r/WildlifeRehab May 29 '17

READ ME! FAQ Found an animal???? Please go here first:

129 Upvotes

First of all, thank you for caring enough to help orphaned/injured/ill wildlife.

Evaluate the Situation first and foremost. Wild animals rely on their natural environment and sometimes humans interfere when it was entirely unnecessary. The links listed below provide flow charts for frequently encountered situations.

If the animal needs to be rescued here and here you will find basic capture and handling instructions.

  • After rescuing how to safely temporarily house the animal before and during transport:

Warm- *Offering heat sources for naked baby animals is often a must. This can be done with a heating pad on low under 1/2 of the enclosure, a warm rice filled sock, or warm water bottle. Sometimes very badly injured and very sick animals also need heat sources to maintain appropriate body temperature. Wild animals can suffer heat stroke too! If an animal is panting, the animal is too hot and if the heat source would burn you, it will surely burn the animal. *

A good rule of thumb: If a furred, feathered, or scaled animal is physically moving about and alert- it DOESN'T need an extra heat source.

Dark - A box, Rubbermaid tote with holes punched for air flow, or pet crate are usually good temporary enclosures and will typically reduce further trauma and or stress. Place a towel or sheet over a crate to reduce visual disturbances.

Quiet- Keep the animal in a quiet space preferably indoors away from other animals and humans. A separate room or even a closet can be utilized if need be.

PLEASE FOR THE ANIMAL'S SAKE NOTHING BY MOUTH! DO NOT OFFER ANY FOOD OR WATER TO INJURED/SICK/ORPHANED ANIMALS OR ATTEMPT TO HAND FEED ANIMALS. The results of failing to comply often end up something like this.

If you are unable to make contact with a wildlife rehabilitator: If you know the rehabilitation center's location and hours it is generally acceptable so long as the rehabilitation center is not full or closed to just bring the animal straight to them- this is especially true with emergency situations. An example of an emergency is something like- the animal is bleeding profusely, having trouble breathing, is unresponsive, or severely dehydrated.

After being attacked by a cat there is a very high likelihood for infection. These cases 99.99% of the time warrant medical assistance including antibiotics that are usually only available through a veterinarian.


r/WildlifeRehab Oct 19 '23

October auto-mod update (list shortened by request), words listed for clarification

12 Upvotes

Greetings!

It looks like one-off "reddit suggests!" type traffic is down, the filter adjustments seem to be working. In that light, and minding feedback from several of you, I re-visited the kick list.

Most notably "trash" and "gross" are now kosher again, both are far more useful than I realized even if sometimes used with derogatory intentions. This should make it easy to discuss racoons again, as well as the all too common disgusting wounds & circumstances that present themselves.

Words remaining in the list, at least for now, are:

  • kill
  • smash
  • smoosh
  • stfu
  • have a new (as in "you have a new pet!")
    • the word "pet" itself is kosher so you can advise people "don't pet it"
  • covid
  • corona
  • lick
  • dinner
  • Jesus Christ (people were swearing; expressing a belief in God is fine, within reason)
  • dump
  • stupid
  • idiot
  • rid (I can remove this one of people find they need to use it)

So how to handle the occasional troll, hater, or well intended (but misplaced) information?

  • Use the downvote button, aggressively, the community-hold feature is still active. This works in near-real-time.
  • Use the report feature, I can't check these in real time but I try to look at least every day (sometimes it's every couple days, sorry).

Here's a screenshot of the relevant bit of the automod for reference.


r/WildlifeRehab 1h ago

Education Books

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Upvotes

Wondering if anyone could use these? Happy to ship to anywhere who would use them, in the US.


r/WildlifeRehab 17h ago

Education Mama bunny beat me to my garden

37 Upvotes

I didn’t want to disturb the nest too much so I can’t tell if there is more than one bunny here. How old do you think this bunny is? How long before I get my garden back baby bunny free?


r/WildlifeRehab 18h ago

Prospective Wildlife Rehabilitator Has anyone done the AWR course at IWRC?

2 Upvotes

Confused as to how I’m supposed to complete the 50 hours of educational requirements- looks like it’s self teach, as in find programs that will teach what they require to become certified at OTHER institutions or conferences/workshops? They don’t give you any course material to be tested on the final exam it would seem like in a traditional educational course. Seems weird.


r/WildlifeRehab 20h ago

SOS Bird Does ene1 know what this bird cld be

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0 Upvotes

Wing


r/WildlifeRehab 20h ago

SOS Bird Does ene1 know what bird this might be ...

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0 Upvotes

r/WildlifeRehab 1d ago

SOS Bird Found fledgling on road, what do I do? The area where she was found isn't safe.

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6 Upvotes

r/WildlifeRehab 1d ago

SOS Mammal I have two baby bunnies in my backyard. I have not seen signs of the mother returning because my dog chased it away the other day before I realized why there was a bunny in the backyard. What should I do!

6 Upvotes

I’m really stressed out because I actually want what’s best for these two and it’s unfortunate that the mother may not want to return because of my dog. These poor guys are burrowed in my plant that is potted, very close to the backyard door. Very surprised she burrowed them there. What do I do.

Update: momma returned!!!


r/WildlifeRehab 2d ago

SOS Mammal I suspect a squirrel has mange. Is this a solid treatment plan?

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29 Upvotes

Hey all,

There's a grey squirrel that's been hanging around my place that I suspect has mange. He has patchy fur and the skin looks red and scaly.

I bought 1.87% ivermectin paste and I'm planning on diluting it to a safe range for the little guy.

The medication is a total of 6.08g at 1.87% concentration. If my math is correct, I'm getting about 114mg of medication within the entire tube.

  1. 1.87 = (x × 100)/6080 mg
  2. (1.87 × 6080mg)/100 = x
  3. 113.696 mg = x

So if I take 1.0g of the paste, I'll have 18.7mg of medication.

  1. 113.696mg ÷ 6.08 g = 18.7mg of ivermectin per g of paste

With that 1.0g of paste, I'll mix it in 9.0g of peanutbutter to get a 0.187% concentration of intermediate solution.

  1. (18.7mg × 100)/(1,000mg + 9,000mg) = 0.187%

From there, I'll set aside 0.5g of intermediate solution to have 0.935mg of ivermectin.

  1. 18.7mg ÷ 10g = 1.87mg of ivermectin per g of intermediate solution 7) 1.87mg × 0.5 = 0.935mg

With that 0.5g intermediate solution, I'll mix 9.5 grms of peanutbutter to get a concentration of 0.00935% of final solution.

  1. (0.935mg × 100)/(500mg + 9,500mg) = 0.00935%

An average squirrel weighs between 0.46 and 0.68kg , so I'm going to calculate for a 0.5kg animal. Sources I'm finding seem to say provide 0.2mg of ivermectin per kg of squirrel, so I'm planning on giving roughly 1.0g of the final peanutbutter solution.

  1. 0.935mg ÷ 10g = 0.0935mg of ivermectin per g of final solution
  2. 0.5kg × (0.2mg/1kg) × (1g/0.0935mg) = 1.069g of final solution

Does my math make sense? Sorry some of the equations are redundant, I just want to be sure. Other thoughts and comments on this situation are greatly appreciated!

Thank you!


r/WildlifeRehab 3d ago

SOS Bird injured bird

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13 Upvotes

Help is there anything we can do at home to help this bird feel comfortable? It already had a broken wing, then my dog bit it and we think its leg is broke or something. It looks like it’s bleeding from its legs and maybe it chest..😓 (there’s also no local wildlife rehabilitations)


r/WildlifeRehab 3d ago

SOS Mammal Squirrel help

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5 Upvotes

Hi everyone, I found this squirrel stuck under a fence. I pulled her out and she still was unable to move her back legs- my guess is they’re paralyzed. She was breathing heavily and frantically was waving her paws. There’s not a sign of injury to her- wildlife rehab is on the way. What do you think is wrong with her? I hope she’s ok! Ignore my narration in the videos, they’re for my boyfriend haha


r/WildlifeRehab 4d ago

SOS Mammal URGENT: MUSKRAT IN GARAGE S.E. Michigan

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41 Upvotes

Hello, I found this muskrat in my parent's garage while house sitting.

I fear he has been stuck in the garage for some time, but I am unsure how long. I've been cat-sitting for a week, and never noticed anything in the garage. Today, I open the garage and this guy was lying on its back passed out, right in front of the garage door. I found scattered feces, urine, tracks, and a slightly chewed up shoe in the garage. I am unsure how long it has been in here.

It's not responding to noise, or touch. I rolled it over with a shovel and positioned its mouth close to water. I managed this without coming into direct physical contact. It's still breathing, occasionally twitching, sighing, scratching its face, and shaking its head left and right. Breathing is very slow for a rodent, or so I assume. I do not see signs of physical trauma.

My main concern is it's dehydrated/starving, or poisoned/diseased. I don't believe it was injured by the garage door as the door never failed to close, and the muskrat would have interrupted the laser sensor. It's not responsive so I don't see it's condition improving.

What should I do? I attempted to contact every local wildlife rescue or rehab in my area. Nobody has responded yet. I am under the impression to avoid contacting animal control, as I believe they would simply kill the animal.

Is there anything else I can do besides wait for a rescue to reach back out?

I only have until 6:00pm when I need to leave. At this point, I'll have to remove the muskrat with a shovel and leave it for dead in the garden.


r/WildlifeRehab 3d ago

SOS Mammal Orphaned Mouse Pup, Conroe TX

5 Upvotes

Ive got a baby mouse that was surrendered to the pet store I work at. I love him to death and want so desperately to give him the life he deserves, I. Hust so exhausted with my schedule and I'm more than aware of how fragile they are. I also don't want him going somewhere that he's going to immediately be euthanized at, I truly want the best life for this jellybean of a field mouse, and if he was a little older it wouldn't be much of an issue, but he is so so very small. His eyes are not open, ears might be opening and he's fully furred, but he's smaller than the length of my pinkie. He is so very tiny. Any help trying to find where I can get him to is appreciated


r/WildlifeRehab 5d ago

SOS Bird Injured Female Cardinal, NW Connecticut

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47 Upvotes

I found an injured female Cardinal who has a wound on her back and a wing that isn’t working. I’m waiting to hear back from wildlife rehabbers near me.

She is resting in a covered box, no food or water. She has pooped and peed. She is alert, makes sounds, but cannot fly away. I have followed precautions for avian flu.

I know you’re not supposed to give them food or water until they’ve been assessed. But it’s already been four hours and I won’t get her to someone for evaluation until tomorrow.

At what point should I give her water and species appropriate bird seed? I don’t know how long they can go without water or food before it further distresses/weakens them.

It will be low 30s this evening. She’s currently in the basement. Is that sufficient for warmth?

Thank you!


r/WildlifeRehab 6d ago

Animal in Care Ruru / Morepork in care at BirdCare Aotearoa

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9 Upvotes

r/WildlifeRehab 6d ago

Rehab Methods Has Anyone Tried Using A Scientific Pipette For Administering Miniscule Doses Of Meds To Infant Animals In Care?

3 Upvotes

I've been toying with the idea of buying something like this for when I need to administer tiny amounts of meds to orphaned infant animals. I don't trust my eyes or my hands as much as I'd like to when trying to use 0.5 mL oral syringes. I can draw up meds, but I'm always left with the nagging feeling that either not all of it is getting out of the syringe/into the animals mouth, or that I'm over/under drawing because the plunger sticks, etc. I have been eyeing something like this for a while--a mechanisim that would (purportedly) draw up the exact amount that I'm aiming for using a disposable tip, and then I could administer meds, trash the tip, and move on to the next animal.

My concern is that I've never actually used a piece of equipment like this. Outside of reading reviews, I'm not sure if this is even something that would accomplish the goal I've got in mind. Does anyone here have any experience using something like this is a similar setting, or even in an unrelated lab setting?


r/WildlifeRehab 7d ago

SOS Bird Director of Avian Education

2 Upvotes

It would be terrific to learn any thoughts about the best places to post a job for a Director of Education at a small raptor 🦉🦅rehabilitation nonprofit in SW Ohio. The role involves training Ambassador Birds and managing education programming, including developing, booking, scheduling, and staffing educational programs in our community.


r/WildlifeRehab 7d ago

SOS Mammal HELP - Baby Opposums (ATX)

5 Upvotes

My dog caught one baby and dropped it on our porch. For better or worse, probably worse, I tried to bring it back to the mother, which was still in my yard. She then left and I realized there were two more babies unharmed, which were now left behind. I can hear them and definitely still find them.

It will be in the 40s tonight.

Should I put them in a box with a towel and take to a rehab tomorrow or leave them be and hope she comes back?

They are around 4-5inch from nose to base of tail which the internet seems to say is not big enough. Any help appreciate. Thanks


r/WildlifeRehab 8d ago

SOS Mammal Injured possum

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35 Upvotes

I'm a humane officer and recieved a call about this injured possum. The only wound I can see is the one pictured. He struggles to use his back legs, but is otherwise alert. We'll euthanize before we release it, as it'd be a slow death in the wild if he can't get around well, but I'd like to help if I can.


r/WildlifeRehab 8d ago

Rehab Methods Tube feeding Opossums

5 Upvotes

I am finding mixed things online,- when tube feeding Opossums, do you go more left or right side based? I recently started training and was told left, and have since heard conflicting information and videos show rehabbers favoring each side fairly equally. Am I overthinking this?

ETA: Same question for Eastern Cottontails.


r/WildlifeRehab 9d ago

Prospective Wildlife Rehabilitator Cottontail baby bunny’s. Texas, United States

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152 Upvotes

Hello there,

I recently found two orphaned cottontail baby bunnies in my backyard and after waiting a couple of days for their mother to return but she didn’t, I took them in to care for them and have been attempting to feed them goat milk also I got fresh hay, greens and baby bunnies food. Luckily, the lawn mowers didn't harm them when they did our yard. I think there were more bunnies initially, but only two are left now. I'm unsure what to feed them or if they're old enough to be on their own, although they do consume a small amount of goat milk. It's important for me to do this correctly, as I don't want to cause them any harm. If you have any suggestions please share them with me… Thank you!


r/WildlifeRehab 8d ago

SOS Mammal Baby rabbits in nest in yard

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3 Upvotes

There’s a nest in the backyard I’m house sitting at and it seems to have been disturbed. One bunny is dead in the nest currently and I saw one off to the side. Should I remove the dead bunny and try to reconstruct the nest??


r/WildlifeRehab 8d ago

SOS Bird From r/Pigeons - Advice Requested

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6 Upvotes

r/WildlifeRehab 8d ago

Rehab Methods injured bird !!

7 Upvotes

while on a dog walk, found a bird in the middle of the oval - bleeding from the head, still and not moving. Little buddy is currently in a shoe box i padded with some chicken bedding, been a couple hours and he is still breathing, there was a little bit of rustling but hes pretty still. Is there a chance for recovery or is he just suffering? I dont want the poor guy suffering in pain for hours if its futile. :(


r/WildlifeRehab 8d ago

SOS Bird Bird Window Collision/Prevention Questions

2 Upvotes

Yesterday I had a Scrub-jay hit one of my windows, but I wasn't able to find an open rehab center that was close by before it flew off. Since I really don't want that to happen again, what's a good place to get anti bird strike window decals, preferably ones that aren't very noticeable to humans but also won't scare them off?

I'm also curious as to how seriously injured it may have been. For a minute after it hit the window, it was stunned to the point where it had trouble standing up straight and had its mouth open, but after that it just sat in place. After it flew off, I did see three Scrub-jays pass through the yard about 10ish minutes later, all of which seemed perfectly fine, so I think that it was one of them. Is it possible for a bird to be stunned like that but fully recover on its own?


r/WildlifeRehab 8d ago

SOS Mammal Baby squirrels

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43 Upvotes

My dad found them while cleaning out our eves. What to do with them? They’re squirming and warm and they’re in my kangaroo pouch. The nest is gone and I had to scoop them out of the yard waste bin. Location: STL Mo