The woman who rehabs squirrels & raccoons in her home

Good morning, DMV! It’s Thursday, March 12.

I’m coming to believe that I’ve invited into my Daily Dose realm — my garden, if you will — readers of a special breed. Off-the-beaten-path doers. Seekers with an imaginative palate for a different genre of joy.

Last night, while going through your amazing reader-submitted photos, I stumbled upon this pic:

Cassie Trangsrud, 39, of North Arlington, Virginia, wrote: “I'm a wildlife rehabilitator. These are some of my first few squirrel patients of the year — I have fifteen right now, from the tiniest pink hours-old babies to juveniles that just opened their eyes.

“These are two sisters. Their nest was destroyed, and a good Samaritan brought them to a veterinarian, who contacted the Wildlife Rescue League. The Wildlife Rescue League coordinates transportation and logistics for wildlife needing rehabilitation in Northern Virginia.”

What, that’s it? Who is this woman? Is this her job? I had so many questions, so I reached out. Here’s what she had to say.

“It's not a job, just volunteering. Yes, I have fifteen baby squirrels right now. The feeding schedule can be intense. When they're pinkies, they stay in an incubator, and I feed them every three hours. I move them into a series of enclosures as they become more active and ready for release. I have two large outdoor pre-release enclosures, and I live on the edge of a park, so it's a great spot.

“I got into wildlife rehabilitation as a transporter (a volunteer who delivers wildlife to licensed rehabilitators) with the Wildlife Rescue League. I was delivering a raccoon to a licensed rehabilitator when she encouraged me to apply for a permit and agreed to be my sponsor (one of the regulatory requirements in Virginia to become a rehabber). Under my current permit, I can only take in orphaned wildlife, but I've been training so that eventually I can provide care for injured adult wildlife,” she said.

“So far, I have taken in squirrels and raccoons. I hope to graduate to bats and possums in the next few years. My sponsor helps DMV homeowners trap and medicate diseased foxes in the area, and I've been dispatched to medicate a few mangy foxes. The homeowner borrows a trap and, when it's set, calls us. We hide the medication in meat, so there’s no need to transport or even interact with the fox.

“One of the great things about doing this is seeing just how many people out in our community are willing to take time out of their day to help orphaned and injured wildlife.”

All of this begged more questions. She sent me more photos, including of these cute raccoons. What time frame are these photos from? She has 15 squirrels inside her home? I emailed her again — late last night; she kindly replied.

“Yes, all in my home. All the raccoon pics were last fall, furred squirrel pics last fall, and the ‘pinkie’ squirrel pics are from the past few weeks,” she said.

Why do you do this, Cassie? And what’s your favorite thing about doing this?

“I’ve always loved books and stories that imagine the rich inner lives of animals, and especially wildlife. Wildlife like squirrels and raccoons are so good at adapting to our environment that they’re basically invisible. That’s usually pretty great, because they’re wild and we don’t need to interfere with them. They don’t need to be our pets,” she replied.

“But, when a wild animal is in crisis, really when any being is in crisis, they experience that crisis alone. And that can be terrifying, because nature is so often unforgiving. We (humans) are the proximate cause of a lot of suffering — most of the animals that are brought to me are because nests were accidentally destroyed with a mower, or mom was ‘evicted’ from the attic, or there was a cat or a dog attack. 

“Caring for them and loving them back to health, with the end goal of getting them back out there and having adventures and hopefully having full lives, it just feels right. And it just takes small actions done consistently. And I feel like them, I guess — just trying to make it in a too-busy, too-loud, too-strange world. So it feels like it’s an act of self-love and self-compassion, too.”

And that, dear readers, warmed my heart and made the world feel right again. This pic below, a bit unfocused, is my favorite of the lot.

Your turn: Share your recent photos of life in the DMV here.

Tulip Day on the National Mall this Sunday: 150,000 free blooms for ticketed visitors.

The organizers say they distributed 12,500 tickets. I tried but couldn’t get tickets, and a few readers told me the same.

If you didn’t get tickets and want to go, the organizers say you can sign up for their waitlist at tulip-day.eu. If someone forfeits their tickets, the organizers will move people off the waitlist.

In other excitement this weekend we have Awesome Con — D.C.’s Comic Con, billed as “a celebration of geek culture, bringing over 60,000 fans together with their favorite stars from across comics, movies, television, toys, games, and more.” I’ve never been, but I love being downtown to see the cosplayers and ask them about their costumes. Some of these people work months on their outfits.

Geeks rule.

🦝