Last month, we took a look at some adorable photos of animal moms in honor of Mother’s Day. This month, let’s talk about some interesting animal dads that we see in the Wildlife Medical Clinic!
Red Fox
Red foxes are one of the animals we see on a fairly regular basis in the clinic, and they do
have some very cool dad-ttributes. See what I did there? Once the pups are born, the vixen (mom) needs to stay with her newborns, so the tod (dad) is responsible for providing enough food to feed the entire family! As the pups get older, dad will take them out to play, roughhouse, and learn valuable hunting and survival skills, all while giving mom a much-needed break!
Canada Goose
Canada geese are one of the species we care for who are exclusively monogamous, meaning that they choose one mate when they are about two years old, and stick together for life! Mom and dad both take turns sitting on their eggs to incubate them, then they work together to care for the hatchlings. Goslings will stay with their parents until after spring migration. Nesting dads and those raising goslings can be quite defensive of their brood, always working hard to protect their family!
Great Horned Owl
Great horned owls are always a clinic favorite, especially the fuzzy nestlings. While mom is working to keep her eggs warm sitting on the nest, dad is busy catching food for her. Once the babies hatch, both mom and dad work tirelessly to feed the owlets, who eat ¼ of their body weight every single day! That would be the same as a 140-pound person eating 35 pounds of food each day! A parent’s work is never done – the young can be seen begging their parents for food even up to 5 months of age, long after they leave the nest.
We’d like to say a huge thanks to all the great dads out there, both animal and human! Let us know what awesome things you’ve seen from animal dads on our Facebook page!
Written by Jamie Booth
