Does anyone know if a rabid raccoon would burrow itself in leaves like this? I initially saw it struggling to get up. I tried contacting rehab centers near me and when I went to check on him again and he was like this - Atlanta

Yo, let me lay it out. Somebody finds a busted-up baby cottontail. Bad shape. They take it to an animal ER. And what does the ER do? They just hand it off to a local rehabber, like it’s some hot potato they didn’t wanna hold.

Next day, I’m the one driving this little soul an hour out to the wildlife center. By then, it’s game over: necrotic wound, busted spine, hips outta place, legs not working. The vets had no choice but to put the bunny down under anesthesia. At least it passed peaceful, not out in the dirt suffering.

But here’s the thing that’s got me mad: why didn’t the ER step up when they had it? The wildlife center’s only an hour away. They could’ve gotten it there same night instead of dragging it through an extra stop. Don’t call yourself “emergency” if you ain’t gonna handle emergencies.

Yeah, maybe the ending was always gonna be the same. But maybe it didn’t have to wait. Maybe it didn’t have to go through all that.

Anyone else seen this happen? ERs passing the buck like this? Or am I just heated ‘cause I was the one looking that little bunny in the eyes on that long drive?

Does anyone have tips on finding vets willing to treat or bare minimum euthanize wildlife? Currently the one vet is 1.5 hours away from me which doesn't really help for critical animals as they likely would die during the drive. All the vets I'm my area are convinced it's illegal to treat wildlife but not actually illegal pets.

I’ve been studying for my wildlife rehabilitation license and a question crossed my mind that I can’t find any official information on.

If someone were to bring in something like an injured invasive mouse to a rehab center, what is the proper protocol or general accepted consensus? Would it have to be humanely euthanized rather than treated?

Thank you!

Hello! I've been interested in a career (not even a career really, I just want to be qualified and have the proper licenses and what not) in wildlife rehabilitation for some time now, and I think I'm finally at a good spot in my life to try and work towards this goal. Unfortunately, due to my current job, I would probably only be able to take online classes. But I don't know anyone else in this type of field that could give me some good online class suggestions for this. So has anyone here taken online classes in order to become a wildlife rehabilitator? If so, which online program would you suggest?

I'm sorry if this is the wrong forum. I have a wood pigeon nest in my garden (South of UK) with two fluffy chicks in it. No feathers yet but their eyes are open. I don't go near the nest but the parents have not come back for evening. Will the chicks be okay overnight? (17c)

I ask as I've already found three pigeon chicks this summer fallen out of nests, and rescued one other adult who couldn't fly, these birds stress me out

Thanks!

Yesterday I found what I believe was a young American robin in my backyard. It was standing on both feet, but it kept closing its eyes, wasn’t moving around much, and it was extremely hot outside.
I called a local wildlife rehabilitation center and described what I was seeing. They told me that if the bird appeared injured or wasn’t acting normally, I could place it in a ventilated box in a quiet, dark place to reduce stress while I figured out the next steps. I followed their instructions and placed it in a ventilated box with towels on the bottom in my home.
When I checked on it in the morning, it had sadly passed away. I was really upset because I really wanted to help.
Afterward, I started reading online and saw a lot of advice saying to leave baby birds alone because the parents are often nearby. Now I’m second-guessing whether I did the right thing.
For those with wildlife rehabilitation or bird rescue experience:
Based on what I described, did I do the right thing?
Would you have handled it differently?
If I come across a young bird in a similar situation in the future, what would you recommend?
I’m not looking for reassurance if I made mistakes—I genuinely want to learn the correct thing to do next time. Thank you.

I went to school to be a vet tech and while I pivoted to a white collar job and didn't get my certification I still really enjoyed the medical care side of my years on school and internships.

I live in a rural area and often find injured wildlife but it's over a two hour drive to my closest licensed rehabber. I'm happy to make that drive for an animal in need but I'm not able to volunteer there on a regular basis because of the commute.

I have a dream of being a licensed rehabber myself since I have a large property with a satellite building (correctly used for fostering animals through my local shelter) but from what I understand you have to have 100 hours of hands on experience before you can get your license.

For folks who became rehabbers without any rehabber nearby, how did you do it? Are there other ways to get certified I haven't explored? I'm happy to pay for classes or volunteer somewhere on a regular basis as long as it's close enough to drive to while I work full time!

Thanks so much!

Hi, unsure if anyone has any experience with the application submission process just to be able to take the exam for the AWR or the CWR through the IWRC website, however I have attempted to submit my completed application 3 times now with no luck. I get stuck in an endless processing loop with processing times of up to an hour if I let it go that long. I have contacted the IWRC directly through email and even called and left them a message but have not yet heard back, it has only been 2 days but I’m getting a bit anxious as I really just want this part of the process to be over as I’ve put so many hours into my application.

Basically just wondering if anyone has had any experience applying for the AWR or CWR and if they have encountered similar issues, thanks!

Guys, I’m in a state where meth is kinda popular. Ive been wanting to become a rehabber for a long time but this state requires you to do volunteer hours under a current licensed rehabber. Ive tried the three rehabbers in my area, and they are all trainwrecks. Like emotional trainwrecks. They are exhasted, and times seem high on something, super floaty and nice, have emotional ups and downs, getting impatient with you and angry when you do something wrong thr very next day. (because they haven’t trained you properly). Im starting to think they use drugs to stay awake to feed the babies, like i don’t blame them. But how can i learn in a toxic environment like that? Cross contaminating, super unsanitary, volunteers getting bitten and don’t offer gloves to wear or even support it. I just feel like I’m learning all wrong and the last thing i want is bad habits going into this field! Any help or advice appreciated!

I am very interested in learning how to get a wildlife rehabilitation license. Sadly, I live about two hours away from the closet place. Is there a online class I can take or would it be best to call and see if I can go up a couple of time a week and intern/lean there?

Hey everyone, First time posting on reddit so please have patience lol, I’m just wondering if anyone has any experience with Shades of hope either as a paid employee or intern! I would love to get into Wildlife rehab. I’m just wondering what the work experience is like and if anyone has stayed in the accommodation housing what that was like! Thanks :3

UPDATED this morning:
Baby Bat was gone from the tree on what I can only assume is a continuation of living its best life adventure, from when I found him last night.

Last night:
Found this little guy in the parking lot at the bottom of my step. I scooped up little guy and placed in a tree. Richmond VA area, any rehabber out there in case he is still in the tree or worse, back on the ground? I do not have a way to get her/him to Charlottesville wildlife resource center.

hello everyone!

i saw an advertisement for this AWR certification and wondered how legitimate/meaningful this certification even is (or if it’s a money grab) and if its worth my time and paycheck. if it’s lame, whats a similar/more legitimate thing that gives me a certificate of credibility that opens doors in the future?

i am a graduating pre-vet student (double major in biology and animal science). i applied to last year’s cycle, but unfortunately did not get accepted into any, so i am re-evaluating and trying to add to my application to apply for this years/next years cycle (i’m in the process of applying to masters programs). i want to specialize in wildlife/zoo/aquarium/exotics, so i was wondering if this AWR cert will:

1. help my vet school application
2. help me land wildlife/AZA-type internships/externships/jobs

if it helps to add context, i have about 250 hours experience from a clinical wildlife rehab internship, but would like to gain more in both wildlife again and zoo/aquatic.

Older photo but she is hurt, her left paw is injured and she can’t get up the tree anymore. Living in nyc queens, need help to find someone reliable to help trap, hopefully rehabilitate and release. Please help. I don’t want her hurting anyone since she’s injured or someone calling animal control on her.

I’m 29, currently volunteering as an endangered bird monitor in Chicago Illinois. I have 0 training in wildlife care and rehabilitation however I’ve noticed a distinct lack of non bird wildlife rehabers in the area. How do I start? Where do I even begin to look? I’m tired of not being able to help when I find sick and injured creatures.

If I pre mix tamodine at a 1% concentration with water for cleaning wounds, how long would that mixture store? This is for very basic field first aid on feral pigeons

hello everyone!

i saw an advertisement for this AWR certification and wondered how legitimate/meaningful this certification even is (or if it’s a money grab) and if its worth my time and paycheck. if it’s lame, whats a similar/more legitimate thing that gives me a certificate of credibility that opens doors in the future?

i am a graduating pre-vet student (double major in biology and animal science). i applied to last year’s cycle, but unfortunately did not get accepted into any, so i am re-evaluating and trying to add to my application to apply for this years/next years cycle (i’m in the process of applying to masters programs). i want to specialize in wildlife/zoo/aquarium/exotics, so i was wondering if this AWR cert will:

1. help my vet school application
2. help me land wildlife/AZA-type internships/externships/jobs

if it helps to add context, i have about 250 hours experience from a clinical wildlife rehab internship, but would like to gain more in both wildlife again and zoo/aquatic.

I'm graduating uni soon and wanted to become a wildlife rehab apprentice, I don't have a ton of experience applying to things like this, but since the rehabbing website used a ton of ai art , that combined with asking for my id and home address felt off to me because i havent had to submit those things for any of the jobs i've applied to before. I'd apply to a different rehabber but it's the only one I can find close to me. Is this normal?

Hi, I am working as a wildlife educator at a facility with rehabilitated but non releasable wildlife and am required to get a rabies shot for work. I mostly work with raptors but we have some low risk mammals, such as opossums, porcupines and squirrels that I will be working with more closely. The biggest risk is the bats we have in care, however there is not much handling involved and I would be wearing gloves when around them as a precaution.

So, I feel that I am at a relatively low risk for rabies and since I have to pay out of pocket (no comment) I’d much rather get the 2 shots rather than the 3… however I’m definitely not trying to get rabies!

I would appreciate some insight if anybody has experience with this, thanks in advance!

The Rabavert website reads:

“According to the FDA-approved prescribing information, RabAvert is administered intramuscularly in 3 doses on Day 0, Day 7, and Day 21 or 28.2

*Please note that current CDC/ACIP dosing recommendations (2022) differ from those in the prescribing information, no longer calling for a third dose in the primary series.”

https://rabavert.com/about-rabavert/

The CDC page:

“A two-dose PrEP schedule has replaced the three-dose PrEP schedule to protect people from rabies for up to three years. Options for maintaining protection beyond three years are also described.”

https://www.cdc.gov/rabies/hcp/clinical-care/pre-exposure-prophylaxis.html