WildRescue, Inc./Rabbit Rescue

This post is making the rounds right now and I have to say it’s damn well spot on. I barely have time to brush my teeth let alone post on social media. The volume of intake that comes through my little Wildlife Center is immense and each animal deserves the time and attention I can give it and each animal is lovingly and wonderfully cared for. I don’t have time to post pictures like I wish I could. I don’t have time to update the individuals in detail as much as I wish I could. All I can say is I am grateful for each and every one of you who brings me a wild thing in need and who brings a donation or even lunch! We rehabbers are far and few between. We don’t get a whole lot of time off to spend with our families and friends or go to the movies or even sit for an hour and have a cup of tea. Because when the call comes in, that an animal needs us, we respond to that call. It’s what we do.

So don’t yell at us. Stop leaving us one star reviews. That hurts us deeply. Be gracious and kind. Don’t make us feel guilty when we close at six and then blame us when the animal dies overnight, particularly when a message goes out with every text after hours that tells you exactly what to do until we can get with you in the morning. The amount of death that we deal with would topple any ER doctor. We are in this together. We save lives together. 

HOW TO SAVE A LIFE DURING BABY SEASON.
This time, it’s the life of a rehabber.

I know this will mostly only reach our followers, and so we are preaching to the choir here, but maybe you can pass along an important list of "Don'ts" to those around you.

DON’T ASSUME that because you know that a rehabber loves animals that they can take more. We know that you desperately want to help the animal you have found. So do we. But if we took every animal in need, there would be carriers and crates stacked to the ceiling and no one able to care for them. There just aren’t enough of us.

DON’T GUILT US. People who become rehabbers are givers, caregivers, empaths, helpers. We are volunteers who have given up everything, our family, our free time, our sleep, our money, our sanity, to save these animals. The HARDEST thing about this work is learning to say no. It kills us all inside not to be able to help, to save. The idea of an animal needing us and we can’t take it haunts us. HAUNTS us. Long after you have forgotten about it. Trust me on this.

DON’T MAKE US FEEL WE AREN’T DOING ENOUGH. There is a reason the su***de rate in the animal profession is the highest of any. We are giving our all to breaking point. THERE ARE NOT ENOUGH OF US, it’s not that we aren’t each enough. Some can take one litter, some can take 20. Each number is different, but trust that we are ALL maximizing. ALL OF US. It is not as easy as it looks on the internet.

DON’T THREATEN US. There are too many animals in need and not enough rehabbers to save them. Full stop. Telling us if we can’t take an animal it will be euthanized is not fair. It is abusive. Find another alternative or try to figure something out. It cannot all be on us. We are already doing more than almost anyone else to try to be a solution.

DON’T IGNORE THE TRUTH. Just because an animal in need has come to you and you are desperate to help it, doesn’t mean that there aren’t ten other people who feel exactly the same way who have already called us that day. Who have cried and pleaded. Who need us to be the hero. Your situation isn’t any more or less deserving than all of those other people’s who are trying to find help.

DON’T YELL AT US. One more time for those in the back. Rehabbers are all exhausted, feeling inadequate. Pushing ourselves. Judging ourselves. Trying to be superhuman because we love these animals. Volunteering all of our time and efforts at our own expense. Telling us we don’t care because we can’t help you is a gut punch some of us can’t survive. We will each hit a point where it’s too much and we want to give up. If you make us quit because you are the last straw, that is even fewer animals who will be saved and another tragedy.

DON’T ASSUME that you know everything about what another person is going through. We can never know. Some people only post the positive. Some don’t have time or energy to post. Some want to be brave. Just because people don’t show their struggles doesn’t mean they aren’t there, real, or privately completely overwhelming.

And perhaps the biggest of all:

DON’T DROP OFF ANIMALS IF WE HAVE SAID NO. Saying no to intakes is THE hardest thing for us. We are rehabbers. We can’t look at those faces and not do something either. Drop offs are a criminal level of disrespect. We are all recognizing our limits, sometimes too late. Forcing more on us can break us. If we have mustered the emotional strength to close for quarantine reasons and you unknowingly bring us babies who are sick, and we lose 50 more we have already brought through because you didn’t listen when we said no, you cannot possibly understand the devastation that brings.

Someone who ignores the limit and drops off six babies anyway and then goes home and goes swimming, or has a barbeque, or goes to sleep, or sees their family, or goes on vacation, or does any of the things that all of us give up because we want to help these babies DOES NOT GET TO CALL THEMSELVES A HERO. They did ten minutes of work and just gave a rehabber months of anguish. The only thing we can control is the feeling that we are deciding what we can take on. We make the choice. Taking that away is the most abusive thing you can do to a rehabber. It can ruin their marriage, their life, their health, or their desire to do this. This is not hyperbole. We are all drowning out here this time of year.

I am not whining or complaining or reprimanding. I don’t usually post with this tone, but, I am trying to shed light and give inside perspective on the reality of the field out here. Unless you have lived through a rehab season as a rehabber, with the relentless demands and phone calls, with the expectations others (and you) place on you, you simply cannot understand from words alone.

We are here, sweating in our gowns and gloves at all hours of the day and night, sitting alone holding a baby we fought with day after day, hoping, trying, fighting right with them, doing everything we could, but watching the life ebb away anyway. We are crying but we don’t have time to grieve. Our heads know we did all we could, but our hearts don’t, our doubts don’t, our anguish doesn’t. But we have to go on because there are more mouths to feed and more cages to clean more phone calls to pick up but we don’t have the right answers. There is the constant pressure of having lives in our hands. Every decision means a potential to make a mistake. We are all fragile right now, we are all exhausted, we are all maxed out. We are all incredulous and terrified that it’s only June. We need help and we need kindness and understanding.

And a note to the other rehabbers who are in the same boat: Please, let's try to hold each other up. Not attack each other, not resent each other. We are each where we are and we are all there for the same reasons: to save these lives. Can we love and support and respect each other? Can we trust that we are all giving all we can and doing all we can. And tell each other we understand, and that it’s enough. We see you, we honor you, we are grateful to you. Hang in there and let’s try to love each other so we can continue to love these precious animals.

NWS (New World Screwworm) confirmed cases now include Tom Green County - which is the San Angelo area. This is not a drill. This is serious stuff. I have spoken to my veterinarians and my wildlife biologist. Our plan is in place should Denton or neighboring counties go into quarantine. Putting the PDF here that tells you what to do should you have a suspected case of NWS. Please heed. Don’t hesitate to reach out to me via text at 940-442-8289.

Please share this post and save these photos!

From our friends at Austin Wildlife:

🚨IMPORTANT INTAKE UPDATE🚨

Due to New World Screwworm quarantine orders issued by the Texas Animal Health Commission, Austin Wildlife Rescue cannot currently accept 𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗺-𝗯𝗹𝗼𝗼𝗱𝗲𝗱 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗱𝗹𝗶𝗳𝗲 (mammals, birds) from areas deemed to be "infestation zones" within counties listed on the TAHC website, without prior authorization from TAHC. We want to note that it is not the entire county, but rather the specific infestation zone within those counties.

These restrictions are required by state quarantine regulations and may change as the situation develops. Please check our website and the Texas Animal Health Commission for the latest updates.
https://tahc.maps.arcgis.com/apps/instant/nearby/index.html?appid=8455917e956b474f995cc3b94d3ef54b&sliderDistance=1
Thank you for your understanding as we work to protect Texas wildlife and comply with state animal health requirements.

Good morning! In today’s episode of “what do I do when I find a baby bird”!! Well it’s time to share this great info graphic!

It is always truly wonderful to see how many people are concerned when they see a baby bird on the ground. It shows care and compassion. But there’s an entire other part of this. Probably 80% of the bird calls that I get are me explaining why they need to leave it where it is, keep the dog or cat up, and don’t mow right now! It is high baby bird season right now and fledglings are everywhere.

All avians are a protected species except for starlings, sparrows and rock doves, otherwise known as pigeons. You cannot legally hold Wildlife unless you hold a federal Wildlife permit.

You also cannot mess with the nest. If the nest is active, you may not remove it. That’s why we have the migratory bird act. Of course I can’t tell you how many people could care less about authority or respect our laws and will knock down or kill the inhabitants of that nest. Not good people.

When an egg hatches, it is called an egglet which is because the bird is still absorbing the egg sac. The next stage is called a nestling as it is too young to leave the nest, and hasn’t developed its feathers yet. The next stage is a fledgling, which is when they sometimes are sometimes are not old enough to have developed their feathers and either fall or launch from the nest.

When we have high winds and heavy rains, tree trimmers, etc., entire nests may fall to the ground. I highly recommend picking the entire nest up and putting it in a size appropriate box lined with paper towels, and pick up any babies and put them back in their nest. Bring them inside and put them either under a heat lamp or put the box on a heating pad set on low. That box will now be the new nest. You can poke a hole through each side of the box towards the bottom, string a rope through the holes, and once the storm has passed or the winds have subsided, you can lash the box up as close to the nest as possible hopefully with some shelter and hopefully within the crook of a tree.

Different species of birds nest in different things like the bole of a tree, your shrubs, 20 feet high up in a tree, the wreath on your front door or the boot in your garage! I highly recommend downloading Merlin ID and Inaturalist to help you determine what species of bird you have! The best way to tell is to take a picture of the adult and use that.

It is an old myth that if you touch the bird that the parents will abandon it. So not true. Birds have a very slight sense of smell. They could care less if you touch their babies or not and are driven to feed their babies! Birds do NOT abandon their nests. If you no longer see a parent then that means unfortunately something has happened to that parent.

STOP USING PESTICIDES!
Did you know that I’m seeing far more birds come in to my wildlife center that are starving because there aren’t enough bugs for them to eat let alone feed their babies? In particular - barn swallows. So many alternatives to use please look into that or I’ll post about that later.

You can pick the babies up with your bare hands, but I always recommend wearing gardening gloves or surgical gloves. Birds will die of shear stress so don’t pass it around to the neighborhood kids or hold it up to your dog to sniff or your cat to lick. Everything is a predator to our songbirds. You can only imagine if you were in their shoes!

Also, birds do not eat bread! In fact, it can kill them. They can’t digest what you just fed them. So refrain from feeding them anything at all until you have talked to your trusted federally permitted wildlife rehabilitator who can tell you what you can and cannot feed the bird. Remember - a cold animal should never be fed. You have got to get the baby warmed up before you feed it anything!

Doves are seed eaters - they do not eat meat. They drink what is called “crop milk” from their mom’s crop. Please don’t try to feed them anything.

Always text me at 940-442-8289 and I will get you to your closest federally permitted wildlife rehabilitator for assistance. You can help all of us help them by being the expert on the block. Go to the American Bird Conservancy’s website and read! Become a Purple Martin landlord! Talk to the people at Wild Bird’s Unlimited. The world of birding is a fascinating world! Follow Birdcast! That’s the dashboard that shows you who is migrating how many have migrated and so much more!

I hope this was helpful and please let me know what part of this you would like me to expand on and I am happy to do so! By the way, I’ve had some of the most amazing birds I’ve ever seen come through the Rescue this year and I am so pleased to say that the two nestling hummingbirds that came from different areas of the Metroplex are doing exceedingly well!!!

Good morning !!

North Texas is in the middle of a severe rain/flash flood event. You know what that means? Yep. Let’s get you ready for baby everythings that will absolutely need your help!!!

Usually I spend a great deal of time assisting people in keeping bunnies in their nests when we have severe weather, but when we have this type rain, it is not really possible to keep them safe outside the entire time. It is not what I recommend. I recommend bringing them inside (instructions below), and putting them back outside around dusk for mom to feed them and then bring them back inside and of course you’re going to line the nest with hot hands hand warmers so that the nest stays warm.

There are several things you can put over the nest to keep as much water out of it as possible.

1. You can line the nest with a plastic bag and secure the outer rim of the bag with rocks or something so that it doesn’t sink. You can scoop out the water as needed.
2. You can tent a tarp over the nest, and you can also “plant” an umbrella (golf umbrellas work great but also be sure that the wind can’t blow them away so secure them well). Be creative and think out of the box!
3. If the Bunnies have their nest in one of your flower pots, and the flower pot is movable and is near shelter, then literally move the pot under wherever it is safe and sheltered from the elements and literally move the pot back to the precise spot it was for mom to feed her babies between 6 PM and 9 PM. The pot can then be moved back under shelter the remainder of the night and day. It only needs to be back in the precise location for mom to feed them!

💦The medical emergency will be hypothermia as the rain/water will be very cold. The babies will drown in the nest if you keep them in the ground. Also of note - Mom may or may not come back every night to feed her babies. Sometimes she skips a night when we have severe weather. So let’s get you prepared for what to do!

Get your non autoshutoff heating pad set up in a bathroom or room you are not using - safe from other people and pets. Set it on low so that it’s warm and ready to go. Either order one online or check CVS, Walgreens, Walmart or wherever you can find one (ask a neighbor!)

Get a shoebox or small box and line it with a clean T-shirt and put it half on and half off the heating pad.

Walk your back and front yard and identify any existing wild rabbit nests. Look up in your trees and identify any squirrel or bird nests.

Bring in (with all of their nesting material) any baby bunnies that are in your yard and place everything in the shoebox or small box and keep on heat.

Line the nest with a plastic bag and extend the plastic bag edges up and out of the nest and secure with rocks or whatever you have to endeavor to keep as much water out of the nest as possible. Put an umbrella or a structure of some kind over the nest to also keep as much water out of the nest as possible. Tenting a tarp over the nest works well. Placing a wheel barrel upside down over the nest also works great.

Make sure you have some 18 hour hot hands hand warmers ready because in the morning, you are going to remove the plastic bag and line the nest with one or two hot hands hand warmers so that you can put the babies back in their nest (now warm) in the early evening about six pm - nesting material and all. You can also cut a really good handful of fresh cut grass and put it in a bag so that when you put the babies back in the nest, you can put a handful of fresh cut grass in with them which will go right over the hand warmer. At this point, mom should be able to take right back over and nurse her babies. I highly recommend putting some kind of camera out to monitor the nest if you possibly can. Make sure you’ve set it on high sensitivity. When we have severe weather, she may or may not come for a day or two. It’s really good to be able to see if she comes to her nest. The babies can miss one feeding but no more than two!

🐿️Baby Squirrels- high winds and rains can disintegrate mom‘s nest and babies will fall to the ground. Go outside and look up today and identify where your squirrel nests are. Periodically check under those trees just to be sure that there’s no babies on the ground. Most baby mammals cannot thermoregulate because they have no fur and they will die of exposure quickly. Your goal is to get them inside into that warm shoebox as quickly as possible. Baby squirrels can also miss a day of not having mom nurse them but please do not try to feed them. Once the rain has stopped, you can take the box outside with the baby squirrels in it and put a couple of hot hands hand warmers taped to the inside bottom of the box with a T-shirt over them to keep them warm (make sure that the baby squirrels are not directly against the warmer). Place the box up on a table or chair under the tree that they fell out of and you can play distressed baby squirrel sounds from YouTube on and off. Go back inside and stay out of the area as Mom needs to have a clear space in order to come retrieve her babies. Remember that squirrels have nests A, B and C so it may take her time to come retrieve her babies, but nine out of 10 times she will.

🦡Baby possums - same as above for squirrels! Right now, baby possums are falling off of their mom for multiple reasons, including dog attacks, wandering away from mom while she’s napping, all kinds of things. Most of these kids are not a half a pound yet and really cannot take care of themselves and survive out there. Unfortunately, a lot of possum moms are getting hit by cars or killed by dogs out there right now and they will have babies in their pouch. Wearing a pair of surgical or gardening gloves, dis-attach the babies from the ni**le and place them in the heated box. For stray babies that are wandering by themselves, again wearing a pair of gardening gloves, pick the little one up and contain it as above and definitely text me and I will get you to your closest possum Rehabber. Something about possums-they need to be a half a pound or more in order to really survive out there. So if you have the ability to weigh it on a gram scale, please do and let me know what the weight is!

🐣Baby birds! Almost everything, avian either has eggs in a nest or nestlings or even fledglings at this point! It may be very difficult for you to even remotely begin to identify bird nests around your property, but if you can, please do. Everything above regarding squirrels is the same for baby birds. If the nest is down on the ground or completely destroyed, you can re-create a nest by getting a small box, cutting the flaps off, poke a hole through the north and south end of the box down towards the bottom of it because you were going to lash that box up into the crook of the tree that it fell out of once the rain has stopped. Line the box with a really good amount of grass, pine needles or leaves mixed with grass because the babies are going to need a surface to be able to sit on that also isn’t cold. You can take a washcloth and making a triangle out of it, folded into a doughnut, bring the two edges together and secure them with a clothes pin or a clip of some kind and put the baby birds inside of that “doughnut” inside of the box. Now you’re ready to lash the box up into the crook of the tree with a piece of rope that is threaded through the bottom of the box through the two holes. Of course, thread the rope before you put everything in the box. Monitor the nest with a camera if you can or just your observation to ensure that mom and dad are coming back to feed their babies. The exception to this would be the wrens who tend to have their nests in boots in your garage or wreaths that are hanging on your door or small little niches.

Always let the rehabilitator know what city you are in and send a picture of the animal. Pictures are worth 1000 words and we can tell if they are healthy, trying to die, way too young to be out there and all that good stuff.

Please text me at 940-442-8289 if you have any questions. And please share this post because I want everybody to be educated on what to do when you find wildlife when we have severe weather!

Get ready to save some lives!

From my friends at WRAM (Wildlife Rehabilitators Association of Massachusetts) - they have a series of “what to do’s” that are perfect. I will be forwarding them one at a time for you to save and share. Remember - you have to be a permitted wildlife rehabilitator in order to hold wildlife. Want to join my wildlife army? Just text me at 940-442-8289!

Found a bunny nest in your busy yard? You can help keep it safe!

Most cottontail nests are right in our lawns, gardens, and landscaping and a few simple steps can make a big difference while the babies grow.

• Keep dogs on a leash near the area
• Avoid mowing directly over the nest
• Mark the spot with a small flag or natural marker
• Leave the nest covered and undisturbed

If extra protection is needed:

• Create a small barrier or fence around the nest (leave space for mom to slip through or underneath)
• Place an overturned laundry basket or similar cover over the nest, with a two small openings for mom to come and go
• For extra-skittish moms, you could instead place the laundry basket over the nest during the day and remove it an hour before dusk so mom can return to feed

Be sure to monitor the nest to confirm mom is returning (check out our post on nest testing!)
Some mothers may be hesitant if the area is heavily altered. Simple protection is often best.

Mom will continue to care for her babies as long as the nest stays intact and disturbances are kept to a minimum.

The good news? Cottontails grow quickly and will be gone in just a few short weeks.

This is the final post in our baby bunny series. Thank you for helping protect wildlife in your community.

Feel free to share! These small steps can help save entire litters.

Thank you Cameron J. Smith for creating this beautiful work of art exemplifying why and how Joy is resistant to this broken world. As I am fond of saying - sometimes we give and receive comfort at the same time. Be the change you wish to see in the world. And do so with a kind and compassionate heart that shines and is seen by all. ♥️🪶🦊

JOY AS RESISTANCE | How do we Find Joy in Turbulent Times | Lil'd TV FULL EPISODE After so many heavy topics, I wanted to cover something a little more optimistic. Affordability: BadDenton's Future: SadWhy Don't We Vote: ApatheticSo here's...

Today, Memorial Day, the Rescue will be open from 9am to 12 pm only!

Please follow these instructions! I will be open tomorrow, Tuesday, at 9 am.

“Hello, you have reached WildRescue’s after hours message. Please let me know what city you are in.
If you have an injured or orphaned wild baby, please put it in a size appropriate box lined with a clean T-shirt half on and half off a heating pad set on low in a bathroom that you are not using for overnight. Do not attempt to feed and I will respond to your text in the morning!”