B: Good evening readers! Yesterday and today were full of pre-release evaluations leading up to, of course, more releases. Alicia spent much of yesterday afternoon on the phone, arranging for almost all of our Eastern box turtles to be taken back to exactly where they were found.

A: Happily, many of our wonderful clients are thrilled to have the opportunity to return these beautiful animals to their homes. Eastern box turtles are extremely territorial and need to go right back where they came from; were they to be placed some place they do not recognize, they will wander indefinitely, resulting in their death. With a little knowledge and a lot of caring, our clients are able to play an enormous and vital role in the rescue of a charismatic native species.

B: Even the water turtles need to be placed in the same water source where they were found. If they were introduced into a new water source, the turtles could have negative interactions with the turtles that already live there or could get seriously ill from the water’s bacteria. Remember, these Painted turtles, Red-eared sliders and Common snapping turtles have spent decades in the lakes, ponds, rivers and canal waters they inhabit.

A: I think that a big part of our job is to inform the public of little facts like that so that they can better interact with the sometimes mysterious, always beneficial wildlife that surrounds them. The other part of the job is feeding the thousands of hungry mouths!

B: Ah yes, the never-ending parade of gaping mouths. While the baby birds are finally (FINALLY) waning, the fall-season squirrels are completely, officially here. Right now, two groups of four and two tiny, precious little flying squirrels now inhabit my home office, much to my husband’s delight (as he does not have to feed them at midnight and four am).

A: The flyers are a special delight, with their fluffy heads and tiny fingers. We don’t get too many of them and we always get a thrill watching them grow up and join local communities. Communal animals are often willing to allow new members to join up even when they are not “family”, so we make sure to verify the presence of a group of flyers before releasing any to a particular spot. Learning to sniff out these elusive animals is both fun and educational and many wildlife/nature centers feature nighttime tours for that exact reason! Look for flying squirrel tours at your neighborhood nature center.

B: Alicia and I are looking forward to Friday when we can take one of our older litters of raccoons to their new home: part of the parkland (that includes a beautiful creek) that stretches out behind my family’s farm. Raccoon releases are one of my favorites as their curious nature causes them to exit the kennel within minutes and by the end of an hour, they have explored underneath several dozen rocks and up into many trees.

A: Releases are a uniquely rewarding experience and I’m happy to report that we’ve had releases almost everyday this summer! Just this morning we were able to send a Barred owl home with one of our wonderful local animal control agencies. Cooperative efforts between animal control agencies and wildlife rehabbers is absolutely crucial. They bring us several animals every day and help us to educate the public about the animals they observe and how they can better help them. Many people assume that humane societies and animal control personnel automatically euthanize any wildlife they pick up but that is just not true. It is against federal laws to put most species of birds down without a special license (which any licensed rehabber should have). Do not hesitate to call humane societies and animal control agencies for advice and help in lieu of an available rehabber.

B: And if any of them tell you thqt they will euthanize any wild animal outright, be sure to speak with their supervisor as these agencies need a wildlife rehabilitator’s permission to euthanize most wild animals. Hey Alicia, is that the sound of a few dozen baby birds clamoring for their last meal of the day?

A: Why I believe it is. We had better get moving!

B: Indeed. Check in next week, readers, where we will be sure to regale you with more tales of squirrel intakes and bird releases.

A: See you next week! Thanks for reading!

Questions? Comments? Email Alicia and Brittany at nut.house.ab@gmail.com. Want to learn more about Second Chance Wildlife Center? Simply go to www.scwc.org.

B: Our blog seems to have been disappeared into some internet blackhole. For more information about Second Chance Wildlife Center's 13th Annual Open House, please go to www.SCWC.org. Thanks for reading!