Link: http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Red-shouldered_Hawk/lifehistory

Last Friday, while having dinner, my neighbor came over and asked us to come outside. He told us he had a hawk down in his backyard and our cat was nose to beak with it. He was afraid the cat was in danger and felt we needed to save her. Of course, my immediate concern was for the hawk which should not have been grounded.

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I have an opossum mom that came in with 7 pouch babies. She had an injured arm which needed frequent wound care for several days so we could get it in shape to be sutured. I also got in a little baby that desparately needed a new mom. I was able to have this mom "adopt" the baby. All went well and both are thriving!

Link: http://www.piedmontwildlifecenter.org/

The following information is from Piedmont Wildlife Center

Alert: Salmonella Suspected in Pets with Exposure to Dead Pine Siskins and Goldfinches

It has recently been documented that there is an outbreak of Salmonella killing songbirds in the Southeastern United States (http://www.ajc.com/services/content/printedition/2009/03/15/birds0315.html). In the last 3 weeks, Bowman Animal Hospital has hospitalized three cats and one dog due to suspected Salmonella infection from contact with sick or dead Pine Siskin or Goldfinch songbirds. It was confirmed by the North Carolina Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory that a dead Goldfinch (which one of the pets had in its mouth) tested positive for a Salmonella isolate belonging to serogroup B. This serogroup includes serotypes that can infect humans and animals. This is not the same strain of Salmonella found in the birdseed that was recently recalled or the peanut butter sold for human consumption. For information on the recall see: http://www.agr.state.nc.us/fooddrug/feed/BirdFoodRecallFAQ

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As I was intaking an opossum this evening from a wildlife removal company, the young man shared a squirrel trapping story with me. He had a customer who was trapping squirrels out of his yard and releasing them down the road from his house into a wooded area. He had trapped a total of 30 when he decided the squirrels were coming back and he was trapping the same ones over again. He decided to paint the squirrels different colors after trapping them so he would know which ones returned. Of course, none had returned. Can't you just imagine that rainbow of squirrels running loose in the forest!