As I sat on our back deck the other day, watching one of “my” chippies fill his cheeks with peanuts, it dawned on me that I had only seen one or two chipmunks at Duck Pond Wildlife Center since I started writing this column about three years ago. Don confirmed they’ve had a few over Read More
Critter Chatter
Critter Chatter is published in the Town Line newspaper and reprinted on the Nature of Maine blog. This column is written by NRCM member Jayne Winters of South China and highlights the wildlife rehabilitation work of Donald Cote of Vassalboro, Maine, at the Duck Pond Wildlife Center.
Critter Chatter – Got Milk?
I wasn’t sure what this month’s article would be about, but after just a few minutes of talking with Don, we agreed a thank-you was in order to some local farmers who recently helped during a shortage of fresh milk for this year’s fawns. When I visited Duck Pond Wildlife Rehab in June, I was Read More
Critter Chatter – Release Updates
Although spring always brings admissions of injured, sick and newly orphaned wildlife to the Wildlife Care Center, May and June are also the months that find Don and his volunteers releasing rehabbed critters back to the fields and woods where they belong. The animals have depended upon human assistance to regain their health or simply Read More
Critter Chatter – Vicious Vermin or Rodent Regulator?
You never know what you’ll find in Don Cote’s living room at the Duck Pond Wildlife Rehab Center. When I visited him a few weeks ago to decide on a topic for this month’s article, and as soon as I walked in, I knew what it would be: weasels. I’ve never seen one in the Read More
Critter Chatter – An April Reminder
When visiting at the Duck Pond Wildlife Rehab Center a couple of weeks ago, I asked Don Cote if he had any thoughts about what we should submit for the April column. Without missing a beat, he said spring is the time we need to alert people that not all young animals that appear lost Read More
Critter Chatter – Preparing for Spring
While the recent signs of an early spring encourage most of us to anxiously look forward to warmer days and more outside activities, this time of year is one of mixed emotions for Don Cote and the volunteers at Duck Pond Wildlife Care Center. These last weeks of winter still require shoveling, plowing, and sanding; Read More
Critter Chatter – Who IS Punxsutawney Phil?
After reading Roland Hallee’s recent column about his groundhog buddy, Woodrow Charles, and his prediction of six more weeks of winter, I wondered if the Cotes have had many groundhog visitors over the years. I found an article Carleen wrote in 1997, so I thought I’d share some of it: “As their name implies, woodchucks Read More
Critter Chatter — Remembering Amy
It is with much sadness and great appreciation that this month’s column is written in memory of Amy Messier, who passed away unexpectedly on December 4, 2021. Amy had been a volunteer at Duck Pond Wildlife Rehab Center in Vassalboro for almost 20 years. Although unable to work most of this past year due to Read More
Critter Chatter – Changing Seasons
As most of our readers are excitedly anticipating the holidays and time off from work and school, daily chores at Duck Pond Wildlife Rehab continue, no matter the weather, dropping temperatures or reduced daylight. Carleen described preparation for winter in portions of earlier columns: From 2008: “The babies that arrived in the spring and summer Read More
