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Published: August 1st 2008
I've definitely been slacking off on the blogging for the past 3 or 4 weeks. This is mostly due to me not wanting to drive anywhere in order to preserve my car so it will take me safely back to Kansas, so I haven't seen much other than town and work. I want to go to the other islands, but the ferry landing isn't in town on Lopez or Orcas (Isle of the Sacred Mountain) so they require a car to get anywhere, and of course taking a car on the ferry costs more.
Plenty of amusements exist within walking distance on good old San Juan Island, however. Today I went to a necropsy at the Friday Harbor Marine Biology Labs (an extension of the University of Washington). I didn't take any pictures because I thought the people reading this would be more disgusted by than interested in cut-up dead bodies. They did a neonate harbor porpoise, a harbor seal pup (one that died on the way to Wolf Hollow but never was actually in our care 😞), and a river otter kit (he was at Wolf Hollow for about 2 days and then he died). The seal was on a
private beach and the stranding network can't pick up animals on private beaches, so he just languished away, and the otter's mother and 2 siblings were trapped and relocated. Then someone went back and realized there were still 2 kits left, which were brought to Wolf Hollow. Although the one died, the other is still with us and is very fat and happy (our count is 3 river otters now). FYI, it is not legal to trap and relocate animals. In this case, we are unclear whether the person, who was a licensed nuisance animal remover, was within legal limits or not.
So enough of the sad stuff.
I have some pictures here of the seals and an eagle of Wolf Hollow, which was all I could get pictures of yesterday (I tried to get pictures of the otters, but they were hiding and I didn't want to disturb them).
Coho and O'o have been here the longest, which is why they get to swim in the big pool. Stilt came in extremely emaciated; he had been lying on the beach for at least a week. Apparently some kids had been trying to feed him berries and one kid actually
picked him up and took him home, but then brought him back. Now, however, he is doing very well and gets swims in the big pool all day long.
Concho was kidnapped from a beach last weekend when people were boat racing (a "regatta"?) - I don't know that I should actually write anything else about that situation because the media is all over it and I don't want anyone to find this blog and use it as an actual information source because I might be wrong (but anyone that knows me can email me and I'll give you the "scoop" which isn't even that interesting - just people being dumb).
Ocelot (we take turns naming them and this year we are naming them after endangered vertebrates - so guess who named this one?) came from Guemes Island and right after we got her checked in she started having hypoglycemic seizures (stretching her neck out and getting stiff and tilting her head all around) so we have her some 2.5% Dex/LRS subcutaneously plus 5 oz of electrolytes. She stopped seizing but was just sitting there with a glassy stare. Then we gave her 5% Dextrose through an IV and chased
Concho
The media sealit with 50cc LRS. She's doing better now, but is not out of the woods yet. She's still having bloat issues and isn't very active.
Shrike is also having bloat issues and vomits up everything we try to tube him, so we don't know what to do with him at the moment.
Eskimo and Nukupu'u are doing well, as is Palila!
The bald eagle came in because he was "rocking" back and forth on his feet. He is standing better now and we moved him outside, but still favors his left foot when walking. The vet couldn't find anything hugely wrong except for maybe an infection, so we gave him antibiotics but now he probably just needs some time to heal.
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Mom
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They are all very cute!