Normally it does not take wildlife rehabilitator Cindy Lakin very long to nurse baby animals to where they can be released back into the wild. However, the three baby river otters she recently acquired will need extra time.
The otters will stay at her Newport News rehabilitation site and home for nearly a year.
“They are one of the longest baby animals to stay in rehab,” she said, who volunteers her time.
Because of their extended stay, Lakin named them, Lilly, Coral and Kelp. She usually does not name the animals she cares for.
The baby otters were found under the crawl space of a Yorktown home. A construction crew working on the home found them. Lakin said that possibly the mother moved them there. The long week of rain recently may have flooded her den in the wild.
Their eyes still closed, Lakin and a volunteer-team of fellow wildlife rehabilitators tried for three days to reunite them with their mother. However, she never returned.
Lakin said baby river otters can be difficult to care for because they can develop pneumonia quickly. Unlike humans, they do not exhibit any symptoms.
“It can be like a silent killer,” she added.
When Lakin first got them, they were bottle fed infant animal formula that mimics their mother’s milk. Now they are eating a lot of minnows – about 70 a day each.
That is where the expense comes in. A Go Fund Me page has set-up to raise money to help feed them.
In addition to the river otters, Lakin is nursing eight fawns, 15 box turtles, a ground hog and a beaver.
To contribute to help feed the baby otters visit www.gofundme.com/f/otter-fish-fund
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