Katie Says: Spring is full of surprises!

This weekend I decided to install a container pond in my backyard. A container pond is a simple, inexpensive way to add water to your backyard using just a flower pot and some native aquatic vegetation. (For more information on container ponds, be sure to attend my family program “Take the Park Home with You! Creating Backyard Wildlife Habitats” in May!) As I dug the hole for my pond, I discovered the tunnel of a burrowing animal, complete with a store of seeds and birdseed from my neighbor’s yard. I dug a bit further and happened across a nest of leaves and shredded plastic. “I must have found an animal’s old hibernation burrow!” I thought to myself. I began to pull out the leaves and found quite the surprise…six newborns!

Now I admit that although I am a wildlife biologist, I had no idea what mammal species these squirmy pink things were. It was quite possible that they were rats and not the chipmunks I initially thought they were, but all I knew is that charismatic species or not, I rudely unearthed these little guys from their safe home beneath the soil. In the spring, Briar Bush and other nature centers are flooded with all kinds of calls when people find baby wildlife much in the way that I did and do not know what to do. Is it best to put them back and rebuild the nest? Now that I have disturbed the nest, will the mother abandon it and the babies need to go to a wildlife rehabilitator? I called the experts at Schuylkill Wildlife Rehab Clinic and AARK Wildlife Rehabilitation & Education Center to be sure. They confirmed that in most cases, the best thing to do is to rebuild the nest and let nature take care of the rest.

So, I carefully put the leaves and as much of the stored food as possible back into the nest, and put a piece of cardboard to act as the wall that I had removed before filling in the hole. I then chose a new location for my pond, knowing that someday soon it may serve as a source of water for the young sleeping in their nest just beneath my feet. Have a question or a story of your own to share? Post a comment below; it’s free and you don’t have to create an account!