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The
Martha's Vineyard Times is a weekly publication.
April 28 - May 4, 2005 Edition
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Vet Masked marauders April 28, 2005 By Michelle Gerhard Jasny, VMD Looks like I'm in the dog house...or maybe the monkey house...for some errors I made in my column about pet primates. An e-mail from Bob informed me that the California man who was mauled by chimpanzees was not attacked by Moe, the chimp that he had raised. Moe was still locked in his cage. Allison e-mailed the same information and implored me to get my facts straight. My apologies to Moe for maligning his reputation and to my readers for my mistake. Hey, even the New York Times prints a corrections section. Bob also reminded me that orangutans are in Indonesia, not Africa. I knew that. Somehow it slipped by me. Mea culpa. Finally, he pointed out that all the African great apes - gorillas, chimpanzee and bonobos - are facing extinction in the wild due to the bushmeat crisis, which is the commercial slaughter of primates for human consumption, and he suggests checking out www.bushmeat.org for more info. Thanks, guys. I always appreciate hearing from my readers. And you still shouldn't get a monkey for a pet. Watch that wildlife Closer to home, we may not have nonhuman primates swinging from the trees in the State Forest, but interaction with wildlife still creates conflict. This week I got a call from the Animal Control Officer about a woman with a problem. Well, actually, four little problems: a litter of baby raccoons...and one big mother problem. Mama raccoon had made her den in the chimney of the house where the woman resides as caretaker. While preparing for the owner's arrival, she had diligently forced open the ancient chimney flue for cleaning and out dropped four raccoon kits. The first piece of advice when dealing with raccoons is not to touch them until you talk with someone who knows what to do. Although we have had no rabies to date on the Vineyard, raccoons are one of the prime carriers of the fatal virus here in the Northeast. The second piece of advice when dealing with any infant wildlife is that Mother knows best. Whether it is raccoon kit, baby bird, or tiny bunny, chances of survival are highest if we can let mama do the parenting. Was there any way we could put the babies back where they had been until they were old enough to leave on their own? These kits still had their eyes closed, but had “bandit” facial masks. This put their age at two to three weeks old. Raccoons start crawling at four to six weeks and climbing at seven weeks. By eight to 12 weeks, kits can follow Mama and forage for food. Bottom line? It could be months before the babies moved out voluntarily. This just wasn't an option. Raccoons are nocturnal. What if we simply capped the chimney while Mama was out during the night? That would banish her, but leave us with four orphans. Not only does this seem cruel to a mother's tender feelings, but hand-raising coons is extremely time-consuming and messy. It requires a wildlife rehabilitation license and poses human health risks besides rabies, such as raccoon roundworm - a fairly benign parasite to a coon, but if a human becomes infected, permanent, even fatal, neurological damage can result. I have the licenses and knowledge, but neither the facilities nor the time to raise the little critters, and know of no other Islanders prepared to take on the job. (Any licensed Vineyard rehabbers out there, please give me a call!) Due to regulations about transporting wildlife, we can't move raccoons to the Cape. What could we do, besides resort to euthanasia? With baby birds and bunnies, you can sometimes get away with moving the nest. I was less familiar with raccoons. It was time to pick up the phone. Searching for answers At the Cape Wildlife Center I got a recording. “My client is sitting by the chimney with four kits right now,” I left a message. “Please call back.” At the Tufts Veterinary School Wildlife Clinic, I got a live person. “Get a big wicker basket,” she advised. “Put the kits in with bedding and a hot water bottle and move the whole nest. Put it on the roof, tied to the chimney or in a nearby tree...one that the mother might already be using to climb onto the roof. There's a good chance mom will adjust to the move, but don't disturb her, or she may be afraid to return.” The caretaker could check on the babies once or twice a day. If they seemed alert and active, we could assume that the mother was caring for them. By the time I called the caretaker back, she had returned the kits to the chimney and closed the flue. During this process, she found that mama was indeed in residence. Not surprising, since she would be snoozing during the day. I described the course of action recommended by Tufts. A long pause. Apparently the house was old, and on a windy, exposed site. The idea of climbing up and down repeatedly onto the roof was daunting, as were the logistics of securing a large raccoon-filled basket to a chimney. “Maybe you could hire a handyperson,” I suggested. “I wish I could come help, but that's really beyond the scope of what I can do.” I promised to make a few more calls while she pondered her options, and hung up. Rock 'n' roll route A little while later Judy, a veterinary technician and wildlife rehabilitator from the Cape Wildlife Center, returned my call. “Raccoons have more than one den,” she began. Aha! I didn't know that. “Here's what you need to do,” she continued. “Create such a disturbance that the mother will be driven to move the babies to her other den. Shine a bright light up the chimney from the fireplace. Put a radio in there and blast it loud. I don't mean classical music. We're talking rock 'n' roll. Tie ammonia-soaked rags to the flue. Replenish the ammonia daily to keep the odor strong. Do this continuously for three to five days...and I mean continuously, all day, all night. It's not gonna work if they turn the radio off at night.” It all made sense. What mother in her right mind would choose to stay in a brightly lit, raucous, ammonia-filled chimney when she could move to her other house with the kids? I got a call this morning. After one night of bright lights and rock 'n' roll, mama coon packed up her kits and left. The chimney is getting capped today. The caretaker is happy that she doesn't have to climb onto the roof...and that the Raccoon family gets to live happily ever after... just not in her chimney. Thanks, Judy. |
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