I’m sitting at the Uwinka field station right now with a wet squirrel in a pillow case sitting on my lap. We trapped him this afternoon after a rain storm and he got so cold that he wouldn’t leave when we let him go.
He just curled into a ball and started whimpering. So he sits in my lap now, warming himself against the body heat of my lap. Hopefully he’ll warm up enough so that I don’t have to keep him overnight.
He just curled into a ball and started whimpering. So he sits in my lap now, warming himself against the body heat of my lap. Hopefully he’ll warm up enough so that I don’t have to keep him overnight.
I’ve had other overnight guests this week and I’m not sure if I’m prepared for another one. Starting last week, I began trapping three small jackal pups. Initially, I thought it was just a single errand pup that had wandered into my trap.
Then the next day a new pup- same size as the last (~2kg). The next day I had two pups in different traps. The following day a third pup.
The day after and the day after, the same three pups were trapped. Jackals are social animals- they are usually reared by at least a mother and a father, along with last year’s litter who are “helpers”. All of the older animals forage for pups for about the first 6-9 months of their lives. They provision them by regurgitating prey they have captured and then teach them to hunt. Having three pups in my traps, all from the same litter, day after day meant trouble. I suspected they were orphans and that their parents were victims of the poaching epidemic at Nyungwe. The pups still had their baby teeth and the fact that these extremely smart animals were coming into my trap every day likely meant they were starving. I caught the smallest of the trio a third time (I had affectionately named them Huey, Luis and Dewey- Dewey was only 1.7kg) and decided to take him back to camp.
We brought him back and started to build an outside enclosure for him. I contacted the Rwandan permitting officials who ok’d my plan to keep the orphans until their adult teeth came in, even offering to split the costs and labor of keeping the pups. However it quickly became clear that I was on my own. Dewey stayed in the field house with me for two nights and he ate (and pooped) like a champ. Downing bowl after bowl of whole milk and sardines. But he was petrified anytime I approached.
I worried that taking in the puppy would mean it would never be able to return to the wild because he would not learn valuable foraging skills from his species. I wrote three prominent carnivore biologists asking for their advice and got a mixed bag of responses and no consensus. Since there was some question as to whether Dewey was actually an orphan or just a “trap happy” mischievous pup, I decided to release him. The decision was also based on the sad reality that I knew I couldn’t rely upon any Rwandan park officials to help me raise the pup for a few months and knowing I wouldn’t be here in Nyungwe long enough to see that it was done properly. Rwandans don’t really like animals- and they definitely don’t like jackals. I worried for Dewey’s safety after I left Nyungwe. Was it possible (even likely) that locals from nearby towns would come for him after I left? I suspected yes. So with a heavy conscience and a lot of uncertainty, I released Dewey back at his original trap site two days later.
Then the next day a new pup- same size as the last (~2kg). The next day I had two pups in different traps. The following day a third pup.
The day after and the day after, the same three pups were trapped. Jackals are social animals- they are usually reared by at least a mother and a father, along with last year’s litter who are “helpers”. All of the older animals forage for pups for about the first 6-9 months of their lives. They provision them by regurgitating prey they have captured and then teach them to hunt. Having three pups in my traps, all from the same litter, day after day meant trouble. I suspected they were orphans and that their parents were victims of the poaching epidemic at Nyungwe. The pups still had their baby teeth and the fact that these extremely smart animals were coming into my trap every day likely meant they were starving. I caught the smallest of the trio a third time (I had affectionately named them Huey, Luis and Dewey- Dewey was only 1.7kg) and decided to take him back to camp.
We brought him back and started to build an outside enclosure for him. I contacted the Rwandan permitting officials who ok’d my plan to keep the orphans until their adult teeth came in, even offering to split the costs and labor of keeping the pups. However it quickly became clear that I was on my own. Dewey stayed in the field house with me for two nights and he ate (and pooped) like a champ. Downing bowl after bowl of whole milk and sardines. But he was petrified anytime I approached.
I worried that taking in the puppy would mean it would never be able to return to the wild because he would not learn valuable foraging skills from his species. I wrote three prominent carnivore biologists asking for their advice and got a mixed bag of responses and no consensus. Since there was some question as to whether Dewey was actually an orphan or just a “trap happy” mischievous pup, I decided to release him. The decision was also based on the sad reality that I knew I couldn’t rely upon any Rwandan park officials to help me raise the pup for a few months and knowing I wouldn’t be here in Nyungwe long enough to see that it was done properly. Rwandans don’t really like animals- and they definitely don’t like jackals. I worried for Dewey’s safety after I left Nyungwe. Was it possible (even likely) that locals from nearby towns would come for him after I left? I suspected yes. So with a heavy conscience and a lot of uncertainty, I released Dewey back at his original trap site two days later.
Some of the carnivore specialists who suggested the pups were just “trap happy” (i.e. attracted to the traps by the yummy bait) instructed me to move the two traps where I repeatedly trapped the pups. I moved them and returned the next day wondering if the pups would move to adjacent traps. So far, no more pups. I deployed a camera trap baited with a mound of sardines at the side where I last trapped the pups. I hope I can get some data showing that I was wrong and that the puppies do have parents- just perhaps parents not keeping a very watchful eye on their litter! I will keep you posted with the results!
Okan is fairly miserable. Not only is he immobile and fairly helpless (he can’t even carry a cup of tea by himself), but also I’ve been in the field for the better part of the last two weeks. While there is someone at the house who can always cook for him and help him out (between roommates and the cook), I decided to cut my trapping schedule and will return to Butare on Monday. For one, I am miserable without Okan, and my field intern is a pathetic replacement for Super Okan! And second, we hope to travel to Lake Kivu one last time before we return to the States on Sept 23rd. I know both of us feel like we deserve a vacation! Okan has been working very hard for Kaplan at home, and his patience with me being away has been heroic.
Update the next day: well, I put the wet squirrel in a basket near our campfire last night. My intern was up around 2am and said he was still alive, but by the time we got to breakfast at 5am, the fire was out, and our squirrely buddy was a goner. Presumably hypothermia. I was very sad. You can imagine my surprise when walking along the trail this morning to find a teeny tiny baby squirrel (of the same species) chirping along the trail’s edge. He was cold and alone.
We had a big rainstorm yesterday and I imagine he might have fallen out of the nest? I picked him up (he is about the size of half of my hand) and warmed him up a bit. Then I left him where I found him and went along with my day’s work. Three hours later I returned to find him- he had fallen off the trail and was crying. I called Okan and asked him to do some internet searches on baby squirrels: how do you know if it’s an orphan? How long do parent’s leave their offspring? Okan reported back that it was no longer than 2 hrs (according to the internet! For what that is worth) and that you could hand rear them with milk and some electrolytes. I returned a few hours later to find he was still where I left him. I gathered him and put him in the front shirt pocket for the walk home. By the time I got back, he had started moving around again (he was very cold when I found him) and started crying.
I warmed some milk with a teeny bit of sugar and salt and got my pipette out and he quite eagerly lapped up the warm milk. I filled a ziplock with warm water and placed him on it. What have I got myself into!?!? I’ve named him Harvey. I think Okan is pretty excited about our new friend too. I’m hoping our roommate might be bribed into baby-sitting when I return to the States later this month. In the meantime, he’s in a basket on his water bottle and with a towel over him. He cries for milk every 3 or so hours but otherwise sleeps. I wonder what would happen if I tried to bring my scrappy little buddy in my pocket on the plane home? Would his crying give me away? (just kidding folks). I’ll post pictures of all my wayward animal friends as soon as I have a decent internet connection next week. Pictures up soon!
We had a big rainstorm yesterday and I imagine he might have fallen out of the nest? I picked him up (he is about the size of half of my hand) and warmed him up a bit. Then I left him where I found him and went along with my day’s work. Three hours later I returned to find him- he had fallen off the trail and was crying. I called Okan and asked him to do some internet searches on baby squirrels: how do you know if it’s an orphan? How long do parent’s leave their offspring? Okan reported back that it was no longer than 2 hrs (according to the internet! For what that is worth) and that you could hand rear them with milk and some electrolytes. I returned a few hours later to find he was still where I left him. I gathered him and put him in the front shirt pocket for the walk home. By the time I got back, he had started moving around again (he was very cold when I found him) and started crying.
I warmed some milk with a teeny bit of sugar and salt and got my pipette out and he quite eagerly lapped up the warm milk. I filled a ziplock with warm water and placed him on it. What have I got myself into!?!? I’ve named him Harvey. I think Okan is pretty excited about our new friend too. I’m hoping our roommate might be bribed into baby-sitting when I return to the States later this month. In the meantime, he’s in a basket on his water bottle and with a towel over him. He cries for milk every 3 or so hours but otherwise sleeps. I wonder what would happen if I tried to bring my scrappy little buddy in my pocket on the plane home? Would his crying give me away? (just kidding folks). I’ll post pictures of all my wayward animal friends as soon as I have a decent internet connection next week. Pictures up soon!
