Wildlife Hospital

We receive more than 1,200 sick, injured, or orphaned animals every year in need of human intervention.

The vast majority of animals in need of our help are in these situations due to human causes. We receive animals that have been hit by cars, have flown into windows, have been illegally shot, were attacked by domestic cats and dogs, have been secondarily poisoned, found themselves tangled in fences, have had their nests destroyed, or were live-trapped. The list goes on and on.

We rarely receive an animal that has been treated maliciously. However, a lot of animals find themselves in trouble due to humans’ presence on the land. We are interacting with wild animals all the time, whether we know it or not. This is why J. David Siddon dedicated the organization to rehabilitating wild animals in need, as well as educating the public to become better stewards of wildlife and the natural world at large.

The Rehabilitation Process

The rehabilitation process begins with a physical exam in our Clinic. Animal Care staff assess the extent of an animal’s illness or injury. Of course, wild animals are not the most cooperative of patients, so we often need to anesthetize them to be sure we can safely provide a thorough exam. We might also take radiographs, perform simple tests, and collect laboratory samples.

Once we have evaluated an animal’s condition and determined that it might be capable of surviving its illness or injury, we must treat it accordingly. Our Animal Care staff must be knowledgeable about various species and how to meet their needs. We deal with all native species of wildlife. One day, we might get a nest full of cat-attacked American Robins. We might get a very angry, injured adult raccoon the next day. The treatment approach will be different from species to species and even from one animal to the next.

After an animal leaves intensive care, it eventually enters an outdoor enclosure. Animal Care staff must assess an animal’s ability to climb, run, fly, crawl, slither, and soar. Our pre-release enclosures have a variety of perches at different heights, large logs to run over and under, tunnels to crawl through, dens to hide in, boxes of dirt to dig in, and ponds to swim in.

Once outside, orphaned animals can grow, learn natural behaviors, and get accustomed to the sights and sounds of being outside. Injured animals get a chance to be back outside, where stress levels are considerably lower, and they have time to strengthen and regain the physical abilities they had before their injury. Although we maintain a strict policy of limiting human contact with our wild patients, there are noises and unavoidable contact when an animal is housed inside an enclosure. Once outside, we find that the animals will start behaving more normally again now that they are experiencing less human-induced stress.

The ultimate goal for all animals that come in for rehabilitation is to be released back into the wild. Before any animal can be released, we must be confident they can care for themselves in the wild. It’s a challenging world out there! For orphaned animals, this involves a lot of things. Since these animals were hand-raised by humans, they are at a more significant disadvantage than if their wild parents had raised them. Animal Care staff takes every precaution to ensure that immature animals do not become imprinted on humans. An imprinted animal thinks it’s a human. Therefore, it has little to no fear of and associates itself socially with humans. This can be a real problem for animals, especially during mating seasons. An imprinted animal is not capable of surviving in the wild and, therefore, cannot be released.

Orphans

Orphaned animals must learn social behaviors from other animals of their species. Animal Care staff does everything they can to ensure that we rarely raise an orphaned animal alone. If we only have one animal of any given species, we communicate with other rehabilitation facilities to find it a foster sibling. Usually, though, we have plenty of foster siblings at our facility!

For all these reasons, immature wild animals are best left with their parents in the wild. We find that a good deal of 'orphans' we receive are not, in fact, truly orphaned. Often, well-intentioned folks don't see the parent(s) and assume the animal is orphaned, so they bring it to us. This is the right thing to do if an animal is truly orphaned. However, it is rare for animals to be truly orphaned. Remember, those wild animals have a biological drive within them, telling them to do nothing in this world but procreate and raise offspring. We like to view it this way – if we find a lost child, we don't run it to the orphanage. We try to find the parents. If you think you have found an orphaned animal, please click on our "Help! I found an animal!" page for more detailed information, or you can always call us at (541) 476-0222 for more details.

Release

Once it has been determined that an animal can be released, we make it a high priority to return that animal to the wild. Wild animals can develop many problems from living in captivity, and we like to make their time with us as short as possible. Although humans genuinely enjoy their company, our patients don't feel the same way about us!

We always try to return the animal to the same area where it was found. Animals have established territories, know where existing food and water sources are, where potential dangers are, etc. To ease their transition back to having to fend for themselves, it is best to return them to the area they are familiar with. Releasing an animal back into the wild is our ultimate goal; when we can reach that goal for an animal, it is an enriching experience. It reminds us that humans can pull together to help those who cannot help themselves and that we want to "fix our mistakes." Remember that saving a wild animal begins with you – whether it’s keeping your housecat inside when that nest full of finches is fledging or coordinating a group of people to bring in an injured Bald Eagle, we all work together to save wild animals. Our work here at Wildlife Images would not be possible without the generous support of many people like you.

We Need Your Support

Whether it's splinting a broken bone or simply rehydrating and fattening a juvenile animal, we deal with it all and provide our patients with whatever they need along the way. It is estimated that the bare minimum cost of treating one animal is $20, and is often at least $100 and sometimes several hundred. We receive no public funding; we are a non-profit organization providing a service to the public and our native wildlife. We humbly ask for donations whenever we can and absorb the costs of treating, medicating, housing, and feeding these animals. After all, none of our patients have health insurance! If you want to help Wildlife Images continue its mission of treating and releasing these beautiful animals, please click here to be redirected to our secure donation site.

Help! I Found an Animal

Wildlife Release

Baby Animals

Animal Care Policies

Humane Euthanasia