Tiny baby skunks were rescued after their mother was hit by a car. They were only 11 weeks old. The people who rescued them and took them to safety named them Turing, Tesla, Grace, Carver, Franklin and Lovelace. Quite by chance, passers-by heard small cries coming from the ground and immediately looked to see what it was. After realising that the tiny babies had been left without their mother, they immediately undertook a rescue operation.
“The finders were able to capture three of them and realised they were very thin and cold, at which point they called us,” said Juniper Russo, executive director of For Fox Sake Wildlife Rescue.
For Fox Sake Wildlife Rescue
“We stabilised them and started to rehabilitate them …. and then, two days later, the finders heard more cries and realised that three more babies had been left deep in the cave. We were amazed that they had survived so long! Three more were harder to stabilise, but all six babies made it and grew big and strong.
These ferret babies were incredibly playful, just like real babies love toys like balls, bells, mice and more natural things like nuts and pine cones.
But what really shocked Mr Russo about these little babies? One day he visited the little ferrets, which he did every day, to clean their place and take care of them. But then he saw something that completely shocked him. Their little pelts were glowing green! Russo couldn’t believe what he was seeing!
Three adorable baby ferrets were all green! Russo had no idea how this had happened.
“When I first saw the green skunks, I thought I was having heat stroke,” Russo said.
In those days, the heat was too much, and Russo rightly thought that the fatigue and the intense heat were getting to him to the point where he began to have visual hallucinations. However, there was no question of that. And after Mr Russo had washed his face AND looked at the babies again, they were still green! After some time of observation, Russo and his assistants managed to solve the mystery!
“When I was buying them new toys, I saw a grass hut for sale,” Russo said. “It’s meant for guinea pigs and rabbits, but ferrets don’t mind! Some parts of the little hut were coloured green and blue, but I saw on the label that it was edible, so I knew the colours were safe…. I noticed they were stomping around in their water bowls and then rolling around in the grass of their hut.” said Russo.
In the end, this more than funny moment made many people laugh, including Mr Russo! The babies played with toys that can be easily removed and painted themselves, which confused everyone but also made them laugh. After a few weeks, the colour started to fade, but the fur is still green.
“They fade when they preen and roll in the water to cool off,” Russo said. “None of them have had any problems with it”.
In the next few months, the little ferrets will be ready to return to the wild. Although they were left without their mother, a team of well-coordinated volunteers ensured that the little babies received proper care and nutrition, and also trained them to survive when they leave the shelter.