WILDLIFE CENTER OF VIRGINIA OFFERS TIPS FOR CARING FOR BABY SQUIRRELS, RABBITS, OPOSSUMS, BIRDS, AND FAWNS

Each spring, The Wildlife Center of Virginia, an internationally acclaimed teaching and research hospital for wildlife located in Waynesboro, receives thousands of telephone inquiries from concerned individuals from across Virginia who have found a baby animal - typically a squirrel, rabbit, opossum, bird, or fawn.

Each spring, the Wildlife Center admits hundreds of baby animals as patients. During May 2006, for example, the Center admitted 554 new patients - an average of nearly 18 animals per day - many of them baby animals. [For all of 2006, the Center admitted 2,354 animals.]

"Many, many baby animals brought to the Wildlife Center each year are not really "orphans" in need of the kind of hospital care that the Center provides," Ed Clark, President of the Wildlife Center, said. "In fact, many animals brought to the Center are in need of no 'help' from humans at all. While these animals may seem abandoned or helpless, they are young animals still receiving care from their parents, or young animals that are ready to live on their own."

Mother rabbits and deer, for example, frequently leave their young alone for much of the day, returning for feeding at dawn and dusk. A healthy baby rabbit or fawn found during the day most likely has not been abandoned and does not need to be "rescued".

The Wildlife Center encourages individuals who care about wildlife to ask questions first about the most appropriate course of action. "Despite our natural inclinations," Clark said, "the best chance of survival for a young uninjured animal is often to leave it in its parents' care."

The Wildlife Center has developed a series of questions to help assess the best course of action for dealing with small baby animals. Attached is background information on five of the most common wild babies found at this time of year in Virginia - squirrels, rabbits, opossums, birds, and fawns. Please feel free to use or share this material as you wish.

The Wildlife Center was founded as an emergency room and hospital for wildlife in 1982. During its 25-year history, the Wildlife Center has cared for almost 50,000 animals, representing more than 200 species of birds, mammals, reptiles, and amphibians from every corner of Virginia.

The goal of the Center is to "treat to release" - to restore patients to health and return as many as possible to the wild. The Center provides state-of-the-art medical care for the sick and injured, and sustained, quality foster care so that animals may be returned to the wild with the ability to survive, and thrive, in their native habitats.

The Center works with a network of wildlife rehabilitators - volunteers holding a permit issued by the Commonwealth of Virginia to treat injured and orphaned wildlife. Center staff provides training classes across Virginia in wildlife rehabilitation, hosts an annual wildlife rehabilitation conference, and maintains up-to-date contact information for wildlife rehabilitators, including some rehabilitators with expertise in and facilities designed for specific species.

The Center trains veterinary and conservation professionals from all over the world and is actively involved in comprehensive wildlife health studies and the surveillance of emerging diseases. Additional information about the Wildlife Center is available at www.wildlifecenter.org.

Baby Guide - April 2007 [PDF 1.2MB]