Fellow Mortals--Compassion Changes Everything

Every May when white-tailed deer fawns are being born, the calls start to come in from people who worry a baby is orphaned--because they don't see it with a mom--or injured, because the babies look so fragile.

Newborn fawn can weigh as little as 3 pounds and are helpless and therefore very vulnerable during the first few weeks of life.  Mama can't protect them from predators, so nature has provided the fawn with natural protections until it can run and keep up with the doe: coloration that serves as camouflage and helps it blend in with the grass and weeds and trees; a lack of scent so that it is not easily found by predators such as coyotes and dogs; the instinct to lie still and not react with more than a twitch of the ears or nose if approached by anyone other than mother deer.

Not all babies stay healthy.  If the doe is killed by a car and the baby is orphaned, or the baby is caught by a predator or in a fence and the baby is injured--it cannot stay in the wild or infection, blood loss or dehydration would take its life.  While mother deer won't abandon her baby if it is injured,she is helpless to do more than provide nourishment.

"Tiny Tim" is one baby who would have died if left without care. Deep puncture wounds to the head and neck, an ear that was nearly severed by a bite, and wounds down to his skull, meant this days-old baby would need surgery, follow-surgies and post-surgical care in order to preserve the baby's life and ear.  Thanks to Dr. Marcus Gordon, "Tiny Tim" is recovering and doing well today with his foster siblings, including a new little one who was also attacked by a predator and suffered similar injuries which were treated by Dr. Megan Slamka.

Wisconsin is a big state--26th of the 50 United States in area with 34.8 million acres of land.  The population of 6,000,000 people statewide is densest in the southeastern part of the state--the area served by Fellow Mortals, and Fellow Mortals is currently the only option for injured and orphaned deer from the southern 1/3 of the state.

Fawns brought to Fellow Mortals are cared for by advanced wildlife rehabiltators with the knowledge and experience to not just provide care, but to keep the babies wild.  This is more difficult than people realize, as the babies seek out human affection in the place of their mother's care.  We feed and clean in silence--not talking to the little ones, but doing what we need to do and then leaving them to sleep--as mom would do in the wild.  Fawns which are not raised to be wild will lack the healthy fear of humans that will help keep them safe after release.

We currently have 10 orphaned and injured white-tailed deer fawns in care.  Caring for this many babies takes16 hours a day to prepare formula, sterilize bottles and nipples, bottle-feed, provide clean bedding, potty the babies after each feeding and manage any wounds and provide necessary medications.  The daily cost for formula is now $60. Babies admitted into our care will gradually be weaned and moved to two large habitats on 52 acres in the country, where they will remain until after hunting season when they will be released together as a herd to join deer in the wild. Before a fawn is released, the cost of supplies and facilities alone will exceed $1,000 per animal.

Fellow Mortals doesn't charge a fee for the care we provide for any wild animal. Over 2,000 animals will find help and a second chance in 2017 despite the fact that less than 50 percent of animal rescuers donate anything toward care.  

So who does cover the cost of care for injured wildlife like "Tiny Tim?"  As our donor through Global Giving, you buy formula and supplies for this little fawn and hundreds of others, and give the people who find injured and orphaned wildlife a place to find hope as well as giving injured and orphaned wild ones the care they deserve.

Today, you made a difference for "Tiny Tim." 

Thank you.

While most of our reports talk about the wild animals brought to Fellow Mortals for care, we rarely talk about the work that is necessary to provide the best care possible to those animals.

Fellow Mortals has a small staff of five licensed wildlife rehabilitators who, with the help of college interns who join us during the busy months, provides care for approximately 2,000 injured and orphaned wild animals every year.

The way we feed a baby squirrel hasn't changed since 1985--but the tools we use to feed, like syringes and nipples, have changed and improved over the years, making it less likely for little babies to aspirate formula into their lungs by sucking too hard.  The formulas themselves have also changed, and continue to change as more is understood about the different nutrition required by each species.

While a baby beaver needs a formula very high in fat, that same diet would be too rich for a cottontail rabbit.

You might wonder how we know when a new nipple is available or a new disease is affecting songbirds, or if there is an antibiotic that is no longer used because something better is available.  The answer is that we, as professionals who educate the public about wildlife, also need to continue to be educated about how to care for the wildlife that the public brings to us.

In February, two of our rehabilitators attended the state wildlife rehabilitators conference, and just last week, I attended the national wildlife rehabilitators conference with Karen McKenzie.

In five days, we attended presentations given by rehabilitators and wildlife veterinarians from across the United States and Canada, and had the opportunity to meet people face to face where we had only met online previously.

In addition to attending the symposium, both Karen and I also presented papers to the rehabilitation community on subjects where we had something to share that could help them, as they were helping us.

We love to teach, and we love to learn.  To be good at anything, means to keep an open mind and never stop asking for help, and asking how to do it better.