks Jock!

I finally started the enrichment project for Subira! I'm going to build a new platform for her. We'll feed her on the platform in the future to make her climb and work for her food. Movement and exercise are the keywords in this project. We've managed to build a solid base for the platform. I hope I can finish this masterpiece before I leave. It's freaky to work in a lion's enclosure knowing that this big cat isn't far away, she's lockd up inside but still...We decide to install and extra security door in front of the hatch that seperates us from Subira! A good and bad idea...

Did you ever saw a guy in a canoo trying to catch two beavers? This is the stunt I pulled after we had an emergency call: two beavers are stuck between the Burnel Locks in Huntsville. The moment I stept in that boat I felt the most stupid guy on earth! Anyway, I know now that beavers are smarter and faster than me. Two guys with a driftnet rescued the beavers a couple of days later.

And we finally moved Gandalf on friday. The interior of his enclosure is brand new and he has to adapt to his new environment. He's still my favourite owl but I'm pretty sure he hates me know because I was the one catching him. One thing is for sure, I loved building and creating these enclosures! I guess the combination of landscapedesign and animal care isn't too bad after all!

Sorry for the delay folks but week five was a busy week and I barely survived : )...Beware because springtime warms up the sanctuary, I wrote an article on the Owls for the local newspaper, week six will be my last week at Aspen Valley...and I encounter wild bears every day now!

One Love

...I miss you baby!

T&Th.