B: It is 9 pm Thursday evening and no matter how many times I wash my hands, they still smell like squirrel.

A: Like some wildlife version of Lady Macbeth, Britt had been scrubbing away at her tainted hands all day. She needs to accept that we are marked, and shall never again not smell of squirrel. And formula.

B: Out damn spot of formula on my shirt! Right now, all of us at Second Chance Wildlife Center are hand feeding about 50 squirrels at 8 am, 12 noon, 4 pm and 8 pm, and offering “mush bowls” of formula and bread to an additional 30 squirrels at 9 am, 1 pm and 6 pm. Life is hard after the summer interns leave.

A: I always found it a somewhat cruel twist of fate that the interns leave just as some of our most labor-intensive patients flood our rooms. Since mom squirrel doesn’t even let her babies out of the nest until they are twelve weeks old, each squirrel is guaranteed at least a couple months stay at the Center. That’s a lot of babies for a lot of time!

B: Every year we usually have to over-winter at least a 100 squirrels as we here at SCWC do not like to release juvenile squirrels after the first frost of the fall. By that time, all of the good food has already been cached and our former babies would have a very rough time finding enough food to help feed them throughout the winter. And Maryland winters can be pretty rough on our squirrels.

A: Squirrels must bury roughly four hundred pieces of food for there to be enough for them to find and eat during the winter months, when food is harder to come by. Studies estimate that they are able to remember the location of up to 80% of their stored food sources. That pretty impressive considering they lack complete depth perception and have a hard time telling how far away things are.

B: Interesting turn-around for a mammal that spends much of its time in trees. Squirrels do not like to make leaps over six to eight feet long, which is why they tend to venture out as far as possible on each branch before leaping to the next nearby tree. Many of our impact-trauma squirrels, in fact, come to us because they were unable to complete the landing and fell hard smack on the sidewalk or park pathway.

A: Impact trauma has had ill effects on more than one of our patients currently in house. A Snapping turtle that I’ve been working on was hit by a car and the impact torn loose a chunk of and cracked areas of his shell.  The open chunk became quite infected and somewhat necrotic, requiring aggressive wound management. I used two types of antibiotics as well as a dextrose treatment to fight the existing infection and preventing any new ones. I’m happy to report that the treatments appear to be working and the infection has loosened its grip on the wound. The exposed flesh has receded and given time, the shell should regrow.

B: Another patient that will certainly need to be over-wintered as these ecothermic reptiles rely on external temperatures to dictate their metabolic rate. By keeping them warm and not allowing them to hibernate through the winter, the turtles will continue to eat, soak, swim and heal at a much faster rate than they would had they remained injured in the wild.

A: We’ve been looking forward a lot in this blog and we’d like to continue to do that by reminding you all about our annual Open House! Early preparations have already begun- sign-up sheets are up and donations for our Raffle are being collected.

B: Plus cakes for the Cake Walk! All the kids that come to our Open House love the opportunity to win a cake. All the adults that come love the folk singers and educational information we always hand out. The staff loves meeting new people and spreading the word that Second Chance Wildlife Center in Gaithersburg, MD is here to help you with all of your wildlife questions and concerns. Not only do we care for sick, injured and orphaned wildlife from Maryland, Washington, DC, Virginia, West Virginia and occasionally Pennsylvania, we also act as an information source for everyone who calls. We have received phone call inquires from Ohio, New York, Alabama, Florida, Missouri, Arizona, even California!

A: Not to mention India and Australia. So don’t hesitate to give us a call with any questions or concerns you may have. Though I don’t know how much advice we can dispense about kangaroos and wallabies. Definitely don’t feed them off your back porch.

B: In fact, try to refrain from feeding any animal off your back porch. The raccoons do not need the help. See you next week!

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.