Summer Internship Week 7

July 2nd, 2022

My parents were in town visiting this week, so I had a lot of fun hanging out with them. We went hiking and kayaking. It was a nice change of scenery, even though I had to work. It was good, because this week at work has been a bit rough.

Before you read on, I want to give a bit of a warning. I usually don't write about the sad things that happen at work for two reasons. One is that I personally don't feel like writing or thinking about sad things. The second is that I don't feel like the sad stories do anything to advance the cause of wildlife rehabilitation. When I tell sad stories from work to people, they seem either sad or disturbed. I don't tell the sad stories to make them feel sad. I tell them because it's a reality I work with every day, and if you want to understand rehab work, you need to know about the sad stuff. So if you're not up for sad stuff today, feel free to skip to the cute photos at the end.

We had a parvovirus outbreak in our raccoons this week. Parvoviruses (parvo) can be found in cats and dogs as well as wild animals like raccoons, skunks, and foxes. In domestic cats, parvo takes the form of feline distemper. Parvoviruses are extremely contagious and spread through the feces of infected animals. Parvo causes severe damage to the gastrointestinal tract and is very deadly, especially in puppies and kittens that are unvaccinated. This is why you should always have your dog and cats up to date on their yearly vaccines. Regular vaccines for dogs and cats will include parvo protection. And don't worry, cat and dog parvoviruses can't infect or harm humans.

We vaccinate all of our raccoons for parvo when they come in to CWC, but the vaccine takes 3-4 weeks to provide effective protection from the virus. Parvo is almost 100% fatal in raccoons, so we are forced to make the difficult choice to euthanize those who test positive. When CWC had its first parvo outbreak in raccoons ten years ago, they attempted to treat the infected raccoons. Even with round the clock care, not a single one of the infected raccoons could be saved. Parvo is an ugly disease to die from, so the kinder thing is to euthanize the raccoons after they test positive for the virus.

I want to speak for a little bit on euthanasia. When I was younger, and before I had worked in close proximity with lots of animals, I thought it was cruel. Since then, I have what happens when someone is unable to make the humane choice to euthanize, and it is not a pretty sight. Euthanasia for an animal that is dying or unable to recover is an act of mercy. In my mind, acts of mercy are no different from acts of kindness. In the wildlife rehabilitator's code of conduct, it states that non-releasable wildlife have the right to euthanasia. This means that despite a rehabilitator's personal feelings towards an animal, that animal has a right to a clean death if the animal's standard of living in captivity will be poor due to the animal's injury or species. As humans, we have the responsibility to make the merciful choice. This is not a responsibility to be taken lightly. When animals are brought to CWC, our director has to make the choice on whether or not to rehabilitate the animal. All of us at CWC want our animals to thrive and live so they can be released, but we also want to make the most humane choice for our animals.

Since the initial parvo outbreak, we have been trying to contain it so our parvo negative raccoons have a chance. Before going into the clinic every day, I feed all of the outside raccoons first. This is so they aren't exposed to the virus. It is incredibly heartbreaking to lose animals that we have been working with for so long. So many of our raccoons have survived other illnesses and hardships, only to fall to something so sudden and unexpected. It's important to not get too close to rehab animals, so we don't give them names or nicknames. Instead, all animals are given a number based on when they came in to the clinic. However, when you work with them so closely, you get to know their personalities and are able to tell apart individuals. Working in rehab is kind of like being the surrogate parent to hundreds of baby animals. It's impossible to not get attached to the animals. This is especially animals that we work very closely with, like the raccoons. 490, 440, 477, 544, and 397, rest in peace. I wish I could have seen you grow up and be released. You were such wonderful little terrors. I'm going to miss you guys.

In spite of everything that is going on, everyone at Centre Wildlife Care is doing the best we can. I'm so grateful for my amazing co-workers. I wouldn't have nearly as much fun at work as I do without them. I really love working at CWC despite everything. I'll try to make my next post a little more lighthearted. Have a good July 4th everyone.

Baby Blue-Gray Gnatcatcher

Baby Porcupine is growing up!

Baby Robin

Snoozing Baby Opossum