My Life Really IS a ZOO!

Update on Phoenix and Odin

2012-01-21T12:55:00.000-06:00

Phoenix and her brother Odin continue to improve. Susan kept Odin and I kept Phoenix for 2 weeks. Thankfully we were able to find an amazing new home for them! Gail Austin essentially has a pig sanctuary. So we were off to Missouri to take Phoenix and Odin to their new home with Gail. Susan and I were moved to tears while watching Gail interact with her pigs. The entire trip was extremely emotional. Here were these tiny little babies who had just had a near death experience, we have loved them and helped them heal not only their physically wounds, but also their emotional wounds. Any of you who have helped an animal or person through such a tragic experience know that when you let them go (whether it be a wildlife release or a domestic going to a new home) it's the most amazingly wonderful moment. Saying goodbye was bitter sweet, but we are so confident that Gail can and WILL provide them the best home they could ever ask for. From factory farm to being burned to the greatest home a pig could ask for! That's one happy ending!

These pics were taken while Phoenix was still with me.

Here are pictures from our trip to Missouri and the piggies who already live with Gail. Oh and 3 dogs too!

More pics of the Phoenix and Odin as they come!

Phoenix

2012-01-02T18:39:00.002-06:00

A phoenix is a mythical bird who lives for 1000 years then builds it's own funeral pyre and throws itself into the fire to rise from the ashes and be reborn.
What happens when a pig house catches on fire? Sadly this is a very common reality. Hundreds of pigs and piglets burn alive because the open houses burn so quickly and the smoke is able to rise. My good friend, Susan, found herself standing in front of burning hog houses in the early hours of January 1, 2012. She said that the pigs were screaming before one house was completely engulfed in flames. There was nothing she could do for those, but when she looked into another house she saw 2 tiny babies were still alive. All of the other pigs in the house had perished. She bravely rushed into the house and grabbed the 2 babies just before that house was engulfed. Susan said that the flames were so hot that the metal was melting. She doesn't consider herself a hero, but she's the ONLY reason these 2 are still alive. It's heartbreaking to imagine what all of the pigs who didn't make it went through. .
Susan kept the boy and I have taken the girl. They are both so traumatized. You can see the sadness in their eyes. They were doomed and I have no doubt that they understood what was going to happen.

Her story could have been a much sadder one, but thanks to Susan's selfless act of heroism she was able to rise from the flames and be "reborn". That's why Erin and I have decided to call her Phoenix. :-)

To see more pictures and keep up with Phoenix's story, click HERE and please like our page!
If you would like to contribute to Phoenix's care, you may donate by clicking HERE. Any donations beyond what will be required for her care will be used to help injured or orphaned wildlife and/or domestic animals!

Remembering

2011-12-30T19:56:00.000-06:00

It's been a relatively uneventful couple of months, but rehab season will be gearing up soon!

This time of year brings on an overwhelming sense of sadness. Two years ago my best friend was slipping away. Tigger had been my brave boy battling cancer for 11 months, but on Christmas Eve he relapsed for the last time. I hoped and prayed for a miracle, but the miracle didn't happen. On January 2nd I had to make the toughest decision of my life...I had to "release" Tigger from this terrible disease. If you would like to read Tigger's story please click HERE.
I'm truly grateful for the time I had with this amazingly beautiful boy.

Beautiful Artwork

2011-11-03T09:16:00.000-05:00

Recently, Fort Smith native, Leah Burt offered to paint a portrait for us to sell/auction to help raise funds so that we will be able to rehabilitate more critters. We were more than surprised by the beauty of this original acrylic painting of an Iguana that Leah created. Check it out here and put in your bid! All proceed will help injured and orphaned wildlife like the critters you see in this blog! Thanks for your support and I hope you enjoy this gorgeous painting!

More Squirrels!

2011-10-16T12:08:00.001-05:00

We have had a very busy end of the season with very young babies for it being so late in the year. The possum below was caught by a dog and is now ready for release. He ran away into the woods and never looked back!

Beautiful gray squirrel

Another gray squirrel. Here eyes weren't open yet.

Very tiny baby gray squirrel.

Bunnies are so cute, but so hard to raise. Sadly this little fellow didn't live.

Only baby possum left. She will be ready for release soon. She just has a little more growing to do.

Gray squirrel. Look at that beautiful tail!

Fox squirrel. He has a very gray coat. His mother was white, but was killed and these babies had been trying to fend for themselves for a while. Wendy rescued them and brought them to us. They will not be released until spring. I would like to thank Wendy Sharum for her very generous donations to help us care for these little squirrels!

Gray squirrel that Erin is caring for.

Possum just before release

Squirrels, Squirrels, and MORE Squirrels!

2011-09-13T17:26:00.000-05:00

It's been so long since I posted. With school starting it's been a crazy couple of months! I've gotten in a total of 5 squirrels this year and I LOVE these little fellows! The first girl in the previous post did not survive. I honestly have no idea what happened to her. She seemed to be doing great then I walked in one day to find that she had passed away. :-( Needless to say...we were devastated. She had really grown on us. Rest in peace sweet girl. I will always remember my first little swirl.

I have tons of pics in this post. Some don't have a thing to do with rehab, but I've been enjoying taking some pics!

Here are my 2 most recent squirrel additions! Both are grey squirrels.

My Squeaker!

This was our first little squirrel. Heath loved her so much!

It's Sweeney. It's Sweeney Todd!

My beautiful Nanday Conure.

Anna AFTER surgery to fix her leg. She is awaiting being spayed then she will be ready for a home!

Cutest little weiner dog EVER! Vienna!

Our visitor Schultz the Prairie dog! Thanks Erin for letting us "borrow" him!

Yeah that's the spot!

Tarantula...we had to stop to take pics.

Booya is now a 12 year old boy.

Bridge near Janet Huckabee Nature Center

Cool spider

Boo's sillouette

He wouldn't sit pretty so I could take a pic, but I managed to snap this one!

My favorite color! Just beautiful.

Now back to serious business. This squirrel was caught by a cat. Cat bites are very dangerous. The tiny punctures are impossible to see and extremely deadly if not treated!

This girl was found in someone's yard close to where their dog was chained up. No mother to be found.

This little guy came all the way from the Cabot area. A tree was cut down and later the owner discovered this boy and his brother! Unfortunately the other little boy did no survive.

That's all for now folks! I hope you enjoyed the little catch up session. I will do my best to post more often now that school has settled down a little.

Anna needs your HELP!!!

2011-08-17T13:37:00.001-05:00

PLEASE SHARE!!!!
Anna is a beautiful white bunny who was rescued by my friend Erin. She was brought in by a good samaritan that saved her from being released to fend for herself. Anna is NOT a wild bunny AND she has a broken leg. Her previous "owner" didn't want to take her to the vet in order to have her leg repaired. The break is so severe that her leg will have to be amputated. Very sad story. I agreed to foster Anna until funds are raised to amputate her leg and to be spayed. After she heals from surgery she will be available for adoption!

We've raised $50 so far and need to raise around $150 more! Please share her story and make a donation. Every dollar helps and we appreciate your help! To make a donation, click HERE to donate using your PayPal account. Thank you again for all of your support!
See Anna on FACEBOOK

Swirl!

2011-08-01T00:21:00.000-05:00

FIRST BABY SQUIRREL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Or swirls as they are called around my house.
Nothing else to really say, besides I just love doing wildlife rehab. This is the most joyous, wonderful, exciting thing I've done in my life!

Now for really bad pics with a dinosaur camera. Hoping maybe a good friend somewhere out there might take some pics for me!!! :-) If that person might be you, you know how to get in touch with me!!!

What the....

2011-07-29T19:42:00.000-05:00

Eight more wiggling baby possums arrived on Wednesday. They came all the way from Pulaski county where a lady started smelling something under her house. After 2-3 days she decided to investigate and she found that there was a dead possum with babies. Here comes the GRAPHIC part. She had to wash the maggots off of the babies. It is amazing that there were any still alive, but this Good Samaritan took them to the vet where they called a rehabber who then contacted me.

This little one is very adventurous!

Sadly 2 have died within the past 12 hours though. I actually removed 3 maggots from one of the baby's ear last night. I'm hoping the remaining 6 will survive. Such cute little fellas that just didn't have a very easy start.

Had to take some pictures of them eating. Notice the milky little paw prints everywhere. :-)

The turtle with the injured shell must be doing well internally, because she laid an egg!!! Haven't checked for more yet, but had to share some pics. The mark on the top was so that I would know which side was supposed to be up. The tiny embryo attaches to the top of the egg shell and if it is turned it lessens the chances of the egg hatching. I'm sorry...not the greatest pictures. Maybe someday I will buy another camera!

Round 2

2011-07-18T02:28:00.000-05:00

There are 2 possum "seasons" every year. Most rehabbers get their first babies around April and the 2nd set in July. I got my first babies for July Saturday and they are the smallest babies I've had so far. There were 6 alive when I received them. One passed away on the drive home and another shortly after getting home. :-( The remaining 4 have been hydrated and are on formula now. They seem to be doing really well. There are 3 boys and 1 little girl! Thank you Brandy for saving these guys. Without you, they surely would have died.

The colorful bedding was donated by Atoka Lawson. Thank you Atoka!

Sleeping peacefully. How sweet!

Their little eyes are still closed, but one little boy is starting to open his.

Can't help but love those little hands.

If you look closely, you can see that his eyes are peaking open just a little.

Do you remember the tail biters that I got in a few weeks ago? If you don't or if you missed that post, just look at my previous posts. You can see that their tails were in pretty bad shape. Now they are all healed up and 2 were large enough to be released. We found a nice little creek in a secluded area to release them. There are still 2 left from the group, but the others are still much smaller and not quite ready.

Here are the little fellows before they were loaded into the carrier.

Tail looking much better.

Good luck!

Here are the others from the tail biting group and one that also came from Brandy! They get to go into the big pen now! Won't be long until they are ready to be released!

Nope I didn't dress up for the pic! Thanks Heath for getting this ever so flattering pic of me!

This was the one that had the very bad looking tail from the previous post. All healed up now, but not much left. We'll see how this guy does to be sure he will be able to go out into the REAL world.

That's all for now! It won't be long before these guys are ready to be released. There's still an "intermediate" group that will be moving to the pre-release cage when these leave. I just love these guys!

Check out some of these cute toys from Amazon!

First Release

2011-07-04T23:32:00.001-05:00

This is what wildlife rehab is all about! Releasing the animals back into the wild, but nobody ever said it would be easy. I've had mixed emotions for a while. We started off with tiny little baby possums and today we have juveniles that are ready to go into the BIG wild world.

Here was the beginning....

And here they are now...

This one kind of touched me. It's little tail was hanging on to the side of the crate...

Come on...Let me out already!

First one out to explore.

Since it's been so dry I'm leaving some water close by until they can find a water source.

Already out in the bushes. Right after this pic, she disappeared. We could only hear her wandering around.

Good bye little ones!!! :*) Tears of joy! Though it was sad to see them go, there was nothing cooler than watching them step out of the crate into freedom. Freedom to explore, hunt, climb, procreate, etc.
Thank you to everyone who has supported me and everyone who has followed this journey of my first possum rehabs. This is not the end of my rehab journey though. I currently have 14 more possums and 1 box turtle. This is merely the beginning. Hang on tight because HERE WE GO!!!

A VERY Eventful Day

2011-06-17T19:41:00.001-05:00

Twenty-eight years ago today I was born!!! Yea!!! Now on to the important stuff...
This day has been a very busy day with tons of interesting things happening. NONE of which I'm happy about. Don't get me wrong...I'm happy to take the animals in, care for them, and make them all better. I just hate it when they are hurt or sick. It makes me really hurt to see them hurt or sick. Especially when they die.
This past week, one of my babies became gravely ill. After battling whatever it was for 3 days, she passed away. Here are some pics I snapped of her the night before she passed. What a sweet little angel?!

Here are some pictures of her litter mates.

This is my favorite!

Got in a bunny today that a lady ran over with her lawn mower. Obviously the little guy isn't doing well. It really stinks when there's nothing you can do, but make them comfortable. :-(

The turtle with the damaged shell is doing very well though. His shell is beginning to heal, but it will take a very long time for it to be completely healed.

Also got in some baby possums that aren't doing so well. They have been eating each others tails!!! YIKES that has to hurt. We have started a more rounded diet and are continuing the medication that the Good Samaritan provided!!! They did the right thing by contacting a licensed rehabber. Please if you find injured or orphaned wildlife, contact a Licensed Wildlife Rehabilitator. Wildlife requires specialized care and are NOT like caring for domestic animals.

WARNING GRAPHIC PICTURES!

Wildlife Rehabilitators are NOT paid for their services. We pay for veterinary services, food, cages, etc out of our own pockets. Donations are always greatly appreciated AND welcomed!

My Life Really IS a ZOO!: Country Bumpkin

2011-06-07T13:14:00.000-05:00

My Life Really IS a ZOO!: Country Bumpkin: "There are only 11 days left until I leave for Utah. I'm feeling so many emotions right now. 1. I'm feeling pretty guilty about leaving H..."

Country Bumpkin

2011-06-07T13:13:00.000-05:00

There are only 11 days left until I leave for Utah. I'm feeling so many emotions right now.
1. I'm feeling pretty guilty about leaving Heath behind. He's going to have to be caring for a lot of animals on his own.
2. Worried...Because Heath is going to be caring for all of the animals on his own!
3. Sad...This brings home the fact that my Grandma is really gone. Normally she would be making this trip. I remember that Grandma would always forget my birthday because she would be so busy in Utah. She would always call a few days later and apologize. I just thought it was kind of funny. A tradition in a way.
4. Nervous...I've NEVER been out of the South in my entire life. I'm just a regular, hard working country bumpkin that raises possums for fun! How am I really supposed to fit in with these folks?
5. Even more nervous and EXTREMELY excited...I'm meeting a lot of family that I've heard about my entire life. I'm also meeting some "new found" family. (That's a story for a different time.) I'm also getting to visit Best Friends Animal Society. Best Friends is like the most amazing animal rescue/sanctuary EVER!
6. Terrified...They want me to go near THE GRAND CANYON!!! My mom used to pretend that her brakes had gone out while driving down hills. It scared me to death as a child and now she wants me to ride over, across, or however you drive around the Grand Canyon???

I'm ready though. It's going to be a roller coaster ride of emotions from beginning to end. Grandma would have loved nothing more than to see us all together. If only we had done this before she passed away. Please be thinking of my family between June 18-28. It's going to be a very exciting and joyful time, but we are all going to be feeling a lot of very difficult emotions. My family has discovered a lot of secrets that we were not prepared to discover. I have to say that some of the secrets are amazing and wonderful to find out, but with that comes a lot of other emotions. We've been left with a lot of questions that will likely never be answered and the fact that my Grandma carried a lot of pain on her own. Now I understand why Grandma had such an understanding and non-judgmental nature. I've learned a lot about patience and understanding since she passed.

Be ready for lots of pictures and lots of reading when I get back!

First Turtle Shell Repair

2011-06-03T22:13:00.001-05:00

Originally, Heath and I were going to each get our own rehab permit, but it was suggested that only one of us get the permit since it would be easier as far as record keeping. Heath wanted to rehab non-venomous reptiles. Well today we had our first opportunity to rehab a reptile! Erin sent me a text that she had found a turtle with a cracked shell. So it was Heath to the rescue again! I wish I had taken before pictures, but in the rush of trying to get him "fixed", I just didn't think of it. I can't imagine how painful it has to be when these guys have a cracked shell. This guy or girl has received antibiotics, had the wound flushed, and shell repaired. Now let's home there are no complications.

Here's his injury after it was fixed.

Here you can see the scuffs on his shell.

Storms Storms Go Away!

2011-05-28T21:06:00.000-05:00

Thank God that we didn't have more damage than we did, but the recent storms did a number on the dog kennels and houses. We had 2 trees destroyed, 2 baby possums died, and one of my rescue chickens. :-( Those last 2 blows are not as easy to move past. Trees can be cut up, kennels can be replaced, but the 3 precious lives that were lost that night cannot.

Pens and dog house destroyed. Luckily none of the dogs were injured.

My chicken pen was thrown across the yard. Diaz was in this pen and was killed. Chick Chick and Lizzy Borden were fine.

Part of the tree was destroyed in my front yard. Thank goodness my car wasn't in the driveway.

The dogs in kennels on my front porch because the pens are destroyed.

Icing on the cake. A volunteer fire fighter that was sent out to report fallen trees on roadways backed into Heath's truck! I had been running around in water past my ankles trying to round up dogs, save the other animals, and salvage anything I could. Then I realized that I was doing all of this in lightening and bad wind so I took refuge in the truck to let it calm down a little. The whole time he was backing up I was honking the horn. Obviously he didn't hear it!

$1500 worth of damage right there.

The babies that died in this storm has more than broken my heart. They had made it past some pretty rough experiences and then to be lost when they were so close to release (this isn't a recent pic by the way) is really hard on me. Some people deal with the death of rehabs easier, but this has been one of the hardest losses I've had.

The most heartbreaking loss was the one eyed little guy. He was one of the babies killed in the storm. This guy had been attacked by a dog and came to me with his eye hanging out of the socket. The eye was removed and he was doing so well. He was smaller than the others, but ate like a pig and had stolen my heart. I was so looking forward to seeing him grow and watching him walk into the woods on the day of release knowing that he was a fighter. Rest in peace sweet boy! I will never forget you nor your will to survive. My heart is broken.

I haven't been able to find pictures of my chicken that was lost though I'm sure I have some. I found her at the "chicken swap" in Russellville. She didn't have any feathers when I got her and I'm sure someone was eyeballing her for dinner. I always said she looked like a little old lady with a beehive, because she had some cute little feathers on her head. Not like a silkie or polish though. Rest in peace sweet girl. I miss you and my heart is broken without you here.

If you would like to donate to help wildlife or rescue dogs, please click on the ChipIn link. It will take you to another page where you can donate using your PayPal account. Thank you.

Cottontail!

2011-05-23T16:40:00.000-05:00

I've come to realize that I have some pretty compassionate and caring students. Most of my animals have come from kids that I teach. Today I received a call from the vet clinic that they had an orphaned cottontail. This great family had saved it from a dog that had already killed another rabbit. Once I saw the little fellow I knew it was ready to be on it's own. Though they look really fragile at this age, they are capable of fending for themselves. Good job for keeping it safe from the dog though! I have no doubt this one would have been next on the menu!

My First Pre-Release Cage Experience

2011-05-22T18:59:00.000-05:00

Well it's time for the first bunch of baby opossums to move to their pre-release cage. As we were moving them, I realized that this would be the last time that I put my hands on them before release. It's exciting, but I can't help but feel a little sadness because I've cared for them through some pretty tough times in their lives. The first girl's mom was hit by a car and she was the only survivor. The 2nd group had been found walking down the road and the 3rd groups mom was killed by a dog and they were all injured in the process. One lost his eye. They were all of similar size so they have been housed together, but soon they will all be on their own to live their lives as solitary animals.

Here they are climbing on a large branch and a piece of scrap wood Heath put in their cage.

They sure do love the extra room and freedom to climb.

Still staying close to each other.

This was my first little girl. She's so big now!

Side view of the pen.

Front view. It will eventually have 4 cages and be twice as long, but I think this is a good start.

The Generosity of a Child

2011-05-19T08:42:00.000-05:00

The last group of babies I got (not the ones from yesterday, but the ones before that) came from a student of mine. Today while I was making my rounds during morning duty, he stopped me in the hallway and told me he wanted to give me something to help feed the baby possums. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a few quarters. I told him "Thank you so much, but I would rather you keep the money and get yourself something since you are the one that saved them!" He tried over and over to give me the money. Finally, I convinced him to hold on to it. I'm so proud to know that there are decent, selfless children coming up in this world. Every time you watch the news or read the paper, you see all of the terrible things that kids and adults are doing, but I wanted to share this small gesture from a young child that absolutely touched my heart.

Newest additions

2011-05-18T23:12:00.000-05:00

Today the pet store called, because they received a mother opossum with a badly injured leg and she also had a pouch full of babies. My dear husband took her to the vet and they found that her elbow was destroyed, she had a gash on her elbow, it had turned gangrenous, and the infection had spread to her chest cavity. Can it even get worse? Heath and the Dr. Green decided that it would be best to humanely euthanize her. Not the best day. I always feel sad when there is loss of life. I just can't help it. Even though I know euthanasia was the only real option for this girl, it is tough to decide when another creature will die. Some people say that you get used to it, but I don't want to ever take a loss of a life lightly. I can't let it stop me or become so overwhelming that I can't move on, but I just don't want to "get used to" death. The only thing I could do was focus my attention and energy on the babies.
The good news is that the babies all seem to be healthy and with a little TLC, they should all do fine.

I just think they are so cute at this size, because they look like baby dumbo rats!

Here they are all snuggled up in the transport carrier.

Look at that sweet face!

Sorry little fellow. I didn't mean to blind you, but I just have to show the world how cute and sweet you are!

The spots look like blood, but don't be alarmed it's just wet spots from the formula that dripped out.

I would also like to thank Amber Hopwood for her recent donation. Thanks to you, I was able to get 2 dogs their rabies shots this week. I really appreciate your generosity!

Possums Possums Everywhere!

2011-05-16T22:26:00.000-05:00

It's been a minute and these little guys sure are growing. Thought it was time to share some pictures.

Got some new little guys in. These were found by one of my students. The mother had been hit by a car.

Look at those big ears!

The next set of pictures are the first 2 groups I got in. I can't help but love those cute little faces and sweet little hands. I swear if everyone got to hold a baby opossum then there wouldn't be so many heartless people in the world. These little guys and girls just melt my heart!

Please Consider Donating

2011-05-13T12:58:00.001-05:00

Time for more fundraising. If you would like to donate please click on the button below that says "Chip In". This will take you to my ChipIn page where you can donate using your PayPal account. No amount is ever too small. I assure you that every penny will be used toward helping animals. I appreciate everyone's support so far and THANK YOU to anyone that will be donating. Together maybe we can make a real difference in some animal's lives.

First day out!

2011-05-05T01:55:00.000-05:00

Today the babies took a big step! They moved into a larger, outdoor intermediate cage. They are still eating some formula and still have some heat in case they get cold, but this is the first step in preparing them for the wild. I decided to snap some pictures for you to enjoy.

The camera was very scary to this little girl. Opening her mouth like that is her way of showing that she is big and scary. Are you afraid? It makes me proud to see this behavior, because it means that they are behaving like they would in the wild.

You can see the one eyed little boy in the middle. His left eye (your right) had to be removed due to an injury. It was actually hanging from the socket when he came to me. It just looks like that eye is closed in this picture.

Look at that cute face. It's hard to believe that in a few months these little ones will be out on their own and be wild possums!

I HATE Thieves!

2011-05-03T19:09:00.001-05:00

As the title suggests, I hate thieves. Why is it that I have to go to work everyday and make an honest living while you get to come take my stuff that I worked so hard to EARN??? This past week someone stole a roll of fencing that was to be used for my rescue dogs and a roll of wire for my possums. I somehow hope that the person that took this from me reads this blog! If I find out who you are you may as well crawl in a bomb shelter and stay there for a very long time, because I'm going to explode!
If you want something then go get a job, earn some money, then go buy it. Or...now stay with me on this one...ask for it! Believe it or not, I would have considered giving it to you if you really REALLY needed it. I have been known to commit random acts of kindness. *GASP* I know that's hard to believe.
Sorry no pictures today. I'm so disgusted and kind of broken-hearted over this. :'-(

Young and VERY Traumatized

2011-04-24T22:31:00.001-05:00

As if it isn't bad enough to have your mother attacked and killed in front of you and then to watch your brothers and sisters be killed, it must be horrifying to know that you will be next! That's exactly what my newest babies went through on Thursday night.
I'm so proud of one of my students for coming to tell me that she knew of some baby opossums that needed help. I'm also so proud that her whole family tried to help these guys too! This sweet little girl came to me first thing on Friday morning and said "Mrs. Truex, I know you save animals and our dog killed a possum last night. It killed some babies too, but there are 4 that are still alive!" I asked for her mom's number and called. Heath picked them up and to his horror, one had an eyeball hanging out! I was sure that little guy would have to be euthanized, but thank goodness for a knowledgeable vet! Not many vets will even see wildlife, much less really know much about wildlife! That's a whole other blog post in itself! He knew that opossums do fine with just one eye and removed it. One little guy passed away on me within a couple of hours. Louise, my mentor, told me that it's pretty rare to get injured babies, but for those that know me it isn't a surprise for ME to have something "rare" happen. ALL of these babies have injuries and were obviously very traumatized. Despite my best efforts they weren't interested in eating and I had to tube feed these babies. On intake they weighed around 68 grams. In 2 days they are all around 100 grams. Can you say dehydrated??? Now what you all have been anticipating...PICTURES!!! I must apologize for the quality, but I'm sure you all remember being young and broke! For those that don't know, I'm only 27 and a teacher. LOL!

These 2 babies are NOT being housed together, but I wanted to show that even though they are about the same weight, the one on the right is less developed. The one on the left was the first baby I got and the one on the right is one of the new injured ones.

Same ones without the flash.

Same

Here are 2 from the 2nd litter I got. One is much smaller than the rest. Can't really tell from this pic, but aren't they soooooo cute!

Here's the one with the missing eye. The eye on your right is missing. You can see it looks squinted.

This one has an injured ear. You probably can't tell because it's so dark, but the ear on your left is red.

Today is EASTER! And I still have little cottontail bunnies! Unfortunately, I just went to feed the baby bunnies and one was not doing well. He was obviously dying so I held him for the last few moments of his life. I don't understand what happened, because it seemed to be doing so well. He had been bitten by a cat and received antibiotics. He seems to have healed well, but it's just really hard to say. As sad as it is, that is part of doing rehab. It's definitely not my favorite part, but the good far outweighs the bad. I'm hoping for a success release of the other 2 cottontails. These guys are starting to eat dandelion greens and other green stuff on their own. They will be going into an outdoor cage very soon if the weather ever clears up enough.

Again, sorry for the pics being so dark. Gotta make due with what I've got for now.