Nutting Stream Wildlife Rehab Clinic

06/07/2026

06/06/2026

On a much lighter note…Harriet and Fielder have golden nugget p**p ONLY today!! And…another F%*^ #%G (no…Frankie, it’s not ok to swear!) live tick after a hot, bleach, super long wash cycle.

06/06/2026

I post mostly positive, educational, interesting, adorable, and entertaining photos and videos of the babies in my care. I want to shout to the world how incredible these animals are. If we all understand them better and open our minds and hearts, we can learn to coexist peacefully.

Please.

Last night I got a call…I’ve been trying not to answer wildlife calls because the guilt and pain of not being able to take in more babies I know I can save is overpowering. I have no more room, no more cages, no more time in the day, and am running desperately low on emotional bandwidth for the enormous responsibility even just ONE baby in care takes. And I have 8.

But…something told me to answer the call. Joseph was on the other end describing a raccoon baby in his yard who he and his husband knew needed help. They described the situation and were kind and understanding when I said I was full. I asked for a photo and video so I could advise.

What I saw was horrific. I’ve never seen a baby in this bad shape. And it was still alive. I’m not giving details or showing photos. Maybe I should so people can see the other heart wrenching, emotionally shattering side of wildlife rehab. But I can’t because then I’d have to relive it again. It’s extremely disturbing. The images have not left my mind and I’m still tearing up when I can’t push them out of my mind.

We believe this baby was attacked by an adult male raccoon. Males will kill babies so they can mate with the female (she will go back into heat). Evolution. Survival of the fittest…yes, biologically speaking, I get it. But, emotionally speaking, I never want to see something like this again. Ever. But…unfortunately, I know I will.

Thank you Joseph and husband (sorry I didn’t catch your name) for caring, for reaching out, and for getting that baby put down within 1/2 hour of our call. Your teamwork and willingness to do the right thing for this baby, even though very difficult, is honorable. You have been added to my wildlife hero book…no he didn’t get to live, but his pain and suffering were ended as quickly as possible once you found him. I thank you.

Fly free now little angel. I’m sorry your life was cut so short and in such a painful, terrifying way.

So as I write this, I’m sitting next to the cage with 6 healthy babies who are peacefully sleeping with full bellies and happy dreams playing in their minds. Because this will help heal my heart. A little.

06/06/2026

This makes two babies who have a thing for handstand-eating…😂🤦🏻‍♀️🤷🏻‍♀️🦝

06/05/2026

Hey FB World…WE HAVE P**P!! 💩 And of course I’m showing you, (sorry Stephen Insero) because this is really important in wildlife rehabbing…and because you’re here following the stories of the babies we’re rehabbing (thank you!), I hope it’s important to you as well.

I’m doing the Happy Snoopy P**p Dance. Not healthy p**p…but things have at least started moving! And there was one small, golden nugget…so the bad stuff is almost pushed through! Come on you two…keep going in the right direction!

Black, tarry, hard p**p = 🤕. Golden nugget p**p = THE BEST! 🎉

Immediate and ongoing rehydration treatments, consistent warmth, and easing into feeding the specialized raccoon formula is how we save these babies’ lives.

06/05/2026

This morning I stopped for a raven in the middle of the road…I would have stopped anyway to be sure it got safely out of the road but this time I got out of my car, and fast. The bird had found a yummy meal and was staying put even though I drove up fairly close…a large eastern painted turtle had a fatal hit by a car. The turtle was definitely dead…you’d be surprised at how some are still alive…so please check if you can do so safely. Moving the turtle into the grass on the side of the road could save the raven’s life. They are trying to eat and feed their babies and it was not leaving the road without its meal. The turtle was big and the raven was having a bit of trouble getting it out of the pothole it was in. Now he/she can safely enjoy a meal.

Please be alert and scan the roads! Lots of critters on the move these days. And many have babies waiting for parents and food to come back.

06/05/2026

Early morning dose of grossness…but this is ridiculous. This tick went through the hot, pre-wash, extra rinse, and BLEACH cycle in the washer last night. How is it still ALIVE??

06/05/2026

Harriet has made huge strides in the last 24 hours. She’s sufficiently hydrated. She’s on 50% diluted formula which will increase daily to full strength. Neither she nor Fielder are p**ping yet…and everyone knows I’m obsessed with p**ping babies…it means things are moving and working! They’re getting probiotics in their bottle once a day. Hopefully that will help. Not unusual for it to take several days to a week even for their systems to regulate. Keeping close eyes on these two.

When I was holding Harriet at dinnertime, I noticed something in her ears. That wasn’t there at the lunchtime feeding. Honestly, I have no idea how that many ticks could have been in both ears this whole time without being visible until now (unless they just hatched in her ears at lunchtime…🤢). They were tiny. But all attached and feeding on this poor girl. As if she hasn’t been through enough trauma already. Thank you Deirdre Gonsalves for being brave enough to jump into action to help me remove them with tweezers. Not sure I could have done it alone because she’s so squirmy and fearful. No photo taken, which is ok….I’ll have nightmares over this one and don’t need to invite you into it!

This is Harriet after her bedtime bottle, feeling calm and I’m sure hearing better now that we unplugged her little ears. Have I mentioned how much I despise ticks taking advantage of helpless, sick, weak, and orphaned babies?

06/04/2026

Let the weaning process begin! Mowgli puts up the biggest fuss so I supplement him with a bottle still. He’s too obsessed with suckling on a unicorn horn or dinosaur spikes to focus on eating…😂🦄🦖. They are all gaining weight, weigh-ins every day now to monitor if someone isn’t getting enough. So far so good! Formula mixed with crushed kibble, bits of scrambled egg with the shells, and some healthy fruit loop-type, low sugar, gluten free, organic o’s as an enticement. Ahhhhhh….a bit of breathing room when they self-feed. A LOT messier, but p*e pads get rolled up and tossed easily.

The two new kids are still on bottles 4x a day. They are about half the size of these guys and are still coming back from physical and emotional trauma.

06/04/2026

We’ve named Fielder’s sister Harriet. She finally came down the tree looking for mom and her siblings, was scooped up by the wonderfully caring humans (thank you Rob and Heather!) and put in a box for the night until they could make their second hour long trip to me. She escaped from the box, went under the deck, and only came out when Rob and Heather played a video of a mama raccoon calling to her babies. SMART!! She came scampering right out. Which is great because we can now save her life, but also heartbreaking because there no longer is a real mama. They named him ‘Houdini’ because of his escape…but he is a she…so in the spirit of Harry Houdini, we named her Harriet.

Harriet is doing well. Getting rehydrated, drinking electrolyte solution, free from fleas, still has some tiny ticks between her fingers and toes but she’s so scared and squirmy I risk pinching her sensitive skin trying to get them off (I’ll try again in the morning), and started her on a small amount of 25% diluted raccoon formula at bedtime. She panics when I take Fielder out for feeding. I now feed him right next to the cage so she can smell and see him. She reaches through the cage to touch him as if to say “please don’t take my brother away again”. Once I put him back, she settles right down.

Imagine the trauma these sweet animals go through. Losing their mamas. Losing their siblings. Having their homes destroyed. Starving and dehydrated. Poisoned. Scared. Covered in parasites that are literally eating them alive. How they survive to go on to become healthy, playful, brilliant, loving, and wild adults is beyond my comprehension. And this is why I’m a raccoon rehabber. 🦝🥰❤️💔