Fox Wood Wildlife Rescue

Treating Red Foxes For Sarcoptic Mange in Your Back Yard- short version

ATTENTION: We are transferring our primary site to our NEW  webpage, please check us out there!       http://www.foxwoodwildliferescue.org/

 

 

Please go to our New Official web page! http://www.foxwoodwildliferescue.org/

We are excited to announce that we have moved!!!! For the newest and latest photos and information, please go to our new home page: 

http://www.foxwoodwildliferescue.org/

We are so excited to announce this move!

We have a new domain name!

We have much a more experienced web site developer- and have corrected the old web developers error in naming our "old" page... we were never "Fox Wood Rehab"  we were always 'Fox Wood Wildlife Rescue, Inc" and our new domain name now reflects that ! 

Please be advised that we are switching over to a brand new web page.  It is still under construction, but all our information is now at :

 http://www.foxwoodwildliferescue.org/

 

 

Update on Twister, the Border Collie. As you many of you know, I adopt the dogs from work who are not claimed by anyone. Quite often dogs who are unclaimed have behavioral issues, and this is why they were abandoned. Twister is no exception. After being returned by two adopters because of his extreme issues, I have invested a large amount of money into professional training for Twister. Because some of his issues are related to inherited traits of the breed, it is a very complicated situation- there must be a balance between understanding his drives, and reeling them in to make them less extreme and his behavior more acceptable. Our ultimate goal is to make Twister a more adoptable, well mannered dog that can be placed in a home suitable for his breed. He needs an active farm type home with other Border Collies, and an experienced Border Collie savvy owner. I would appreciate any donations that folks could make toward Twisters continued training sessions. If you would like to donate toward Twisters rehabilitation, you can donate through paypal at [email protected]. Donations can also be mailed to: 11156 Old Glenwood Road, East Concord, NY 14055. be sure to specify "Twister" on your check and that donation will be applied directly to his fund

Unfortunate Fisher

This female Fisher was very unfortunate. A tree fell on her in the woods and she was trapped for days. A man walking his dog found her, well, his dog actually found her. They called me, but were unable to find it again last night because it got dark. This morning they went out, found the Fisher and it was still alive. Unfortunately, the dog ran up and killed her before they could stop him. I have her body and am going to save her in my freezer and try to get a permit and have her mounted so I can use her for education.  

Fishers are incredible athletes!  Look at her feet! 

 

This gorgeous jet black male mink was caught in a trapper’s snare and suffered an injury to his right front leg. He was released when he fully recovered.

Young Fox Hit By Car

In August the young of the year are getting ready to leave the area where they were born  and find a new territory.  Unfortunately, not many of them survive.  This little guy was hit by a car.  A gentleman stopped when he saw the pup laying in the road, and intended to move him off of the road, thinking he was deceased.  Imagine his surprise when he grabbed the foxes rear legs and lifted him up to set him in the grass on the side of the road- and the fox moved its front legs!  Immediately he wrapped the fox in a towel and placed it in a box and began making phone calls to look for help for the fox.  

Once Fox Wood Was contacted, we quickly made arrangements to meet.  The fox was then immediately rushed to a wonderful veterinarian who we work with.  He was carefully examined, X-Rayed, and found to have head trauma, but no broken bones!  Fluids and a steroid were given, and a long acting antibiotic was given.  There was not much else to do but wait and pray.

Day One, the fox remained unconscious.  

 

Day 2: Semi- conscious, Gave some more steroid to reduce brain swelling, and an hour later taking some nourishment https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xz00_xNnnas

Day 3:  Laying in a much better position with head up!  Eating and drinking with help  

This is only day 3, so stay tuned....


 

Raising and Releasing Our Weasel

The weasel was released over the weekend. I'm sorry I don't have pics of the release for you, but she was VERY wild and very elusive and I must respect that.

She entered life in the wild via a process called "Slow Release" where she is given the opportunity to familiarize herself with the surroundings in the safety of her cage, and then the door is opened and she is allowed the freedom to come and go as she pleases. Food, water and a familiar shelter for her were provided for her to come back to as needed. I won't reveal the location, but it is excellent weasel habitat, loaded with mice.

 

Above are a couple photos of her being raised. As she became a young adult, her natural instincts began to reveal themselves and she did not want to be handled and began to become more secretive in her movements. Though followers would have loved to see her all grown up, my responsibility to her is greater, so that is why there were no more photos of her. I appreciate your understanding this. 

 One of the things that you will find we do NOT do here at Fox Wood is exploit our wildlife. We don't get the donations that result from the exploitation of displaying animals in uncomfortable public settings or putting them on public display here at our facility. What we do here is strictly for the animals, not for the money, not for our ego's. That is what sets Fox Wood apart. We rely only on donations from people who understand what we do and why we do it.

Fawns

We are excited to announce that we have moved!!!! For the newest and latest photos and information, please go to our new home page: 

http://www.foxwoodwildliferescue.org/

 

In May and June Fox Wood receives many calls from well meaning people who are worried about an “abandoned fawn”. It is important to know that fawns are born with a natural defense mechanism. When fawns are first born they have no appealing scent to predators and they have an amazing ability to lay perfectly still and quiet, allowing the fawn to hide in plain sight. The mother deer does not stay with her fawn because she does not want to alert predators to her baby’s location. She comes back to her fawn throughout the day and night, but only when it appears there are no humans or other predators around. She feeds and thoroughly cleans the fawn to erase any scent they may have. Instinctively the fawn knows that when mom leaves, it must lay very still and silent in the location mom left it. Since the fawn does not move and no mother is present, people often think it is abandoned. Because of this, healthy fawns are often “kidnapped”.

A doe may keep her babies in the short grass area, near your home, in your garden, etc. for the first 3 days, not in the woods where the predators are hunting. These first days a fawn can’t outrun a predator, so they go limp when someone picks them up. They are not dying, they are playing “possum” so you will not be interested and put them down. With twins, a doe will leave one baby in one place, and then 300-500 feet away, she will leave the other. She then goes off to the closest hiding area and forms a triangle so she can watch over both, unseen, until it is time to feed again. She will not let them travel with her until they are old enough to keep up with the herd, but she is never far away.

There are times when a fawn will not express normal fawn behavior. We will usually be concerned when we get a call about a fawn that is wandering around crying out. This is not natural behavior as it attracts predators. Diarrhea, flies, falling down, limping, twins together and obvious wounds are all signs of a fawn that needs help. If you suspect a fawn needs help, or just want to make sure a fawn is OK, you can contact us or your local  Conservation Office for direction. In closing, remember the fawn that is lying still in your yard or garden is just nature’s way of giving us one more reason to smile. The fawn will leave on its own in just a couple of days, so take a picture and leave the baby for its real mother

A Very Rough Winter for All Wildlife!

This opossum was found on the side of the road in a snowbank, too weak to move because she was starving. I gathered her in a towel and brought her home.  For the first couple days it was touch and go, and I was only able to feed her small amounts of chicken noodle soup.  She started regaining some strength, and soon  started eating on her own. She will be released as soon as the weather breaks and there is plenty food around for her. 

First Red Fox Pup of 2015!

The first Red fox pup of 2015 is here!  He is almost three weeks old and was brought to Fox Wood by someone who at first  thought they were raising a domestic puppy.  He wasn't fed the right foods from the start, so we are trying to get him back on track.  When he is old enough, he will get to join some of out wonderful foxes who love to raise the babies.
 

Discouraging Raccoons, Foxes and Skunks from Raising their Young Where it is Creating Problems

Coyote and urine can be used to humanely save lives! January, February, March,  April and May are the best times to use predator urine to get unwanted wildlife families to move from unwanted areas.  Coyote urine can be used to get a mother fox, raccoon or  skunk to move her young.  This will save you money, aggravation and  neighbor complaints, by convincing the mother of the young that she must move her babies to a safer location because the coyote urine will make her think that they are in danger where they area.   Through the years, I have gathered urine soaked bedding material from my coyote pens to give to people that were having issues with wildlife.  They have used the urine to encourage raccoon mothers to safely relocate their young without having to trap the female and then destroy the young left behind because they didn't realize she had young.

 In New York State, wildlife rehabilitators have to be specially licensed to raise orphaned raccoons and because of the prohibitive requirtements only a handful of rehabilitators for orphaned raccoons exist.  These rehabilitators get filled up to the maximum # of baby raccoons they can handle very early in the year. that leaves hundreds of thousands of orphaned baby raccoons and the people who find them without options.  These numbers could be greatly cut if people would use a combination of  light, noise and coyote urine soaked bedding material to encourage momma to find another location to raise her young.  Many wild mammals do not want to keep their young in an area where there are predators such as coyotes and foxes.   Foxes don't want to raise their young where there is a coyote roaming nearby.  If a coyote finds a littler of young fox, it will kill them.  They do this to ensure there is enough prey for their own pups. Sprinkling coyote urine soaked materials near a red or gray fox den will encourage momma fox to move her pups to a "safer" location.

Recently, a friend of mine had chipmunks chew the wire harness of his brand new truck causing some very expensive repairs that were not covered under the warranty.  It seems the new harness coating is "environmentally friendly" and tasty to rodents.  He had the problem repaired, with new "environmentally friendly" wire harness coating.  Worried it would happen again, he picked up some coyote urine soaked material and put it into a metal box with holes in it. He placed this under his truck in the parking spot.  Interestingly  enough, not only have chipmunks not chewed the new harness, but he hasn't even seen a chipmunk anywhere near his house since. Prior to that, there were many, many of them in his wood piles and such. 

Many people have come to get coyote urine to keep deer, rabbits and woodchucks from eating their garden vegetables, hostas and flowers. 

 I am offering coyote and fox urine soaked bedding to the general public via my website "Tip Jar" .  It is a cruelty-free product and  unlike the fur farms and trappers where coyote and fox urine is gathered now, my coyotes and foxes live comfortable happy lives at my sanctuary.  Call it "happy pee" if you want, but it sure works, and smells and performs better than the bottled stuff created by animals under stress  or killed.  I will gather it fresh when I get a request, and ship it out that day.  The money raised will go straight toward the care of injured and orphaned wildlife and also for making the living conditions for the permanent coyote and fox residents better and happier for them. 

At present, I will mail the urine soaked bedding in a gallon zip lock plastic bags in a padded envelope for $40 , includes shipping and handling.  It can be purchased by clicking on the tip jar on the home page, and donating $40 to Fox Wood. Write a brief note and tell me if you prefer coyote or fox urine.  You may ask me any questions by e-mailing me at :  [email protected]

Fox Pups Are Born Now!

This little girl is going to be 4 weeks old on April 8th!
 The Momma foxes are working hard to bring home food for their young. They are working 24/7, day and night. Please remember that Red foxes are NOT NOCTURNAL!  It is normal to see them at all times of the day. The moms are working espcecially hard to catch mioce, squirrels, rats and rabbits to feed themselves and their young. They are working so hard and are so focused that they will trot right past you, through your yard, past your dogs and cats as they move from their hunting grounds to their den. They are not interested in eating your dogs or cats. 

A Red fox will chase a cat that gets too close to her den- Cats are very curious and often end up in places they shouldn't be.  A momma fox is concerned about having a cat too close to her pups, so she will chase kitty right back home, up onto your porch or tree it. She isn't interested in eating your cat - she just wants it to go away from her pups. Please keep in mind, for the safety of your cat from other predators such as great -Horned Owls who now have hungry young in the nest, keep your cat indoors, especially at dusk and dawn when owls are hunting. 

If you have a fox den, or even a skunk or raccoon with young that are in a place where you don' want them, such as under a porch or back yard shed, its easy to convince mom to move her babies!  Coyote urine is easily purchased online (and from us!) and no momma wants to raise her young where a coyote is hunting.  I simply put coyote urine infused pine shavings in the area where the unwanted family is.  They generally are gone in the morning!  Trying to Live trap and "relocate" a family of foxes, skunks or raccoons is a futile effort and usually ends up creating orphans.  Try the coyote urine- it works, and is humane because Momma moves the family to a different place all by herself. 

 

 

The first pup of 2014 was grabbed from her birthing den by a Jack Russell Terrier. She was named "Sochi" by a supporter. We got her at just 2 days old! She is being fed every two hours around the clock!

It's So Easy To Support Fox Wood- and won't cost you anything!

Fox Wood Wildlife Rescue, Inc

 

70's Music and Dance Party Benefit for Fox Wood Jan. 11th, 2014!

Dance away those winter blues, have fun  AND help animals! 

January 11th, 2014 6 PM - 10 PM  at the Springville Volunteer Fire Company, Main St. springville, NY

 The Best Music of the 70's, Basket Auction, 50/50 raffles, contests and more! 

Snacks and Refreshments

To donate, for more info or to purchase  Pre-Sale tickets for  $20 each,  e-mail [email protected]

or, click on the Paypal button below to go directly to Paypal to purchase your tickets

 

  

It's that time of year again folks! The baby big brown bats that often roost in attics and eaves of our homes are learning to fly! They will often follow a stream of light from inside your home at night, thinking that it is daylight and it is the way to get outside to catch bugs.
If you don't enjoy bats flying around inside your home like I do, buy a tube of caulk and go over any cracks where walls meet ceilings, chimneys, window and door jams. Take duct tape and go entirely around wherever the door is that goes into your attic space. Stuff insulation material in larger spaces, such as where the stove pipe goes up through the house. Remember, bats follow streams of LIGHT to find daylight and outdoors at dusk, so the object is to seal off cracks in your living space where light from a TV, nightlight etc might stream into where they are roosting, fooling the youngsters into thinking it is the way outside.
If a bat does get into your house, don't panic. grab a bath-sized towel and gently toss it over the bat and gather it up and take it outside. Bats are very delicate, like hummingbirds!
The NYS Health Department might want to test a bat that has been in your sleeping area while you were sleeping, so you might contact them first if you are concerned.

A Special Tribute to "Denali", A Very Special and Loved Rottweiler

 

Adam and Lydia Pulka lost their beloved dog, "Denali" on June 2, 2012. They would like to honor Denali's life by making a difference for other dogs in need. Adam and Lydia wrote the following about Denali and all that they went through with her. 

"As many of you know, Denali was very special to us. She helped us get through many transitions in our lives, such as, but not limited to, moving to North Carolina and then moving back to Buffalo to begin our teaching careers. Her sister, Laila, misses her very much, as they were best of friends. This past year, Denali fell sick to cancer, as she was only five years old. After returning home from vacation in April 2012, we noticed that Denali was not herself. It was very scary witnessing her sustain a seizure, and then finding out that she had a mass on her spleen. We were able to successfully have her spleen removed but then found out a month later that the cancer had now spread to her liver, and the biopsy revealed that her cancer was malignant histiocytic sarcoma. Making the hardest decision yet so far of our lives, we chose to make sure that Denali would not suffer any longer. Exactly one year ago from now, on June 2nd, 2012, Denali was euthanized. We believe a lot of these issues came from improper breeding of dogs, seeing that Denali's mother was only nine months old at the time. We never realized that this was such a huge issue, but doing research on breeders showed how common these unfortunate actions are. This organization came highly recommended through a friend of the family, and what's even more special is that one of the many miracles this organization does is they've saved and rescued Rottweiler puppy mills located in the area. The founder is always looking for donations, as well as foster parents to help her organization run and adopt dogs. In memory of Denali, we are looking to advocate and support this organization in hopes to stop improper breeding. Please donate whatever you can on behalf of Denali, if you feel that she has touched you in anyway. We can all make a difference, and thank you for your support. We will always love you, Denali."

If you would like to make a donation to help another dog in honor of Denali, you may do so by sending a tax deductible donation to:

"Denali", Fox Wood Wildlife Rescue, Inc, 11156 Old  Glenwood Rd, East Concord, NY 14055

or, use PayPal :  [email protected]

 

  

Sad Dog Rescued from Highway

This poor dog was dumped along a busy expressway. She was stiff from being hit by a car, and living off road killed deer.  She ran from anyone who tried to lure her or catch her.  We became proactive and  set up a feeding station for her, and when we saw her actually eating the food at the station, she was trapped just a few days later.  She is now living at Fox Wood and learning how to trust humans again!  

She is the little brown blob in the middle of the hill of rocks.  This is as close as we could get her her in a car. Photographing her on foot was impossible because we couldn't get this close

In the trap, growling and frightened because she is worried about her fate

She was a bag of bones 

 

Just a few weeks later: Happy at Fox Wood.  She has free roam of the house and yard. She loves our other dogs, loves car rides and loves to go for walks at the park with her pals.  She has gained considerable weight and has been dewormed, de-flead, and will be spayed soon. She is a very young dog that plays like a puppy. It is especially rewarding when she comes running to us now, instead of running away in fear as she did at first. We are so glad that we noticed this sweet dog curled up by the expressway fence and decided to take action to help her!

 

Our Response to Visitor Requests...

In the past year, many people have asked to visit Fox Wood to see the animals. Please allow me to list a few reasons why I am very hesitant to have visitors, and also to do another annual fundraising Open House:

1. By nature foxes and coyotes are very shy and visitors stress them out.  This isn't a zoo, its a sanctuary- designed for the safety and comfort of the animals. I feel trying to profit from that or exploit the animals is unethical and unfair to the animals. Where I could probably get more donations by allowing visitors, I don't believe it is ethical to exploit the animals for money

 

2. I tried an annual one day only Open House fundraising event for several years. Many wonderful people contributed auction items, baskets, helped run the event. But one person arrived early, not identifying himself, and proceeded to interrogate me as to why my foxes and coyotes were not allowed to run free outside their pens. I can't believe I was forced to explain this to someone, and forced to be kind to this person while I was desperately trying to prepare things for hundreds of guests. Uneducated extremists are not nice to have around!

 

3. The following year, another Open house, and people who should have been working together started bickering. Really? Then an anonymous writer sent a letter to me  after the event complaining that they saw a guest drinking a beer at my event. So, my guests, who were large contributors by the way,  are not allowed to have a beer on a hot, sunny, summer afternoon at my Open House Event?  The anonymous writer thought it might send a message out that all my donations would be spent on beer??? Really??  Look around. Does it appear that all our donations were spent on BEER? This was very frustrating, proving that it only takes one A****e to ruin a good  thing for everyone.

 

4. Animal people can be more venomous than snakes. I have seen in recent times good rescuers be attacked by people who feel they should be doing things differently. We see this a lot in rescue- which is one reason why there are so many small rescue groups.  They are passionate , opinionated people who end up disagreeing on how rescue should be done. They end up fracturing into smaller groups, or getting out of rescue all together. They often  fight bitterly, slandering each other and trying to destroy others. In the end, only the animals lose. This is why from the beginning, I've kept this rescue very close to the vest, not allowed others other than the close board of directors to get "involved'. This is why I am able to continue focusing solely on the animals, putting every single dollar donated into helping  the dogs and wildlife that come to Fox Wood.  The animals are the ones fed here- not egos.

 

5. I would rather go without nice clothes, trips, jewelry, a nice car, etc because I had to spend my own personal money to pay for medical care, food, housing , etc for the animals. I refuse to compromise my ethics, exploit the animals or have people pull my focus from the main objective here with petty differences, jealousy or hatred. At Fox Wood, the welfare of the animals  is what's important.

 

So, folks, that's why I take photos and post them. They are the next best thing to being here in person.  Please understand why visitors are politely declined. Thank you!

Coyote and Fox Urine As A Repellent For Wildlife

 

We are excited to announce that we have moved!!!! For the newest and latest photos and information, please go to our new home page: 

http://www.foxwoodwildliferescue.org/

 

Humanely save lives! January, February, March,  April and May are the best times to use predator urine to get unwanted wildlife families to move from unwanted areas.  Coyote urine can be used to get a mother fox, raccoon or  skunk to move her young.  This will save you money, aggravation and  neighbor complaints, by convincing the mother of the young that she must move her babies to a safer location because the coyote urine will make her think that they are in danger where they area.   Through the years, I have gathered urine soaked bedding material from my coyote pens to give to people that were having issues with wildlife.  They have used the urine to encourage raccoon mothers to safely relocate their young without having to trap the female and then destroy the young left behind because they didn't realize she had young.  In New York State, wildlife rehabilitators have to be specially licensed to raise orphaned raccoons and because of the prohibitive requirtements only a handful of rehabilitators for orphaned raccoons exist.  These rehabilitators get filled up to the maximum # of baby raccoons they can handle very early in the year. that leaves hundreds of thousands of orphaned baby raccoons and the people who find them without options.  These numbers could be greatly cut if people would use a combination of  light, noise and coyote urine soaked bedding material to encourage momma to find another location to raise her young.  Many wild mammals do not want to keep their young in an area where there are predators such as coyotes and foxes.   Red foxes don't want to raise their young where there is a coyote roaming nearby.  If a coyote finds a littler of young fox, it will kill them.  They do this to ensure there is enough prey for their own pups. Sprinkling coyote urine soaked materials near a red or gray fox den will encourage momma fox to move her pups to a "safer" location.

Recently, a friend of mine had chipmunks chew the wire harness of his brand new truck causing some very expensive repairs that were not covered under the warranty.  It seems the new harness coating is "environmentally friendly" and tasty to rodents.  He had the problem repaired, with new "environmentally friendly" wire harness coating.  Worried it would happen again, he picked up some coyote urine soaked material and put it into a metal box with holes in it. He placed this under his truck in the parking spot.  Interestingly  enough, not only have chipmunks not chewed the new harness, but he hasn't even seen a chipmunk anywhere near his house since. Prior to that, there were many, many of them in his wood piles and such. 

I've been using Red fox urine from my fox pens to make skunks and raccoons relocate themselves for years. They don't want to be anywhere near foxes or coyotes - especially if they have young. I've been a licensed humane nuisance control agent for 19 years.  Unlike others who just trap and destroy, I work with the animals natural instincts to get them to leave on their own- saving lives!

Many people have come to get coyote urine to keep deer, rabbits and woodchucks from eating their garden vegetables, hostas and flowers. 

Because of my need for donations, I am going to offer coyote and fox urine soaked bedding to the general public via my website.  It is a cruelty-free product and  unlike the fur farms and trappers where coyote and fox urine is gathered now, my coyotes and foxes live comfortable happy lives at my sanctuary.  Call it "happy pee" if you want, but it sure works, and smells and performs better than the bottled stuff created by animals under stress  or killed.  I will gather it fresh when I get a request, and ship it out that day.  The money raised will go straight toward the care of injured and orphaned wildlife and also for making the living conditions for the permanent coyote and fox residents better and happier for them. 

At present, I will mail the urine soaked bedding in plastic bags in a padded envelope. A one gallon ziplock bag will be $40 shipping and handling is free!  It can be purchased by clicking on the tip jar, and donating $40 to Fox Wood. Write a brief note and tell me if you prefer coyote or fox urine.  You may ask me any questions by e-mailing me at :  [email protected]

This years pups are rolling in one by one!

Healthy 2 week Old Fox Pup Sleeping

 

Short tailed Weasel Hit By Car

This little guy is recovering after being hit by a car.  Notice that it is half-way between its winter and summer colors! Animals that change colors from summer to winter are Seasonally dimorphic.  

Fox Pup Opened His Eyes Sunday Night

Hopefull some bnuddies will arrive soon for him!  The adult Red foxes, Boo and Handsome Boy are anxious for a youngster, but he is way too small to put him in with them yet.  Despite how much handling he must receive at this age for proper care, once he goes in with Boo and Handsome Boy, his surrogate parents, he will find out that foxes are much more fun to be with than humans! 

First Red fox pup of 2012! Just a little guy, only a few days old. Witnesses say that they saw his Momma carrying him when something frightened her. She dropped the pup and ran. Despite giving her many hours to retrieve the pup, she never came back for him. Probably a first time momma.

Bats in Homes in the Winter

 

During the winter many bats, especially Big Brown bats in Western New York hibernate in homes.   During mild weather, or when the home might be heated warmer than usual, the bats will wake up and search for food or water.  They often follow beams of light streaming in from lit rooms, thinking it is the way outside. It might be the light from a hallway, a tv or a reading light. These beams duplicate the light of dusk that bats use to find their way outside from attics during warmer months.

Many people are terrified of bats and they panic when they see one flying around their room at night. The bat is equally terrified - as he/she was planning on flying outside for a sip of water or a meal of insects. To send the bat out into the cold winter air is a death sentence for the bat, as is ignoring its need for water.  When bats wake from hibernation, their fat stores are rapidly depleted, often to the point where it will starve to death before spring. In addition, after three days of being awake and not getting water, the bat will become dehydrated and will perish.   

Ideally, in this situation, the bat should be allowed to re-enter its state of hibernation after getting some food and water. This is not an easy process, as the bat needs to be kept awake long enough to be re-hydrated and replenish depleted fat stores with a special diet, then allowed time to digest the food and slowly re-enter the hibernative state.  But who will do this?  Not an easy, safe  or legal task for the average person who cares about bats. It is difficult to duplicate the conditions of a bat  hibernaculum. The temperature and humidity have to be just right. Years ago, some bats could be "overwintered" in refrigerators.  But with the new "frost free" refrigerators, all moisture is extracted from the bats body during the "frost free" process and the bats will die. Ideal conditions are those that are found in wine cellars.  Wine Humidors have been suggested, but since they are "air tight" the bats would suffocate.   Fox Wood is trying to find a solution to this dilemma so that we can help more bats.  

There are precious few people who understand bat biology, and even fewer in New York State. With White-Nose Syndrome decimating our Little Brown bat populations, there is a possibility that this disease could spread to our Big Brown Bats- and what will be the costs to the environment and  humans as a result of the loss of these bats?  Insect populations would spiral out of control,  pesticide use would have to be accelerated and that's not going to be a good situation.  

Please be kind to bats.  If you know there are a few hibernating in your attic, please allow them to stay at least until spring.  Use caulk to seal off cracks and holes that might allow them into your living space.  If you need to have them removed, please wait until spring and hire a reputable, environmentally conscious Bat Excluder to install one-way doors and check valves after insuring all cracks and holes where the bats may re-enter are sealed or repaired.  In New york, the rule of thumb is "June or July, let 'em fly".  This means that the bats have their young in the very beginning of June, and so you will need to have them excluded before June, and wait until at least the second week in August when their young can fly to attempt an exclusion.   If you have bats in your home that you don't want, then you need to take a close look at your home.  If you have bats getting in, you also have bees getting in, and warm air escaping in the winter. Many bat excluders are experienced carpenters who can advise you on necessary repairs. 

 

Here is our Annual Fox Wood Newsletter for 2011. I hope you enjoy it! Merry Christmas!

Download Newsletter2011 (Autosaved)

Fox Wood Facility and Sanctuary

Check us out on Facebook! http://www.facebook.com/pages/Fox-Wood-Wildlife-Rescue-Inc/140252331913

Our 2010 Christmas Newsletter! Enjoy!

Download Fox Wood Newsletter 2010

 

If for some reason you can't open the file, please e-mail us and we will send you a copy!

Coyotes Enjoying The Snow in Their Pen

Little Boy and Little Girl love their big excercise pen and the first big snow of the year is lots of fun to play in!  Please consider donating to Fox Wood to help support us so we can continue to provide our unreleasable animals with a high quality of life.   Doantions can be made via the "Tip Jar" on the upper right -hand area of the home page, or via the United Way through your employer.  We also can accept Paypal donations to "f[email protected]".  Have a wonderful holiday season!

The busy wildlife season is over. Time to rescue a few more dogs!

Open House and Basket Auction fundraiser Sunday June 6th, 2010 from Noon- 4 PM. Come and see our beautiful foxes, coyotes, rescue dogs and more! Music by Roger Hill and friends, great food by Fredi.
Donations of baskets or silent auction items gratefully accepted. This is the only event we have all year. Please come out and have fun and support our work!
Where: 11156 Old Glenwood Road, EAst Concord, NY 14055
Phone: 716-592-1861
e-mail: [email protected]

Check out this video of this years fox pups enjoying our adult female, Boo!

Download Boopups2 008

 

13 pups so far! This is them snuggled up in their little fox house, and just woke up and going to go into their BIG pen to excercise and play all day!

Open House Sunday June 6th Noon- 4 PM!

Come see out beautiful coyotes, foxes, dogs and other animals. Stroll through our gardens and feed the Koi in our ponds. Visit our Open House Sunday June 6th  between noon and 4 PM and support our work to help injured and orphaned wildlife and abandoned dogs.  Chinese and Silent Auctions, donations welcome! Its a beautiful drive to East Concord, NY!! For more info e-mail [email protected]. For directions, use Google or Yahoo Maps to :  11156 Old Glenwood Road, East Concord, NY 14055

Cougar Hit By Car in Sardinia, NY

Here we go again... another cougar hoax, but this one is spreading like wildfire thanks to technology.  Local people in southern Erie County are getting cell phone texts with a photo of a deceased cougar on the back of a pickup truck (allegedly a Conservation Law Enforcement Officer's truck) . Depending on the sender, the text may or may not contain details designed to make the hoax more believable, such as the weight ( 196 lbs) or the DEC tag in its ear. Reportedly hit by a car at the corner of route 39 and Savage Road in the town of Sardinia- a place where cougars frequent (where is my "sarcasm" font when I need it?)

So where is the media on this? When the young couple hit a black bear on the 400 expressway in East Aurora, the media was all over that for days, and black bears are fairly common in the area. Yet a cougar in a place where they are not indigenous gets no coverage?  Hmmm... that might be a red flag there.  Reporters like to be able to have facts to base their stories on - there must be no facts, only fiction here. With all the snow on the ground, there must be extensive cougar tracks in the area, right? Surely it didn't fall out of the sky into the road.

OK, so then maybe the DEC confiscated it in their on-going effort to deny releasing cougars in the area (sarcasm font again) . They are accused of releasing cougars, they are accused of releasing coyotes too. The fact is, they haven't released either. State and Federal laws  prohibit the release of non-indigenous animals into an area without extensive research, public meetings, etc.  and then, there is the question - WHY??  What would be the end result? To control the coyotes (hahahaha!) no. Cougars won't control coyotes. Control the deer? I thought there weren't enough deer because the coyotes were eating them all (sarcasm font again) 

 
 Lets look at the photo that is circulating.  Notice the hunting dog boxes in the bed of the truck, not customary or standard in the DEC trucks. Notice the red spot behind the cougar's left elbow- looks like a gunshot wound to the vitals, perhaps done while shooting the cougar out of a tree after it was treed by the dogs- in a state where it is legal to do so (not legal in New York).  Look at the bloodied inside right front paw, possibly done by the dogs after the cougar fell dead out of the tree, or perhaps the lethal heart/lung shot sprayed blood on the chest and down the inside of the front leg.  How could being hit by a car broadside cause an injury on the inside of a leg?  If a large cat was hit by a car going the posted 35 mph along this road, the cat most likely would have survived, especially since it obviously wasn't hit in the head. But lets just say the driver was speeding and wacked him good- probably would have totaled the car, and the cat would have been pretty mangled to have been killed.  This cat just has a little red spot on its side behind the front leg and a bloodied inside leg.   Look at the snowmobiles in the background. This photo evidence looks like it was taken in a field out west. Check out other cougar hoaxes on http://www.dec.ny.gov/animals/44564.html   or http://www.snopes.com/photos/hunting/mountainlion.asp

There is always the outside chance that someone had a pet cougar that escaped. There is opportunity to buy all kinds of exotic animals at Mt Hope auctions in spring and fall. Possibly, but a cougar of this size, looks to be an adult male, would hardly make it to this size without being noticed at some point in someones home. However, noting the other clues given by the photo, i.e. the nature of the injuries this is likely not the case. 

Someone is having a great deal of fun by creating this hoax and they sure do have a lot of people believing it- good job, whoever you are- people really are gullible some times! Why not do one with Bigfoot next?

Snowy Day

Annual Newsletter Christmas 2009

Download Foxnsltrwint09r

 

Gray Fox!

 Many people never get the chance to see the elusive Gray fox. This is mostly because they are more nocturnal and deep woods than the more commonly seen Red fox.  Grays tend to be more secretive, hanging out more in the areas where raccoons are than in the open fields.  Unlike Red foxes, Grays can climb trees.  In fact ,grays share a lot of characteristics in common with raccoons. They are very susceptible to Distemper, so much so that simply using the wrong Distemper vaccine can cause a gray fox to come down with the disease. Even with great care, Distemper is not a disease they are likely to survive. Like raccoons, a rabid Gray fox can be quite aggressive and rabid gray foxes are often misidentified as Red foxes. This is probably because of the rust coloration around their ears and neck. It is my belief that when the Health Department lists the rabid animals throughout our state that they should not be lumping Red and Gray foxes into one "fox" category- Reds and Grays are two completely different animals. Photo of "Baby Fox" courtesy of photographer Robert Watroba

Fox Wood Wildlife Rescue Open House August 30, 2009

You are invited to the First Ever Fox Wood Open House

 When: Sunday August 30^th, 2009

Time: From 10 am – 5 Pm

Where: 11156 Old Glenwood Road, East Concord, NY

Parking is limited to the street (sorry!)

Come and see our beautiful  property, coyotes, foxes, rescue dogs and more! Food and drink, Chinese Auction, vote for your favorite animal, and sponsorship opportunities.

We are grateful to accept donated Chinese auction baskets and items as well as donations of baked goods- or whatever you might be able to contribute to help make this fundraising event a success. 

For more information, contact Elise at 716-592-1861 or [email protected]

Check us out on the web: www. http://foxwoodrehab.typepad.com/my_weblog/

 

For the comfort of our animals, please leave your own pets home on that day

The Pups are Here!

So far, there are ten orphaned fox pups here.  All of these pups now have a family, including a wonderful old fox that mothers them and makes sure they grow up fearing humans. Our pups often grow to be larger than the other wild pups the same age.  We attribute that to excellent diet, room to play and grow and Heather, our old female that mothers them.  What a difference it all makes.

Another Special Dog : "Sammy"

Sammy is an abuse and neglect case.  He is still shy because of the abuse and wouldn't have done well in a shelter atmosphere, so we brought Sammy to Fox Wood! We LOVE him!  He is so sweet and easy going. Sammy will get his shots, worming and be neutered shortly. Sammy is a clearly a Border Colllie mix and will make some lucky adopter a loving companion. If you are interested in giving Sammy, or even Herbie (posted prior below) a forever home, please contact Fox Wood!