You Can Buy Frozen Mice on Amazon!
Then the police called me
I received a call from an unknown local number a few weeks ago. And if you’re like me, your first thought is SPAM - ignore it. But, I played the maybe it’s really someone trying to reach me phone roulette.
“Is this Sharon Wishnow?” the caller asked?
“Yes,” I said, still suspicious I was about to be offered business financing, student loan debt reduction, or a free cruise.
“This is Lt. Corbin from the Fairfax County Police Department.”
I was silent as my stomach twisted into a panic knot for what felt like an embarrassing long time but was likely two seconds.
What had I done? Or, who was hurt? (so what does that say about me?)
“I’m calling about your inquiry to speak with someone in animal control. How can I help you?”
Palm slap to forehead. “Yes!”
I’m researching my next book and asked to speak to animal control about what they do.
Lt. Corbin was super helpful and arranged for me to interview an animal control officer and a wildlife biologist.
The Llama Put Up A Fight
Two weeks later I had one of the best expert interviews I’ve conducted in a long time…until the one I had the following week.
I met with two long-time members of the Fairfax County police force about their work. Fairfax County is unique in that they have animal control police officers. These are badge, gun, and cuff carrying members of the police force with specialized training to handle animal issues. They can also make arrests. They receive calls 24/7/365 and handle everything from dog bites to snakes in the laundry room.
I learned the animal control officers aren’t allowed to climb ladders. If you suspect you have a bird or bat in your fireplace, or you hear scurrying at night in your attic, you need to call a wildlife exterminator. And if said animal is capture, they are not relocated to a farm in upstate anywhere, they are euthanized. But why?
The wildlife biologist explained that there is a fear of sick animals introducing disease into a healthy population. Additionally, many animals are territorial and areas can only support a certain amount of wildlife. Introducing new wildlife may cause issues to all the animals.
More on that in bit.
Animal Control Officers are not mean-hearted dog catchers. They do this work because they love animals. The officer told me they do their best to rescue injured animals and bring them to qualified wildlife rehabilitators.
They told me how to catch a bat (they use something like a coffee can with holes) and about the invasive red-earred slider turtle.
The story on the invasive turtle is they became hugely popular pets right about the time Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles became popular. Uh-Oh! This Midwest native is now naturalized in the county. And while they are invasive, they are not eliminated like the newest baddie, the lantern fly.
I also heard a story about a bear dragging a large bag of birdseed down I-66 and was directed to this video of a llama.
All great interviews bring up more questions. One critical item I learned is that animal control is handled differently in each state and sometimes within different parts of a state. My next story takes place in Upstate New York.
Great Interview Part II
Keep reading, the frozen mice are coming
Meet Trish Marki, volunteer, licensed animal control rehabilitator. Trish is a volunteer (unpaid) with North Country Wild Care. For the past twenty years, she and her husband have rescued and nursed wild animals in their home in Upstate NY.
New York has different laws concerning animals. They have Environmental Control Officers (ECOs). These professionals handle all environmental concerns from chemical spills, invasive species, and a myriad of animal issues. Then there are Nucos - Nuisance Wildlife Control Officers - private for profit companies/people licensed to remove animals. And finally you have wildlife rehabilitates, like Trish.
Different rehabbers specialize in different animals. Trish is trained to handle most injured wildlife but prefers owls. We talked for over two hours! I heard how she rescued two bear cubs with powdered donuts as bait; the proper way to capture a loon - you get them at night and blind them with a flashlight beam; and all the trouble people cause when they “kidnap” baby animals that are perfectly fine. Like the time a man drove a fawn across state lines from Virginia (after hunting its mother) and then proceeded to paint its hooves purple and parade it on a leash.
Back to the why you can’t move animals.
The Virginia deer population has an outbreak of chronic wasting disease. The deer in upstate NY do not. The beautiful fawn had to be put down because there was no way to determine if she carried the disease and could/would infect the local healthy population.
Wildlife calls skyrocket in the spring when babies of all species are born. Mother does will leave their fawns for hours at a time and return to feed them. They often pick open areas near homes weighing the risk of humans (low) to the risk of predators (coyotes - high.) Most predators are fearful of humans so the mother doe is making a choice. Mother rabbits leave the nest all day and return to feed the babies. Baby birds (fledglings) on the ground are usually fine and learning to fly with mom and dad bird watching nearby. All new life needs to learn to survive. As humans we can best help by doing nothing and observing. If mothers don’t return, then call for help. And never try to nurse an animal unless you’re trained.
You Found an Injured Animal?
If you find an injured animal, or are involved in a vehicular accident, you can call your local police. But… depending on where you live, you may not be able to reach someone if it’s outside business hours. Trish wanted me to tell everyone about Animal Help Now.
This online resource works all over the United States. You can search for wildlife rehabilitators in you area. She says that’s it’s often more up to date than official lists.
North Country Wild Care is all volunteer. Trish does this work because she loves it. But she isn’t paid and the organization relies on donations. After my interview I went online to make a contribution. I clicked on the Amazon wishlist and learned you can buy frozen mice!!
If you keep lizards or snakes or know someone who does, you may already know this. But I didn’t.
What does a bag of frozen mice feel like? Is it lumpy like a bag of dumplings or ravioli? How heavy are 50 large frozen mice? Do they individually freeze the mice then bag them like frozen fruit (so they don’t clump)? Do you defrost the mice before use and can you refreeze? It looks like a zip top bag but is it a good one, or one that never really closes and the mice just fall out and roll around in the freezer like peas?
Oh, don’t be squeamish! I guarantee that by the end of the week you’ll share this with someone. “Hey, did you know you can buy frozen mice on Amazon?”
Strive has a video with jazzy music (I’m not joking ) about the mice and their sizes/stages. Don’t watch before you eat. And if you want to buy a bag ($119.99) because you can, consider buying it off the North Country Wild Care Amazon Wish list. Trish’s owls would appreciate it.
Love this and I have ordered frozen mice online for snakes!!! Also, we had an outbreak 2 years ago of chronic wasting disease (Upstate NY, Hudson Valley). It was devastating, to say the least.
Love all the insight into animal control.
Informative and fascinting!