WILDLIFE PATIENT STORIES
GET TO KNOW WILDLIFE, One animal at a time
READ OUR WILDLIFE PATIENT STORIES!
See individual stories of rescue and healing — and how WildCare helps every animal improve their odds of survival.
Turkey Vulture Recovers at WildCare
This adult Turkey Vulture was spotted on the side of the road. Drivers guessed he had been hit by a car and called Marin Humane, who dispatched an officer to rescue the bird and bring him to WildCare. The intake notes in the Wildlife Hospital say that the vulture was...
Owls at WildCare
It's "Owl-a-palooza" at WildCare right now. The Wildlife Hospital currently has seven owls of various species in care. This is a surprising number, given that we usually only have one or two of these birds of prey onsite at any given point. Many of the owls in care...
Protect Migratory Songbirds
Migratory Songbirds and Windows Migratory animals face an incredible number of hazards, especially the smallest of avian migrants, the songbirds. Hermit Thrushes, like the bird in this photo by Michael Pagano, are comparatively short-distance migrants, but they still...
Burned Red-tailed Hawk Recovers at WildCare Transition
It's raptor migration season, which means that birds of prey are filling the skies over the San Francisco Bay Area as they make their way down the Pacific Flyway. Migrating birds face many hazards, but this bird's reason for admission to the Wildlife Hospital...
WildCare’s Move + Orphaned Baby Squirrel in Care
As you likely know, WildCare is in the process of moving out of our venerable facility on Albert Park Lane in San Rafael, California so we can rebuild a new, state-of-the-art wildlife hospital and nature education center at this site. To do that, we have to move the...
Gray Fox Entangled in Soccer Netting
WildCare admits a surprising number of animals entangled in soccer netting. Soccer goal netting is thick and durable, and it's always hung at either end of a wide-open grassy field. If you've never walked a soccer pitch at dawn or dusk, you may not realize how much...
Baby Bat Emergency
It was a bat emergency in Bakersfield. WildCare's Director of Animal Care, Melanie Piazza received a call on Saturday morning that hundreds of baby Mexican Free-tailed bats had fallen from their roost under a freeway overpass. The temperatures in Bakersfield reached...
Extraordinary Skunk Rescue in Front of WildCare
WildCare's Wildlife Hospital is at its busiest right now, but our team is never too busy to help an animal in need! A panicked pedestrian came to WildCare's front gate, pointing at the creek behind him and saying that there was a skunk with a trap on her foot dragging...
Patients of Many Species at WildCare
Peregrine Falcon Fledglings 2024 has been a banner year for young raptors at WildCare, including fledgling Peregrine Falcons. We have admitted and treated five of these extraordinary birds this summer. UPDATE: As we were writing this story, a sixth young Peregrine...
Baby Red-Shouldered Hawks at WildCare
At WildCare we are always impressed at the lengths to which raptor parents will go to raise their young. In the week before Father's Day, our thoughts have turned especially to raptor dads who work tirelessly to catch and bring food to their always-hungry chicks. The...
Emaciated Pelicans at WildCare
Wildlife experts up and down the California coast are concerned that Brown Pelicans are facing another "stranding event" like the one we saw in 2022. That year, our partner organization International Bird Rescue (IBR) admitted over 350 emaciated pelicans, 19 of which...
Baby Skunks at WildCare
Five baby skunks arrived at the Wildlife Hospital after being rescued from a freeway on-ramp! Fortunately a driver saw the five little skunks, tails high, marching up the on-ramp and managed to catch them before they got into oncoming traffic. Skunks at this age are...