TLC for elderly wildlife: Long term care at Northern Ontario's Science North
'We do quite a bit to make sure our animals are quite comfortable as they age'
Northern Ontario's science centre is working to care for its wild animals, which one could say are getting a little "long in the tooth."
Science North's porcupine named 'Quillan' died last week at the age of 14.
"Quillan was a very old porcupine, he lived here at Science North for 14 years," said Meghan Mitchell, a staff scientist at the science centre.
"A wild porcupine's life span in the wild is about eight to 19 years. He was diagnosed with kidney disease a couple of years ago."
Mitchell works in the centre's nature exhibit, where you can see and touch everything from frogs, snakes and turtles, to flying squirrels, a skunk and a beaver.
Many of those animals, like Quillan, came to the centre because they were injured or orphaned, and are now reaching their senior years.
"We do quite a bit to make sure our animals are quite comfortable as they age," Mitchell told CBC News.
That includes modifying habitats, so they are more accessible to aging animals.
"We had an aging flying squirrel and he wasn't able to climb and jump around and glide as much anymore," she said.
"So we built him a series of ramps so he could get around his habitat."
The centre's beaver, called Drifter, is between 16- and 18-years-old. Beavers usually don't live past 15 in the wild.
"He is very much monitored by our veterinarian," Mitchell said.
"He does have arthritis, so we do give him medicine for that."
Older animals love belly rubs
Mitchell said there are plenty of benefits to having elderly wildlife around, especially for younger visitors.
"The value of having an older animal here is when visitors come. They get to experience growing up with that animal," Mitchell said.
"It also shows a different side to the animals as well. We generally find our older animals are more cuddly," she said.
"Drifter the beaver has attached himself to [Science North staff], and loves belly rubs and scratches and being brushed. When he was younger, he didn't appreciate it as much."
Mitchell said it's hard not to get attached to older wildlife and mourn the loss of them when they're gone.
"We don't consider them our pets, but we do consider them our coworkers. We spend a lot of time, effort and love to care for them, so we do unfortunately get attached."
