Archive Patients

On March 31, an adult Bald Eagle was found grounded in Smithfield, Virginia. The eagle was rescued by permitted wildlife rehabilitator Dana Lusher, who discovered numerous wounds and transferred the bird to the Wildlife Center. 

On October 27, an adult Bald Eagle was found injured on the side of the road in Chesapeake, Virginia. The eagle was likely injured due to a vehicle collision. Chesapeake Animal Services captured the bird and brought her to permitted wildlife rehabilitator Lisa Barlow for initial treatment before transporting her to the Wildlife Center for further care.

On June 22, Reese Lukei with the Center for Conservation Biology rescued a juvenile Bald Eagle that had just fledged from its nest in the Little Neck area of Virginia Beach. The bird had never left its nest before, but it had many broken tail feathers. When it leaped from its nest, it did not fly, and instead, just floated to the ground.

On June 9, the Wildlife Center admitted a fledgling Bald Eaglet from the Dulles Greenway Eagle Nest in Leesburg, Virginia.

On April 1, a Bald Eagle nest at Seven Bends State Park in Shenandoah County blew out of its tree. Eagle biologists monitored the situation and found that during the next week, the parent eagles continued to feed their offspring, but by April 8, the biologists suspected that the young eaglet was not using its wings properly. State eagle biologist Jeff Cooper decided to bring the young bird to the Wildlife Center of Virginia for further assessment.

On April 19, a young Bald Eagle was found grounded on the beach in Cape Charles, on the Eastern Shore of Virginia. The eagle had recently been eating a rotting beached whale and was quiet and unable to fly when she was found. Wildlife rehabilitator Jodie Sokel was able to capture the bird and provided supportive care until the eagle was transported to the Wildlife Center of Virginia the following day.

On April 12, a visitor at Booker T. Washington Park in Charlottesville found a young fledgling Eastern Screech-Owl on the ground.

On the morning of March 15, the veterinary team examined Buddy, the Center’s education Bald Eagle ambassador. Early in the week, the outreach staff had noticed dried blood around Buddy’s beak.  At first, it seemed like he had food remnants stuck to the left side of his beak, which, while not entirely unusual for a bird of prey, was out of the ordinary for Buddy.  

On October 22, a well-intentioned private citizen removed a small Musk Turtle hatchling from the wild with the intent of rescuing the young turtle. Though no immediate dangers were present, the rescuer may have thought this small turtle was in need of help. They brought him to the Southwest Virginia Wildlife Center of Roanoke who transferred him to the Wildlife Center of Virginia for proper turtle care. 

On October 29, a private citizen in Crozet, Virginia was mulching their garden when they accidentally hit an Eastern American Toad with a pitchfork. After realizing the toad was injured, they immediately placed it into a container and brought it to the Wildlife Center.

Eastern American Toads are a large species of toad commonly found throughout the eastern  United States.  In October, as the weather gets colder, these toads dig down into the soil to hibernate through winter. This toad was likely hibernating under the mulch in the rescuer's garden.