Wildlife Patient Stories

WildCare admitted our first orphaned baby skunk of the season yesterday! This tiny Striped Skunk was found after the storage container under which his mother had made her den was moved. Rescuers were unable to reunite him with his mother, so he will go into care with our Skunk Foster CareTeam, and he’ll be at…

 If you ever find yourself in the position to rescue a wild animal, you’ll want expert help. Fortunately, WildCare’s Living with Wildlife Hotline (415-456-7283 (SAVE) is here, and the fact that our experts can guide you through helping a scared and sick or injured animal can make all the difference to you and to…

It’s only March 1, but WildCare admitted our first tiny orphaned squirrels of 2018 last week. Like all of the hundreds of orphaned baby animals we will admit this spring, these little ones needed immediate care. You can help! These newborn squirrels tumbled from a tree when the branch holding their nest was cut by a…

This Golden-crowned Sparrow got trapped in garden netting. Maybe as he was trying to reach berries or perhaps he had fled into a netting-covered bush to escape a predator. Whatever the cause, he was found on the ground with the netting tightly wrapped around his head and neck. In his struggles to get free, this…

The modern world is a challenging place to be a wild animal. These squirrels’ stories illustrate the hazards an animal must navigate on a daily basis to get food, find shelter and simply survive. In January alone, WildCare has admitted six adult squirrels. Two of the squirrels were trapped in chimneys, three were struck by…

White-crowned Sparrows are hardy little migrants that can be commonly seen in backyards across the United States. With distinctive white and black stripes on their heads, they’re easy to identify as they hop through your yard looking for seeds, berries and insects. These sparrows make an up to 2,600-mile migration from their breeding grounds in…

Watch WildCare’s veterinarian, Dr. Sorem cut the skunk free from the plastic bait box trapping her head! Trouble viewing the video? Click here to watch it on WildCare’s YouTube channel. In WildCare’s Wildlife Hospital we see animals with their heads stuck in the strangest things. It is always heartbreaking to see an animal come in…

Unusual geese get a second chance at WildCare When a rescuer said that the Canada Goose she’d found had been hit and rolled by not just one but two cars, WildCare Medical Staff knew to expect a large bird, probably with significant injuries. The bird that arrived at the Wildlife Hospital, however, was small, with…

When WildCare Medical Staff wraps a songbird’s injured wing, they don’t generally expect to come back the next day and find the wrap scissored to pieces. But that’s what happened with this Red Crossbill! The unique scissor bill is specially adapted for accessing the seeds within pine and other cones but it clearly has another…

One of the main causes of migratory songbird mortality is window strikes. The following steps can help reduce the number of birds killed by hitting windows, and a lot of lives could be saved if everyone implemented these strategies! These suggestions come from FLAP Canada (Fatal Light Awareness Program). Visit their website at flap.org for…