Tag Archives: disease

Glitter Animals: Managing Contagious Disease in Wildlife Rehabilitation

One of the hardest parts of what we do is caring for the Glitter Animals. “Glitter Animals” is a game, of sorts, that I started playing by myself when caring for animals who have any of the closely related and highly lethal carnivore parvoviruses: canine distemper, canine parvovirus, feline panleukopenia, and raccoon parvovirus, all ofContinue reading “Glitter Animals: Managing Contagious Disease in Wildlife Rehabilitation”

Don’t Feed Corn to Wildlife!

Leaving corn for deer and other wildlife may seem benign, or even beneficial, but it is actually one of the most harmful things you can do for neighborhood wildlife. We generally recommend against feeding wildlife at all, with the possible of migratory songbirds. But if you insist on feeding wildlife, please avoid corn at allContinue reading “Don’t Feed Corn to Wildlife!”

Identification, Triage, and Management of Box Turtle Facial Inflammation Syndrome

This presentation, given to attendees at the Wildlife Rehabilitators of North Carolina Symposium in 2024, is available for wildlife, rehabilitators and others in the field who may be interested in learning our experiences with Box Turtle Facial Inflammation Syndrome and our protocols in treating and managing it.

On the Release of Fur Farmed Mink

We heard some disturbing news last night about yet another fur farm that was sabotaged by animal rights activists, releasing thousands of mink into the wild. 😞 One might expect us to be supportive of these kinds of actions, but releasing animals from fur farms isn’t good for the individual animals or for the speciesContinue reading “On the Release of Fur Farmed Mink”

Box Turtle Facial Inflammation Syndrome

This photo shows Glen, a patient we treated for turtle facial inflammation syndrome, or BTFIS. It didn’t have a name until we gave it one, but this disease has been recorded since the 1970s and clearly linked to pesticide exposure since the 1990s. It involves inflammation of the eyes, ears, and nasal passages, often eventuallyContinue reading “Box Turtle Facial Inflammation Syndrome”

Botflies: Why Lumpy Squirrels Don’t Need Help

Rehabbers get a lot of calls about lumpy squirrels, especially in summer! There are two common causes of lumps on squirrels: squirrelpox, a viral infection we’ll discuss in a separate post, and botflies, which are insects that develop in animals’ skin in the larval stage. When people find lumpy squirrels, they almost always feel thatContinue reading “Botflies: Why Lumpy Squirrels Don’t Need Help”

Don’t Leave Medicine for Sick Wildlife

Have you ever heard of a doctor treating disease this way? When a doctor is in the mall and sees somebody coughing and sneezing, they don’t come back and leave a bowl of candy laced with Tamiflu. That would be a bad idea for a number of reasons. The doctor can’t make a diagnosis fromContinue reading “Don’t Leave Medicine for Sick Wildlife”