On December 1, 2022, WildCare will once again begin accepting applications for NEW Wildlife Hospital Volunteers! Qualified applicants will be invited to work hands-on with the animals in our care. Learn more about volunteering in the Wildlife Hospital and apply starting 12/1/22!
The best part of the program is the overall love of and enthusiasm of the docents for sharing the wonders of redwoods with my 4th grade students. They were all excellent and I was amazed at how focused my group of wiggly students were. The content knowledge and 'citizen scientists' aspects interwoven made the content very accessible and applicable.
- Wendy Funk, Teacher
This [WildCare] program ties into environmental awareness that is part of classroom culture. Since many of our San Francisco students are from the city, they are "nature deprived". This gave the students a chance to see nature in its wild form.
- Robert Savant, Teacher
The presentation was so interactive and engaging for our kindergarten students! They learned SO much and had an incredible time. It was also great that they were able to touch the [taxidermy] animals at the end of the presentation.
- Katie Keating-Klamm, Teacher
Nature Van
Wildlife Ambassadors
Center Tours
Nature Hikes
Distance Learning
Teacher Resources
Nature Van
Let us bring the wild to you with a visit from our Nature Van full of taxidermy, skeletons, bio-facts, and more!
Have you ever touched a skunk’s fur or felt a rattlesnake’s scales?
This interactive presentation provides students with the opportunity to be hands-on with animals they wouldn’t otherwise be able to experience up close, leaving them with a strengthened sense of responsibility toward preserving our planet.
Nature Van Programs now available in Spanish!
Get Started!
We are accepting reservations for the 2023/2024 school year.
Use our online form to request your Nature Van program! Note: Nature Van morning programs are fully booked for 2022/2023, but we still have afternoon programs available.
Length: 45-60 minutes
Ages: pre-K to adult
Group Limit: 30 person maximum per presentation (25 person limit for Pre-K and K)
A touch of feathers, fur and scales! Learn about the astounding animals that live right here in our own neighborhoods. This presentation provides an overview of our state’s wonderfully diverse wildlife.
Birds of a Feather
From zipping hummingbirds to soaring raptors, examine the amazing adaptations of our feathered friends. Students will leave thinking that perhaps having a bird brain isn’t such a bad thing!
Marvelous Mammals
Purrs, howls, hisses and growls! Investigate the surprising diversity of mammals, from marsupials and mustelids to felines and canines, and find out where humans fit into this furry cast of critters.
Redwood Giants
Who is hiding amongst the tallest trees in the world? Take a peek into life in a Coastal Redwood Forest. From banana slugs on the forest floor to owls in the canopy, investigate the interdependency of organisms hidden in each layer of this spectacular forest.
Ocean Adventures
Dive into the remarkable ways animals have adapted to living in each ocean habitat, from tidepools and sandy beaches to kelp forests and the open ocean.
Wild Wetlands
Creeks, ponds and wetlands! Wade into the unique lifecycles of the animals that pass through these watery worlds. Explore this vanishing habitat to learn exactly why it is worth preserving and how you can help.
Going Green
Let our local wildlife teach you simple ways to help preserve our planet. Investigate the issues affecting wildlife and learn simple ways that you can make a difference. It’s easy being green!
Cancellation Policy
If you cancel your program less than 8 weeks in advance, 50% of your program fee will be due or retained.
If you cancel your program less than 2 weeks in advance, 100% of your program fee will be retained.
Wildlife Ambassadors
There is nothing more memorable for your students than having live wild animals visit your classroom!
Your group will have the opportunity to meet three of WildCare’s rescued non-releasable wild animals during this unforgettable presentation.
By sharing their rescue stories, these animals act as ambassadors for their species in order to increase awareness of their plight in the wild.
Due to the detection of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) in our region, we are currently only able to offer reptile and opossum adaptations programs. Classroom visitors can include a Virginia Opossum, Desert Tortoise, California Kingsnake, Rosy Boa, or a Western Pond Turtle.
We do not know how long HPAI will last, but we look forward to resuming our regular programing as soon as this threat to our birds has passed.
If you cancel your program less than 8 weeks in advance, 50% of your program fee will be due or retained.
If you cancel your program less than 2 weeks in advance, 100% of your program fee will be retained.
Center Tours
Unfortunately, due to HPAI (avian influenza) and its risks to WildCare's Wildlife Ambassador birds and our avian Wildlife Hospital patients, we are not offering Center Tours until further notice.
Meet our non-releasable educational animals, our Wildlife Ambassadors, in an engaging guided tour.
Learn about WildCare’s mission, along with success stories of wildlife we have rescued and released back into the wild. Visitors will meet the non-releasable birds, reptiles and mammals housed in WildCare’s outdoor courtyard. Explore the natural behavior of each species, why each animal ambassador needed rescuing and how you can help to protect their species in the wild.
If you cancel your program less than 8 weeks in advance, 50% of your program fee will be due or retained.
If you cancel your program less than 2 weeks in advance, 100% of your program fee will be retained.
Nature Hikes
Discovering Nature!
Immerse your students in nature with our exciting discovery hikes led by WildCare’s Terwilliger Nature Guides. Students will use their senses to examine animal tracks, investigate scat, and spot wildlife, all while expanding their knowledge and appreciation of local flora and fauna.
Experience the oak woodland ecosystem and its amazing biodiversity, including grasslands, marshes and forests. Common sightings include wild turkey, deer, egrets and woodrat stick nests. Wheelchair accessible.
Grades: K-6
Dates & Times: Thursdays 9:30 am - 12:00 pm
Ring Mountain (Corte Madera)
Learn about the unique geology and botany of this grassland, rich in serpentine soils. Students will learn about the cultural history of the Coast Miwok, while enjoying the panoramic views of San Francisco and Mt. Tamalpais.
Grades: 2-6
Dates & Times: Tuesdays 9:30 am - 12:30 pm
Muir Woods (Mill Valley)
Explore the fascinating ecology of a Coast Redwood Forest. Growing as tall as skyscrapers and living up to 2,000 years, Coast Redwoods provide a unique ecosystem found nowhere else on the planet. Keep an eye out for banana slugs, chipmunks and salmon. Wheelchair accessible.
Grades: K-6
Dates & Times: Wednesdays 9:30 am - 12:00 pm
Bus Scholarships available for Nature Hikes!
If your school participates in the Free or Reduced Price Meal program (FRPM), your class is eligible for a scholarship that matches the percentage of the student body that is eligible for FRPM.
WildCare will pay a maximum of $700 on a bus invoice for a 100% scholarship, regardless of the total cost of the invoice.
Depending on the percentage of your scholarship, the amount WildCare will pay will be prorated. For example: If you are awarded a 50% scholarship and the total of the bus invoice is $700, WildCare will pay a maximum of $350 (50% of the $700 cap).
You are responsible for booking a bus or organizing carpools for your field trip. WildCare will make payment on bus invoices AFTER your field trip. Bus invoices must be submitted for payment to WildCare within 45 days of the trip date. Bus invoices submitted after 45 days will no longer qualify for scholarship funds.
Cancellation Policy
If you cancel your program less than 8 weeks in advance, 50% of your program fee will be due or retained.
If you cancel your program less than 2 weeks in advance, 100% of your program fee will be retained.
Distance Learning
WildCare’s Terwilliger Nature Guides have created three exciting Virtual Nature Hikes to bring the forest and grassland habitats to your students during distance learning.
Using the interactive techniques of Mrs. Terwilliger, your students will learn about the adaptations of our local plants and animals. Who lives in the redwood forest? What plants and animals are used by the Coast Miwok? What do Dusky-footed Woodrats store in their stick houses? Why do fence lizards do push-ups? Students will learn the answers to these questions as well as what makes each ecosystem special.
Join Terwilliger Nature Guides as they share the magic of the redwood forest.
Have you ever wondered what makes a redwood tree red? Or how Coast Redwoods grow to be the tallest trees on the planet?
We will look at the cones, needles, seeds, and bark of the Coast Redwood and learn why tannin is the secret to their success.
Take a peek in the forest to see a Barred Owl, Bobcat, River Otter, Western Grey Squirrel, and Black-tailed Mule Deer, and discover why the redwood forest is their perfect habitat.
Join Terwilliger Nature Guides as they explore Miwok Meadows in China Camp State Park.
Come along as they spot a Coyote, Black-tailed Mule Deer, Wild Turkeys, Western Gray Squirrel, Western Fence Lizards, and a Black-tailed Jackrabbit!
Nature Guides share how to spot animal signs such as scat, spider turrets, oak galls, and nests, and explain how these animals make their living in the oak woodland and grassland habitats.
What can you learn by looking at animal scat? Why do fence lizards do push ups? What do Dusky-footed Woodrats store in their huge stick nests? Learn the answers to these questions and so much more!
Join Terwilliger Nature Guides as they explore the unique habitats of Ring Mountain Open Space Preserve.
Learn about the plants and animals that the Coast Miwok use and how resident wildlife such as Red-tailed Hawks, Gopher Snakes, Coyotes, and Dusky-footed Woodrats survive in this landscape.
Some of the plants highlighted are Poison Oak, Coast Live Oak, Bay Laurel, Buckeyes and the Tiburon Mariposa Lily that grows nowhere else on earth.
We will also share some of Ring Mountain’s very special geological and cultural features. Discover all of this and more!
Bring WildCare to your students with our fun, free Teacher Resources!
Pre-visit activities prepare your students for their upcoming Distance Learning Program by engaging them in the study of the natural world.
Post-visit activities expand upon students’ new knowledge and offer ways they can keep learning how to live well with wildlife in their own neighborhood.
Each grade-appropriate activity is presented as a web page with printable PDFs that can be shared with students remotely or in the classroom.
